Writer: Meredith Finch
Art: Luke Ross, Nolan Woodward, VC’s Travis Lanham, David Finch
Price: $3.99
Release Date: Jun 19, 2019
Meredith Finch gets her shot at telling a tale of the great Cimmerian from the Hyborian Age whose been tricked, captured, and sold off to die in this week’s SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #6. Will our favorite barbarian find a way to escape? Let’s take a look and find out!
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
SAVAGE OVERVIEW
This one-shot by Meredith Finch perfectly depicts Conan in a nutshell. He’s savage, vicious, and not someone to be trifled with. Finch gives readers a perfect snapshot of the character, his ideals, how he is perceived, and his barbaric fortitude that is unmatched across the entire Hyborian Age. Luke Ross’ art jumps off the page and instantly attracts readers to this chapter of the novella. Ross’ battle scenes are graphic, dynamic, and violently appealing to any comic fan out looking for a comic that has brutal quarrels and ferocious skirmishes. Luke Ross’ knack for detail, especially on close up facial expressions, is truly dynamite. This reviewer particularly adored Ross’ painted style and left the issue looking for more.
INTERESTING TWISTS
At first, this reviewer thought we were getting the same old story. Guy gets put into slavery. Guy fights his way out of slavery. Guy frees slaves while there. Guy overthrows the King. However, that was not the case at all AND shows the true creativity of Finch and the time she was willing to put into a simple one-shot. She could have just filled in a cheesy story BUT she decided to deviate from the norm and concoct a very impressive chapter towards the Conan novella that incorporated unique twists to a common theme and story.
THE BEST PARTS
Maybe this reviewer is an idiot but I didn’t see the man drugging Conan at all. Nevertheless, seeing how massively strong and intimidating that Conan is, it makes sense that the only way people get the upper hand against the Cimmerian is by means of trickery. In addition, this Conan fan loved the continual hint to the reader that the drug needed to be given to him continuously and timely or they would regret it. Sure enough, they regretted it!
Furthermore, this reviewer loved Finch’s twist within the issue. Instead of fighting for simple freedom, Conan was battling other convicts as an appetizer to the main event, which was Princess Mavia’s hand in marriage. She desired him and wanted to make the strongest and most formidable children to rule the kingdom of Akif. The current King wanted no parts of a filthy criminal ruling his country with his daughter so he tried to poison Conan and failed miserably. However, the best part of the issue was the ending. Conan escapes but not until he steals the Princess’s necklace and works his way back to kill the man who drugged him while he was bragging about killing Conan. This was such a great way for Finch to end the issue.
It’s what you would expect from a Conan book. Finch gave readers a fantastic short story that enticed this reviewer, captivated my attention, and left me excited for the next issue. Ross’ art was clear and grabbed this reviewers attention from the beginning. However, there was no development towards an overarching story or plot, which wasn’t her intent. That said, the aspect was missing and would have been appreciated if the story contributed in some way moving forward. Finch’s one-shot was an above average take on the Cimmerian and this fan wouldn’t mind seeing her take another stab at a mini-series.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Conan fans will leave the issue with a great short story that was fun, entertaining, and showed how unstoppable the barbarian truly can be. Pick this comic up and add it to your pull however the issue could be skipped because Finch doesn’t tie the story into the series before or after. Next month will be another new writer, Jim Zub, who will be on the book for a while. Hopefully, Meredith Finch gave fans a great taste of what’s on the horizon for this savage barbarian from Cimmeria.