Conan The Slayer #1
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Sergio Davila
Release Date: 07/ 13/ 2016
Alone, battle weary, and with nothing but his sword, Conan of Cimmeria faces his inevitable death in the arid wastes . . . but instead stumbles into a camp of Kozaki raiders. With a knife at his throat and a band of Turanian hunters at his back, will the half-dead barbarian find a new ally in the Kozaki chief?
Conan The Slayer #1 is the newest Conan series by Dark Horse Comics. This time we are joined by comic book writer of Harrow County and Uncanny X-Men, Cullen Bunn, on his take on our favorite Barbarian. Conan has seen war, and it isn’t pretty. The issue begins with him stranded in the desert, alone, parched, wounded, and plenty of arrows sticking out of him. He is the only man left in his battle against the Turanians.
The Art of Conan isn’t pretty, though it’s pretty nice to look at.It’s gory, and not for the weak stomach. Conan is a very smart battle strategist, and a strong one at that. As he treads through the desert sands, he leaves a trail for his enemies that are hunting him. As the hunters find their prey, he turns the tables easy with a slash of his sword, leaving gashes in his enemies. He isn’t one to let anyone beg for mercy. He kills swiftly, and makes sure that his enemies do not suffer, but know who it was that ended their lives.
As Conan approaches a camp of bandits, we get to see more flashbacks of his battle that was before the issue. Conan not only suffers the brunt of the battle and of the desert, but also of all the followers that lost their lives that trusted him. Conan is taken in by the Kozaki raiders raider as a captive, but shows them how much of a badass he is, and that he isn’t afraid of anything. The leader of the Kozaki raiders has the family dynamic that is used several times. Strong leader, bickering kids that want to prove one is better than the other. One trusts his father’s decisions, while the other wants to be a hothead.
- Story - 9/109/10
- Art - 9/109/10
The Verdict
Conan The Slayer #1 lived up to his name. He is Conan, The Destroyer, The Barbarian, and now he is the also The Slayer. I lost count of how many bodies he killed in this single issue alone, but it was a good number. With an interesting last page of severed heads left on stakes in the desert, I’m ready for the next issue to find out more of this story.