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Showing posts with the label Titan Comics

Savage Sword of Conan #5 (2024) review

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, the venerable spinner rack is sporting another brand new issue of SSOC!  61 mind-altering pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint!  Inside this succulent magazine you will find the following treasures: Pin-Ups: Conan by Tim Sale (from Tim Sale: Black and White - Revised and Expanded. RIP, Tim.) Conan by Sedat Oezgen Conan by Marco Rudy KING CONAN: THE ENSORCELLED, PART I: The Beast in Brythunia by Jason Aaron and Geof Isherwood The Graaskal Mountains splitting Hyperborea and Brythunia. The Brythunian border. Conan II aka Prince Conn, Conan's firstborn son, sits on the throne of Aquilonia while his father is away. The King of Aquilonia, Conan, is fifty-eight years old, he's on a diplomatic mission and a hunt. He enters the cave of the Witch of Graaskal. The Witch and King Fabiano (of Brythunia)'s freshly hypnotized mercenaries (from Nemedia) attack! The Witch burns Conan's chest with her hand. The now marked barba

Conan the Barbarian #16 (2023) review

Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part IV: The Hidden World. Horsa and Niord bring Conan (still clutching his gossamer garment clearly never fashioned by human hands) to their Aesir War Camp. Conan eats and reflects on his past. He's a boy again helping his metalsmith father. An earthquake hits, his dad thinks it is Crom sliding his feet. We learn that Lihamm "The Tree" (beheaded by Brissa way back in Conan: The Barbarian #2) thinks that earthquakes are actually Devils moving around underground. Hence the saying Crom's devils. Back to reality. Gorm (the one that saw Atali on the bloody field of Wolraven) comments on the stew, Conan thinks he's talking about his mental state. Did Conan really encounter a Goddess? Conan questions his senses and reality. While daydreaming about the daughter of Ymir, Conan gets hit behind the head by a jealous Osmin (the friend of Bergen from issue #14). We get another flashback of Conan's youth. Alfred E. Neuman hits Conan over the hea

Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #2 review

Battle of the Black Stone part 2: Bond of the Black, the epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics continues. The tortured writer James Allison appears as an apparition. He mentions that he's deceased, a former story maker, drawn to mighty, courageous spirits.  Solomon Kane is sure that Allison is suffering eternal punishment in hell. The old gunslinger El Borak wants answers. Allison confirms that not only is El Borak marked by the BLACK STONE, he's also HUNTED. A portal that looks exactly like the mysterious BLACK STONE eye symbol pops up to disgorge The Dark One aka the Master of the Monolith into our plane of existence! The Dark One starts massacring the members of the Wanderer's Club. El Borak decides to attack The Dark One with a sword and John Conrad tries to gun it down. They both fail miserably. Out of nowhere, Brissa, the time displaced Pict scout of the Gurian tribe, stabs The Dark One. She encourages El Borak, Kirowan and Conrad to fight on. 

Conan the Barbarian #15 (2023) review

The adaptation of The Frost-Giant's Daughter aka The Gods of the North is finally here. Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part III: Gods of the North. In the plains, on the red-stained snow, Wulfhere lies dead with all of his weapon-men. Only one Vanir still stands, and it's not Bragi. Now only two players remain on the ice. It's Conan vs Heimdul. Conan murders Heimdul. Atali, the Frost Giant's Daughter, appears, the luster of her golden locks blind Conan. Conan thinks that Niord might have been ambushed. Atali compels Conan to follow her into the wastes of the north.  Atali's father, Ymir, calls upon his giant sons, the brothers of Atali, to annihilate an exhausted Conan. Conan rises to the challenge and slays both brothers.  Conan, still consumed by lust madness, finally catches the daughter of Ymir. The golden haired witch cries out to her unseen father to be saved from Conan's nympholepsy. Enveloped in a cold blue flame the Frost King's daughter vanishes. Hors

Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #1 review

Battle of the Black Stone part 1: Eyes Upon Us, the epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics continues. Chicago, 1936. Professor Kirowan and John Conrad arrive late for their meeting at the Wanderer's Club. Clemants (from The Children of the Night) has organized a secret soirée and it's populated by scholars of the uncanny who are showcasing their rare relics. Francis Xavier Gordon (El Borak, now a shadow of his former self, close to madness, grizzled and drunk) is waiting for Kirowan and Conrad, they want to know more about the mysterious BLACK STONE eye SIGIL that Gordon witnessed in Savage Sword of Conan #4. Gordon nervously denies seeing the sigil in the Arabian Desert...but finally confesses that he is subconsciously marked by the BLACK STONE eye glyph... that something is watching him. Grenoble, France, 1522. Since encountering the BLACK STONE sigil, random spouts of rage have been drowning the mind of Agnès de Chastillon. The breeches wearing Sword W

Savage Sword of Conan #4 (2024) review

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, it is time to pay the venerable spinner rack another visit!  76 spectacular pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint!  Inside this magnificent magazine you'll find the following treasures: Jim Zub's introduction to his inescapable Battle of the Black Stone saga.  New Pin-Ups: Conan by Nick Marinkovich Conan by Fernando Dagnino Guerra Solomon Kane by Patrick Zircher Brissa by Dean Kotz  Conrad & Kirowan by Eryk Donovan Dark Agnes by “The Animal” Bob Anger El Borak by Mike Perkins  The Heroes of Man by Rob De La Torre CONAN THE BARBARIAN: BIRTHRIGHT IN BLACK by Jim Zub and Fernando Dagnino An homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). We are Beyond the Black River. The new Aquilonian province of Conajohara, Fort Tuscelan on the edge of the Pictish wilderness. Conan and friends are done fighting incredibly crazed, almost suicidal Picts. Conan decapitates their giant, he notices that the man mountain is wearing a bone neckla

Conan the Barbarian #14 (2023) review

The disappointing prequel to The Frost-Giant's Daughter aka The Gods of the North continues. Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part II: The Daughter's Gaze. Conan beats up the three Aesirmen. Hiding in the trees above, Atali (the gossamer G-string wearing, golden-locked daughter of Ymir, the frost-giant) remembers her father's words, that the affairs of men are unworthy of her attention. Niord, the leader of the 3 surly Æsir warriors, appears and offers Conan a deal, the bear's carcass and a week of work to get safe passage to Asgard's border. Conan mentions Venarium where he became a warrior in Conan the Barbarian FCBD 2023. Niord is dispirited that Ymir does not listen to prayers, Conan replies that it's the same for Crom, their mighty mountain god. An Æsir war-horn is heard. It is a cry for help! The Aesirmen and Conan rush to the rescue. Conan saves one Æsir from a raided and burning fort. The Aesirmen and Conan douse the flames. Niord, fearing for the young Cimmer

Star Trek: The Illustrated Oral History: The Original Cast review

Filled with interviews and many, many images this Hardcover book gives us a look at the making of the original series, animated series and first six films.  If you are looking for something new, some insight or new piece of trivia you won't find it here.  You will find often told tales from the cast and those involved behind the scenes.  Talking points that have been repeated ad nauseam over the years in interviews, dvd extras, convention appearances, autobiographies and other behind the scenes books.  DeForest Kelley recounts the infamous 'favorite fan letter marijuana cigarette' story.  I do find it interesting that the infamous kiss from 'Plato's Stepchildren' is only given one little blurb.  The animated series gets scant coverage, a few measly pages.   There are a few images here that I haven't seen in ages.  In its over sixty year existence there are only so many 'fresh' images out there.  Usually, you get the standard publicity images.   If y

Conan the Barbarian #13 (2023) review

We go back to the beginning, before the Black Stone, before Thulsa Doom, Conan is a youth from the south, he still has his old Pictish sword (Brule's blade freshly acquired at Venarium in Conan the Barbarian FCBD 2023). Conan ventures North to Asgard in this prequel to The Frost-Giant's Daughter aka The Gods of the North. Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part 1: Cold Comfort starts now! Conan remembers Lyolf training him for combat with wooden sticks. The young Cimmerian questions the existence of his deity Crom, preferring to trust his five human senses, his own strength and steel weaponry. Conan sees a pack of wolves eating a human corpse next to a campsite. For no reason and with no strategy whatsoever he immediately attacks the pack. The wolves naturally overpower him. Conan loses his sword. Conan remembers asking his father the location of Crom's mountain. His father confirming that Crom resides on all mountains and in the souls of all Cimmerians. Conan's father is sure

Savage Sword of Conan #3 (2024) review

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, it is time once again to pay the venerable spinner rack a visit!  60 spectacular pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint!  Inside this magnificent magazine you'll find the following treasures: John C. Hocking, an autobiographical essay Conan: City of the Dead, Omnibus Preview A fresh new Pin-Up of Kull the Conqueror and Thulsa Doom by Alex Horley CONAN: WOLVES OF THE TUNDRA by Frank Tieri and Cary Nord  A Werewolf grabs a snack in the snow. It spies on a family. The family members are revealed to be Werewolves too! A fight ensues. The only lycanthrope that survives the scuffle is... Conan the Werewolf. Flashback: A famished Cimmerian enters "the Hungry Claw" inn, taxidermy wolves adorn the place, Werewolves in human form start harassing Conan, the lights go out, Conan gets bitten during the bar brawl. Conan wakes in a barn where he's decimated every single animal inside. The owner of the animals recommends elim

Conan the Barbarian #12 (2023) review

Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone wins this year's Robert E. Howard Foundation "The Costigan Literary Achievement" and "The Rankin Artistic Achievement" awards at Howard Days! Brule's life was just about to be extinguished by a freshly revived Thulsa Doom... it is finally time for: Jim Zub's The Age Unconquered part 4: Terror Undreamed Of! Thulsa announces a "New Age of Doom" and that the Spear-Slayer is out of time. We get a flashback: A meteorite strikes the earth. Only Kathulos (the sorcerer, magician and scientist from the novella Skull-Face) is brave enough to touch the Black Stone from outer space. The Black Stone uploads DARK knowledge and DARK magic into Kathulos's brain. Kathulos is now able to control the deceased. He builds himself an army of the undead and renames himself Thulsa Doom. Thulsa enjoys being a successful tyrant for some time, we even get another Renato Casaro Conan the Barbarian 1982 movie poster homage from

Conan: City of the Dead review

Omnibus by John C. Hocking Dedicated to lovers of sword-and-sorcery and especially fans who waited for the Living Plague for so long Cover by Jeffrey Alan Love  Illustrations by Richard Pace From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Also available unabridged on audiobook read by Bradford Hastings Spoilers! Spoilers!  CONAN AND THE EMERALD LOTUS (1995) Stygian mage Ethram-Fal aka the Shemite Eldred the Trader, resurrects the dormant immortal resident of the abandoned Palace of Cetriss (one of the world's mightiest sorcerers), a hybrid of plant and predatory fungus with an insatiable appetite for blood with the blood of his insolent apprentice (freshly executed by Captain Ath, also a Stygian who is given an addictive reddish leaf as a reward). The carnivorous plant's seeds are the sole source of the Emerald Lotus, an addictive green powder that enhances the abilities of sorcerers. The only side effects are growing cravings, madness and death.  Akkharia in Shem, ruled by King Sumuab