Marvel Comics 2019
Written by Jim Zub
Pencilled by Scot Eaton
Inked by Scott Hanna
Coloured by Frank D'Armata
Vanesa R Del Rey Artist for James Allison Sequence
Jean-François Beaulieu Coloures for James Allison Sequence
Lettered by VC's Travis Lanham
THE WRATH OF THE SERPENT GOD!
JAMES ALLISON will soon die. But it’s not his first death. He’s lived many lives, in many places - lives he can recall in vivid detail. But when an Elder God called the WYRM reaches across time to James, an ages-spanning quest begins! The serpent god SET plans to usher in an eternity of darkness, and only the chosen warriors across time and space have a hope of stopping him: Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane, Dark Agnes, and the man known as Moon Knight!
As much as I love Jim's writing I feel Marvel is over-saturating Conan as I predicted they would. He really doesn't belong in the mainstream universe, that's my story and I am sticking to it, well I ain't got a witness and I can't prove it, but that's my story and I am stickin to it. We all have personal feelings that influence how we think, feel and go about our business and Marvel sees $$ and shoves in your face in ways that a character never should be. Well mini-rant over. I love Jim's writing style and the fact that this contains other Robert E. Howard characters, plus Moon Knight whom I never can get enough of, is a huge draw. It pulls from that universe to create a story and a way to bring them together and create a superb story.
I love the way that this is being told. The opening here is sensational and it really grabs the readers' attention beautifully. This is what makes us what to see more and delve into the book with gusto. For fans of Howard's it's a chance to see a great character again for those who have no idea who he is this is one of the best introductions I could possibly imagine having. The way the story & plot development we see through the sequence of events unfolding and how the reader learns information is superbly done. How we are introduced to the cast of the story and how they come together, well kind of, has a beautiful way about it. The character development is interesting based on how this is being told and it leaves you feeling a kind of electricity and excitement that kind of takes you by surprise. The pacing is strong and it takes us through the ebb & flow of the book with all the twists and turns that delight the reader.
The interiors here are utterly marvellous to see. The linework is interesting and I like it because it has this throwback feel to it in a sense of what we saw in the 70's, when coincidentally is also when Conan was published by Marvel. So it has this amazing feel to it and the linework and the attention to detail and just he overall way everything is done and seen really gives it this extra oomph if you will. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a solid eye for storytelling. The composition of the panels the utilisation of backgrounds, how we see these amazing pages is so well rendered. The colour work here is stellar! I really like seeing how the base colour is chosen and then how we see the hues and tones within it to create shading, highlights and shadows is gorgeous! I'm not leaving out Hanna because his inks take the pencils that higher level that we see here.
I am excited this is a Conan story arc that fits with the characters and in their ages and utilising Marc Spector as well when it wasn't necessary just makes this that much more interesting to me. I mean we're talking gods and monsters here and who better to be in a story like that? Engaging and thought provoking this is how we want our stories to be and Jim's started us on a journey that is horrifying in nature and exciting for the mind.