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August 29th, 2018 
Review: Conan #49 – “Wolf-Woman”
(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 until Marvel releases their first new Conan comic books in 2019. This review is written by John Jack and Wally Monk.)This the third part of Roy Thomas’ adaptation of “Kothar and the Conjuror’s Curse” by Gardner Fox. Of all the issues in this adaptation, this one is perhaps the best in the story line and that’s not saying much – it’s the closest that any one of these issues comes to a complete, self-contained story.
It’s also the first issue in adaptation that is more than a dozen pages of Conan.
Back in Conan the Barbarian #11, the Cimmerian fought Thak the Ape in an epic battle that lasted a whopping five pages. Sadly, it takes Conan four pages in this comic to defeat some rats while tied down with mere ropes and wooden stakes. It’s not a good day for Conan, and a mediocre issue for fans to read.
(An interesting note about this particular review is that some parts were written by two different bloggers and that opposing thoughts about this issue will be very apparent in the capsule review! Diversity in readership is a great thing – and opinions always vary widely.)
Conan is in a bind – figuratively and literally. He’s been tied down by Torkal Moh and his brigands and left as food for rats. The thieves took his sword, his horse and Stefanya – as well as the body of Zoqquandor which was being pulled behind Conan’s horse.
The barbarian struggles weakly against his bonds as the starving rats begin to move in, emboldened by his feeble attempts to defend himself, which intensify once the rats begin to bite in earnest. Suddenly, one rat inadvertently knocks over a nearby water pitcher. Conan reaches it and shatters the receptacle, using the shards to cut himself free.
Untied, Conan is reinvigorated by his success and knocks the rats away. Heading in the direction of Castle Ravengard, he angrily plans his revenge on Torkal Moh. As he walks away, Conan ponders what has happened, and here Roy Thomas is able to provide a brief recap for people who have just entered the ongoing story line.
Atop a small cliff, the Cimmerian spots a deer lapping at the waters of a small pond – and thirsty, he dives in. It’s then that he hears a the howl of wolves in the distance. It doesn’t take long before Conan is attacked by a small pack of the canines – only to have them called off by a strange woman clad in furs.
The woman introduces herself as Lupalina, and she knows that Torkal Moh took Stefanya and Zoqquanor’s body, as well as the amulet that Conan had around his neck – the one he was taking to Phalkar. She knows that Conan is heading to wreak vengeance on Torkal Moh – and she jokes with the barbarian, asking if he plans to pursue the baron nearly naked and weaponless, as he appeared in the pool.
Lupalina feeds Conan supper and the Cimmerian lies down for sleep. As he dreams, he dreams of Ursla, the woman of the north from her youth – the one who had polar bears for companions. She tells Conan in his dream to tell Lupalina upon waking that he once knew Ursla in the north. It appears the two are both wilderness shamans!
The wolf-woman opens up to Conan immediately when the Cimmerian mentions Ursla – Lupalina is glad the arctic shaman approves of her helping him. It seems that Lupalina has reasons of her own for going after Torkal Moh – two wizards, Thalkalides and Elviriom, helped overthrow the old ruler of Ravengard and she has a score to settle. She won’t let the Cimmerian in on all of her secrets, though.
Together, the duo (with Lupalina’s wolves) head towards Ravengard Keep and manage to defeat one of Torkal Moh’s smaller mercenary bands along the way. Terrified, the villagers claim that the baron will kill them all. But Lupalina says that the villagers are going to help them overthrow the keep!
CAPSULE REVIEW (By John Jack): Wow! What a great issue! From humble open to grandiose finish, this issue feels like a big anniversary issue, despite being a regular comic in the series. From Conan’s fight with the wolves to storming Ravengard, to the mysterious finale with Pthassiass, I’m really impressed with the story telling and art contained.
The art by John Buscema and Dick Giordano is spectacular on every panel, with a garden of death at the end being especially excellent. Likewise the animals, often a low point in many issues, looks detailed and perfect. On a scale of 1-10, I’d rate this issue a 9.
CAPSULE REVIEW (By Wally Monk): The interesting thing about two people reading a comic book is that sometimes they come up with strongly divergent viewpoints. For my part, this issue was mediocre at best, with typically good art by John Buscema but nothing that stands out. Once again, Roy Thomas tries to do too much in one issue, and the tale should have ended with the death of Torkal Moh – the rest could have been saved for issue #50.
The story seems strangely non-Conan, as in the past we’ve seen Conan walking off into the sunset at the end of the story. Yet here in Roy Thomas’ adaptation of “Kothar” each issue is like a roller coaster that never stops, and we’re never allowed to take a deep breath between plot devices. On a scale of 1-10, I’d give this issue a 6.4.
On eBay, copies of this issue were available in varying conditions for less than $10.
There you have it – a capsule review from two bloggers, Siskel and Ebert style!
