Story: John Arcudi, Patch Zircher, Jim Zub
Art: Max Von Fafner, Patch Zircher, Joe Jusko
80 pages, $6.99
Titan Comics

What It Is: This is a brand-new CONAN magazine that feels a lot like a modern continuation of THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN mag from Marvel that ran for 235 issues and two decades, from 1974 to 1995.

And hey—what it is, is lots of fun!

The Good: You get a 50-plus page main feature, a 16-page back-up (starring Solomon Kane!), a couple pin-ups, a short story, and an essay. All in glorious black and white and at magazine size. We’re big fans of nearly forgotten formats around here, and even though tons of notable comics (Creepy, Eerie, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, The Spirit, etc.) were published this way, they don’t really exist anymore. It’s a blast to see one.

Continuing the back-up story to the next issue is smart. Comics are a habit after all. I would love to see a an eight-pager that’s serialized for a half a year or more, really give it that anthology feel. Also, while being completely ignorant of the rights and logistics, throwing in some reprint material from the original run could be cool down the road. Obviously, that can become a crutch, and appeals more to the nostalgia crowd, but if this takes off and Titan does a large annual or yearbook, it might fit nicely there. Anyway, Fingers crossed for a Kull of Atlantis strip sometime in the future.

Roy Thomas is the number one draft pick to intro a magazine like this. He is solely responsible (from a nagging editorial standpoint, anyway) for bringing CONAN, and therefore the “Swords and Sandals” genre to comics 50 years ago. Save Robert E. Howard himself, no other writer is more associated with the character in our fine medium. His stamp of approval is a solid touch.

The Bad: It’s an anthology title and as such, your mileage will vary on the actual stories of this issue. That’s fine. That’s what anthologies do—that’s what they’re for. It’s probably also why they don’t really exist anymore, which is a shame. It’d be great if this could just be there at a comic shop, or newsstand, or airport bookstore, for when you felt like grabbing one and checking it out. I’m too cynical to think this will ever happen, but reading it made me believe for minute or two that it was possible.

The Score: 10 out of 10

Further Reading: I mean, support Titan, support this book. It’s 80 pages for seven bucks—that’s quite deal nowadays. They also have omnibus editions of classic Marvel CONAN stuff, both the black and white magazines and the four-color comic books.