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

Conan the Barbarian #22

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Fernando Dagnino (Artist) – Titan Comics – July 9, 2025

Review by Robin Marx

Conan, his band of Bamula warriors, and Princess Livia have been drugged and imprisoned in the Stygian border town of Keshatta by the ruthless enchantress Athyr-Bast. She and other members of a sorcerous clique known as the Black Ring pit captives against each other in gladiatorial combat as a means of entertaining the unwashed masses while simultaneously jockeying for position and prestige within the Ring. Given no opportunity to prepare, Conan immediately finds himself thrust into the arena with the reigning champion, a giant brute named Krum-Va the Carver. Despite the formidable odds, Conan emerges alive but not unscathed. Further victories under the nom de guerre Amra the Annihilator earn Conan special treatment among the gladiators, and Athyr-Bast basks in her pet warrior’s triumphs. However, thoughts of liberating himself and his comrades are never far from Conan’s mind.

Conan the Barbarian issue #22, “Diamond in the Dirt,” borrows many recognizable elements from Spartacus and every other gladiator movie and TV show you’ve ever seen. Grossly mismatched opponents, triumphant underdogs, friends pitted against friends, slaves elevated to celebrity, privileged women dallying with their gladiators, etc. The tropes and story beats may be familiar, but they remain entertaining. While pit fighter was never a vocation undertaken by the barbarian in the original Robert E. Howard stories, it’s exciting to see the exploits of Conan the Gladiator in a more expanded capacity than the ruthlessly edited taste viewers were shown in the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film.

Fernando Dagnino’s artwork continues to appeal. Gladiatorial combat appears frequently throughout the issue, and Dagnino delivers melee depictions that feel not only dynamic and forceful, but rhythmically paced as well. Outside of the arena, Dagnino proves himself adept with the quieter moments. Athyr-Bast remains an alluring and well-dressed femme fatale, and women’s faces and costuming haven’t always been shown this much attention and care under previous Conan the Barbarian artists.

The Jeffrey Shanks essay accompanying Conan the Barbarian #22 explores the ancient Egyptian-themed land of Stygia, an isolationist land dominated by sorcery and snake cults. In addition to the current “Nest of Serpents” story arc, Stygia is set to figure heavily in the upcoming “Scourge of the Serpent” event miniseries, and the essay offers newcomers some welcome grounding in one of the Hyborian Age’s most evocative and mysterious locales.

While this reader hopes the much-teased antagonist Thoth-Amon will take a more prominent role in the next issue, Conan the Barbarian issue #22 is a fun and fast-paced gladiator montage.

#ReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #JimZub #FernandoDagnino #TitanComics #ConanTheBarbarian #GrimdarkMagazine #GdM

This review originally appeared in New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine Issue #3, released on December 9, 2024.

Shared World

By Jonathan Ball, GMB Chomichuk, James Gillespie, Chadwick Ginther – Stranger Fiction Inc. – November 20, 2023

Review by Robin Marx

Released under the auspices of Jonathan Ball’s Stranger Fiction Inc., Shared World collects six short stories by four Canadian authors, all taking place within the same jointly created Sword & Sorcery setting. While the concept of a shared Sword & Sorcery world immediately summons to mind Robert Asprin’s enduring Thieves' World series, surprisingly no acknowledgment is made of this antecedent. Instead, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s introduction hearkens back to the days of Weird Tales magazine, when names and motifs from H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos horror stories began cropping up in the more fantasy-oriented creations of his correspondents Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore, and Clark Ashton Smith. The argument is that not only is there a long history of cross-fertilization between authors working in the pulp fantasy milieu, but that elements of Lovecraft’s Mythos in particular have had a strong presence in Sword & Sorcery fiction since the earliest days of the genre. Shared World is positioned as an heir to this literary tradition.

The setting of Shared World is a post-apocalyptic one. In the distant past, a great human civilization approached godhood. A mysterious calamity wiped out their kingdoms, however, leaving their monolithic ruins scattered across the shunned and monster-infested Once Lands. Various tribal societies keep to the less inhospitable margins of the wilderness, but one dominant metropolis has coalesced in the form of Khyber, a mighty city serving as a central gateway to three continents. Elements of the Cthulhu Mythos are prominent in Shared World, with several stories concerned with strange gods of the “dead but dreaming” persuasion. The tales are united by a central tension between characters striving to keep those ancient gods dormant and those seeking to hasten their return.

While the stories are presented in a mixed order for variety’s sake, each of the Shared World contributors has a particular focus. For example, both stories co-written by GMB Chomichuk and James Gillespie deal with members of the Vani, a tribal people, and begin with the same inciting incident: a Vani apparently driven mad by greed has slain the Spear King and sold his seven children into slavery. “Kaa-Rokaan,” the first story in this diptych, involves a Vani scout who ventures forth to rescue the enslaved tribesmen. Rokaan is assisted in his task by the totem spirit, or “Kaa,” of a crow. While he is initially disappointed in not being chosen by a more martial totem like Bear or Boar, Rokaan eventually comes to appreciate his spiritual ally’s strengths as he deals with the alien obstacles barring the path to his enslaved comrades. “Kaa-Shufa,” the second entry by Chomichuk and Gillespie, follows the Bear totem warrior woman tasked with pursuing Lothar, the traitor who killed the Spear King and sold his offspring. Shufa learns that Lothar’s heinous crime was motivated by desperation, and the two become uneasy allies in a quest that leads them deep underground, where yellow lichen-infected cultists attend to an alien god on the verge of an apocalyptic awakening. The Chomichuk/Gillespie stories are an intriguing blend of First Nations mythology and Lovecraftian horror, with resourceful heroes and their inscrutable spiritual allies pitted against eldritch threats.

Chadwick Ginther’s two contributions to the anthology are set in Khyber, a crowded and colorful metropolis pleasingly reminiscent of Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar, or Sanctuary of Thieves' World fame. In “When the Gods Send You Rats,” a heavily tattooed midwife (inscribed with songbirds for babies delivered and crows for enemy lives taken) is attacked by a humaniform swarm of rats bearing an enchanted crown. She joins forces with the Rat-King, one of Khyber’s ubiquitous Rat-Catchers, and the pair soon discover that the rodents of Khyber are attempting to summon an extradimensional entity that threatens to devour the entire city. “Red” is another excursion deep below Khyber. When her dissolute haberdasher brother Needle is abducted under mysterious circumstances, deadly swordswoman Redala visits a string of Diviners and disreputable underworld figures in an effort to pick up his trail. While we only get a small taste of the setting, both of Ginther’s stories present Khyber as a bustling and chaotic city filled with bizarre communities, each with their own social codes and mores—fertile ground for Sword & Sorcery adventures.

Jonathan Ball’s pair of stories return to the tribal side of the setting. Both tales feature Draxas, a beastlike woman cast out from the matriarchal Shaaraka cannibals for the heresy of atheism. In “There Were Once Words,” Draxas tracks a hooded sorcerer through blighted wildernesses, eager to learn about the sleeping gods he serves. She ends up with more than she bargained for in her final confrontation with the sorcerer. “Circle of Stones” is a sequel that deals with the fallout of her fateful encounter with the sorcerer. Half of the story is a flashback dealing with Draxas’ bloody expulsion from the Shaaraka, and the remainder centers on her newfound devotion to dark gods. Ball’s entries emphasize mood over plot, and Draxas is an interesting—if challenging—character. Clad in leather of human origin and messily slurping the marrow from women’s bones, it wasn’t until a few pages into her introduction that it became clear Draxas was intended to be human, rather than a ghoul or some other monster.

Despite its regrettably bland title, Shared World is a fascinating literary experiment. The anthology was released simultaneously with Khyber, a companion collection of stories by Ginther. Although they have not yet appeared at the time of this writing, Once Lands by Chomichuk & Gillespie has been announced, as well as Draxas by Ball. The Shared World project’s website has an open call for contributors, and it will be interesting to see if the Once Lands are adopted by writers outside of this initial circle. With plenty of space for further development, Shared World offers a tantalizing look at a Lovecraftian Sword & Sorcery setting boasting a lot of potential.

#ReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #SharedWorld #JonathanBall #GMBChomichuk #JamesGillespie #ChadwickGinther #NewEdgeSwordAndSorcery #NESS

This review originally appeared in Old Moon Quarterly Vol. 6, released on January 16, 2024.

Tales From The Magician’s Skull – No. 11

Edited by Howard Andrew Jones – Goodman Publications – August 18, 2013

Review by Robin Marx

Tales From The Magician’s Skull No. 11 collects eight new Sword & Sorcery stories curated by Howard Andrew Jones. It features cover artwork by fantasy paperback master Sanjulian, and each story is illustrated by artists including Jason Edwards, Tom Galambos, and Stefan Poag.

“Test of the Runeweavers,” by H. T. Grossen, receives the cover treatment for this issue. Young Frode, a member of the Viking-inspired Aegirvarg people, embarks on his first ocean voyage as an apprentice runerikr, or wielder of spoken rune-based magic. Investigating mysterious coastal raids, Frode and his fellows encounter strangers from a far-off land with their own potent ideograph-based magic. This brisk story covers a great deal of territory despite its slim page count, and the rune magic feels flashy and novel.

“Lady of the Frost” is the latest Shintaro Oba tale by C. L. Werner, a name that should be familiar to fans of Warhammer and Games Workshop’s Black Library imprint. As with previous installments, wandering samurai Oba comes into conflict with a supernatural threat from Japanese folklore. “Lady of the Frost” is a solid example of sword & sorcery adventure in an underrepresented setting.

Trespassing in temples devoted to bizarre and malign gods is a common (and exciting!) trope in sword & sorcery, but if this issue has a flaw, it’s the inclusion of three such stories in a single installment. Bill Pearce’s “The Eyes of Rath Kanon” is the first of this issue’s unadvertised evil temple trilogy. The twisty plot and shifting loyalties intrigued, but despite a strong start and conclusion it felt like the middle portion of this contribution lacked the propulsive momentum found in the other stories.

“Ghostwise” by Caias Ward was the highlight of the issue, and a story I suspect Old Moon Quarterly readers are especially predisposed to enjoy. Dark-skinned but with chalk-white hands, gun-slinging mystic Obba Babatunde is summoned to a king’s court to attend to a haunted princess with identical markings. Like Obba himself, Princess Jansynth exists simultaneously in both the realms of the living and the dead, making her vulnerable to constant ghostly attacks unless she can build up her own defenses. As she struggles to keep her soul intact, Jansynth learns a devastating truth about her spectral tormentor and her own heritage. Cleverly plotted, “Ghostwise” reminds me of the early Witcher short stories by Andrzej Sapkowski, where the true monster isn’t always obvious at first glance. Ward’s hero and his talents are worthy of further elaboration, and I hope to see more Obba stories in the future.

Set in Earth in ancient times rather than a secondary world, Mark Mellon’s “Melkart and the Whore of Babylon” masterfully transforms antiquity into a lush and decadent sword & sorcery setting. Envious of her influence on Babylon’s populace, King Belshazzar plots to use a religious ceremony as cover and assassinate Inanna, the priestess of Ishtar, replacing both her and the goddess she serves with a more amenable sect. Unwilling to participate in such a dastardly scheme, Belshazzar’s hired sword Melkart immediately reveals the conspiracy to Inanna, offering himself as her protector at great personal risk. Just as the odds seem insurmountable, “Melkart and the Whore of Babylon” concludes with a truly epic finale.

Dawn Vogel’s “Kick in the Door and Improvise” distinguishes itself from the other stories by virtue of its humor. Unable to infiltrate a castle due to the bright moon overhead, two thieves hired to steal a king’s crown seek magical assistance. A sorcerer offers to dim the moon to hide their approach, provided they can collect all the ingredients required for the spell on a tight schedule. The final heist itself ends up almost an afterthought; most of the story concerns itself with the hunt for an elusive black pearl. The wry, freewheeling tone and focus on spell components pleasantly reminded me of the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves film, and the story offered a refreshing change of pace from the uniformly serious tales composing the rest of the issue.

In “The Lens of Being,” by Daniel Amatiello, a pirate queen stumbles across a menacing cult lurking in a cliff-side temple complex on the coast of India. While the heretical Buddhist sect featured in the story had great potential, its aims and methods felt underdeveloped and the climactic monster too familiar. Not a bad story, but it suffers by appearing alongside two other temple raid stories.

The issue ends on a particularly strong note with “Bound in Brass and Iron,” by Matthew X. Gomez. When partially devoured bodies start turning up at the scene of a newly constructed temple, Liam the Black is hired to investigate. The trail leads him into a deeper temple, where a forgotten demon strains against its binding. This is the best of the issue’s unofficial evil temple trilogy, with a resourceful hero, fascinating spellcraft, and tense action.

Each issue of Tales From The Magician’s Skull concludes with a brief appendix called “The Monster Pit,” featuring game statistics of the monsters appearing in the various stories for use with publisher Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics roleplaying game. It’s a gimmick, but a fun one that hopefully encourages tabletop gamers to engage more with the literary roots of their hobby.

Since launching in 2018, Tales From The Magician’s Skull quickly established itself as a quality venue for fantasy tales written in the pulp adventure tradition, and both the fiction and the artwork in this issue maintains that high level of excellence. Tales From The Magician’s Skull benefits from a tight focus on sword & sorcery, making it a one-stop venue for fast-paced fantasy action.

#ReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #HowardAndrewJones #TalesFromTheMagiciansSkull #OldMoonQuarterly

This review originally appeared in New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine Issue #1, released on November 30, 2023.

Woman of the Woods

By Milton J. Davis – MVmedia, LLC – June 13, 2013

Review by Robin Marx

While Charles R. Saunders may have founded the “Sword and Soul” sub-genre of fantasy, Milton Davis has quickly become one of the field's most indefatigable contributors and promoters. Through his publishing house MVmedia and via collaborations with other creators (including Saunders himself, prior to his 2020 passing), Davis continuously works to create and lend a platform to African- and African diaspora-inspired fantasy and science fiction literature.

Set in the world of Uhuru, which previously appeared in Milton's Meji series, Woman of the Woods follows the adventures of Sadatina. Born to a member of the Shosa, an elite corp of spiritually-imbued fighting women who are forbidden from possessing families of their own, Sadatina is bequeathed to a warm but humble farming family. Even separated from her birth mother, Sadatina distinguishes herself from her adopted family with her superior athletic and hunting ability.

Tragedy strikes, however, when at the tender age of 13 she finds herself drawn into an inter-generational conflict between her people—the Adamu—and the Mosele. Driven from their lands by the encroachment of the Adamu, the Mosele have submitted to the dark god Karan. While the Mosele's counter-invasion was barely fended off long ago, ever since the Adamu have been plagued by sporadic attacks from Karan's servitors: demonic creatures called nyoka (“serpent” in Swahili). One such raid claims the lives of Sadatina's family. She vows revenge, making a home in the wilderness and hunting the nyoka with the assistance of her inborn martial ability and her loyal “sisters”: a pair of orphaned lionesses Sadatina has raised since they were cubs. Viewed with both awe and fear by the people of surrounding settlements, she becomes known as the “Woman of the Woods.”

Her solitary battle does not last long, however. Word of her nyoka-slaying prowess spreads as attacks intensify, and she is sought out by the Shosa as a potential recruit. Sadatina is suspicious of urban society and hierarchy, but the threat of Karan's nyoka grows by the day. Her own quest for vengeance and the needs of her people inevitably push her into assuming a central role in the conflict. Over time she gains new skills and weapons, but also heavy responsibilities and nagging doubts.

Gender is handled in a nuanced fashion in Woman of the Woods. The Shosa warrior women are an accepted and valued part of society, but they are also a breed apart. One must be chosen by the god Cha to join their ranks, and—while Sadatina is allowed an uncommon degree of autonomy—refusing to join is generally not an option for the average villager. They are the symbolic wives of the Adamu people's leader and, while celibacy is not required, bearing children is forbidden and harshly punished. Non-Shosa girls and women appear expected to adhere to traditional gender roles. As presented in Woman of the Woods, Uhuru is neither an egalitarian utopia nor a setting where only the heroine is allowed to occupy a place outside marriage and childbearing.

Religion also plays a central role in Woman of the Woods. The Adamu follow Cha, who is framed as a benevolent but demanding and occasionally distant god. The Mosele worship Karan, a malicious being of stone and magma. The Adamu deride Karan as a demon with delusions of grandeur, but where Cha is content to guide his people through ambiguous visions the divine aid Karan grants his supplicants is frighteningly concrete. His baboon-like ginanga nyoka act as terrifying shock troopers, while the cunning jackal-headed washaka strike under the cover of stealth. Karan’s most devoted human servants gradually gain physical aspects of their god, becoming the stone-skinned mjibwe.

While the story delivers exciting Sword and Soul combat in abundance, at times the war between the Adamu and Mosele is portrayed in an unusual light for such an action-oriented story. Milton makes it clear early in the book that the Mosele were already present in the river valley to which Cha is said to have led the Adamu. The two peoples coexisted for a time, until friction developed between the agrarian Adamu and the cattle-herding Mosele, as burgeoning farms absorbed grazing lands formerly used by the Mosele. While it is left unclear who sparked the original conflict, the Adamu certainly finished it, driving the Mosele out of their ancestral home and across a parched desert and into the mountains, ironically pushing them into the arms of the dark god Karan. As the Mosele return to the Adamu-occupied valley, bringing nyoka with them, the Shosa remain vigilant for Karan’s corruption.

The uneasy moral ambiguity at the heart of the conflict is highlighted by a point in the book where Sadatina herself leads a war band to an Adamu settlement showing signs of Mosele influence. She says “You will kill anyone or anything that approaches you. This is not a rescue. This is a cleansing.” This chilling passage and the massacre that follows seem to make the subtext text: this war is ethnic cleansing and the “heroes” are enthusiastic participants. While it appeared Davis was about to boldly grapple with ethnic cleansing in an Africa-inspired setting, this daring element of the plot is quickly and frustratingly dropped and the story returns to the fantasy genre’s more conventional human versus supernatural struggle.

While the story is exciting and the cover artwork by Chase Conley (director and storyboard artist at Marvel Studios) stunning, the book itself could have used some tighter editing. Words are occasionally omitted, and the early chapters of the Kindle edition include footnotes that appear to be editorial comments addressed to the author.

Editing issues and Davis’ apparent change of heart regarding the ethnic cleansing theme aside, Woman of the Woods is a worthy contribution to the Sword and Soul movement. I also appreciated his dedication to Saunders (“Dossouye has a sister now”), an acknowledgment of his mentor’s own groundbreaking woman warrior. Strong Black women remain a lamentable rarity in Sword & Sorcery fiction decades after Dossouye’s 1979 arrival, but Sadatina makes for a compelling African-inspired warrior, boasting courage, faith, and an indomitable spirit.

#ReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #SwordAndSoul #WomanOfTheWoods #MiltonJDavis #NewEdgeSwordAndSorcery #NESS

This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on July 17, 2025.

Conan the Barbarian #21

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Fernando Dagnino (Artist) – Titan Comics – June 11, 2025

Review by Robin Marx

Emotionally adrift after the death of his pirate queen Bêlit, Conan wanders his way aimlessly through the jungles of the Black Kingdoms. An encounter with a pampered princess from Ophir once again gives him purpose, however. After rescuing her from an attempted human sacrifice, Conan and his loyal tribe of Bamula warriors journey northward, hoping to deliver Princess Livia from the jungle and into the hands of someone who can get her safely home. As they reach the border town of Daynt, nestled between Kush and serpent-haunted Stygia, the party receives an astonishingly gracious welcome. Naturally, Conan is instantly suspicious. In the dead of night, he sets out to uncover the darkness lurking behind the villagers’ obsequious smiles.

In terms of the Titan Comics Conan the Barbarian chronology, the “A Nest of Serpents” story arc that launches with this issue takes place after “The Age Unconquered” (Conan the Barbarian issues #9-12). For readers of the original 1930s short stories by Robert E. Howard, it’s interesting to note that this issue takes place immediately after the events of “The Vale of Lost Women.” Never published during the author’s lifetime (and possibly never even submitted for publication by Howard), “The Vale of Lost Women” occupies an uneasy place in the Conan canon. Not only is it a lesser effort creatively, the casual racism endemic in 1930s America is more prominent here than in the lion’s share of Howard’s work, and there are hints of sexual violence as well. The Conan appearing in “The Vale of Lost Women” is uncharacteristically brutish, and the dismissiveness with which he regards the African-coded inhabitants of the Black Kingdoms also doesn’t make sense if the story takes place after Conan’s extended tenure among the majority Black crew of Bêlit’s pirate ship.

Rather than go through elaborate contortions to salvage “The Vale of Lost Women,” Conan the Barbarian scribe Jim Zub simply uses the events of the short story as a launching pad for his own original tale: Conan is deep in the jungle, surrounded by local warriors, and has a delicate princess that he must escort to safety. The climactic bat-winged “devil from the Outer Dark” is shown in the opening pages of this issue, so readers do not miss out on anything by not receiving a full adaptation. Masterfully handled, Zub!

Conan the Barbarian #21 brings aboard a new artist for the monthly title, Fernando Dagnino. A DC Comics veteran, Dagnino’s work previously appeared in The Savage Sword of Conan #4. I rated his art highly then, and he continues to impress in this full-length issue. While he cites several other Conan artists as influences in the post-issue interview, Dagnino’s depiction most reminds me of Ernie Chan’s. He captures the brawn and ferocity of Chan’s classic representation while avoiding slavish imitation. His costume work in this issue is also worthy of note; newly introduced Stygian sorceress character Athyr-Bast is particularly impressively outfitted.

While the “Scourge of the Serpent” event miniseries doesn’t begin in earnest until September (excepting the Free Comic Book Day prelude), the dark Egyptian-inspired land of Stygia and the snake cult of Set have figured prominently in this year’s Conan the Barbarian issues. As the story arc title “A Nest of Serpents” suggests, this issue continues the trend, also reintroducing a fan-favorite villain previously teased at the conclusion of Conan the Barbarian #18.

Issue #21 takes the best elements of a forgettable Conan short story and sets to work making something more interesting out of them. Fernando Dagnino also makes a strong addition to the stable of Conan the Barbarian artists.

#ReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #JimZub #FernandoDagnino #TitanComics #ConanTheBarbarian #GrimdarkMagazine #GdM

This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on July 4, 2025.

Old Moon Quarterly: Volume 7, Summer 2024

By Old Moon Publishing – December 19, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

The seventh volume of Old Moon Quarterly delivers more of the high quality dark fantasy readers of the magazine have come to expect. In addition to genre titans like Michael Moorcock, Tanith Lee, and Glen Cook, the editors of Old Moon Quarterly have been outspoken about their enthusiasm for contemporary media touchstones like Berserk, Bloodborne, and the Dark Souls video games, aesthetics that visibly impact the periodical’s editorial direction. Unlike earlier issues, Old Moon Quarterly Volume 7 and 8 were crowdfunded via a Kickstarter campaign. Not only did the crowdfunding campaign allow OMQ to maintain pro rates for contributors, it allowed an extended page count and the addition of internal illustrations (including work by Morgan King of The Spine of Night fame).

Volume 7 opens with an intriguing look at intelligent enchanted weapons, here referred to as the “speaking sword” trope. Elric of Melniboné’s malignantly manipulative blade Stormbringer is one example that readily comes to mind (and the cover artwork provided by Simon Underwood suggests an Elric homage), but the Introduction also includes a wide range of other examples from Finnish mythology to J.R.R Tolkien’s legendarium to Warhammer. The Introduction adds welcome context for the second story in the issue, “Stolen by Moonlight, Betrothed by Sun” by E. Catherine Tobler.

Before the speaking sword makes its appearance, however, readers are treated to a new Morlock Ambrosius tale by returning contributor and World Fantasy Award nominee James Enge. “The Ember Eyed” sees Morlock, son of Merlin, trudging down to the southernmost reaches of the world, a land of eternal fire, on a mission to obtain liquid sunlight. A nearly fatal encounter with the massive guardian spider Usli forces Morlock to reconsider his approach, however. In one of the most thrilling scenes in the story, Morlock sets to work like some sort of sorcerous MacGyver, using his ingenuity and spellcraft to equip himself for the task ahead. While it felt like Morlock was uncharacteristically relegated to the passenger seat in the finale, “The Ember Eyed” features clever storytelling and over-the-top magic. While prior experience with Morlock Ambrosius is not required to enjoy this story, the callback to the events of “Evil Honey” (published in Old Moon Quarterly Vol. 3) was delightful and welcome.

Catherine Tobler’s “Stolen by Moonlight, Betrothed by Sun” is told from the perspective of a 300-year-old sword; an estoc to be precise. Told in a non-linear fashion, the sword relates its initial encounters with its beloved owner, a formidable and rakish woman named Elisabeth Duguay-Trouin. The sword and its mistress are inevitably parted, and the estoc finds itself in the possession of a succession of different owners, some worthier than others. In contrast to the mostly doom-bringing intelligent swords mentioned in the Introduction, the one starring here was a steadfast companion, and the narrative is written in an intriguingly wistful and almost romantic fashion.

“The Torrent of Souls” by H.R. Laurence opens with the protagonist, a mercenary named Heoric, bleeding out on a tavern floor after a pointless, alcohol-fueled knife fight. The defiant recklessness with which Heoric spent his life brings him to the attention of a strangely fey woman named Aetia. In exchange for her healing ministrations, Aetia presses Heoric into service, pitting him against an avaricious sorcerer who guards the secret of immortality. One of the standout stories of this issue, “The Torrent of Souls” boasts both dreamlike imagery and gritty, violent action.

Continuing a tradition established with OMQ Volume 5, this issue also includes some poetry. Calie Voorhis’ “Footnotes on ‘Only Forever,’ The Grey Witch’s Last Poem” pairs a prose poem with extensive faux academic footnotes. This combination feels like it was designed in a laboratory to leave me cold. “In Her Waters, Raging” by Lora Gray is the other poem included in Volume 7. It’s a less tedious read than “Footnotes,” but doesn’t contribute much to the issue as a whole. While I find the OMQ editors’ fiction selections to be remarkably on point, whatever spark they’re seeing in their published poems has, thus far, eluded me.

Reminiscent of Clark Ashton Smith in terms of atmosphere if not verbiage, “The Last Gift” by Jason Mills tells the story of a group of travelers being stalked by an implacable djinn. Left destitute deep in the desert by bandits, each of the travelers shares their best quality with the others—be it words of wisdom, a treasure, or even a martial arts technique—so that if any single member makes it back to civilization they will carry something valuable from their fallen comrades. While the shape-shifting djinn proves to be a cruel and relentless threat, each of the travelers’ personal qualities prove instrumental in ultimately defeating the demon. “The Last Gift” is both clever and one of the more beautifully told stories of the issue.

Occasional Grimdark Magazine contributor Matthew John has become increasingly ubiquitous in the modern Sword & Sorcery revival, with appearances in Tales From the Magician’s Skull, The Savage Sword of Conan, and his well-received debut collection To Walk on Worlds. An appearance in Old Moon Quarterly felt almost inevitable, and John marks a strong OMQ debut with “Last Day on the Farm.” While the bulk of Volume 7’s stories include dark and unsettling elements, “Last Day on the Farm” ramps the horror up to eleven. An isolated farmer finds himself confronted with the otherworldly when a caravan crew is massacred by parasites and necromancy on his doorstep. Only Lachmannon the Kael, John’s recurring barbarian hero, can help Maric see the morning. The gory violence, grim tone, and body horror are to be expected in a Matthew John story, but he still surprised me by revealing a heretofore unseen side to Lachmannon as a character. “Last Day on the Farm” could have concluded in a variety of ways, but John chose a supremely satisfying ending.

The grimdark persists with “Bleed Me in the Water,” by Bram Stoker Award-winner Hailey Piper. For reasons that remain obscure until late in the tale, the murderess Demi takes it upon herself to lead her fellow villagers into a lethal trap within the caverns beneath her isolated island home. Along the way Demi and her victims experience a terrifying encounter with the divine. Deliciously nasty, “Bleed Me in the Water” is a story that lingers with the reader.

The hot streak continues with “Of Decadence a Child,” by David Costa. Holy warrior Beoric, He Without Sin, is sent into the vulgar world to slay a monster preying on the sinful wretches outside the Divine Church’s cloistered sanctuary. While the narrative itself is fairly straightforward, it is enhanced by the heavy, portentous atmosphere. Everything is viewed through the lens of Beoric’s religion, with the characters surrounding him instantly branded with one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Masochistic suffering is esteemed within Beoric’s faith; his armor is literally pinned to his chest, he wears boots filled with jagged pebbles, and the hilt of his sword is shrouded in spikes, “for the consequence of violence is violence itself.” Readers who enjoyed the grimdark knights of “The Feast of Saint Ottmer” (Old Moon Quarterly Volume 3) and Contra Amatores Mundi, both by OMQ editor Graham Thomas Wilcox, are especially likely to appreciate “Of Decadence a Child.” It is the epitome of the “Soulsborne” fantasy Old Moon Quarterly prides itself on delivering.

“Lessons from Aulis” by Monica Joyce Evans also deals with religion, in this case Greek mythology. Back from the battlefield, Agamemnon prepares for his bath, only to be murdered by his wife Clytemnestra. The moment repeats over and over, with both Agamemnon and Clytemnestra acting and reacting slightly differently, trapped in this single moment in time. Other perspectives are incorporated, and the reader gets a sense of the greater mythic elements in play. “Lessons from Aulis” is a tad on the cryptic side, but as far as this reader is concerned it’s a more successful literary experiment than this issue’s poetry.

Finally, the issue concludes with a Graham Thomas Wilcox’s review of The Worm Ouroboros, the 1922 fantasy epic by E.R. Eddison. Much like the Old Moon Quarterly Introductions, the review meanders a bit, but it is both detailed and feels like a fair appraisal, and the writer’s enthusiasm for the novel is apparent. I would enjoy seeing Wilcox take on The Night Land (1912) by William Hope Hodgson, another early fantasy classic legendary for its archaic and challenging prose.

Old Moon Quarterly Volume 7 is another strong installment of one of the best dark fantasy fiction magazines around. With high quality stories, an extended page count, and the addition of interior artwork, the benefits of their original Kickstarter campaign are visible on the page.

At the time of this posting, Old Moon Quarterly is holding a Backerkit campaign to fund two further issues, with one of them focusing on dark Arthuriana. Returning contributors include James Enge, E. Catherine Tobler, and John Langan.

#ReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #DarkFantasy #Grimdark #OldMoonQuarterly #GrimdarkMagazine #GdM

This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on June 9, 2025.

Conan the Barbarian – Free Comic Book Day 2025: Scourge of the Serpent

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Ivan Gil (Artist) – Titan Comics – May 7, 2025

Review by Robin Marx

The 2025 Free Comic Book Day issue of Conan the Barbarian is set shortly after the beginning of his adventuring career. Though the Cimmerian is only 17, already he has participated in the Sack of Venarium and then fallen in with a raiding party in the frozen north. After an uncanny close encounter with the divine (as seen in the “Frozen Faith” storyline, concluding in Conan the Barbarian issue #16), the youth ventures south towards warmer climes and his earliest encounters with the “civilized” world. He promptly becomes a thief, using his remarkable muscle and agility to enrich himself at the expense of the soft city-dwellers of Numalia. His latest heist turns out to be a bust, however, when he breaks into the manor house of Aztrias Petanius, nephew to the city-state’s governor. Not only is he caught in the act, but it turns out Petanius doesn’t have any gold to steal: the dissolute fop has run up massive gambling debts and been cut off by his uncle. Just as Conan is about to cut his losses and withdraw, Petanius attempts to sweet-talk Conan into another burglary, one that promises to both mollify the frustrated barbarian and wipe out Petanius’ debt.

Like the 2024 Free Comic Book Day issue, which acted as the prelude to last year’s Battle of the Black Stone miniseries, this issue sets the stage for this autumn’s “Scourge of the Serpent” spin-off. Hints about another epoch-spanning crossover involving other characters penned by Conan creator Robert E. Howard are dropped in the final pages of the issue, and in his closing essay pulp fiction scholar Jeffrey Shanks helpfully lays out the plan for the event. As fans familiar with the original source material have likely recognized, the Conan story will be an adaptation of “The God in the Bowl” (the climax of which was glimpsed in Conan the Barbarian #20). Interestingly, that tale will be interwoven with a comic book treatment of “The Shadow Kingdom,” a classic 1929 Sword & Sorcery adventure starring King Kull and Brule the Spear-Slayer. Finally, the “Scourge of the Serpent” will also incorporate “The Haunter of the Ring,” a 1934 occult horror tale featuring Professor John Kirowan (last seen in Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #4). While Jim Zub’s repeated tendency to shoehorn crossover events into Conan the Barbarian still feels like a storytelling device better left to superhero comics, the story choice here is admittedly intriguing. “The God in the Bowl” is a fun story, but one of the weaker Conan tales; augmenting an adaptation of that with additional material seems like a wise decision. “The Shadow Kingdom” is perhaps the best Kull story, to the extent that which I’m surprised they would use it here, rather than reserve it for a future standalone King Kull comic title. Finally, “The Haunter of the Ring” is one of the more obscure Howard stories, but even in its original form it includes a built-in connection to Conan’s Hyborian Age. While simultaneously weaving together three adaptations feels ambitious, the more limited cast of characters should help “Scourge of the Serpent” avoid the overstuffed feeling of “Battle of the Black Stone.”

Artist Ivan Gil is a newcomer to Conan the Barbarian, but I look forward to seeing more Conan material by him. His character work in this issue is superb. His Conan is brawny, but he captures the panther-like agility that so many other artists regrettably deemphasize. His Conan also looks appropriately young; hardened by his barbarian upbringing, but still youthful and new to the ways of the civilized world. Gil’s supporting cast is likewise strong. While avoiding caricature-like exaggeration, the guards in Petanius’ manner are delightfully ugly in a characterful way. His background work with the furnishings in Petanius’ manor is intricately detailed, which gives me high hopes for the riches we’ll be shown within the vault of antiquarian Kallian Publico during “The God in the Bowl.”

For those who were unable to acquire Conan the Barbarian Free Comic Book Day 2025: Scourge of the Serpent from their local comic store, a digital edition is available directly from Titan Comics. This issue is an enjoyable read for current fans of the series, but it’s also an excellent place to pick up the series. There’s no encumbering backstory to absorb, just a young barbarian with a sword looking to hit it rich and ominous hints of sinister forces lurking in the background.

#ReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #JimZub #IvanGil #TitanComics #ConanTheBarbarian #ScourgeOfTheSerpent #GrimdarkMagazine #GdM

This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on May 15, 2025.

Conan the Barbarian #20

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Doug Braithwaite (Artist) – Titan Comics – April 16, 2025

Review by Robin Marx

Confronted by a hostile shapeshifter, Conan has no choice but to defend himself. Mystified by the invective hurled at him by his assailant, he spares his foe’s life in an attempt to learn the reason for the unprovoked aggression. Zula, as the stranger is named, accuses Conan of being a “servant of the serpent.” In other words, an agent of the cruel Stygian snake god Set. Despite his misgivings, Zula offers Conan the means to cleanse his soul of Set’s influence. He orders Conan to present himself at an ancient monument, where a risky ordeal awaits. As Conan pushes through the dense jungle, it gradually dawns upon him that the stab wound he incurred from a Stygian artifact called the Fangs of the Serpent during his botched heist with the thief Tarnasha (Conan the Barbarian #18) must have marked him with Set’s malign taint.

Part IV of the “Twisting Loyalties” story arc, this issue is appropriately titled “Purged.” Conan the Barbarian #20 both concludes “Twisting Loyalties” and provides more resolution for the two-issue storyline Jim Zub worked on with artist Danica Brine. It also leads directly into the upcoming “Scourge of the Serpent” event. While I prefer self-contained episodic storytelling in the Sword & Sorcery genre and don’t feel a title like Conan the Barbarian demands epic events, crossovers with other heroes, and ongoing continuity, I do think Zub is adept at this sort of comic book storytelling. He drops hints and plants seeds that bear fruit several issues down the line. On the other hand, the “shadow” Conan that appears in this issue feels a little too close to the Black Stone-influenced Conan seen in the “Thrice Marked for Death!” storyline (e.g., Conan the Barbarian #8). Mind control and possession have appeared frequently across multiple arcs in this series to date, affecting both Conan and King Kull (e.g., Conan the Barbarian #9), and perhaps that particular device could use a rest.

Artist Doug Braithwaite continues to shine. From both a narrative and art perspective, the “Frozen Faith” storyline was a disappointment, but these past two issues have given me a much greater appreciation of Braithwaite’s talents. His jungle scenery and wildlife depictions are ultra-detailed and bring the Black Kingdoms to life in a way that wasn’t as pronounced with the Nordheim tundra setting of “Frozen Faith.” His one-on-one fist fights in this two-parter also felt more dynamic and impactful than the mass battles he depicted in “Frozen Faith.”

From a plot perspective, issues #19 and #20 of Conan the Barbarian serve as “the prelude to the prelude,” laying the groundwork for the Free Comic Book Day 2025 issue and the “Scourge of the Serpent” event miniseries to follow. That being said, these two issues benefit from having the right artist paired with the right material to showcase his strengths. A fun story well told.

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

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 #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #JimZub #DougBraithwaite #TitanComics #ConanTheBarbarian #GrimdarkMagazine #GdM

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

Conan the Barbarian #18

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Danica Brine (Artist) – Titan Comics – February 19, 2025

Review by Robin Marx

Having decided to spare the life of Tarnasha, the foolhardy thief that invaded their bedchamber in Conan the Barbarian #17, Conan and Bêlit allow themselves to be talked into a plan to rob a local antiquarian of a priceless treasure of Stygian origin. Conan has misgivings, as his last encounter with Stygia and its Set-worshipping snake cult was an unsettling one, but he’s swayed by his pirate queen’s talk of riches and her eagerness to pull one over on the hated Stygians. The trio immediately begins plotting a daring heist. Once their hastily assembled plan is put into action, however, bloodshed and betrayal ensue.

This issue concludes the two-part “Fangs and Foolish Thieves” storyline. All previous arcs in Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian series have run across four issues, so it’s perhaps inevitable that this particular story feels abbreviated. Indeed, the pacing felt rushed the first time I read through this issue, with several elements introduced late into the story and left unresolved. That feeling lessened upon revisiting the issue, however. Tarnasha will doubtless reappear in a subsequent plotline, as will the other dangling threads established herein. The 2025 Free Comic Day Issue of Conan the Barbarian is set to launch an event called Scourge of the Serpent, and a Solomon Kane series entitled The Serpent Ring is scheduled to arrive even before that, so it appears that readers have a decidedly reptilian year ahead of them. Appropriate for the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Snake.

Issue #18 includes some entertaining references for knowledgeable Conan fans. The Stygian episode Conan flashes back to in the opening pages is, of course, a nod to the original Robert E. Howard prose story “The God in the Bowl.” The Stygian relic at the heart of the story is unmistakably the same intertwined serpent dagger wielded by James Earl Jones’ villain Thulsa Doom in the 1982 Conan the Barbarian movie. The cinematic Atlantean Sword and Thulsa Doom himself (despite being King Kull’s foe in Howard’s work) have also appeared in previous issues of this comic, demonstrating Jim Zub’s fun willingness to embrace the Conan the Barbarian body of work in all its forms and expressions, rather than limit himself to strict Howard purism.

Judging from online commentary, Danica Brine’s artwork in the previous issue was a point of contention for some readers. While admittedly the art style does feel a tad on the “cute” side for Conan—Tarnasha and her truly outrageous pastel outfit would fit right in with Jem and The Holograms—I’d rather see a variety of representations of these characters than witness Conan the Barbarian stagnate and settle into dead-end “John Buscema Über Alles” conservatism.

While our reunion with Conan and Bêlit is regrettably a brief one, Conan the Barbarian #18 caps off a whirlwind caper. The shorter storyline and fresh artwork show that Jim Zub is still willing to experiment with the Titan Comics series, even as the title sprints towards its second anniversary.

#ReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #JimZub #DanicaBrine #TitanComics #ConanTheBarbarian #GrimdarkMagazine #GdM