This is topic Dark Horse's Conan the Barbarian in forum Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities at Legion World.


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Posted by Pov on :
 
According to a press release from Dark Horse that's been distributed to various comic news sites, the first issue of their new CONAN title has sold out, in spite of an overrun on printing.

Out of curiosity, I picked up the last copy my local CBS had yesterday. Busiek and Nord did a bang-up job! And the painted Joe Linsner cover was the icing, baby!

If you see this, give it a look. And if you cant' find it, DH is sending it to 2nd printing with a cover by J. Scott Campbell. (Eh... )

FYI, By CROM!

[ May 21, 2012, 12:01 PM: Message edited by: Lard Lad ]
 

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Posted by Director Lad on :
 
I foolishly forgot to ask my shop to save this, so I'm waiting for the reprint. I saw some preview pages from issue 2 on CBR earlier this week. Frost Giant's Daughter baby! I can't wait.
 

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Posted by the boy with UltraPowers on :
 
i've never really been into these sort of comics !!! would you add TAZAN to this genre ???

but if you recommend it Pov !!! i'll take a look at it

Matthew.
 

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Posted by Lightning Lad on :
 
I picked up the dime issue a few months back but missed this one. Conan was one of the first titles I got into because of my step father. He was really the one who got me hooked on comics. I really shouldn't be trying another title but I'll see if I can pick up the first issue at least.
 

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Posted by Lightning Lad on :
 
Okay, so it wasn't a dime issue, it cost me a quarter. And I dug it out and read it tonight. Nord's art was great in this preview.

Then I downloaded the first issue and loved it.

You know, I'm trying to whittle down my hold list but all I do is keep adding to it.

Pov, if you didn't get the special quarter issue, let me know. I grabbed two copies so one of them is yours if you like.
 

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Posted by Outdoor Miner on :
 
Good news for Dark Horse.

I picked up that cheap preview ish but I'm not sure if I should get the monthly or wait for trades.
 

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Posted by Lightning Lad on :
 
The initial February numbers are in and they are very good news for Dark Horse. Conan #1 came in at 28 with an index of 61.15, beating out the first issue of The Pulse. I would say that probably amounts to 50,000. IIRC they had an initial run of a little over 51,000 for the first issue so it should have come close to, if not actually, selling out.
 

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Posted by Dev Em on :
 
I have to get the second printing...mad cause I missed it...
 

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Posted by Pov on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Lightning Lad:
Pov, if you didn't get the special quarter issue, let me know. I grabbed two copies so one of them is yours if you like.

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!!!

That would be GREAT, Scott. This totally slipped under my radar until I saw the story about #1. I owe you once again!
 

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Posted by Pov on :
 
(P.S.-- Let me know if you need my address again )
 

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Posted by Lightning Lad on :
 
D'oh! If I had thought about it I could have put it in the last package. I'll get it out when I get some free time.
 

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Posted by Pov on :
 
Man, we're up to issue 14 already?! This series has been alot of fun. Busiek's intent to interpret REH's classics in chronological order seemed at first overly ambitious, but he has yet to make a misstep, IMHO. And Cary Nord's artwork is perfect for the book. One of my must-reads every month, without fail.
 

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Posted by Pov on :
 
Conan & the Jewels of Gwahlur is a new mini-series hitting the shelves this week, featuring artwork by P. Craig Russell.
 

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Posted by Lard Lad on :
 
After seeing some glowing reviews on CBR and other places, I decided to pick up Dark Horse's latest Conan launch and give it a try.

I was onboard Dark Horse's initial Conan launch several years ago when it was written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Cary Nord (the series that inspired this thread) and enjoyed it a lot. I stopped getting the book around the time that Busiek left. I might have stuck with it, but the switch also coincided with a time when I'd got fed up with subscribing to comics subscription services online and had briefly stopped buying them until I discovered a new local CBS. So I never really went back to DH's Conan series.

This incarnation features scripts by Brian Wood, a writer who I've really enjoyed especially on his Vertigo series DMZ. The artist for the first arc (and who will return for future arcs) is Becky Cloonan. I saw Becky's work once or twice on Ultimate Marvel team-up, IIRC. She has a simple but expressive style in a vein that has some similarities to artists like Darwyn Cooke and Marcos Martin but with her own distinctive flairs.

Becky's style on a book like Conan is particularly impressive because she doesn't fall into the typical tropes of the artists of the genre. Conan doesn't look over-muscled, the inking isn't super-heavy, the details aren't overly grungy, etc. But at the sametime, the style doesn't feel like it's anything other than a perfect fit for the story! There's an exotic quality to the art that is entirely appropriate and does nothing but draw you into the story. It's totally refreshing and just the kind of change that was needed to break the perception of what a book like this has to supposedly got to look like.

Basically, Dark Horse's mission over their time with the Conan property has been to tell Conan's story in chronological order over the core succession of ongoing series (there have been several minis out of context) using Conan creator Robert E. Howard's original stories and references within those stories as a road map. I've never read a Howard Conan story, but he wrote his Conan stories by skipping around various points in Conan's life back-and-forth from tale to tale. Dark Horse has been piecing the chronology together by using the stories as touchstones and filling in gaps with original stories or ones that Howard only ever referred to.

This brings us to the current launch which details Conan's time with "The Queen of the Black Coast" Belit. It's a bit unusual from anything I've ever seen of Conan as he looks to be in an extended romantic relationship for a while, and Belit is a shady character at best and an immoral murderess at worst. Conan's heroic nature seems to often be highlighted in stories I've read before. Here, it looks like his darker side of being a thief and plunderer looks to be emphasized. I'm excited to see these sides of him and how, perhaps, he might learn something from it.

So the three-parter that has Conan meet Belit under unusual circumstances was excellent, imo, and will likely keep me reading for the long haul. I'm a little anxious that Becky Cloonan won't be doing all or most of the issues, but I'm glad to know she's returning in future solicitations already.

And it really looks like Dark Horse is starting to rev up its game with projects like The Massive and Alabaster: Wolves coming up now and shortly. DH has always been a place for quality licensed products, but it looks like it won't be content with primarily the Mignola-Hellboyverse being its main creator-owned claim recently. A little friendly competition for Image can't hurt a bit!
 

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Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
 
I've been hemming and hawwing picking this up for weeks--even browsing through the issue in store and being amazed at the incredible art...and then regretting not buying it. This synches it. I'm going to grab the opening 3 parter. I've never read a Conan comic in my life, but I like Wood / Cloonan.

quote:

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Originally posted by Lard Lad:
And it really looks like Dark Horse is starting to rev up its game with projects like The Massive and Alabaster: Wolves coming up now and shortly. DH has always been a place for quality licensed products, but it looks like it won't be content with primarily the Mignola-Hellboyverse being its main creator-owned claim recently. A little friendly competition for Image can't hurt a bit!

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