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Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone
Conan the Barbarian FCBD 2024: Battle of the Black Stone
Conan of Cimmeria has seen much in years as a reaver and mercenary, yet still some things remain shrouded in dark mystery. In his travels, Conan has come in contact with a malevolent force bound in enigmatic Black Stone, a power whose influence and malice has followed him through both the Hyborian Age and the swirling mists of time. Now, at an Aquilonian outpost on the edge of the Pictish wilderness, the Cimmerian feels another pulse from that enigmatic power, and with it, the stirring of memories and dangers he’d though long left in the past…
BATTLE OF THE BLACK STONE, an epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics starts HERE – and continues this Fall!
BATTLE OF THE BLACK STONE, an epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics starts HERE – and continues this Fall!
21 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 4, 2024
About the author
Jim Zub
968 books332 followersJim Zub is a writer, artist and art instructor based in Toronto, Canada. Over the past fifteen years he’s worked for a diverse array of publishing, movie and video game clients including Disney, Warner Bros., Capcom, Hasbro, Bandai-Namco and Mattel.
He juggles his time between being a freelance comic writer and Program Coordinator for Seneca College‘s award-winning Animation program.
He juggles his time between being a freelance comic writer and Program Coordinator for Seneca College‘s award-winning Animation program.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 26, 2024
Standard Conan stuff. Jim Zub is doing a pretty good job of writing these 2020s stories.
Looks like Titan is going to do a crossover with a ton of REH characters. I'm a bit worried about it, while I've enjoyed the occasional adventure with Conan joining Kull and others, a REH universe seems a bit odd.
Looks like Titan is going to do a crossover with a ton of REH characters. I'm a bit worried about it, while I've enjoyed the occasional adventure with Conan joining Kull and others, a REH universe seems a bit odd.
May 16, 2024
FCBD 2024
This was pretty dope. Some quick action and some nice artwork to set up the story. An ancient evil seems to have reached out through space and time to get to different characters throughout different eras. This has the potential to be very good. Will definitely check out this trade when it drops.
This was pretty dope. Some quick action and some nice artwork to set up the story. An ancient evil seems to have reached out through space and time to get to different characters throughout different eras. This has the potential to be very good. Will definitely check out this trade when it drops.
June 19, 2024
The Howardverse
I’m digging the concept of a shared universe with REH’s heroes. I’m aboard to see where this tie between comics and novels goes.
I’m digging the concept of a shared universe with REH’s heroes. I’m aboard to see where this tie between comics and novels goes.
May 5, 2024
"Battle of the Black Stone: Prelude to the Staring Sigil", May 2024
"The children of Crom are known for their strength, with skin like stone."
For a free comic, they don't give you your money's worth, they give you value. It's a set-up for issues to come and it does a good job of getting you hyped. Many Howard characters revealed here but I won't go into it. Acquire it, read it, and prepare for Savage Sword of Conan Issue 4. Though I've grown tired of the overuse of multiverse scenarios in leading comics, TV shows, and movies, the so-called Howardverse is appealing to me in as far as what I know of Robert's characters and tales. I don't feel Howard wanted alternate realities with variations of the same characters, which comes off as a cheap cop-out on level with soap operas that somehow bring their deceased characters back to life. Howard's shared realities are more spiritual in essence, and cosmic in execution, that has been entertaining. This is why I go back to Howard tales instead of reaching for the newly rehashed Marvel and DC excursions. Heroic continues to hold my interest.
Battle of the Black Stone
Prelude to the Staring Sigil
Part I: Eyes Upon Us
Part II: Bond of the Black
Part III: Quest Into Darkness
Part IV: The Future Yet Unwritten
"The children of Crom are known for their strength, with skin like stone."
For a free comic, they don't give you your money's worth, they give you value. It's a set-up for issues to come and it does a good job of getting you hyped. Many Howard characters revealed here but I won't go into it. Acquire it, read it, and prepare for Savage Sword of Conan Issue 4. Though I've grown tired of the overuse of multiverse scenarios in leading comics, TV shows, and movies, the so-called Howardverse is appealing to me in as far as what I know of Robert's characters and tales. I don't feel Howard wanted alternate realities with variations of the same characters, which comes off as a cheap cop-out on level with soap operas that somehow bring their deceased characters back to life. Howard's shared realities are more spiritual in essence, and cosmic in execution, that has been entertaining. This is why I go back to Howard tales instead of reaching for the newly rehashed Marvel and DC excursions. Heroic continues to hold my interest.
Battle of the Black Stone
Prelude to the Staring Sigil
Part I: Eyes Upon Us
Part II: Bond of the Black
Part III: Quest Into Darkness
Part IV: The Future Yet Unwritten
May 8, 2024
A memory across time and space
A great book. It starts in the future. Conan is doing what Conan does best in his present. Fighting and brutally destroying his enemies. What memory will be stirred? How far across time and space will it go? Most importantly, who will be affected? If this preview I'd anything to go by, it is going to be an epic story right across the "Hawardeverse".
A great book. It starts in the future. Conan is doing what Conan does best in his present. Fighting and brutally destroying his enemies. What memory will be stirred? How far across time and space will it go? Most importantly, who will be affected? If this preview I'd anything to go by, it is going to be an epic story right across the "Hawardeverse".
May 5, 2024
Fun but very short. Great action and nicely set up for more 4/5!
December 16, 2024
Not bad. It's a bit of a story trying to capture you, and it shows off quite a lot of the Conan universe.
May 10, 2024
The Sigil
The art is well drawn and to understand this issue, you should read Conan FCBD 2023 as well as Conan numbers 1 through 8, the Black Stone story continues on, but 1-8 gives you a little history and better understanding of Conan's reaction.
This FCBD issue is intriguing and it will be interesting to see how the sigil is involved with the other characters mentioned on the last couple of pages.
The art is well drawn and to understand this issue, you should read Conan FCBD 2023 as well as Conan numbers 1 through 8, the Black Stone story continues on, but 1-8 gives you a little history and better understanding of Conan's reaction.
This FCBD issue is intriguing and it will be interesting to see how the sigil is involved with the other characters mentioned on the last couple of pages.
May 21, 2024
I read the print edition of the comic. This is a short story to introduce the upcoming Battle of the Black Stone spinoff. The story takes place in Conajohara, depicting a fight between marauding Picts and an Aquilonian contingent from Fort Tuscelan. The cover by Roberto De La Torre is excellent. Jonas Scharf’s art for the story is likewise great and the colors by Canola looks like comics from the 60s and 70s, which I like better than the modern style. You get a full quote of the Nemedian Chronicles excerpt from “The Phoenix on the Sword” at the beginning of the comic rather than just the shortened form in the regular CtB. Jeffrey Shanks explains the “Howardverse” in his essay at the end, since the Battle of the Black Stone story will include a crossover with Robert E. Howard’s other characters besides Conan including James Allison, Dark Agnes, Solomon Kane, El Borak, and John Kirowan.
May 6, 2024
This is really hard to rate because I don’t feel like I was the right audience for this one.
As a Free Comic Book Day preview, I feel like it wasn’t inclusive to new readers at all.
This was very much for people who are familiar with the series and have read about the events in previous series.
There were multiple events referenced that I felt were probably major to the story line, but meant nothing to me as a new reader, so I just didn’t care.
It didn’t even intrigue me enough to want to go back to the beginning of any series.
As a Free Comic Book Day preview, I feel like it wasn’t inclusive to new readers at all.
This was very much for people who are familiar with the series and have read about the events in previous series.
There were multiple events referenced that I felt were probably major to the story line, but meant nothing to me as a new reader, so I just didn’t care.
It didn’t even intrigue me enough to want to go back to the beginning of any series.
May 8, 2024
Not really a fan of the idea of a line-spanning event for Conan the Barbarian, but Zub has handled the property well thus far that I have sufficient faith in it. The story here sets the premise for the "Battle of the Black Stone", where the mythical black stone has served as the crux of current Conan adventures. Jonas Scharf handles the art duties well here, delivering on the grandiose nature behind the upcoming event.
April 30, 2026
Ο Conan έρχεται ξανά αντιμέτωπος με μια σκοτεινή δύναμη δεμένη με τη μυστηριώδη Black Stone — ένα κακό που δεν περιορίζεται μόνο στον Υβορειανό κόσμο, αλλά διαπερνά χρόνο και πραγματικότητα.
👉 ωμός Conan, brutal action
👉 αλλά κυρίως: στήσιμο για μεγαλύτερο event (Battle of the Black Stone)
Το τεύχος ανοίγει ξεκάθαρα το παιχνίδι:
👉 Conan + Solomon Kane + Dark Agnes + El Borak + Kirowan + James Allison
👉 ένα ενιαίο Howardverse σε εξέλιξη
👉 ωμός Conan, brutal action
👉 αλλά κυρίως: στήσιμο για μεγαλύτερο event (Battle of the Black Stone)
Το τεύχος ανοίγει ξεκάθαρα το παιχνίδι:
👉 Conan + Solomon Kane + Dark Agnes + El Borak + Kirowan + James Allison
👉 ένα ενιαίο Howardverse σε εξέλιξη
November 29, 2024
I almost have to give this 4 stars just for the beautiful map - it's fantastic!
The story itself is pretty short but it's a great little taster of what's being planned for the series of comics and there's a writeup about the Howardverse - all the characters Robert E Howard created and how they're going to connect them together in the comic series.
The story itself is pretty short but it's a great little taster of what's being planned for the series of comics and there's a writeup about the Howardverse - all the characters Robert E Howard created and how they're going to connect them together in the comic series.
January 26, 2025
This looks like its going to be fun
Titan Comics is doing a meevelous job with Howard's properties. Loved their Conan main series. The revamp of the Savage Sword magazine format, and the reveal of a new crossover. Hope Jim Zub, Pat Zircher and company continue to deliver solid work.
Titan Comics is doing a meevelous job with Howard's properties. Loved their Conan main series. The revamp of the Savage Sword magazine format, and the reveal of a new crossover. Hope Jim Zub, Pat Zircher and company continue to deliver solid work.
November 2, 2025
It's Back
Long after the defeat of [redacted] in the Thurian Age, Conan is a mercenary for Aquilonia against the Picts, when once again he sees the sigil of the malevolent eye that has plagued him for years. But this time he's not alone, as the mysterious eye makes its presence felt to others across time and space.
Long after the defeat of [redacted] in the Thurian Age, Conan is a mercenary for Aquilonia against the Picts, when once again he sees the sigil of the malevolent eye that has plagued him for years. But this time he's not alone, as the mysterious eye makes its presence felt to others across time and space.
May 17, 2024
Enter the realm of Conan and beyond....
Excellent design and love the background of the whole Howard universe.....characters including Solomon Kane ...plus maps of the Conan realm....
Excellent design and love the background of the whole Howard universe.....characters including Solomon Kane ...plus maps of the Conan realm....
November 6, 2024
This is a cross time collection of Robert E Howard characters all fighting the Black Stone. Conan, Dark Agnes, El Borak, James Allison, John Kirowan and John Conrad are all attacked in their own time. Great concept.
May 4, 2024
set up for a coming event
May 8, 2024
Crom
Good color artwork. A tale of Conan's early career and a look thru time and space. Quite epic in scope, will zub be able to deliver, or will shrinkflation set in?
Good color artwork. A tale of Conan's early career and a look thru time and space. Quite epic in scope, will zub be able to deliver, or will shrinkflation set in?
May 18, 2024
A nice but very short FCBD issue. It's very promising as a preview though.
May 23, 2024
Fun set up for a multiverse crossover! As a conan fan I do enjoy these sort of crossovers. We'll worth the read coming out if free comic book day!
May 30, 2024
Another FCBD downer. Not a free comic, it's essentially an advertisement for a cross over story soon to be published
September 16, 2024
All you need to Know...Free!
Told in comics and text pieces this primer is all you need prior to begining The Black Stone event Conan comics from Titan.
Told in comics and text pieces this primer is all you need prior to begining The Black Stone event Conan comics from Titan.
September 18, 2024
Useless, just and advertisement basically. Well at least it was free.
May 10, 2025
Awesome
May 15, 2025
GREAT COMIC, LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE.
February 10, 2026
I liked the interconnected timelines!
May 5, 2024
Fun set up. Perfect for a free comic. No spoilers. I have enjoyed everything so far and am still. Howard's world is coming to life and I strongly believe he would get a kick out of it today. Art was also outstanding and I agree with the visual interpretation of all characters. Check this out.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews