Story Synopsis: Conan The Barbarian Vol. 1: The Life And Death Of Conan Book One

All great warriors must die eventually and in this week’s Comic Rewind we learn how Conan dies in Conan The Barbarian Vol. 1: The Life And Death Of Conan Book One.

Conan the Cimmerian has lived a life few could have dreamed of.  His life was packed with more adventures than 100 men.  Each adventure would be something a normal man would brag about for the rest of their lives.  However, for Conan that was just a Tuesday.

Conan was literally born of the battlefield, fought in the fighting pits, commanded troops, became king and was hung for theft.  However, one adventure has had a lasting impact on Conan and it was what caused his death.

While fighting in the pits he came across a beautiful foreign beauty.  Conan did what Conan always did with beautiful women and bedded her or at least attempted to.  While they were in bed she dug her long fingernails into his back and revealed her true form.  This beautiful woman was in fact a witch and her nails were dripping with poison.

Comic Rewind; Conan

This crimson witch took Conan back to her lair and was going to sacrifice him to resurrect Razazel aka Blooded Doom.  Conan was able to escape and chopped off her head.  However, many years later she returned with twins who stabbed Conan and paralzed him.  This became what would be Conan’s final days, but we got to see Conan’s adventures before he died.

Conan The Barbarian Vol. 1: The Life And Death Of Conan Book One was written by Jason Aaron with art by Mahmud A. Asrar, Gerardo Zaffino and Matthew Wilson.  Marvel Comics published the volume in 2019.

Never Gave Conan The Attention He Deserved

Conan has never really been a big part of my life.  I like fantasy and love Arnold as much as any other ‘90s kid, but Conan never grabbed my attention.  Honestly I think I just never devoted the attention to it like I should have.

I saw this volume and remember hearing good things about it so I decided to give it a try.  I ended up really liking it.  It ended up being a lot of short stories in a big framework story.  That kind of format I think lends itself well to a Conan comic.  One big Conan adventure might get a little stale in not too much time.

Conan

Conan Shows Us What’s Best In Life

What I loved most about this comic is what Conan does best, kicking ass and taking names.  Conan is a badass and fights some crazy creatures like they were nothing.  At one point he fights some snakes the size of elephants and another time he fought a lion because he was bored.  He punched that lion right in the face.

One of my only complaints about the comic is that we don’t actually get to see Conan die.  His death takes place over multiple volumes.  Conan was able to get out of a lot of near death circumstances and I was wondering how this one was able to get him.  I would have preferred a different story arc per volume.

I also felt like the comic was missing something.  There was a certain thing which was lacking, but I can’t put my finger on exactly what it was.  It could have maybe been the stories being a little too short.  A few with two issue arcs instead of one may have been more satisfying.

This is a great intro story to Conan and a good intro into what fantasy comics can bring to the table.

Rating:

⅘

Where To Buy This Comic

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