• CONAN: CIMMERIA



Timothy Truman continues a remarkable run writing the Conan comics with this story arc that has the barbarian returning to his native homeland of Cimmeria. More than creator Robert E. Howard, or even the long runs of Marvel Comics’ “Conan the Barbarian” and “The Savage Sword of Conan,” Dark Horse Comics’ run of Conan comics has dealt with the character’s Cimmeria.

All past endeavors mentioned Cimmeria. Howard wrote a poem about Cimmeria. Other versions have had Conan often speaking of his wilder Cimmerian cousins or he’d mention the possibility of returning home for a visit. Various past narrations mentioned how Cimmerians learned to climb before they could walk. But few dealt directly with Cimmeria.

This gave Cimmeria and Conan’s Cimmerian ties the lure of mystery: an unknown quality that gave Cimmeria a certain allure. Dark Horse has opted to forgo the mystery and delve into the brooding land of Conan’s birth. A couple years ago, Dark Horse presented a look at Conan’s childhood years. That series introduced young Conan’s grandfather, a rare Cimmerian who roamed the world, and his stories of travel and adventure flared the imagination of a young Conan. More recently, the monthly comic book took a grown Conan back to Cimmeria. This story arc has been collected into a trade paperback edition, the seventh Dark Horse Conan volume (the eighth if you count the childhood stories listed as Volume 0). Truman does a great job taking Conan back to Cimmeria, aided by the fine artwork of Tomas Giorello and the colors of Jose Villarrubia. While this long-anticipated story of Conan’s homecoming does not disappoint, it is another element that urges this arc to greatness. Within Conan’s homecoming tale are flashback tales of his grandfather’s adventures in the Hyborean World.

Truman writes these adventures, too, but he is joined in the “grandfather” illustrations by the legendary comic-book artist Richard Corben. Corben created the “Neverwhere”/Den series for “Heavy Metal,” as well as work on numerous underground comics and, more recently, mainstream comics such as Marvel’s “Hulk.” Corben is also the artist who illustrated the memorable record cover of Meatloaf’s “Bat Out Of Hell” album. While many Conan fans may have preferred seeing Corben put his talents directly to Conan himself, his work on the grandfather’s stories is a dramatic change of pace. It also whets the appetite for that possibility of Corben on Conan sometime in the future. Corben drew a series of Conan illustrations many years ago, but he has never illustrated an actual comics story. Perhaps, this is merely the start …