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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on October 8, 2024.

Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #1

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Jonas Scharf (Artist) – Titan Comics – September 4, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

After being teased in the 2024 Free Comic Book Day issue and The Savage Sword of Conan #4, the first issue in the Conan the Barbarian miniseries Battle of the Black Stone has arrived. Throughout the first dozen issues of the Titan Comics run of Conan the Barbarian, the title hero has had frequent run-ins with a mysterious black stone not of this world, a substance with a malign, corrosive effect on the people who encounter it. While the ageless sorcerer Thulsa Doom was revealed to have a connection with the black stone (in Conan the Barbarian #12), it was also demonstrated that he was merely someone who harnessed the magical mineral, rather than its progenitor.

In addition to the stone itself, a crudely carved eye sigil has become a recurring motif. The 2024 Free Comic Book Day issue showed Conan working as a frontier ranger for the kingdom of Aquilonia, years after his initial contact with the stone. After defeating a particularly formidable Pictish tribesman in combat, he finds himself preoccupied with the pendant the Pict wore, bearing this ominous eye-shaped sigil.

The first issue of the Battle of the Black Stone miniseries picks up immediately after the 2024 Free Comic Book Day issue. After sensing himself become unusually prone to violent rage, Conan ventures into the Pictish wilderness in search of the sigil’s source. Meanwhile, in 1936 Chicago, occult researcher Professor John Kirowan and his adventurous compatriot John Conrad visit the Wanderer’s Club, an association of world travelers, on their own quest for information about the very same dark eye sigil. They meet with Francis Xavier Gordon, also known as El Borak (“The Swift” in Arabic), but receive a cold reception. Gordon’s own encounter with the glyph in the desert Forbidden Temple (as shown in The Savage Sword of Conan #4) appears to have left him with lingering trauma that he is reluctant to revisit. Inevitably all hell breaks loose at the Wanderer’s Club, however, giving El Borak no choice but to confront his fears.

Jonas Scharf’s artwork manages to distinguish itself from the excellent work we’ve already seen from Roberto De La Torre and Doug Braithwaite while simultaneously feeling completely appropriate for the setting and characters. His scruffy, stubbly Conan appeals, delivering the impression of a man at home in the wilderness.

The dialogue and narration has the same fittingly propulsive feel Jim Zub’s work on Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian and The Savage Sword of Conan. As mentioned in my review of the Free Comic Book Day prelude, story-wise, Battle of the Black Stone still feels quite close in execution to the 2019 Conan: Serpent War crossover miniseries Zub wrote for Marvel Comics. Hopefully it will diverge significantly in the issues to follow.

All-in-all, the Battle of the Black Stone event is off to an intriguing start. While not mandatory, reading The Savage Sword of Conan #4 beforehand will enhance the experience with extra character background and the full story of El Borak’s encounter with the dark eye. Even if The Savage Sword of Conan #4 is skipped, readers are encouraged to read the 2024 Free Comic Book Day issue, which is available from the publisher in digital format at no charge.

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