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King Conan by Timothy Truman #3
King Conan: The Hour of the Dragon
An imprisoned King Conan battles a forgotten evil!
Conan, the barbarian king of Aquilonia, has faced many threats to his throne - but none more deadly than a traitorous alliance of usurpers backed by the resurrected sorcerer Xaltotun, at whose command mountains crumble! Stripped of everything he held dear, Conan must fight his way out of a villain's dungeon, across battle-ravaged countries, and back to his throne. Along the way, he meets Zenobia, the wily harem slave who will one day reign at his side. The fan-favorite triumvirate of Timothy Truman, Tomas Giorello, and Jose Villarrubia faithfully adapt the first half of Robert E. Howard's only Conan novel!
This volume collects issues #1-#6 of the Dark Horse Comics miniseries "King Conan: The Hour of the Dragon", and is the third volume in an ongoing series featuring King Conan.
*A perfect companion to "King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel" and "King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword"!
Conan, the barbarian king of Aquilonia, has faced many threats to his throne - but none more deadly than a traitorous alliance of usurpers backed by the resurrected sorcerer Xaltotun, at whose command mountains crumble! Stripped of everything he held dear, Conan must fight his way out of a villain's dungeon, across battle-ravaged countries, and back to his throne. Along the way, he meets Zenobia, the wily harem slave who will one day reign at his side. The fan-favorite triumvirate of Timothy Truman, Tomas Giorello, and Jose Villarrubia faithfully adapt the first half of Robert E. Howard's only Conan novel!
This volume collects issues #1-#6 of the Dark Horse Comics miniseries "King Conan: The Hour of the Dragon", and is the third volume in an ongoing series featuring King Conan.
*A perfect companion to "King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel" and "King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword"!
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 22, 2014
1 person is currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Truman
535 books59 followersTimothy Truman is an American writer, artist and musician. He is best known for his stories and Wild West-style comic book art, and in particular, for his work on Grimjack (with John Ostrander), Scout, and the reinvention of Jonah Hex, with Joe R. Lansdale. Truman is currently writing Conan and is an instructor at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
Truman's first professional comics work was Grimjack with writer John Ostrander, for the independent comics company First Comics. Grimjack first appeared in Starslayer #10 in November 1983, before moving to his own series after issue #18 in 1984, and continued for 81 issues. Along with being a fan favorite and often imitated character, Grimjack almost single-handedly defined the "grim and gritty" action comic character archetype.
Truman has been continuously creative for more than 20 years, displaying his pulp sensitivities in his writing. In 1985, he created Scout, which was followed by Scout: War Shaman, a futuristic western. A year later, he relaunched the Hillman characters Airboy and The Heap for Eclipse Comics. He also developed The Prowler, a Shadow type character, and adapted The Spider for Eclipse. In 1991, at DC Comics he created Hawkworld, a reinvention of Hawkman. With author Joe R. Lansdale, he reinterpreted Jonah Hex as a horror western. In it, their creation of villain Edgar Autumn elicited a complaint from musician Edgar Winter. With his son, Benjamin Truman, he created A Man Named Hawken.
Truman was chosen by Dark Horse Comics to illustrate a newly completed Tarzan novel and wrote a story arc for the comic book. He also wrote virtually the entire run of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for Valiant Comics, after David Michelinie launched the book with its first three-issue story arc and subsequently departed the series. For the defunct SF imprint of DC, Helix, he created The Black Lamb. He also worked on a typical pulp adventure Guns of the Dragon, featuring Enemy Ace and Bat Lash; and wrote Star Wars at Dark Horse Comics. While at Dark Horse Comics, he took over the writing of Conan from Kurt Busiek in 2006, and after that series ended he started Conan The Cimmerian.
Truman's startling work, Simon Girty, Renegade was a two-volume black and white graphic novel that translated the horrors and triumphs of the American settler's western frontier in a fresh, interesting light. In bold, black and white use of positive and negative space, Truman appealed to both young and old audiences in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It was especially important for West Virginians that had been struggling against novelist Zane Grey's portrayal of Lewis Wetzel in an overly romanticized, florid light. Truman himself is an avid historian who dislikes nothing more than to see a drawing of a war using the wrong weaponry, and the second volume of his two-volume series on Simon Girty was devoted to the errors caught in his first volume.
Tecumseh! a graphic novel based on the West Virginia Outdoor Theater, is a colored graphic novel that shows the play from beginning to end. It renewed interest in the warrior in Appalachia. When asked why he used "Tecumseh" instead of "Tecumtheh" he explained he didn't want to explain to the mainstream audience the variance in spelling — the movement on pronunciation began with General William Tecumseh Sherman who came from a family that wanted to commemorate the warrior, but felt the lisping "Tecumtheh" would be unmanly.
Truman's first professional comics work was Grimjack with writer John Ostrander, for the independent comics company First Comics. Grimjack first appeared in Starslayer #10 in November 1983, before moving to his own series after issue #18 in 1984, and continued for 81 issues. Along with being a fan favorite and often imitated character, Grimjack almost single-handedly defined the "grim and gritty" action comic character archetype.
Truman has been continuously creative for more than 20 years, displaying his pulp sensitivities in his writing. In 1985, he created Scout, which was followed by Scout: War Shaman, a futuristic western. A year later, he relaunched the Hillman characters Airboy and The Heap for Eclipse Comics. He also developed The Prowler, a Shadow type character, and adapted The Spider for Eclipse. In 1991, at DC Comics he created Hawkworld, a reinvention of Hawkman. With author Joe R. Lansdale, he reinterpreted Jonah Hex as a horror western. In it, their creation of villain Edgar Autumn elicited a complaint from musician Edgar Winter. With his son, Benjamin Truman, he created A Man Named Hawken.
Truman was chosen by Dark Horse Comics to illustrate a newly completed Tarzan novel and wrote a story arc for the comic book. He also wrote virtually the entire run of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for Valiant Comics, after David Michelinie launched the book with its first three-issue story arc and subsequently departed the series. For the defunct SF imprint of DC, Helix, he created The Black Lamb. He also worked on a typical pulp adventure Guns of the Dragon, featuring Enemy Ace and Bat Lash; and wrote Star Wars at Dark Horse Comics. While at Dark Horse Comics, he took over the writing of Conan from Kurt Busiek in 2006, and after that series ended he started Conan The Cimmerian.
Truman's startling work, Simon Girty, Renegade was a two-volume black and white graphic novel that translated the horrors and triumphs of the American settler's western frontier in a fresh, interesting light. In bold, black and white use of positive and negative space, Truman appealed to both young and old audiences in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It was especially important for West Virginians that had been struggling against novelist Zane Grey's portrayal of Lewis Wetzel in an overly romanticized, florid light. Truman himself is an avid historian who dislikes nothing more than to see a drawing of a war using the wrong weaponry, and the second volume of his two-volume series on Simon Girty was devoted to the errors caught in his first volume.
Tecumseh! a graphic novel based on the West Virginia Outdoor Theater, is a colored graphic novel that shows the play from beginning to end. It renewed interest in the warrior in Appalachia. When asked why he used "Tecumseh" instead of "Tecumtheh" he explained he didn't want to explain to the mainstream audience the variance in spelling — the movement on pronunciation began with General William Tecumseh Sherman who came from a family that wanted to commemorate the warrior, but felt the lisping "Tecumtheh" would be unmanly.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 28, 2023
Excellent adaptation of the only Robert E. Howard Conan novel. Art and writing were perfect. Very recommended
March 6, 2017
Believe it or not, I really was stuck on the last page of this comic (graphic novel? it's technically only 1/2 of a novel...) for almost a week. I had one picture left to look at when I set it down for travel home, and New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day games with the kid, and then 02 January was the Federal holiday that I discovered I had misplaced the book...
But, onward to... A REVIEW!
Aged King Conan recalls almost losing his kingdom in his first few years ruling Aquilonia. A trecherous neighboring monarch, a resentful heir to the deposed king, and a power-hungry ex-priest scheme to eliminate the younger King Conan. Sorcery,and conflicting agendas, leave Conan alive and imprisoned as a bargaining chip while the vile trinity struggle for power.
Then harem-slave Zenobia helps him escape, and the table begin to turn as Conan, alone in a foreign land, battles his way from city to wilderness to bandit outpost, tracking the artifact that can defeat the en-slavers of his kingdom.
This and the sequel, King Conan: The Conqueror are the finest of the Dark Horse adaptations of Conan. Timothy Truman writes as if he were Robert E. Howard back to correct the niggling flaws in the original story, and the art team of Tomás Giorello and José Villarrubia make Frank Frazetta look like a fingerpainter. No, not really, but their art is dynamic and moody and seven kinds of awesome for page after page.
Like this, but bigger and hotter and bloodier:
Ah, Zenobia, future common-law Queen of Aquilonia.
But, onward to... A REVIEW!
Aged King Conan recalls almost losing his kingdom in his first few years ruling Aquilonia. A trecherous neighboring monarch, a resentful heir to the deposed king, and a power-hungry ex-priest scheme to eliminate the younger King Conan. Sorcery,and conflicting agendas, leave Conan alive and imprisoned as a bargaining chip while the vile trinity struggle for power.
Then harem-slave Zenobia helps him escape, and the table begin to turn as Conan, alone in a foreign land, battles his way from city to wilderness to bandit outpost, tracking the artifact that can defeat the en-slavers of his kingdom.
This and the sequel, King Conan: The Conqueror are the finest of the Dark Horse adaptations of Conan. Timothy Truman writes as if he were Robert E. Howard back to correct the niggling flaws in the original story, and the art team of Tomás Giorello and José Villarrubia make Frank Frazetta look like a fingerpainter. No, not really, but their art is dynamic and moody and seven kinds of awesome for page after page.
Like this, but bigger and hotter and bloodier:
Ah, Zenobia, future common-law Queen of Aquilonia.
April 29, 2021
Una pasada. En este tomo se adapta la mitad de "La hora del dragón", la única novela que escribió Robert E. Howard del personaje. En cuanto al guión, Timothy Truman muestra un apego al texto original aún mayor que el que tuvo Roy Thomas en su adaptación para Marvel, llegando incluso a la literalidad en algunos diálogos, y sin embargo su versión me parece más fresca, bastante más moderna. El artificio de que todo sea recordado por el anciano rey en primera persona aporta interés, por el aroma a pasado y por ser la primera vez que asistimos a las impresiones del propio Conan. Además de en esto, sólo se aparta de la trama howardiana para incluir a Zenobia en su paseo por las mazmorras y darle un papel más activo y decisivo a un personaje femenino, lo cual es todo un acierto, pues como viejo pulp que es, la obra original cojea en ese aspecto.
El apartado gráfico es superior. Decir alucinante es quedarse corto. Sin duda, Tomas Giorello es el mejor dibujante del Conan publicado por Dark Horse. Algunas de sus viñetas componen auténticos cuadros dignos de exposición. Su Conan sigue el canon establecido por John Buscema y basado en la visión de Frank Frazetta. El color de José Villarrubia es magnífico, realza el atractivo del dibujo sin estridencias, imprimiendo oscuridades y luminosidad más allá de lo efectivo, belleza en suma. Quizás la acción, la narrativa de Giorello, no sean perfectas, pero los semblantes, los gestos, las composiciones, los fondos son una alegría para la vista. Quien hojée este cómic se quedará atrapado en sus páginas.
Qué maravilla.
El apartado gráfico es superior. Decir alucinante es quedarse corto. Sin duda, Tomas Giorello es el mejor dibujante del Conan publicado por Dark Horse. Algunas de sus viñetas componen auténticos cuadros dignos de exposición. Su Conan sigue el canon establecido por John Buscema y basado en la visión de Frank Frazetta. El color de José Villarrubia es magnífico, realza el atractivo del dibujo sin estridencias, imprimiendo oscuridades y luminosidad más allá de lo efectivo, belleza en suma. Quizás la acción, la narrativa de Giorello, no sean perfectas, pero los semblantes, los gestos, las composiciones, los fondos son una alegría para la vista. Quien hojée este cómic se quedará atrapado en sus páginas.
Qué maravilla.
May 17, 2014
Yet another spellbinding King Conan book, these rival imo the greatest ever run by Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord.
Even if you only have a passing intrest in Conan or any of it's ilk then do yourself a favour and read this book a true classic.
It is just the first part in a larger story and one I cannot wait to read.
Even if you only have a passing intrest in Conan or any of it's ilk then do yourself a favour and read this book a true classic.
It is just the first part in a larger story and one I cannot wait to read.
May 3, 2025
It's hard to believe Robert E. Howard only wrote one Conan novel, but at least it was a good one. This adapts the first half of the novel, and it's great. Great story, great art, just really well done.
May 17, 2014
Nuevo tomo que llega este mes de las crónicas que cuenta el viejo Rey Conan, con el equipo de Truman/Giorello. Esta vez es una historia bastante mas larga de lo habitual y este tomo es solo su primera parte y tendremos que esperar hasta que se publique "Conan Rey: El Conquistador" para conocer el desenlace.
Esto también es así en la versión americana de Dark Horse, siendo 2 series de 6 números cada una. Si hace poco era el recuerdo de un gran amor por la reina de la costa negra, lo que embarcaba a Conan en una aventura, esta vez es Zenobia, su otro gran amor perdido el que inspira esta crónica.
En ella el escriba ira recogiendo lo que Conan le cuenta sobre como perdió el trono de Aquilonia a manos de hechicero resucitado por sus enemigos y como todo el mundo le daba por muerto. Estando prisionero es como conocerá a Zenobia y esta pondrá la libertad al alcance de su Rey para que inicie la aventura que le llevará a recuperar el trono y acabar con sus enemigos. Mas que nada porque es el viejo Conan Rey el que lo cuenta, así que sabemos que lo logrará, pero no como, ya que aquí solo tenemos una parte de las desventuras que Conan habrá de superar para lograrlo.
Los lapices de Giorello siguen dejando muy satisfecho, aunque esta vez no contamos con las paginas a lápiz para deleitarnos a modo de extra, sino tan solo con las portadas americanas. La combinación del lápiz de Giorello con el colo de Villarubia me tienen ganado y hacen que compre los tomos sin dudarlo, sin contar por supuesto con la adaptación que Truman hace de los relatos de Robert E. Howard.
Esto también es así en la versión americana de Dark Horse, siendo 2 series de 6 números cada una. Si hace poco era el recuerdo de un gran amor por la reina de la costa negra, lo que embarcaba a Conan en una aventura, esta vez es Zenobia, su otro gran amor perdido el que inspira esta crónica.
En ella el escriba ira recogiendo lo que Conan le cuenta sobre como perdió el trono de Aquilonia a manos de hechicero resucitado por sus enemigos y como todo el mundo le daba por muerto. Estando prisionero es como conocerá a Zenobia y esta pondrá la libertad al alcance de su Rey para que inicie la aventura que le llevará a recuperar el trono y acabar con sus enemigos. Mas que nada porque es el viejo Conan Rey el que lo cuenta, así que sabemos que lo logrará, pero no como, ya que aquí solo tenemos una parte de las desventuras que Conan habrá de superar para lograrlo.
Los lapices de Giorello siguen dejando muy satisfecho, aunque esta vez no contamos con las paginas a lápiz para deleitarnos a modo de extra, sino tan solo con las portadas americanas. La combinación del lápiz de Giorello con el colo de Villarubia me tienen ganado y hacen que compre los tomos sin dudarlo, sin contar por supuesto con la adaptación que Truman hace de los relatos de Robert E. Howard.
January 11, 2016
From a grim throne fashioned from steel and the cold granite of the earth, far above the mist shrouded mountains of Cimmeria, our indifferent God, a God known as Crom gave us a tale to be remembered. He used a man named Robert E Howard to divine this tale of King Conan. And then, many a fortnight later, from the wilderness of West Virgina came Timothy Truman and his roguish brethren from Dark Horse Comics who came from many far away places - beyond the borders of Koth, past the Vilayet sea and across the plains of Corinth to forge this tale as hard as Valyrian steel.
This may be the single best trade paperback I've ever read.
This may be the single best trade paperback I've ever read.
December 25, 2015
Simply excellent. The best adaptation from Dark Horse to date. The King Conan series is the Conan series to follow these days.
Full review:
http://susimetsa.blogspot.fi/2015/12/...
Full review:
http://susimetsa.blogspot.fi/2015/12/...
November 5, 2019
Conan, já rei e bem avançado em anos, relembra suas duas únicas mulheres com quem dividiria uma vida. Quando o rei luta contra feiticeiros, eis uma luta que teme não vencer. O primeiro e insólito encontro com Zenobia num local nada agradável... Desenhos bem traçados por renomados artistas e um roteiro com adaptação que só peca pelo fim abrupto, diferente da obra original. Mas haverá outro volume, esperemos...
Somente poucos detalhes dignos de melhoria quanto à editoração: o verbo é reivindicar!
Somente poucos detalhes dignos de melhoria quanto à editoração: o verbo é reivindicar!
May 28, 2021
Fantastic adaptation of one of the stronger original Conan tales. Art is drop dead gorgeous throughout. Doesn't get much better than this.
December 31, 2014
The best of the King Conan series so far. There is a lot here which will be familiar to the regular Conan reader, or to be honest, even for those who have just been reading the King Conan series. This seems to be more a product of Howard's original work, and less to do with Truman and Giorello's work. One of the top writers, and one of the better artists to work on these Dark Horse published graphic novels, more so than the previous two volumes you can feel the collaboration working well between the two, and the whole product is enhanced by their dedication to the story and the continuity in writing and art.
Lots of good stuff - I am very much looking forward to the next part in this story.
Lots of good stuff - I am very much looking forward to the next part in this story.
July 4, 2014
víctima de una conspiración, el capturado Rey Conan deberá escapar desde las mazmorras para recuperar su trono. Relato del canon hyborio que destaca por la aparición de la esclava Zenobia y goza acá de una lograda adaptación, muy potenciada por los lápices de Giorello.
July 15, 2015
Fun to read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews