I've been a fan of Conan and the Conan stories since the 1970's when I found the Lancer editions of the Conan books in used book stores. The character keeps coming back, through reprints, new stories, and new comic/graphic novel interpretations. This fourth graphic novel volume, based on comics written by Mathieu Gabella and Julien Blondel with art by Anthony Jean and Valentin Sécher takes two of the original Conan stories by Robert E. Howard ("Beyond the Black River" and "Hour of the Dragon") and brings them to full-color life in these new retellings.
In "Beyond the Black River," Conan, the only white man to have crossed the Black River into Pictish territory and come back alive, rescues Balthus, a peasant about to be fiendishly killed by the Picts. The pair then head off into the country to warn some colonists - the last community of civilization in the territory - and together they might stave off the powerful sorcerer Zogar Sag who is pulling the Pictish clans together.

"The Hour of the Dragon" features three men of high ambition and low moral compass come to offer an unusual gift to the dead body of their former sovereign ... the heart of Ahriman, which will bring the dead king immortality. But Conan stands in their way. Conan ... who has seized the throne of Aquilonia.

As I've noted, I've read a lot of Conan over the last fifty years and I haven't felt that the more recent graphic novels have held up well. I recognize that I'm spoiled by the works of John and Sal Buscema in the B&W comic, and by Barry Windsor-Smith in the Marvel color comic, but it's a bar other artists should be reaching for. Fortunately, I think that's finally been attained. I really enjoyed the artwork in this book.

Anthony Jean gave us a very different approach to Conan, and at first it was a bit jarring to me. This bearded, shaved-side-of head warrior dressed like a samurai wasn't the Conan I was expecting, but it was so different that it got me to thinking about the stories and the characters and I realized that there was no reason this couldn't be Conan. Instead of trying to redo Buscema and Windosr-Smith, who were re-doing Frazetta (cover artist for the early Lancer books), Jean gives us a unique version that really works.

Valentin Sécher provides the art for "The Hour of the Dragon" and this Conan is a little more familiar to those of us who've been around the character for a few years. Big and impossibly muscular, but the backgrounds here capture the dark moodiness that persists in Conan stories. My only complaint here is that this Conan looks way too much like Jason Momoa in every panel. I can see where there may be people wanting to put Momoa in this role, but as someone who is not a fan of Momoa, it did grate on me a bit. But the execution of the art is superb.

The book also contains both Robert E. Howard stories, straight up, as stories (no art).This I mostly did not like.

There is something nice about having the original story to read and to compare how well the comic author adapted it. It's also quite possible that there is a readership who is not familiar with the original works. However...

These stories are pretty easy to find as they've been printed and reprinted many times and a quick Google search can bring up free reads of many of the stories.

Including these within a graphic novel (but not making them graphic) seems like a cheap way to fill some pages to make it worth charging more money for the book. But this is not a good use of these pages. Printing of a graphic novel is not cheap because of the four-color ink used, and even if it's possible to print some of the book in black ink only, there is some color behind the print making this an expensive use of reprinting an 85-year old story.

I also, personally, don't like reading fiction in this format ... large paper, two column print. And the digital version is worse given the need for scrolling back and forth.

Looking for a good book? The graphic novel, The Cimmerian, Vol. 4, is great, from a graphic novel standpoint, but the inclusion of the original stories is not only unnecessary, but a waste of space and money.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This is a series I continue to enjoy. This volume includes two stories: "Beyond the Black River" and "Hour of the Dragon."

In "Beyond the Black River," Conan is working as a mercenary soldier in an outpost. He sees all the signs that the Pict tribes are restless and uniting against the ruler employing Conan. A young man joins the army, but soon he has to rush back to save his family from the invasion with Conan's help. This is a good story where see Conan's ingenuity and guile to overcome obstacles.

In "Hour of the Dragon," three power hungry men awaken an ancient sorcerer using the Heart of Ahriman. They want the sorcerer to help them become rulers of the world. Conan by now has become king of Aquilonia, and his kingdom is one of the men's targets. He loses his kingdom, but you can't keep Conan down nor discount him. Soon the barbarian is on a quest to get his kingdom back and defeat the sorcerer and the threat the sorcerer represents. This is a tale of high adventure. Conan will need his strength, his wits, and his allies to get his kingdom back and save the world. It is a longer tale, but it offers a fast reading pace. It feels a bit like an epic adventure fantasy film, especially in this adaptation.

Like other volumes in the series, this volume includes the original text of Howard's short stories. I appreciate that element; you can read the original sources and see how well the comics did the adaptation. In addition, the volume includes a cover gallery and a section of extras like early art sketches.

If you are a fan of the Conan stories, you'll enjoy these adaptations where we get Conan wild, uncensored, and smart. The stories are fast paced. The art is well suited to the stories and in full color. The art is a good reason to read these volumes.

Overall, this continues to be a great series. I highly recommend it for libraries with graphic novel collections. I would add this one to my personal library.

This was another great read on the Cimmerian series. I particular like these, as they give a view into these great stories. Plus, they include the original stories, which is definitely a plus, and then you can compare. Can't wait for the next in this great series. #TheCimmerianVol4 #NetGalley

The latest graphic novel edition in a series that retells Conan the Barbarian stories originally written by Robert Howard. Not only are two stories presented graphically; but also included is the original Howard story in words, which is a nice addition.

Conan is back in another two adventures! These are later adventures. Beyond the Black River reminds me of the tales of brave frontiersmen I used to read. Conan and a young man he saves in the woods from a Pict ambush are striving to stop the shaman Zogar Sag from uniting the Pict tribes beyond the Black River from overwhelming the frontier. When they are ambushed and Balthus is captured, Conan manages to rescue him and they race to warn the settlers of oncoming Picts. A rousing adventure. Hour of the Dragon features a sorcerer brought back to life by three greedy men who cannot abide having Conan sitting on the throne of Aquilonia. After suffering defeat, and escaping from a very strange prison, Conan receives sorcerous helps of his own to defeat Xaltotun of Python, and regain his kingdom! The artwork was well done and having the text of the story available after the comic continues to be helpful. In all a very nice collection of adventures.

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title!

4.5 out of 5.0
The Cimmerian Vol 4 by Mathieu Gabella and Julien Blondel is the graphic novel version of BEYOND THE BLACK RIVER and HOUR OF THE DRAGON, two stories in the Conan universe created by Robert E. Howard.

The art work brings the story to life with its exquisite attention to detail and willingness to display the written violence and gore.

Highly recommend for any Conan fan.

Conan the character that is now into its 10th decade. The character has changed over the decades in various publications, books, movies and this slugfest series shows us an unfettered raw and rough Conan who is judicious and blunt on the use of force but shows discretion where necessary and fights hard with the objective of winning and not bothered by use of underhand techniques. In many ways this character reverts and stays true to Robert E. Howard's original which over the decades of use and rewrites was transformed into a hero. The use of Howard's original storylines too help. The authors need to be commended for bringing these stories to life and into the modern era where even rough characters are polished to a shine and sometimes appear as chocolate versions of their original self's.

The stories show loud doses of magic and the stories are dark. The action set pieces are brutal and filled with blood and gore just as the creators had claimed.

There are two story arcs with a jungle romp starring a favorite adversary the Picts. The adventure is dark and filled with action. the art is dark and excellent in patches. In some places the art leaves the reader unsatisfied. Conan himself looks a bit decrepit and way different from the image that one harbors. But over all the story is interesting.

The second ark is a time when Conan is a king and is about his efforts to reclaim his kingdom after it has been snatched by an ancient malevolent wizard.
The story canvas is huge and features armies and fantastic creatures of magic coupled with a grounded Conan who evokes loyalty and devotion from his subjects.
The art work in this story is of a superior level and with the story delving in fantasies the art takes on various tones of light and shimmer which are extremely pleasing to look at.

The book is of medium length for a graphic novel and with the story and art is a decent read.

4 stars for this book and I would recommend this to readers.

I thank NetGalley for providing and advance copy for review.
This review is based on my reading of this book. All views are my own and based on my experience while completing this volume.

In the fourth installment published by Ablaze Conan is reimagined without the Comics Code self-censorship of previous iterations. Mr. Gabella reimagines the two Robert E. Howard's stories "Beyond the Black River" and "Hour of the Dragon." The art is slightly cartoonish but the retelling of the stories is well done for Conan completists.

Conan is one of the most successful survivors of the pulp era: over the years, he’s been adapted into new books, movies, and comics. Ninety years after the first Robert E. Howard story was published, you’re likely to get new Conan content just about every month.
But most of these adaptations are missing something.
See, Conan in the original stories, isn’t really a hero. He’s the protagonist, certainly, but we’re not supposed to like or admire him. He’s a hard, cynical man, living in a time that calls for being hard and cynical. Howard set him up with a variety of jobs during his life- thief, pirate, mercenary, king- so he could use Conan as a story engine. Whatever fantasy genre Howard wanted to explore, or whatever crazy idea he had, he could drop Conan at some point into his life into that place in a way that would make sense (well, enough sense for pulp readers).
In order to get Conan to support ongoing stories, modern versions have sanded the edges off of him, turning him into a hero, giving him motivations and inner conflict and admirable personal qualities that modern readers might expect, but just don’t exist in the original conception. It’s not that these adaptations are wrong (well, some of them are pretty bad: let’s try to forget about the TV shows), but they’re not the character, the story engine, that Howard created.
Ablaze’s Cimmerian series is.
In these comics- brought over from Europe for the US market- the creators are going back to the Howard stories, and doing fairly direct translations of them into comics. This can be a little jarring: it is not the Conan readers have seen in Marvel or Dark Horse published comics. It’s the cynical, hard edged Conan that Howard was writing. That alone makes it interesting: in US comics we don’t often get protagonists who aren’t good guys (though UK readers might find it akin to 2000 AD). Going back to the source, to the unsanitized pulp weirdness and violence and sex (and, occasionally, portrayals of fictional cultures that wouldn’t fly today) feels transgressive and novel.
This volume contains two stories set in the later years of Conan’s life: “Beyond the Black River,” adapted by Mathieu Gabela and Anthony Jean, and Howard’s only Conan novel, “The Hour of the Dragon,” adapted by Julien Blondel and Valentin Secher. The first is a jungle adventure story, with strong elements of a frontier western, as settlers find themselves dealing with the dark magic of the native peoples they’re displacing. The second is set during Conan’s time as king of Aquilonia, and is a great mix of high fantasy clashes of armies and smaller scale Conan adventures, as he seeks to reclaim his kingdom from usurpers who have resurrected an ancient wizard to dethrone him. The volume also includes the original Howard stories, showing off the extent to which whole swathes of dialogue were taken directly from the originals (a nice bonus- I hadn’t read the original Hour of the Dragon since I was a teenager).
The art varies widely between the two stories. Jean’s art in “Beyond the Black River” is much closer to classic Band-Dessinees: highly detailed background mixed with expressive, cartoonish faces. His Conan looks nothing like modern comic versions (that’s not a bad thing!), more square jawed, clearly older, someone who looks like he could be experiencing great melancholy and great mirth.
Secher’s art in “The Hour of the Dragon” is much more painterly, with some really wonderful coloring effects contrasting vivid greens with the normally neutral tone color palette to show magic at work. His Conan is very much inspired by Jason Momoa’s portrayal, but not to the extent that it looks anything like a trace job. Rather, there’s enough plasticity in the face that it’s clearly Momoa, without the rigidity that often comes from trying to stick too close to a likeness.
In many translated volumes of comics, the lettering is an issue. Lettering is one of those crafts that should be invisible: if you’re noticing it, it’s probably bad. In this case, Dezi Sienty, who does lettering on both stories, keeps the text easily legible and fits everything into the word balloons without too much white space or crowding. You don’t really notice it, as it looks so natural, which means he’s doing a great job.
This is Conan as Howard wrote him: after decades of softening the character, of making him into something designing to appeal to modern audiences, that feels experimental and new. Fans of pulps, or fantasy that’s not trying to emulate Tolkien, or those who want something they’re not going to find in mainstream US comics will all have something to appreciate here.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ablaze for providing an advance copy of the title for review.