Conan the Avenger #6 Review

Would Robert E. Howard really be proud of this iteration of his storied character? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

The hunt for the witch that stalks the city’s shadows comes to its climactic conclusion as Conan and his ally Agara do everything in their power to find out the truth! When this day is done, the capital of Kush will never be the same!

I’m ecstatic to report that the latest outing in the ever engaging odyssey of this particular barbarian follows a plot that’s direct. The creative team has crafted something that entertains their audience in the most convenient ways, as an issue that knows what it wants to be pushes a striking conclusion. Which is why this latest outing works as well as it does, and so by Crom, you need this on your pull-list.

Fred Van Lente absolutely kills with a to the point text that knows its limitations but manages to yield intrigue nonetheless. Conan‘s life is changing fast, as his current world is yet again torn apart in the spray of blood and fire, which is exactly the type of chaos our Cimmerian warrior thrives in. The talent garnered my attention with a script that held a quickened pace and boasted familiar tropes. He informed the release as it innately became a kinetic onslaught worthy of its long standing heritage.

The illustrations handed in by Eduardo Francisco were a bit of a mixed bag for me. There were several pages where the final renditions proved to be inspiring to the eye, but there were just as many instances where the pencil strokes formed players that seemed inconsistently realized. Overall his work did what it needed to do but considering the visual legacy surrounding this version there needed to be a bit more oomph. Even so the colors by Michael Atiyeh succeed at rounding out the display.

Conan the Avenger #6 is an outing that got me pumped for the future, but it did hold some issues along the way. Even so this comic does enough right to come recommended.