“At last – AGNES, KANE, and MOON KNIGHT join CONAN in the Hyborian Age for the final showdown between SET, the WYRM, and…KHONSHU?!

JAMES ALLISON brought them together, but will KHONSHU tear them apart?

The thrilling conclusion to the ages-spanning saga that will have ramifications on the future of the assembled cast! A review of Conan: Serpent War #4.”

By BOB FREEMAN – Paint Monk’s Library Writer

Crom, it pains me to write this review on the 114th Anniversary of Robert E. Howard’s birth.

If I were to sum up with one word a description of Conan: Serpent War, it would be disappointment. What started out so promising with issue one has slowly and steadily devolved into an almost bigger disappointment than Aaron and Asrar’s Conan the Barbarian run. Almost.

Let’s begin with Jim Zub, who I had all but crowned as the worthy successor to Roy Thomas. Jim, I love you, but this was a convoluted mess.

I held out hope that Zub would stick the landing, but it missed the mark by the proverbial country mile. I don’t get why everyone has suddenly decided to play off Conan as an idiot? Howard’s Conan was far from it, even in his youthful years. He was impulsive and stubborn, but stupid?

I’m sorry. I want to keep this professional, but this issue, this series, a series I praised at the onset, to have fallen apart in just four issues so badly…disappointment. Yeah, there it is.

Do you know what might have helped this issue and the issues preceding it? Artistic continuity. Four issues – six artists. The only common thread being the James Allison bits by Vanesa del Rey, which I liked.

This issue we have Ig Guara who I have seen do some interesting work. Not here. It’s just… not good. It’s sloppy and brutish. It is a disappointment.

I just don’t want to be that guy. I get how tough this job can be. I get that both writer and artist sweat blood and tears for this, but I expect better than what was delivered. With a strange overarching and complicated plot, inconsistent artwork and poor characterizations of the heroes and villains is not how you deliver a product.

And that’s what we got.

I was hungrily anticipating Conan the Barbarian #13, the beginning of Jim Zub’s tenure on the flagship title. Now, I am apprehensive.

I thought I would have more to say about this issue, more about the mini-series as a whole… but what can you say? We knew from the start that Allison was being influenced by Wyrm. Was it supposed to be a twist to have Wyrm be the villain all along? That Set and Khonshu would become allies was something, but come on…

I like and respect Jim Zub, and therein lies the problem. I want him to succeed. I want to love his work. Most days, I do. This was a swing and a miss. It happens.

While I have no skulls to muster for this issue and my enemies are forced to lay upon the battlefield, their heads still attached to their wretched bodies, I will not give in to despair.

I believe in you, Jim Zub. I hope and pray to Crom (who does not listen, nor does he care) that your Conan will be everything we have longed for since Marvel regained the rights to the character. But for now, I will cleanse my palate with some Thomas and Buscema and wait for better days to come.

What did you think of Serpent War and its conclusion? Do you agree, or disagree? Share your thoughts below with one-click using your Facebook, Twitter or Gmail accounts.