Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Doug Braithwaite
Colorist: Diego Rodriguez
Letterers: Richard Starkings & Tyler Smith
Cover Artists: Dan Panosian & Jae Lee
Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $17.99
Release Date: March 11, 2025
Conan left the Battle of Venarium with an ancient sword and the respect of his Cimmerian kin. Yet defending his homeland brought little satisfaction. Frustrated, he sought a harsher land than Cimmeria. Perhaps a trial would forge his beliefs anew. Will Conan find what he seeks? Let's grab our swords and battle axes, shout “By Crom,” venture into Conan The Barbarian Vol 4: Frozen Faith, and find out!
Story
Conan has battled the Tribe of the Lost, sailed the seas with Bêlit, and traveled through time to fight Thulsa Doom alongside King Kull. Yet, all that is yet to come. Jim Zub returns us to those early days after the Battle of Venarium. Our Hyborian hero is a man of mirth. Yet he is also prone to melancholy. Jim Zub attempts to tell us why in Conan The Barbarian Vol 4: Frozen Faith.
Conan treks over snowcapped hills. He trudges through snow-covered valleys. Leaving Cimmeria behind tempts unresolved questions to arise. His father and tribal elders attempted to instill in him their beliefs. Yet Conan found acceptance difficult, and his questions brought rebukes. Now, he is a man. Parted from his tribal and cultural heritage, he can forge his path. But that doesn't mean he wants to reject his people's beliefs.
His father preached that Crom breathed his spirit into Conan. He insisted that Conan would feel more connected to his god in battle. As Conan relives these battles of will and responsibility, he comes upon a man's camp. Wolves chew on the hunter's flesh and gnaw on his bones. Conan hacks and slashes at the animals that dared to take the life of a man.
In Conan The Barbarian Vol 4: Frozen Faith, Conan yearns to channel Crom's spirit and the assurance that his god lives inside him. Does Crom deem him unworthy of inhabitation? Does Crom even exist?
Art
Draped in fur, a shield, a horned helmet, and a sleeping mat strapped to his back, the Cimmerian strides through the snow. A boy shouts as he wields a stick against his father. After a one-handed blow lands him in the snow, young Conan gazes up at his father with a frown. His father’s eyes bulge at Conan’s questions, and his staff leaves afterimages behind as he brings it down on his son. Doug Braithwaite interposes distance shots of Conan trekking with snowy wastes with close-ups of the Cimmerian trudging through calf-deep snow, pressing his hands against a tree, and his exhalations becoming vapor as they depart his lips.
A low sun paints the sky yellow as Conan treks through the blue-white snow. Golden-eyed wolves chew red-stained Human hands in Conan The Barbarian Vol 4: Frozen Faith. The background fills with orange as the wolves attack Conan. Red flecks his face and stains his arms until a brutal move unleashes a shower of scarlet. Diego Rodriguez fills the night with orange as meat roasts on a spit above a yellow fire. While in Conan’s youth, he confronts his father on a patch of green grass, seeking the approval of his brown-garbed elders, while a disdainful red-haired man looks on.
Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith give Conan’s trek through the snow blue-white narrative boxes for company. He adorns the youth’s struggle for identity with white dialogue balloons. The black, uppercase lettering emboldens for intonation, turns red for emphasis, and enlarges as the boy struggles to harness the fire that (he hopes) Crom kindled inside him. Thanks to Titan for providing a copy for review.
Extras
After Conan brawls with Aesir, fights Vanir, and pursues a goddess, Conan The Barbarian Vol 4: Frozen Faith reprints four Jeffrey Shanks’ essays on the history and mythology underpinning Robert E Howard’s Hyborian Age on two pages. It also reveals smaller versions of previously unreleased art. The two inked double-page spreads show how Doug Braithwaite altered his original visions to imbue them with more power. An extensive gallery displays stunning covers for Conan fans to hunt down, while Doug Braithwaite’s four-cover tapestry delivers a feast for the eyes.
Final Thoughts
Jim Zub’s masterful retelling of “The Frost Giant’s Daughter expands upon Robert E Howard’s classic tale. The story forms an immediate sequel to Jim's story in Titan's first Free Comic Book Day issue. Conan yearns to believe in something he cannot see in Conan The Barbarian Vol 4: Frozen Faith. But what if he could touch a god?
Rating 9.6/10
To look inside see my preview of Conan The Barbarian Vol 4: Frozen Faith.
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