The Colossal King Conan Hardcover – 27 Nov. 2018

Fast delivery. All as I expected. Highly recommended.

This book is fantastic. Great stories. The book quality is outstanding and it was packaged in its own box (and then packaged in Amazon shipping box) - it arrived in perfect condition. This is a must for every Conan and good comics fan

From the previous two reviews about the out-of-print status of this book, only days after it became available, I'm especially grateful that I pre-ordered my copy. And while I sympathize deeply with those two previous reviewers, it's only fair to review the book itself, in anticipation of a newer & larger printing.The classic standard for Conan in comics is the Roy Thomas-Barry Smith/John Buscema run from the 1970s. It still holds up beautifully, and will soon be reprinted in omnibus form (get your pre-orders in now). The only drawback of that run was the restriction of the Comics Code, which necessarily toned down the violence that's an inherent part of the Conan stories. I'm not one for gratuitous, over-detailed violence simply for the sake of violence in comics; but it absolutely belongs in these stories.Well, the King Conan stories collected here from Dark Horse, written by Timothy Truman & illustrated with vibrant power by Tomas Giorello, are all that any REH fan could hope for. Framing the Howard originals with the recollections of an even older King Conan was a brilliant stroke, allowing for Conan to show his more thoughtful, reflective side without losing a bit of his ferocity, as he looks back on his early days as king for a court scribe. And the stories themselves are largely faithful to Howard -- when minor changes are made, they're for narrative purposes, as in placing Zenobia at the climactic scene of Conan the Conqueror. If it had been a film, I'd have made that same change. It doesn't alter the story in any significant way, but simply makes it even stronger & more satisfying. I really can't see Howard objecting to it, and I doubt that many fans would, either.What I also like is the way Conan's character is captured. Some have mistaken him for a lover of violence & nothing but that … but while he's never one to shy away from battle, if necessary, he's an intelligent & cunning man, one who's learned much over the decades. Violence is part of life in the Hyborian Age: to survive, one needs to be a good fighter, and Conan is the best, by necessity. But he himself often reminds people that he speaks & reads many languages, has gathered a knowledge of history & lore from many lands, and is just as strong a strategist as a hand-to-hand fighter. This sets him apart from many of his foes & is the reason he triumphs over them. That, and his indomitable will!For those who haven't experienced these stories yet, these 680 pages will be a treat. Not only are the stories themselves reprinted, but also original art, preliminary sketches, pinups by various artists: all sorts of enjoyable ephemera. But the draw is Conan, done right. This is exactly how I always pictured him when I was a teenager, reading those Lancer paperbacks in the 1960s. Frankly, even if these stories were filmed, I don't see how they could improve on this collection. For any fan of heroic sword & sorcery, it just doesn't get any better than this -- most highly recommended!

This book goes nicely with the Colossal Conan from a few years back. If you have that book, you won't regret getting this companion piece. Nice, tight binding (smith sewn, if I'm not mistaken) and well made. Also, it comes inside it's own transportation box, same as the Colossal Conan did. Just lovely!All in all, I'm sorry to see Dark Horse lose yet another license to Marvel, seeing as the Star Wars books now being produced, well, suck, I'm kinda afraid Marvel'll do a number on Conan as well. I hope I'm wrong but won't hold my breath to be honest.Back to the book: comes with additional sketches, pencil art, bonus story ( the Sorrow of Akivasha by Truman and Paul Lee).One final thing: I hear it's already sold out and there's some people hurling abuse towards Dark Horse for that to happen. Err, if only we could order books before they come out, so that we don't miss out on them. This way the publisher would know how big interest for a title really is and just perhaps could print enough of the books in the first place. But wait, doesn't Amazon (and many other sellers) have such a thing, and we usually call it a "pre-order"? Ring any bells? We even get a guaranteed great price to go along with that.

Reviews are supposed to be how good is the product, not people complaining that they don't have the product. Have you people totally lost the plot?Book is fantastic. One of the best products ever put together.

The only thing I dislike is Conan going to Marvel Comics