Robin Marx's Writing Repository

This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on May 7, 2025.

Conan the Barbarian #19

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Doug Braithwaite (Artist) – Titan Comics – March 19, 2025

Review by Robin Marx

Two years have passed since Conan’s ill-fated heist with the unreliable thief Tarnasha. He and his pirate queen Bêlit terrorized the high seas, but their journey together has come to an end. Bêlit and her crew is dead (a story originally related in the 1934 Weird Tales story “Queen of the Black Coast”), the beached vessel The Tigress serving as their funeral pyre. Conan finds himself alone in the hostile jungles of the Black Kingdoms. He is left little time to grieve, however, as danger lurks behind every primeval tree. Hornets nearly chase him into the waiting maw of a crocodile, and the human life he encounters is nearly as unfriendly. Suspicious villagers rebuff his attempt to barter for water and directions, flatly stating that he brings danger and is tainted by death. Forced back into the jungle, Conan is stalked by a supernatural presence, its hostility apparent but its motive unknown.

Entitled “Hunted,” this issue is listed as the third part of the “Twisting Loyalties” story arc that began with Conan the Barbarian #17. Interviews with series writer Jim Zub had given the impression that the previous two issues with artist Danica Brine would comprise a two-part storyline, with this issue and next making a second two-parter with Doug Braithwaite handling art, but the Part III suggest more of a connection than is apparent just yet. Conan’s present jungle survival saga is separated by a significant amount of both time and distance from the events of issue #18, but more than enough unresolved plot threads remain to complicate his current situation.

While I haven’t always been the biggest booster of Doug Braithwaite’s artwork—I find his female characters insufficiently alluring compared to Zub’s breathless prose descriptions, and his depictions of young Conan look prematurely aged—this issue finds Braithwaite firmly in his element. Bereaved and beset, his barbarian looks appropriately haggard. The relentless animal attack scenes also play to Braithwaite’s strengths. And while background art is often overlooked, the dense jungles of the Black Kingdoms looks fantastic here. Diego Rodriguez also deserves special mention for the fine color work. Not only is he working with a vivid, vibrant palette, but his colors effectively communicate the temperature of every scene, from steamy heat to midnight chill.

While I won’t reveal his identity, this issue reintroduces a supporting character created by Roy Thomas in a 1978 issue of the original Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian. While my memories of this character were foggy, in his essay Jeffrey Shanks helpfully gives readers a detailed profile. Throughout his run on Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian, Zub has both proven himself loyal to Conan creator Robert E. Howard’s legacy while simultaneously demonstrating an eagerness to draw inspiration from post-Howard adaptations. Sometimes these references appear as visual Easter Eggs (like the Atlantean Sword first introduced in the 1982 John Milius film), other times in a more involved fashion. Here we have a non-Howard character that originated in a comic book, but he’s being used in a novel way: where originally he journeyed alongside Conan and Bêlit, here his first encounter with the barbarian is after Bêlit’s death. This sort of remixing is commonplace in superhero comics, but it’s fun to see Zub embrace the entirety of the Conan mythos.

The end of the issue suggests that plot threads introduced in previous issues will become more prominent in Conan the Barbarian #20, but issue #19 is a sleek survival tale that features some of Doug Braithwaite’s best artwork on the title to date.

#ReviewArchive #ComicReview #SwordAndSorcery #JimZub #DougBraithwaite #TitanComics #ConanTheBarbarian #GrimdarkMagazine #GdM