If anyone grew up (or are growing up) reading the classic Robert E. Howard Conan novels, then you know there is a great deal of good in them. The essence of this classic character is captured and displayed within the pages. They are awesome. Now, if there is anyone who grew up (or are growing up) reading the comic books of Conan, then you know they are more of a mixed bag. There are some gems, but there are some junk too. There is not a whole lot of consistency within those pages. With that being the case, the best idea would be to take the Howard stories and adapt them to comic form. That's an idea and the creators of King Conan the Conqueror think so too as they have utilized the writing talents of Timothy Truman and the art of Tomas Giorello to recreate the classic Conan tale The Hour of the Dragon that was printed shortly before Howard's death. The potential and promise is there. But now two issues into this 6 issue miniseries, this comic is still not quite there. Here's to hoping that it will find itself.
Conan has lost his kingship and now finds himself at sea looking for a priest of Set who has the answers and the mystical gemstone that can change the fortune of all involved. But even mighty Conan can't quite conquer the unforgiving sea, and we see him cursing himself for being so foolhardy as to set off on this search without needed necessities. Help does come, but not exactly in the way that our hero would like. He is picked up by the vessel The Venturer and its captain, Demetrio. Demetrio sees Conan as a man quite worthy to become one of his many oarsman/slaves with his physical prowess. Good luck with that.
The story takes off from there with new enemies and old allies coming together in an all-out revolt. Only in reading the pages will you find out if Conan makes it through or not. One thing for sure is it is not as easy as it would seem as even old allies might not all be allies. We shall see what will happen in future issues.
The story flow is ok by Timothy Truman. He does a good job, but the story that he is adapting from just hasn't really taken off in a way that I would like to see in a comic format. It flows like a novel and that just doesn't register well on the comic format as of yet. Which is a pity, because I think Giorello's art is quite impressive and is at the levels of the classic Conan of John Buscema and others.
Man, I am pulling for this mini to work. I have too much interest to see it fail. It is my hope that things will come around and this ship will be righted as the talent level is there to make this a good story. Come on guys, let's get this thing working. I know it's there.
Score: 2/5
Writer: Timothy Truman Artist: Tomas Giorello Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 3/26/14