The Free Comic Book Day prelude to this Fall's epic event: Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King!
Jim Zub's Grim Tidings
The Hyborian Age of Conan.
The borderlands between Zingara and Argos, CONAN OF CIMMERIA and some sell-swords are fighting raiders.
Next to the "CRAZED BIRD" tavern, Conan cripples one of the sell-swords for disrespecting a woman. Disgusted by the way the mercenaries are behaving, the chivalrous barbarian leaves Captain Keegan (an homage to The Adventures of Two-Gun Bob)'s unit.
A servant of Thulsa Doom is seeking Conan, his mission: to slay the Cimmerian who slayed his master (way back in Conan the Barbarian (2023) #12).
Looking at the ocean (Kathulos is know as "The Son of the Ocean"), Conan senses a forthcoming conflict.
Montfaucon-d'Argonne, France in 1918 (from Robert E. Howard's Skull Face).
American, World War I soldier Stephen Costigan (NOT Sailor Steve Costigan) survives the Meuse-Argonne offensive, he ends up in a field hospital. Stephen defends (only verbally) a nurse who is being disrespected by ungrateful soldiers.
Chinatown, London (Limehouse in the East End), 1924. Close to the "CRAZED BIRD" tavern (still in business after all these years?), suffering from post-traumatic stress, Stephen Costigan enters Yun Shatu's Temple of Dreams (a hashish/opium den on the northern bank of the River Thames).
Within the Temple of Dreams, in the hidden underground chamber/idol-room of mystery, we see the covered corpse of a skull-faced man (Kathulos the Sorcerer, the ocean-man of lost Atlantis?) next to a radiating BLACK STONE fragment.
To be continued in Savage Sword of Conan #16 & Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King #1.
What I did like:
Conan protects and respects women!
Nice cover by Roberto de la Torre.
A Map illustration by Francesca Baerald.
Jesús Merino's early exploratory sketches of Conan.
Archaeologist Jeffrey Shanks talks Solomon Kane, The Apparition in the Prize Ring, The Horror from the Mound and Kathulos of Egypt aka The Scorpion (the high priest of the mysterious Scorpion society of North Africa).
What I did not like:
Robert E. Howard's name is not on the cover! IT SHOULD BE ON THE COVER since Skull Face is being adapted!
Henchmen: Santiago, Ganra Singh, Li Kung, Yar Khan, Hassim and Yussef Ali do not appear. Lame!
No John Gordon (Kathulos' greatest foe)!
No Zuleika (the mysterious Circassian girl)!
No recipe to make your own life-saving elixir at home.
The mark of the scorpion doesn't appear within the logo of the event.
No Woeful Eye (Shuma-Gorath)!
No Brissa!
I give it a 7.5/10. Too much purple prose, not enough info for new readers. Will the empire of the serpent-men rise again? Brace yourselves, the tide is coming in! If you are a fan of Dr. Fu Manchu, Sax Rohmer, Master of Kung Fu (1974), subterranean corridors and/or Thulsa Doom this freebie is sure to float your boat! Download Conan the Barbarian: FCBD 2026, HERE, it's completely free!
