Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Doug Braithwaite
Colorist: Diego Rodriguez
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Tyler Smith
Cover Artists: Roberto De La Torre, Doug Braithwaite, Toby
Wilsmer, Martin Simmonds & Jesus Merino
Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 25, 2026
Thulsa Doom has a mysterious relationship with time. Imbued
with dark magic, his spirit roams time and space, seeking new places and eras
to conquer. Alongside the Pict scout Brissa, Conan battled the sorcerer’s Army
of the Lost across Aquilonia and Cimmeria. While working as a thief in
Shadizar, Thulsa Doom’s dark magic hurled Conan back to the Thurian Age. There,
alongside King Kull and Brissa's ancestor Brule, Conan confronted the sorcerer
again. How will the leader of the Cult of the Black Stone plague Conan next?
Let’s shout, “Hail Crom,” leap into Conan The Barbarian #29, and see!
Story
Like Thulsa Doom, Jim Zub’s vision spans lands and eras. As
he begins Ghosts And Echoes: Part One, Zub transports us back in time before
Conan forged his wandering spirit at the Battle of Venarium. Perhaps even
before he battled his father over Crom’s existence. And instead of revisiting
Cimmeria, Zub introduces us to a tribe wandering the Hyrkanian steppes.
In Conan The Barbarian #29, a young boy trudges toward
adulthood. His family doesn't expect him to survive the journey. As the tribal
leader, his father watches the boy's brothers and sisters ridicule him. When his
youngest son's screams rend the stillness each night, he wonders why the gods
have laden him with such a weakling.
Eventually, the chief realizes he cannot allow the situation
to continue. His youngest son cannot hunt and feed the tribe. Nor can the boy rend
flesh from bone to butcher the beasts they hunt. So, the father gives his youngest
son a final test. If the boy can accomplish that, he will allow him to remain
with them. Otherwise, when the tribe next moves camp, they will leave him
behind.
Jim Zub's coming-of-age story shows how mastering a skill
can empower us. On the surface, the hunter's son bears no comparison to the son
of a Cimmerian blacksmith. Yet just as Conan grew up wondering where he
belonged, this Hyrkanian “ugly duckling” also ponders the riddle of steel. Unlike
Conan, the boy never doubts his connection to the gods. A certainty that he
belongs to something greater than himself, even if it isn’t the people he was
born among, also links him with a warrior he seems destined to confront in
Conan The Barbarian #29.
Art
In the chief’s round house, the women of the tribe surround
his wife. When she cradles her bloody infant, the other women cluster and look
on from afar. As he grows, the boy resembles the old and infirm members of
their tribe that the nomads abandon to the elements. He trudges along, walking
with a stoop as he gathers kindling for the tribe. At night, his mother kneels
beside him, tending to her youngest son as he writhes beneath furs on a mat
apart from the rest of her family.
Diego Rodriguez adorns Doug Braithwaite's portrayal of the
scorned boy with a gentle, nuanced palette. A sepia portrait hides half his
face, hinting at the shadow hanging over the boy's future in Conan The
Barbarian #29. Electrifying blues, reds, and yellows fill the boy's mind as he
sleeps. When he awakens from his visions, the boy trudges outside on a page
bathed in blue to behold the heavens. Yet when his father gives him a final
chance to belong, the boy’s face distorts amid streaks of white, light gray,
and dark gray.
Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith fill white dialogue
balloons with black uppercase text as the boy interacts with his family. As Jim
Zub's story spans the years, his narration appears in colored boxes or hovers
like the boy's destiny in panel backgrounds. The words grow bold for intonation
and never shrink. Yet they swell and change color within a spiky balloon, when
his father realizes how his family’s scorn has helped his son overcome the
weaknesses impeding his growth. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review
copy.
Final Thoughts
As Conan travels the Hyborian Age, he seeks adventure and
discovery. Theft and death may be his trade. Yet Conan is rarely cruel and
never seeks power for its own sake. While Jim Zub contrasts Conan's youth with
that of a Hyrkanian child, he hints at why the Cimmerian distrusts sorcery and
so often battles people who crave power in Conan The Barbarian #29.
Rating 9.8/10
To look inside see my preview of Conan The Barbarian #29.
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