Writers: Jim Zub, Patch Zircher, Jeffrey Shanks, Fred
Kennedy & Ron Marz
Artists: Fernando Dagnino, Patch Zircher, Dean Kotz, Eryk
Donovan, Andy Belanger & Mike Perkins
Pin-Ups: Nick Marinkovich, Fernando Dagnino, Patch Zircher,
Dean Kotz, Eryk Donovan, Andy Belanger, Mike Perkins & Roberto De La Torre
Letterers: Richard Starkings, Tyler Smith & Jimmy
Betancourt
Cover Artists: Alex Horley & Cary Nord
Publisher: Titan
Price: $6.99
Release Date: August 28, 2024
The symbol inscribed on a black stone permeates time and
space. It haunts the rich and poor alike, tempts people in remote villages and
bustling towns, and calls heroes to battle. How might its power challenge
Conan, Soloman Kane, and the Pict scout Brissa? And how might it affect lesser-known
Robert E Howard characters like Conrad, Kirowan, Dark Agnes, and El Borak?
Let’s grab our battle axes, leap into Savage Sword Of Conan #4, and find out!
Horror From The Tomb: Story
In Jeffrey Shanks’ story, Steve O’Donnell sent John Conrad and
John Kirowan an urgent summons. John Kirowan loaned him a dark book about
Earth's prehistory, and O'Donnell believed he had discovered a Stygian city.
John Conrad doubts O'Donnell's judgment. Conrad’s doubts appear warranted when
he spies a box of dynamite in O'Donnell's tent. But the tent and excavations
are devoid of people. When Mahmoud left to escort O’Donnell’s friends from
Cairo Airport, the dig site was a hive of activity.
Jeffrey Shanks’ tale in The Savage Sword Of Conan #4 is a
fraught supernatural mystery. Danger forces one partner to reverse his position
at the risk of becoming a hypocrite. Their discovery threatens their friendship
and raises the ire of the local authorities.
Horror From The Tomb: Art
The three men cross the dunes on camels. Kirowan, Conrad,
and Mahoud appear tiny as they descend ladders into the multilevel excavations.
Conrad holds a lamp aloft while Kirowan traces imagery on a stone wall. An
overhead camera angle shows the men discover a coffin with a familiar symbol
inscribed on the top. Eryk Donovan's art evokes the otherworldly history Rick,
Evelyn, and Jonathan discover when they ignore Ardeth Bay’s warnings and
unearth Imhotep in Stephen Sommers’ movie The Mummy.
Matrimony: Story
Dark Agnes battles pirates aboard a ship on a storm-tossed
sea. Then she climbs a rocky hill toward a manor house surrounded by barren
trees. She climbs through a window and enters Duke Ilya Kursonovich's home.
Dark Agnes explores an armory. She spies a symbol inscribed on a wooden panel
instead of a black stone and bursts into the adjacent room. There, a dark
priest captures her in his spell and sends her to a land of dreams where the
symbol invades her memories.
In Fred Kennedy’s tale in The Savage Sword Of Conan #4, Dark
Agnes and Etienne Villiers travel east to work as mercenaries. Their plans
changed when they reached Chartres. Black magic summoned the dead from their
graves. Townspeople lived in fear of human sacrifices and unholy rights. Dark
Agnes and her friend decided to investigate the Duke’s home. But Etienne never
showed, so Agnes investigated alone.
Matrimony: Art
Andy Belanger's haunting and lifelike imagery makes this
tale mesmerizing. Belanger uses a variety of highly detailed art styles. Manga
mixes with classic children's book illustrations and Prince Valiant. Shading
and ink washes are highly refined. You never quite know where you are with each
stroke of Belanger's pen or brush, but you know you’ll enjoy the ride.
Black Oasis: Story
In Ron Marz's tale, a man recounts his childhood adventure
with Francis Xavier Gordon. He was the son of a tribal chief. When he was
young, another chieftain abducted him. His father, not wanting to cede money or
lands to his rival, hired Gordon to rescue him. Gordon spirits the boy from his
imprisonment at night, then transports him across the desert on a camel.
Although Gordon hails from Texas, the locals call him El
Borak, which means swift in their tongue. Gordon reads the desert landscape
like a native. Although six men pursue them, Gordon knows the sun will make the
day unbearably hot. Ignoring the boy's protests about dark magic, Gordon brings
him to an abandoned temple.
Black Oasis: Art
Mike Perkins portrays figures clad in Arab robes riding
camels across bleak deserts. El Borak and his charge arrive at a temple carved
into a sandstone cliff. Unlike Indiana Jones, no Nazis await the Texan inside
the labyrinth. But among the pictographs and symbols etched into the stone
walls, Gordon spies the sigil of the Black Stone between spiral columns. Robert
E Howard’s El Borak stories are more adventure fiction than sword and sorcery,
and that’s true with this final story in The Savage Sword Of Conan #4. But it’s
a rip-roaring reminder of the frantic fighting that made Marvel’s original
series so much fun.
Lettering
Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt, and Tyler Smith fill
dialogue balloons and narrative boxes with uppercase and lowercase words. The
Gawr speaks giant white words in black balloons. Sound effects help us hear werewolves
howl, a flintlock discharge, Kirowan losing his revolver, Dark Agnes accepting
a man's hand, and El Borak bringing a sword to a gunfight. Thanks to Titan
Comics for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
When the Black Stone assaults Conan’s sanity, other heroes
rise against this black magic that ripples through space and time. Soloman
Kane, Brissa the Pict, Conrad and Kirowan, Dark Agnes, and El Borak join our
barbarian hero in battling the symbol that drives people to evil and raises the
dead in The Savage Sword Of Conan #4.
Rating 9.6/10
