Conan: Queen of the Black Coast

The thirteenth trade in the Dark Horse series. This one sees a bit of a departure from everything we've read prior.

First off, all the content creators for volume thirteen are different from volume twelve. I wasn't super stoked on twelve (if I recall), so this wouldn't have been a big issue had they all be replaced with superlative artists. But it's a bit hit and miss. The text is fine. But the story makes Conan seem a lot more vulnerable than he's ever been depicted. Very out of character to me at times. And a bit disjointed in its narrative.

Since when does Conan worry about dying? When does his life actually lay in the hands of another? Fuck that, Conan is always king of his own destiny. He doesn't give a fuck and no one can save Conan cuz Conan can decapitate anyone and everyone within arms reach. He'll do it with his bare hands. So, plotwise I thought it was a touch weird and more feminine than we're used to seeing.

Speaking of which, Conan wasn't drawn as the über-muscular northron we're used to seeing. He was depicted with a more pedestrian body. That's not to say he wasn't ripped, but he wasn't Conan ripped. I believe this story breaks from the timeline that the Nemidian Chronicles had established and it appears that it's a younger Conan. Maybe that's why.

There's been no foreword / introduction in the last three books. They switched some details around on book eleven. The spine is different and the content is a bit paired down. What started off as a ridiculously strong series for me, has been slowly losing its magic touch. I'm still gonna buy it faithfully, but I hope the pendulum swings back in favor of the Conan we were introduced to in the first half dozen books. The real Conan.

This is totally bizarre and I'd return the book if I hadn't bought it on Amazon and couldn't be bothered, but one of the signatures in the book was inserted upside down! All of a sudden I'm reading the book and the pages are flipped. So I have to turn the book and read 8 or 16 pages, then return to where I left off and continue right side up. So weird.

Conan rules.