The Chronicles of Conan, Volume 12: The Beast King of Abombi and Other Stories

The Chronicles of Conan

by Roy Thomas, John Buscema

Conan and Belit, Queen of the Black Coast, reunite with their pirate crew aboard the Tigress only to be drawn into the vermin-infested swamps of Stygia. In the dark depths of this haunted land, they battle for their lives amidst stately pleasure gardens transformed into treacherous dens of deceit. There, a twisted beast-king reigns supreme, his hordes of abominations descending mercilessly upon the Cimmerian and his lover. Together, the two shall face monstrous man-crabs and a sultry sea-witch, but when an ancient secret is unleashed it means only one thing for a member of their heroic party - death!

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Sword and Sorcery

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 2007

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 12 is bittersweet. Thomas always had designs on concluding the story of Belit with issue #100 and does so. Nine stories comprise this collection including the extra long final story. In the opener, Conan, Belit and Zula are reunited with the crew of the Tigress and get word from M'Gora who along with some corsairs infiltrated Asgalun to get info on the comings and goings in the city. Thomas later apologizes for all the politics and lack of a major supernatural element, but I found it all intriguing as our heroes infiltrate the Shemite city and briefly Belit is indeed made a queen, but gives it up quickly after. It would have been no life for her. Literally. In the 4 part Beast-King of Abombi storyline, Zula bids adieu to Conan and takes some corsairs with him due to the fact that Conan does eventually run into some black corsairs who were with him on the Tigress during Howard's only Conan novel The Hour of the Dragon plus he didn't want to kill off a fine creation in Zula. Our heroes end up facing a strong opponent in Ajaga, a man who can control animals and who seeks ( like every villain it seems ) to rule the coast if not the world though that would have been next on his list. Needless to say, he is defeated. Very similar villain to Amra, the red haired Tarzan-like opponent Conan fought a few trades back though Conan held him to a much higher esteem than Ajaga.
A couple of filler stories take place with one being based on a Howard poem involving a siren-like blue skinned water beauty and a run in with some crab men who Thomas seems downright embarrassed about writing.
Finally we get to the cream of the crop in the last story "Death on the Black Coast" in which the crew sails down the dreaded Zarkheba river in search of a fabled treasure Belit knew about before taking Conan onboard. An ominous foretelling of doom occurs with a gigantic constrictor leading to more mayhem onshore with the finding of buried treasure. Belit is transformed and transfixed both with it all and Conan goes along with it all out of love for her. A climactic battle with the denizens of the haunted region occurs later after Conan drops from the perfumes of the black lotus giving him dreams of what did happen in the past in that area involving highly evolved large headed angel types turning to savagery after an apocalypse and the story wraps up with a surprise brief return saving our barbarian hero.
All in all a fantastic story adaptation by Thomas with more fantastic art from Buscema and Chan. Conan is made all the more human with a tear in his eye ending the volume. I would give it 6 stars if I was able.

[Michael Emond · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the recent Conan Epic collections and Omnibuses coming out I have been curious to see if I would like Conan as much as some other comic collectors do. Roy Thomas has never been my favourite writers BUT he is a solid craftsman who respects the history of all the characters and, at times has written some classic tales (For me - All Star Squadron; X-Men run with Neal Adams).

This was a cheaper way to read the tales without investing in an Omnibus and my verdict is - fun and worth checking out. Roy Thomas obviously loves Conan and does an amazing job of turning the original writing of Robert E. Howard into comics. The art by John Buscema and Ernie Chan is a perfect fit. John is another example of "I appreciate his craftsmanship but never sought out his work" but he really shines in these tales.

These tales follow Conan with his love Belit (Goddess Pirate) and we get one tale I loved (Beast King of Abombi) and some other tales that were entertaining but not as engaging. The truth is - this genre isn't my favourite (sword and magic tales) but I still enjoyed the tales.

I also have to add - I love Roy Thomas' commentary at the end. He is wonderfully honest about his tales - explaining where they came from - how he had to rework them to fit in this comic book run and even admitting when an issue was weak or too heavy on exposition. He flat out rips apart the Crabmen tale and admonishes the artist for not bringing his vision to life. It isn't mean spirited and I find the honesty refreshing and insightful. I still liked the Crabmen tale (more than Roy, it appears) but it is interesting to see when and why a creator isn't proud of the final outcome.

[Shannon Schmelzle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh boy, how to rate this one. In short, the first couple issues are great, the last couple issues are great, the stuff in the middle is mediocre. Then in the Roy Thomas afterward I learned something that kind of made me hate this collection.

So we start off with basically finishing off Belit's story in Shem with a two parter that is just packed with fun stuff. Maybe two of my favorite issues of this series to date. Then we go into a story that, I didn't realize at the time, was inspired by a couple lines of dialogue in a Conan story, The Scarlet Citadel. And it was...fine...to less than fine. Then we have a couple fill in of differing quality and finally we end the story that the first half was adapted in way back in Conan #58. And while I have long been a critic of the Robert E Howard story, Queen of the Black Coast, I found this Roy Thomas/John Buscema adaption to be maybe my favorite version I have seen of this story. I really liked it.

As always the recolors look great, the afterward by Roy Thomas is almost half the reason to buy this.

However this collection does fall prey to a sin I just can't forgive.

So in the past we have missed out on some issues because they were reprints, okay cool, because they included Red Sonja who Dark Horse didn't have the rights to reprint, less cool, but I understand. This issue there is a Roy Thomas/Sal Buscema fill in issue that gets skipped because of....page count. This issue wouldn't have been able to end of #100 so they just skipped it. Screw you Dark Horse, that is obnoxious. I have long been an apologist for these The Chronicles of Conan, but that is something I don't think I can excuse.

I don't know for sure that the Conan omnibuses from either Marvel, or Titan, include these missing issues. But I am afraid as of this collection, I am not sure I can recommend these anymore to people. Even though, as I have said, I love the recoloring and think they really make the art look more modern.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

The saga of Belit comes to a close here with a genuinely chilling and sad finale. We have a close to Belit's mission regarding her father's throne. Also a cool storyline involving a warrior who can speak to and control predatory animals. A sea siren shows up as well. Then some crab men which was a little silly but still not bad. But the stand out story is issue 100, the last of the volume.

This spoiler tag probably is unnecessary, but we have the death of Belit. The panel where her body is found hanging from the ship's mast is truly eerie, probably the most eerie panel of the comic series so far. There's also a scene that shows up in the original Conan the Barbarian movie. In the movie, Valeria makes a statement and she would return from the dead if needed in order to save Conan's life. Belit makes the same statement, and then does exactly that.

The saga of Belit was truly an exceptional run, especially for a comic in the 1970s. The art is stellar as always, and I will miss Buscema's rendition of the sexy Belit. I really like these original Conan comics, and I look forward to the next volume. However, it's going to be nearly impossible for future volumes to have the impact this one did.

[Emre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Belit'in şaşırtıcı sonunu bir hayal olarak düşündüm, hala da diğer sayıda acaba geri mi gelecek diye düşünerek bitirdim. Conan bu sayıda artık denizlerden çekilmenin zamanı geldi diyerek en sonda bir bakış attı. Onun yeri her zaman toprağın üstü olsa da her yerde savaşmasını da bilir. Belit'teki değişimi okuyan herkes görecektir. Çok zalim bir bakış açısı edinmişti. Tayfasına olan yansıması da gecikmeden karşılığını almıştı. Bakalım Conan Amra ünvanını ne şekilde taşıyacak.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant Civilisation Civilising Action! :D Brilliant Crisp High Five! :D

[Jim Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of these so far. Ends with #100, which is the death of Belit and is actually a very well done story.

[Tim Pieraccini · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good run of stories, but sad to finish Belit's time with Conan.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

We wrap up Belit's story in this one.

Contains 91-100

91,93 - Conan and Belit are back with the Black Corsairs and go to Belit's home city and attempts to regain her throne

92 (not included here) - An excellent short-story of young Conan that inspired the scene early in the original movie where Conan gets a sword in a crypt. Drawn by Sal Buscema. I kind of prefer doing fill-ins like this rather than pretending every day onboard the ship is another crazy adventure.

94-97 - Beast King of the Black Coast. Amra is back and attacks the Black Coasirs with his animals.
98 - Conan has a run-in with a mermaid, Thomas uses a poem by REH.
99 - A silly story with Crab-Men (like Ninja Turtles)
100 - The epic conclusion of the Belit story-line. It's clear the team were excited to do this story as everything seems to get a step-up in quality. It's a good adaptation of the REH story.

[Helmut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Einige sehr gelungene Momente...

...finden sich in diesem Sammelband. Besonders herausragend ist die Miniserie, die dem Band den Titel gegeben hat: The Beast King of Abombi. Während die letzten Bände ihren Hauptreiz, wenn man ehrlich ist, hauptsächlich wohl aus Buscemas Zeichnungen (und praktisch nicht aus den eher belanglosen Stories von Thomas) zogen, so legt Thomas hier mal einen Zahn zu und erzeugt einen Pageturner nach dem anderen.
Dazu kommt, dass einige Bilder von Buscema wirklich sehr beeindruckend sind durch ihre Dynamik und pure Kraft.

Die Neukolorierung hält sich hier im Gegensatz zu einigen Vorbänden doch deutlich zurück - gleichzeitig sind aber gerade die Lichteffekte sehr gelungen, besonders, wenn Szenen im Mondlicht oder im Schein flackernder Feuer gezeigt werden.

Empfehlenswert wie die ganze Reihe; wenn sich bei Lesern ein gewisser Ermüdungseffekt durch die letzten zwei eher schwachen Bände eingestellt hat, wird er durch diesen Band wie weggewischt sein.

[Marko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of original Marvel run of Conan stories finishes the story of Queen of the Black Coast. By far the best existing adaptation of this story, this collection is a worthy inclusion to one's library.

Roy Thomas handles the story with a loving hand and Steve Buscema accompanies it with some of the best illustrations that you can find in Conan comics (outside of the best of them all: Savage Sword of Conan). The finale of the story is one of the most emotional pieces of Conan's story that you can read.

I read this adaptation side-by-side with the two other comic book adaptations and I still feel that Roy Thomas made it work the best. Read my thoughts here:

http://susimetsa.blogspot.fi/2015/03/...

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots and lots of Belit the Pirate Queen in this book. She's one of the best characters in the Conan mythos and one of the closest to being Conan's equal. The end of this collection made me very sad, but still very worth it.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Timo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fist 100 issues of Conan the Barbarian and thinking back.... not a bad run. Great art and smooth art. And a hugely tragic ending.
Well done, sirs.