(EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to Countdown to Conan, a series ringing in the return of Robert E. Howard’s popular Cimmerian to Marvel Comics. We’ll be reviewing issues of Marvel’s original Conan the Barbarian series weekly. This is a review of Conan the Barbarian (Vol. 1) #13.)

By WALLY MONK – Paint Monk’s Library Editor

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel The Hobbit, the despotic dragon Smaug had just one weak spot. In Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, Conan’s “one weak spot” appears to be his head. Perhaps he should never have let Jenna rid him of his “yak helmet” in Conan the Barbarian #6.

Hot on the heels of Conan the Barbarian #12 – where Conan gets whacked on the head and knocked out, only to find himself in the clutches of a wacky, possessive queen – the barbarian once again gets KO’ed by some desert nomads who quickly take the unconscious barbarian’s horse and leave him for dead in the desert. 

I can only imagine how much Conan cursed Jenna over his lack of protective headgear while he was nearly dying of thirst in the middle of the desert in eastern Ophir.

Conan the Barbarian #13 – “Web of the Spider God” – is plotted by author John Jakes. Jakes, who created his own fantasy character in Brak the Barbarian, is probably better known for his Civil War novels and his famous North and South trilogy than for his comic stories.

Brak the Barbarian made three appearances in Marvel Comics – one in Chamber of Chills, and two seperate back-up stories in the black and white magazine Savage Tales #8 and #9.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this issue is the notable change in the artwork by Barry-Windsor Smith. While much of his earlier work was admittedly Jack Kirby inspired, Windsor-Smith begins to make strides in this issue creating his own style. These stylistic changes will ultimately make the transition to John Buscema artwork in Conan the Barbarian #25 less jarring.

“Web of the Spider God” in Conan the Barbarian #13 is not to be confused with L Sprague DeCamp’s Conan novel published in 1980, titled Conan and the Spider-God. DeCamp’s story was later adapted in a four issue story arc in The Savage Sword of Conan #207-210.

Marvel Comics published a follow-up tale to the Savage Sword adaptation in 1998. It was a three-issue mini series called Conan: The Lord of the Spiders.

If there are any similarities between this original tale and the later L. Sprague DeCamp novel, I do not know. I have not read DeCamp’s book. But if you’re a Robert E. Howard or Marvel Conan historian, I’d be grateful to hear about any such connections in the comments section after this review.

Review: Conan the Barbarian (Vol. 1) #13

Conan is having troublie in the Ophirian desert – no matter where he goes, someone wants to kill him! This time, the Cimmerian has found an oasis, but he will not get a chance to drink. He’s assaulted by marauders as he approaches the water.

Despite putting up a valiant fight, Conan is (as mentioned above) knocked on the head and winds up unconscious in the desert sand. The leader of the marauders, Sarkon, orders that the men take his sword and his horse. They ride off, leaving Conan for dead.

As you probably guessed, Conan isn’t dead. He awakens to find himself with nothing left – and as he wanders the desert, he soon becomes lost. At one point he believes he has found a source of water – but winds up “drinking” sand as the oasis is nothing but an illusion. In his weary, delusional state he has a vision of a giant spider – and himself being consumed by the creature!

 

 

 

Conan awakens, and continues to stumble, delirious, to the top of a sandy ridge where he collapses. It’s a good thing he made it to the top, where he’s spotted by an old man who happens to see him collapse. The old fella’s got some water, too and manages to bring Conan back to consciousness.

 

 

In their conversation, as Conan regains his mental and physical strength, the barbarian learns that the men were Priests of Omm, a massive spider “demon thing” who lives in the nearby city of Yeshud. Conan, always ready to even a score, decides he’s going to take out the men who attacked him and their leader. The old man, whose daughter was kidnapped by these men, decides to tag along.

Reminiscent of several previous issues, the guards don’t want to let Conan into the city. But Conan, never one to mince words, explains exactly why he is there. “I am Conan,” he says. “And your high priest is a slimy jackal I’ve come to slay.” Sounds like the beginning of a friendly conversation to me.

 

Will Conan face off with Omm, the Spider-God? Will he get revenge on the evil high priest? What about the rescue of the old man’s daughter, Lea? And will the Cimmerian finally buy a new helmet? Please let me know what you think in the comments below!

 

CAPSULE REVIEW: This story is not exceptional in any way other than that it’s the start of an ongoing theme in many upcoming Conan comics – 1) Something bad happens to Conan, 2) Conan plots revenge, and meets a friendly protagonist along the way and 3) Conan metes out Cimmerian justice. That’s the basic plot of this comic in its entirety, and it’s sad that this is what many Conan comics coming up in the series will be. 

 

In the first 10 issues, we had lots of originality, and many adaptations of Howard stories. Conan #1 had a taste of science fiction in the Star-Stone. In issue #2, he was enslaved in the underground world of Brutheim; #3 and #4 were excellent adaptations of Howard stories, and so on. Here, we get Conan hack and slash. There’s nothing to “dislike” about it, after all, Conan is as Conan does, and that’s slay with impunity. But the originality of the first dozen or so issues is lacking here in a big way.

 

On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this comic a 6.4.

 

On eBay, copies in F-VF condition were readily available for less than $10. Once CGC-graded 9.4 copy was selling with 2 bids at $74.97 with almost three days left in the auction.

 

As always, I am – Wally (AKA Paint Monk) 

 

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Check back on Wednesday, when Conan meets Elric, ruler of the Dragon Isles, in a review of Conan the Barbarian #14!)