Writer: John Arcudi, Jim Zub, Patch Zircher
Artist: Max von Fafner, Joe Jusko, Patch Zircher
Letterers: Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt
Cover Artists: Joe Jusko, Gerardo Zaffino, Max Von Fafner,
Publisher: Titan
Price: $6.99
Release Date: February 28, 2024
Story
Legendary Hyborian scribe Roy Thomas opens Savage Sword Of
Conan #1 with an essay on how Stan Lee’s experimental foray into mature titles
with Savage Tales evolved into the legendary Black & White magazine.
Conan And The Dragon Horde
Prince Zaahid raises an army to retake the city that exiled
him. Conan is his general, and Ineah builds and maintains his war engines.
Despite Zaahid’s orders not to consort with Ineah, Conan develops a
relationship with her. The prince keeps his plans close to his chest, revealing
his wisdom only after danger threatens. His secrecy costs Conan's soldiers
their lives. Angered by these unnecessary losses, Conan refrains from engaging
Prince Zaahid’s guards, Sussein and Saham.
Despite Zaahid’s lack of concern for his men, his
preparations propel the army across the Hyrkanian steeps. But after they lay
siege to Ul-Dalkhana and Ineah’s engines of war mercilessly pound the city, the
army begins to drift away. After several months, Conan's remaining forces
number less than sixty. When Conan reports the desertions and requests leave to
recruit replacements, Zaahid assures him that their numbers are adequate and
his home city will soon fall. At this point, Conan decides to defy the Zaahid’s
wishes and discover what the prince is hiding.
An air of mystery pervades Conan And The Dragon Horde.
Unlike Prince Zaahid, you never know what to expect next. John Arcudi doesn’t
lace his dialogue with traditional Conanisms, such as dog, cur, and wench. Conan’s
relationship with Ineah proves an equal partnership, as each respects the
other’s abilities and outlook. Those seeking the otherworldly dangers that
threaten Robert E. Howard's Hyborian world will enjoy John Arcudi’s contribution
to Savage Sword Of Conan #1.
Sacrifice in the Sand
In his short prose story Sacrifice in the Sand, Conan The
Barbarian chronicler Jim Zub introduces readers to a young woman adorned with
fine linen and sparkling jewelry. Captain Nkosi and his guards escort Khepri to
her date with Destiny. Even more than the women who served Thulsa Doom's snake
cult in John Milius' Conan movie, Khepri's sacrifice will honor her people and
enhance Set's power. Yet on this dark (and stormy) night, a man will threaten
to devalue her sacrifice and risk her family's security. Jim Zub’s contribution
to Savage Sword Of Conan #1 portrays our Hyborian hero as a patient man who
chooses his battles and recognizes that beliefs often serve temporal
authorities more than the divine.
Master Of The Hunt Part One
As the rain falls in sheets, Patch Zircher welcomes us
inside the Ox Knuckle Inn. Inside this Welsh pub in the Vale of Glamorgan, the aging
patron, Gruffud, reminds us that this is All Hallows Eve. Yet before
Christianity redubbed the holiday, locals called it Samhain. The barrier
between our world and the Tylwyth Teg, or fair folk, thins on this sacred pagan
holiday.
In Master Of The Hunt Part One, Gruffud regales us with a
tale of Solomon Kane. The righter of wrongs has ridden from Devonshire on his
steed Nicodemus. Solomon follows the tracks of a giant beast to a farm, where
he meets Gwenllyan Maddocks and her son Roland. Gwenllyan tells him that an
animal attacked her flock. While her husband Edmund tracks the beast, Soloman
helps her hired hand Wilkin shear and butcher the dead sheep. But the following
morning, Roland disappears, and Wilkin never returns from the Ox Knuckle Inn.
Patch Zircher portrays Solomon Kane as an even-tempered,
approachable figure in Savage Sword Of Conan #1. Solomon seems akin to
Tolkien's Aragorn, wise in the ways of the temporal and spiritual world, not
judgmental or quick to anger. Wily old Gruffud inserts himself and a dissenting
patron into this intoxicating brew of pagan beliefs, Welsh mythology, and a
humble, brave hero who lives by a strict—but not cruel--moral code.
Men Shall Die For This: Robert E. Howard And The Vengeance
Of Solomon Kane
Jeffrey Shanks' essay covers Solomon Kane's origin as
Howard's earliest recurring hero. Soloman Kane began as a manifestation of righteous
justice. As Howard matured as a person and a writer, Solomon Kane's worldview
grew more complex. Shanks compares Howard's Solomon Kane stories with tales by
Alexandre Dumas, Edgard Rice Burroughs, H. P. Lovecraft, and H. Rider Haggard.
Of those listed, it’s worth noting that Haggard's hero, Allan Quartermain,
first appears in King Solomon's Mines.
Art
Max von Fafner’s art in Conan And The Dragon Horde honors
the best traditions of the fabled magazine. His photorealistic art conveys the
majestic sight of cavalry, infantry, and wheeled engines that hurl boulders and
explosives at a walled city. Zaahid looks stately, Conan determined, Ineah
self-assured. Sussein and Saham’s glee in dispatching anyone who disobeys their
leader suggests they know more than they're telling. Fafner's detailed panels
convey mood, drama, and action while not skimping on small details, such as
tall grasses or stony ground.
Patch Zircher’s art in Master Of The Hunt Part One has an
elegant and historic appeal. While Soloman Kane wears the hat and cloak of a
Puritan, the penciling evokes Prince Valiant. Detailed sketches of people and
settings convey a lighter, less masculine tone than Fafner’s. Zircher's Black
& White images show a varied use of gray for shading akin to ink wash in
Savage Sword Of Conan #1. Yet scenes of the beast appearing at night, Solomon
Kane entering a pub unbidden or reaching for his sword utilize heavy inking.
Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt lay siege to panels
with uppercase and lowercase words in dialogue balloons and narrative boxes.
Word size ranges through entertaining stories and informative essays. Thanks to
Titan Comics for providing a copy of this sword and sorcery magazine for
review.
Final Thoughts
After Conan battles monsters, lays siege to a doomed city,
and pursues a woman promised to Set, Soloman Kane tracks a creature terrorizing
a remote Welsh community in Savage Sword Of Conan #1.
Rating 9.8/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
