Conan the Barbarian #4

Written by Brian Wood
Art by James Harren

This is the first issue of the latest Conan series to not be drawn by Becky Cloonan, who is a big part of the appeal for me of this particular title.  I am also a big fan of Brian Wood's writing (and art, but when's the last time we got to see that?), so I wasn't about to drop the title; I did wonder how much my enjoyment of the series would change though.

Luckily, James Harren is an incredible artist in his own right.  I've been enjoying his work on BPRD (especially on the latest mini-series The Long Death ), but I feel like he's been cut loose on this series.  His double-page spread of the city of Argos is amazing, as are many individual panels throughout the comic.

Conan and his new partner Belit, the pirate queen, decide to seek revenge on Argos, a city where Conan was incarcerated when this series began.  The plan to turn Conan over to the authorities, received the bounty for him, and while his is imprisoned awaiting his certain execution, they would rob the city, and make plans to free him.  Of course, plans don't always work out the way they are intended, and so they all have to improvise.

Wood does a great job of portraying Conan as wracked with doubt, as he lies in his cell.  I'm not all that familiar with the character, but there is definitely more depth to him in this series than I would have expected.  It's good stuff, even without Becky Cloonan.