Writers: Dennis Culver, Fred Kennedy, Zack Davisson, John C Hocking, Jim Zub & Liam Sharp
Artists: Chris Burnham, Marco Rudy, Max von Fafner, Liam Sharp & Dan Panosian
Pin-Up Artists: Doug Braithwaite, Adam Gorham, Gabriel Rodriguez, Jonathan Wayshak, Tom Raney & Juan Alberto Hernández:
Cover Artists: Joe Jusko & Alex Horley:
Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $6.99
Release Date: April 30, 2025
Conan has battled dinosaurs. Despite his distrust of magic, Conan has helped a witch confront someone intent on wiping out her sisterhood. He has befriended a child in a town populated by zombies. The Cimmerian has united with other heroes across space and time to confront the power of the black stone. What great evils will he face next? And how does Conan compare with other heroes in the Howardverse? Let’s grab our Atlantean swords, leap into The Savage Sword Of Conan #8, and find out!
Treasure Of The Vermin Queen: Story
Conan has partnered with a young thief to pillage the horde of the Ver-Men. When he and Fleek reach the temple, they observe a ceremony. Conan thinks this is the perfect time to search the temple. Instead, Fleek rushes in among the robed figures to prevent a human sacrifice.
In Dennis Culver’s story, the barbarian never suspected Fleek’s treachery. Still, the Cimmerian rushes to aid his fellow thief. Fleek justifies his lies by assuring Conan that any cult must have a treasure to fund their movement. In Treasure Of The Vermin Queen, Conan wonders how to punish the thief for leading him into a trap. But first, he must battle the priests of "Bug and Bone" and an outraged god.
Treasure Of The Vermin Queen: Art
Chris Burnham’s opening page evokes Conan, Subotai, and Valeria climbing the Tower of Serpents. But Conan and Fleek are climbing inside a vertical tunnel. When they reach the worship chamber, they find thick stone pillars decorated with diagonal caterpillar-shaped stripes. The lines, crosshatching, and shading illuminate the dark chamber filled with cloaked worshippers, stalagmites, and broken pillars. But the high priest's mask, along with the pillars and the design carved into the wall behind him, hint at the appearance of the god Conan must fight before he can decide on Fleek's future.
When I Was Young, I Met A King: Story
In the second story in The Savage Sword Of Conan #8, a woman remembers her childhood. A sorcerer's minions hunted her for her latent magical abilities. Hana’s father saved Conan’s life. Despite his distaste for magic, the Cimmerian promised to protect the healer's daughter. After Fleek's betrayal in Dennis Culver’s story, Fred Kennedy demonstrates how loyalty flows through Conan’s veins. He doesn’t know whether the girl will do good or ill with her gifts. Still, Conan won’t rest until he delivers Hana to safety.
When I Was Young, I Met A King: Art
After Chris Burnham's traditional penciling and inking, Marco Rudy's mesmerizing images intertwine, and his characters overlay each other as in a collage. Memories blend with Hana's narrative, while camera angles demand the reader's attention. The visual effect is bracing, challenging, and open to interpretation.
Kinship Of The Fallen: Story
The first four paragraphs of Jim Zub’s war poem are three lines each. The last word of the second line rhymes with the first and second and the third with the fourth. Then, the final four-line three stanzas rhyme with an A, B, A, B sequence. (Apologies, ABBA fans). Jim Zub's poem commemorates a battle, celebrates life, honors the fallen, and pledges eternal brotherhood.
Kinship Of The Fallen: Art
In Dan Panosian's double-page image, Conan sits beside an adoring maiden. A wooden cask and bottles fill the tables. Candles glow while white sparkles rise toward the ceiling. In contrast to the poem, none of his fellow warriors linger in the tavern, suggesting they drank their fill before leaving to continue their celebrations elsewhere.
Live By The Sword: Story
In this story by Zach Davisson, another Robert E Howard hero ventures into the pages of The Savage Sword Of Conan #8. Cormac FitzGeoffrey is a stranger to this walled city. Sir William De Fontane rides up with a free horse after Cormac dispatches his combatants. The knight wishes Cormac had sworn homage to Lord Guillaume De Montfort. But Cormac doesn't want a patron.
Live By The Sword presents another Howardian hero with the question of loyalty. Cormac’s refusal to serve Lord Montfort highlights our relationships with authority: what bowing before our leaders gives us and what it takes away.
Live By The Sword: Art
After opening this new series with Conan battling dinosaurs, Max von Fafner returns to introduce Cormac FitzGeoffrey to modern readers. Cormac’s first opponent wears a turban, leather armor, and Persian boots. Cormac wears chainmail, while plate armor covers his shoulders, arms, and shins. He carries a large shield as he battles his enemies. A helmet adorns his head, and armor covers the head and neck of the horse he rides. Stone shards rise taller than the warriors who fight between them, while tent-covered buildings rise behind a stone wall.
The opening scenes evoke “The Shadow of the Vulture.” Robert E Howard’s historical tale introduces the world to Red Sonya. Roy Thomas would later reinvent the character and introduce Red Sonja to the pages of Marvel’s Conan The Barbarian. The upraised stone spikes also suggest that, in joining this battle, Cormac has unwittingly stepped into a serpent’s maw.
Coils of the Golden Empress: Story
Conan novelist John C Hocking follows the comic adventures and poem in The Savage Sword Of Conan #8 with a prose story. In Coils of the Golden Empress, Conan wanders through a jungle. While morose and mourning, Conan also feels a sense of pride, remembering how he sent the burning Tigress out to sea. As in recent issues of Conan The Barbarian, Bêlit’s death leaves him bereft. Yet, unlike Jim Zub’s story, Conan finds people who welcome him with a meal. They even invite him to join their company. If only the men didn’t profit off Human misery.
John C Hocking's story sparkles with an engineering triumph and a reminder of how well-traveled Conan is. And then there is the monster that dwells at the heart of this story of loyalty, betrayal, and grief. Tom Raney contributes a one-page illustration to enliven the two pages of prose.
The Wuthering: Story
Liam Sharp closes out The Savage Sword Of Conan #8 with a finely written and drawn tale of mercy. As Conan explores a Pictish wilderness, he comes across a giant of a man. The densely muscled warrior introduces himself as Tor Himdhul, a name that evokes British rock formations and Norse legend. Tor entertains Conan with a tale that evokes another classic Robert E Howard tale. While he taunts Conan with words of anger, he seeks kindness from the Cimmerian. Yet what Tor asks will test Conan's adherence to his moral code.
The Wuthering: Art
Conan descends a staircase through the jungle. Behind him, upraised stones surround a tree perched along a cliff, suggesting memorials to the fallen (in more ways than one). Tree trunks, limbs, and exposed roots congregate like jungle vines. Leaves flutter past Conan and onto Tor, leaving branches and twigs bare. While Conan exhibits youth and vitality, Tor’s light hair, beard, and features suggest a more mature outlook. In his tale, Tor rides a horse through the dramatic landscape. His mount's musculature suggests a draft horse trained not to work the field but to plow through an enemy’s cavalry.
Lettering
Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith fill the stories of The Savage Sword of Conan #8 with uppercase lettering in white narrative boxes and dialogue balloons. The words grow bold for intonation, swell for volume, and rarely shrink. The narrative in Liam Sharp’s tale floats unrestricted across panels. The balloons grow cloudy or spiky to convey extreme emotions. Sound effects announce cracking treasure, enraged elements, a person exploring her capabilities, and a hero’s sword breaking in the heat of battle. Thanks to Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
In The Savage Sword of Conan #8, the barbarian hero battles monstrous gods, venomous beasts, a relentless sorcerer, and an aging Aesir. As the conflicts challenge his ethics, Conan also fights for and because of love. Another Robert E Howard hero, Cormac FitzGeoffrey, wrestles with his duties to monarchs and friends. The comics, prose, and poem celebrate the warrior’s heart and what tests his mettle.
Rating 9.5/10
To look inside see yesterday's preview.
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