Can this barbaric property still hold a candle to the other franchises available at your local comic shop?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

Conan’s army has infiltrated the Shemite fortress protected by Bêlit! Can their love for each other survive the battle—and can they?

The saga of this warrior has been re-invented and replayed time and again but perhaps this specific volume has the distinction of being the most well thought out thus far.  As a piece of literature the creative team births something outstanding here, even if it’s abundantly clear that there’s still plenty of room for this series to learn and grow.

Brian Wood pens the script and the author takes a soft approach that right from the start brings forth a path that knows exactly where it’s going even if the audience remains relatively clueless about the final destination.  Surely eager followers will be hooked by the revelations and the heartwarming segments found within, as our hero falls to his knees over the love of a woman.  Beyond that the pacing, as a direct result of the deliberate style, suffers through out this comic book. The narrative simply drags on for far too long but despite that I found myself pleased with the content as I ignored some mismanaged portions here and there.

Comic artist Andrea Mutti lends her pencil in order to bring forth some breathtaking visualizations that seem to be destined to outshine the core mechanics of this well-structured conclusion.  The illustrator uses thick and thin strokes to realize a barren but lively landscape while offering up full-formed actors with detailed expressions that simply illuminate the dialogue.  Our core characters are given a necessary amount of attention to allow them to become detailed beings in their own right. Suffice to say whether or not you fall in love with the content found in the script, enjoy these beautiful visuals.

Conan the Barbarian #15 delivers a powerful emotional punch but due to some lackluster pacing the quality of the entire package was lowered a bit.   But still it earns a recommendation.

3.5/5