“BARBARIAN ACTION AND INTRIGUE BY ROY THOMAS & ALAN DAVIS! CONAN’s latest job has gone awry, as he finds himself at the mercy of the Afghuli hillmen! But even this is nothing compared to the threat hovering in the hidden mountain cave that SERRA hired him to find! If they can escape the creatures, can they save the treasure? What secret is ZUBAIR hiding and what is Serra REALLY after? Plus: the penultimate chapter in the all-new novella THE SHADOW OF VENGEANCE!”

By WALLY MONK – Paint Monk’s Library Editor

The title says it all. We’ve been given a mere two issues with Rascally Roy Thomas, and the tale is over. Frank Tieri will take over writing chores in Savage Sword #12, while Andrea Di Vito snags the pencils from Alan Davis.

I made some predictions last month about Thomas’ first issue and so far I’m pretty much on the mark. Zubair, a hired mercenary working alongside our Cimmerian (as I predicted) has become a problem. Serra, the noblewoman who hired Conan in the first place, harbors a secret (I said she was more than she appeared). A treasure in the form of a dark crystal is another concern.

Wait a minute – it’s not the “Jim Henson” Dark Crystal; rather, it’s the Hyborian dark crystal. Ironically, it’s a shard of the aforementioned crystal that is the lynchpin in Roy Thomas’ story this month, much like it was in the muppet film.

I wonder how much money the Henson estate has for lawyers?

Review: Savage Sword of Conan (Vol. 2) #11

Conan manages to escape from the Afghuli hillmen, while Zubair and Serra lead the villains to the dark crystal cave. But there are defenses in place; a huge swarm of bat-beasts roost in the cavern, ready to come to the defense of the massive gem.

A betrayal is afoot. Serra’s ring is a missing shard of the crystal they have found and a battle ensues. It’s a Hyborian free-for-all inside the crystal cave!

CAPSULE REVIEW: This issue wasn’t awful, but it left me with some concerns. First and foremost, why was Roy Thomas given a mere two-issue story arc? While I pondered this, I was reminded that Thomas is capable of telling a story in two issues that most Conan writers would need a trade paperback to describe. Perhaps there really is some truth in that.

Alan Davis’ artwork is always a treat, and his scenes involving the bat-creature denizens of the crystal cavern are fun and a joy to see on the pages.

Notably absent are many of Thomas’ signature dialogue boxes, which are far more sparse in this issue than the last. This installment relies more heavily on word balloons and artwork to tell the story. In addition, some of Conan’s dialogue is awkward. He…doesn’t sound like Conan, you’ll need to read the story to appreciate exactly what I am saying. At one point in the tale, Serra tells Conan “I don’t have time for your philosophy.” These seem like odd choices of verbiage and divergence from Thomas’ normally flowery prose.

I would be curious to see the original script for this issue and if these were Thomas’ words or editorial changes. While I’m certainly not an expert, I would wager money on the latter.

This was not a terrible tale and while worth the cover price, it was not a story arc that allowed Roy’s mastery of the Cimmerian to shine. A few weeks ago, I read the 1990 Conan mini-series “Flame & The Fiend” which he wrote and I thought it was far better than this issue.

On a scale of 1-10, I’d rate SSoC #11 a 7. It’s far better than much of what we’ve seen so far in Savage Sword, with the exception of the “Conan the Gambler” storyline. It’s tough for me to admit, but in Marvel’s newest Conan outings thus far, Jim Zub seems to have a better grasp of the barbarian than Roy Thomas. It will be exciting to see Zub take the reins of the regular Conan series soon.