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The Chronicles of Conan
The Chronicles of Conan, Volume 9: Riders of the River-Dragons and Other Stories
From the turbulent seas to the deepest, darkest jungles, the barbarian Conan moves ever closer to his destiny as king and conqueror. Allied with the deadly she-pirate Belit, Conan journeys further into the most savage and untamed Hyborian lands, and into his own heart of darkness.
It's Sword and Sorcery at its finest!
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Roy Thomas
4,517 books273 followersRoy 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 31, 2023
Conan the Barbarian (1970-1993) (#60-63, 65, 69-71)
The adventures of Conan and Belit get started. We get a Roy Thomas scripted backstory for Belit. She's the daughter of the rightful King of Shem usurped by a Stygian plot and is spending her time as a pirate gathering gold so she can create an army and go retake her throne killing as many Stygians as she can along the way.
I also was able to read Conan 67, 68 that feature Red Sonja and have a crossover with Marvel Feature 6 and 7 drawn by the wonderful Frank Thorne. Holy, I love his sketchy chaotic style. I need to read more of his work.
I'm enjoying the high seas adventures of Conan and I think Roy Thomas did a great job fleshing out Belit. In the original story she's basically just an evil woman who has no respect for life. Here it's balanced out quite a bit. She still has an edge and is less inviting than Red Sonja.
Ernie Chan comes in in the later half of this book - his inking is world's above the guys doing it before.
The adventures of Conan and Belit get started. We get a Roy Thomas scripted backstory for Belit. She's the daughter of the rightful King of Shem usurped by a Stygian plot and is spending her time as a pirate gathering gold so she can create an army and go retake her throne killing as many Stygians as she can along the way.
I also was able to read Conan 67, 68 that feature Red Sonja and have a crossover with Marvel Feature 6 and 7 drawn by the wonderful Frank Thorne. Holy, I love his sketchy chaotic style. I need to read more of his work.
I'm enjoying the high seas adventures of Conan and I think Roy Thomas did a great job fleshing out Belit. In the original story she's basically just an evil woman who has no respect for life. Here it's balanced out quite a bit. She still has an edge and is less inviting than Red Sonja.
Ernie Chan comes in in the later half of this book - his inking is world's above the guys doing it before.
March 26, 2020
Volume 9 is a highly enjoyable collection starting off with a 4-part story which essentially is Conan versus Ginger evil Tarzan or "Amra" as he calls himself. Thomas weaves an enjoyable tale of Conan, Belit and the crew of the Tigress going up against crocodile riding natives led by Amra and naturally supernatural elements, intrigue, drama, adventure and violence ensue.
Highly enjoyable two-part stories book end a tale in which Conan relates to Belit aboard the Tigress on the high seas. A tale that Thomas adapts for Conan from a horror story Howard wrote called "Out of the Deep". Val Mayerik does a great job filling in for Buscema on art chores in this story.
These are prized tales and nearing what I feel are the best of the Belit run.
Highly enjoyable two-part stories book end a tale in which Conan relates to Belit aboard the Tigress on the high seas. A tale that Thomas adapts for Conan from a horror story Howard wrote called "Out of the Deep". Val Mayerik does a great job filling in for Buscema on art chores in this story.
These are prized tales and nearing what I feel are the best of the Belit run.
March 23, 2019
This is one of my favorite volumes so far. The next few volumes feature Conan roaming the African Coast (or at least the Hyborian equivalent) as a pirate with the oh so sexy Belit and her group of black corsairs. It's cool to see Conan in the jungle. In this volume we also have what amounts to Tarzan Vs. Conan. There's a jungle dwelling savage raised by lions lurking the woods and he and Conan end up going head to head. We also have a few of Robert E. Howard's non Conan stories adapated into Conan stories, including some Lovecraftian type horror tales. The Buscema art is great even though his inkers vary. A great volume overall.
June 19, 2016
Love these collections of the Conan comics.
December 15, 2019
Volume #9 takes us to the jungle worlds of Conan's equivalent of African continent. Here Conan, sailing with Belit and her pirate crew, will come across various warlords, riders of giant crocodiles/dragons and Amra, lion master, unnaturaly strong wild-man not unlike Tarzan but his exact polar opposite when it comes to morals and ethics.
Art as always is great, John Buscema's is beautiful and coloring is just exceptional. In here we have more over-dramatic (at least to me) presentation of our heroes as they fight and bare teeth at each other and growl and cry out their battle-cries. I am not fan of this but it did not ruin the experience at all.
Higly recommended to fans of Conan and sword-and-sorcery in general.
Art as always is great, John Buscema's is beautiful and coloring is just exceptional. In here we have more over-dramatic (at least to me) presentation of our heroes as they fight and bare teeth at each other and growl and cry out their battle-cries. I am not fan of this but it did not ruin the experience at all.
Higly recommended to fans of Conan and sword-and-sorcery in general.
October 21, 2019
Really enjoying going through these. As a kid it was my goal to read every single issue of Marvel's "Conan the Barbarian," so this was a long time coming. This volume is missing three issues (67-69) for various rights reasons, so I'll have to eventually track those down separately.
Decent stories. This volume is centered in the Conan-version of Africa, and I was worried that it would be full of unintentional but still very painful and embarrassing racism, but it wasn't bad. Not a teaching tool for diversity and respect, but given the time and the genre, not as bad as I had feared.
Decent stories. This volume is centered in the Conan-version of Africa, and I was worried that it would be full of unintentional but still very painful and embarrassing racism, but it wasn't bad. Not a teaching tool for diversity and respect, but given the time and the genre, not as bad as I had feared.
April 27, 2018
Another fine set of stories by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, Valm Mayerik, and others (the essay in the back always does a great job crediting the creative team, and their efforts, with lots of fun tidbits about the creative process).
Some of the elements of these stories are a bit too gonzo for me, but overall I still enjoyed them. The artwork is good throughout, and I can clearly see the change of inker in the last couple of stories.
Some of the elements of these stories are a bit too gonzo for me, but overall I still enjoyed them. The artwork is good throughout, and I can clearly see the change of inker in the last couple of stories.
March 8, 2020
The Chronicles of Conan, Volume 9: Riders of the River-Dragons and Other Stories great epic Sword Swinging Character Development, Heroics, Plot Twists, Grand Standing World Building, Action and Adventure! :D Crisp High Five! :D Highly Recommended! :D
December 13, 2023
Conan stories are already too repetitive and I'm still in volume 9 (there are 25 more to go or something).
April 25, 2025
Another great Roy Thomas/John Buscema collaboration on Conan.
At this point Conan has become a pirate, teaming up with his supposed one and only, Belit.
We start off with a multi-parter that is essentially a Conan/Tarzan crossover. And I'm not being mean or anything, Thomas literally says it in his afterward.
Then besides that we have a couple "magic isles" type stories with stuff happening that draws Conan and Belit into.
My only genuine complaint about this book is that they have really softened Conan by this point, which is strange since he is literally a pirate now. But he seems to value human life almost more than ever and seems to justify not killing people as well as not stealing from people and instead playing mercenary.
The other thing that drives me crazy in this book is not it's fault at all. Because of copywrite issues there are missing issues starting here. Basically anything with Red Sonja is now no longer going to be printed in these collections. And what's worse is after the "Tarzan" opening I flip the page to the next issue and the VERY FIRST THING is a text box talking about this exciting adventure Conan just had with Red Sonja and King Kull and even including Thoth-Amon. Dang! I want to read that!
So while the recolorings on these Dark Horse collections are wonderful and these have always been my favorite way to read these old Conan stories. Honestly, someone might be better to read one of the more modern Omnibus collections that do contain these missing issues.
At this point Conan has become a pirate, teaming up with his supposed one and only, Belit.
We start off with a multi-parter that is essentially a Conan/Tarzan crossover. And I'm not being mean or anything, Thomas literally says it in his afterward.
Then besides that we have a couple "magic isles" type stories with stuff happening that draws Conan and Belit into.
My only genuine complaint about this book is that they have really softened Conan by this point, which is strange since he is literally a pirate now. But he seems to value human life almost more than ever and seems to justify not killing people as well as not stealing from people and instead playing mercenary.
The other thing that drives me crazy in this book is not it's fault at all. Because of copywrite issues there are missing issues starting here. Basically anything with Red Sonja is now no longer going to be printed in these collections. And what's worse is after the "Tarzan" opening I flip the page to the next issue and the VERY FIRST THING is a text box talking about this exciting adventure Conan just had with Red Sonja and King Kull and even including Thoth-Amon. Dang! I want to read that!
So while the recolorings on these Dark Horse collections are wonderful and these have always been my favorite way to read these old Conan stories. Honestly, someone might be better to read one of the more modern Omnibus collections that do contain these missing issues.
March 7, 2015
This collection of original Marvel run of Conan stories continues 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).
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/...
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).
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/...
April 3, 2014
Not the brightest star in the Conan the Barbarian history. Dancing Conan? No, that is an error.
But then again, there was Red Sonja.
And stories illustrated by John Buscema and inked by Ernie Chan.
But then again, there was Red Sonja.
And stories illustrated by John Buscema and inked by Ernie Chan.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews