Tripwire Reviews Titan’s Conan The Barbarian: Bound In Black Stone

Back In Black

Tripwire’s contributing writer Ernie Estrella reviews Titan’s Conan The Barbarian: Bound In Black Stone out in trade paperback now…

Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Roberto De La Torre
Colourists: Jose Villarrubia and Dean White
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Titan Comics

The history of Conan the Cimmerian comics starts with Robert E. Howard’s introduction in the pulp magazine Weird Tales back in 1932 and his legendary status in popular culture is fast closing in on a century’s time. One could argue that Hercules may have a longer legacy, but Conan had such a massive impact, forever establishing a mold of the bloodlust-filled warrior, inspiring He-Man, Drax the Destroyer, Red Sonja, Xena Princess Warrior, Kratos the God of War, and countless others. Rattle off the description of the “barbarian” class in Dungeons and Dragons and it’s a word-for-word description of the son of Crom.

Conan’s popularity spiked in the 1970’s with a landmark best-selling run at Marvel, written by Roy Thomas and showcased the talents of Barry Windsor-Smith and John Buscema. That helped give way for the Arnold Schwarzenegger film in 1982. Dark Horse Comics took the license in the late 1990s to new heights with Kurt Busiek writing with art by Cary Nord and many others.

Marvel recently had another two-year stint in 2019-2021, but in 2022, Titan Comics acquired the rights and has taken the privilege of the license seriously with an exciting reboot that will make longtime fans believe they’ve gone back in time. Newer readers will be treated to a time when Hal Foster and Will Eisner were the high bar in comic art. Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone collects the Free Comic Book Day 2023 issue along with Titan’s first four issues. The story was written by the capable hands of Jim Zub, but the star of the series is artist Roberto De La Torre with the help of colorists Jose Villarrubia and Dean White.

The FCBD issue is a primer on everything they need to know about who Conan is, what his talents are, and what drives him. We see Conan leave the comforts of Cimmeria to seek out adventure and wander the world outside of his home. That’s when Bound in Black Stone begins and where the meat of this release starts.

It’s now years after the battle of Venarium and on his return to home, a scout on horseback warns of an unnatural threat marching towards him. It is the Pict army that is headed his way but there is no motivation for their savagery, in fact, they are all resurrected from the dead. Something from the dark skies commands their moves and like a swarm of locusts, they destroy everything in their path. The hive nearly takes Conan on his path, but Brissa, is a Pict as well, the last survivor who has seen her loved ones fall possessed by whatever is controlling them. When she tells them that they’ve already invaded Cimmeria, that’s all Conan needs to know to pick up his pace to go home. It’s a one way story at this point and readers know that Conan won’t stop until his heart stops beating.

Conan stories need not to be overly complex, but they do need to ground readers to a time without technology, when all the known science was used to forge steel to be driven into flesh. They need to make us believe that a world run by basic survival can be the biggest motivator and at the same time, the most dangerous threat. Zub does that beautifully while leaving plenty of space for the art to do the heavy lifting.

De La Torre illustrates a land where there are few straight lines thanks to outdoor landscapes, where wild animals and livestock run free, readers are able to distinguish the difference between leather and textiles. His mastery of light and shadow are as impressive as his Baroque-like action sequences. We feel the weight of Conan’s sword, we can almost hear the tearing of flesh, and wince at the foul stench of corpses. The organic shine of muscles, the varying ridges of stone, and the grains of wood are defined by Villarrubia and White’s colours. Every panel, every action shot, and every quiet scene is vivid and life-like without looking too exaggerated, too extreme.

If Titan can continue telling stories like this, it will be hard to wrestle the rights away from them. It was an absolute thrill to immerse myself in Conan’s world once again and not seek refuge until I closed the book. De La Torre’s art transports readers to not only to Cimmeria, but to a different era of comic art–the equivalent of eating a Michelin star dish. Savour each page and panel because this comic art is rare in this modern day. For his efforts alone, Bound in Black Stone needs to be read, shared, taken back and selfishly read again and again until the binding wears out.