Comic review: Conan the Avenger #11- Developing a passion for knowledge, and desire for truth

Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Brian Ching
Colourist: Michael Atiyeh
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 25th February 2015


Reading a good Conan book always cheers me up, and this was an excellent one, with a devious wizard, a beautiful girl, treachery, bravery, cunning and revenge.

All of this is beautifully portrayed with large (I have to put that one on my wall) panels of excellent artwork from artist Brian Ching. The art, from the pencilling, to the colouring, to the panel layout and size is uniformly excellent, and it puts a fruity, ripe scrumptious cherry on top of what is already an extremely delicious comic book cake.

Am I not a hypocrite though for railing against ‘Dominators’ as I did in my previous review of Sinestro #10, and then heaping praise on this Conan book? Surely Conan himself is just another dominator? No, he is not. Conan has never been about domination. To me, and when he is written as he should be, he is a moral man, brave, cocky, adventure seeking, but also (as Robert E. Howard himself describes) deeply melancholic.

At the end of his adventures Conan becomes a reluctant King. It is something that he never wanted to be, but in the twilight of his life all of the battles have been won, and so almost by default the crown goes to him, and unhappy is the man who wears it.

That Conan, that melancholic Conan, is not on display in Conan the Avenger #11. In this book Conan is the young, happy, adventure seeking Conan. He is arrogant, funny, brave, sharp as a blade and full of enthusiasm for life. This is the Conan before the victory, doing what he lives for, fighting, conniving, struggling and spitting in the faces of those who would rule over him. He is carefree, bleeding, in pain, but having the time of his life. That is the true essence of Conan. That is who he is supposed to be.

Conan isn’t the only character in this book that is fighting against those who would dominate, there is a girl as well, and it is her story that is the backbone to this issue. She fights for revenge, for the memory of her husband who fought not for gold, for power, but for knowledge.

Imagine what the world would be like today if everybody had the same mindset, where money was not as important as the search for truth? We can have that world, but it has to start on an individual level. It’s up to each and every one of us personally to learn to fall in love with the search for knowledge, the search for truth.

Or we can keep living for money, and the world can continue as it does today. Our choice, we make it every day.

I’m in a fantastic mood now, my spirits have been lifted and I feel more optimistic about the human race than I did before. That’s quite an achievement for a comic book don’t you think? So that’s why I still read Conan comic books, because when they are average they are good, when they are good they are excellent, and when they are excellent, as Conan the Avenger #11 certainly is, they transcend superlatives, showing what it is to be a human being, what it is that we should be living for. To live with passion, with strength, with courage, with determination and a burning, burning, burning desire for knowledge and that elusive yet essential spiritual Holy Grail called TRUTH.

Ratinmg: 10/10

Comic review: Conan the Avenger #10- Sit-up, stand-up, don’t be a slave

Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Brian Ching
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 28th January 2015


Writer Fred Van Lente gives us some good old fashioned manly action in this month’s Conan the Avenger, and it continues to have everything that you could ask for in a Conan story.

Issue #10 features a pretty girl on the back of Conan’s horse, Conan himself having a far from friendly cuddle with a giant reptile, and a devious wizard doing what devious wizard’s do.

It features superb panel construction from artist Brian Ching, who builds up the narrative tension before giving the reader superb full page panels of artwork when the action or narrative development peaks in terms of excitement/peril for our brave hero.

Two panels stand-out, but I won’t spoil them. Get the book for yourself and I guarantee that you’ll have just as much fun with them as I did.

The book is a lot of fun, but it’s not perfect. It has a weak ending, and some of the dialogue is a bit too cute, a bit too self-aware and a bit too annoying in a way that you’ll find in a lot of mainstream comic books today.

You know how it goes? Everything is a joke, and the exchanges read more like a writer trying to be clever rather than two believable people having a genuine conversation. Some people like that, but it gets on my nerves. Lets get away from Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarrantino and move on to more realistic dialogue. I like realism, not cleverness.

Apart from that point on the ‘too cool for school’ nature of some of the dialogue I have no hesitation in recommending this exciting, well drawn, expertly constructed slice of good old fashioned swords and scorcery, damsel in distress, lizards and wizards action.

Conan the Avenger #10 is an enjoyable book, there’s no Police state worshipping about it, and Conan himself is an archetype, a hero who still resonates strongly today. In these collectivised, authority
worshipping times Conan reminds us that we have to be responsible for ourselves, and if we rely on authority to protect us we’ll end up living in a prison of our own design.

Don’t sit down, don’t watch, and don’t give away your power to those who would control you. If you want something, then do it for yourself. Be like Conan. Sit-up, stand-up, and don’t be a slave.


Rating: 8/10