Conan the Barbarian, Vol. 2: Land of the Lotus

Conan the Barbarian (2019) (Collected Editions) #4

by Jim Zub

It will take more than chains to keep a Cimmerian down! Conan's march to Khitai has landed him as a prisoner of the imperial guard. He plans his escape, but what dreaded beasts lurk in this strange land - and what new dangers will impede his quest to return the deadly Tooth of the Nightstar to its rightful master? Conan has a new comrade, but is Meiwei everything she seems? Heng the Insurgent and his roving band of thieves hide a dark secret, and Conan must fight for his life against the bandit king's deadly power! Will the barbarian have what it takes to survive the land of Khitai - even if it costs his very soul?Also featuring tales celebrating 300 issues of CONAN THE BARBARIAN at Marvel, exploring the past and future of Conan!

Collects Conan the Barbarian (2018) #19-25.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Supernatural, Adventure, Graphic Novels Comics

167 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 9, 2021

About the author

Jim 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.

Reviews

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conan finally got rid of the evil sword only to get caught up in a terrible storm while on his voyage across the sea. The other stories were also good!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me something of an improvement on the slog of the previous volume though the vignette issues were pretty much the epitome of filler.

Also, I miss the far sexier Conan stories of the Brian Wood days but I guess Marvel's got to Marvel.

[Κεσκίνης Χρήστος · Rating 5 out of 5]

Υπέροχος Κόναν. Όχι οι καλύτερες ιστορίες, αλλά και πάλι είναι φανταστικό βα διαβάζουμε νέες ιστορίες με τον αγαπημένο μας Βαρβαρο

[a.g.e. montagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jim Zub continues and concludes his tenure on the revived Conan the Barbarian title with an adventure set in faraway Khitai, the easternmost kingdom of the fictional Hyborian age.

Following the end of the "Curse of the Nightstar" storyline in the previous volume, Conan has both crossed the Great Wall that shields Khitai from Hyrkania, and become able to speak the local Mandir "without esitation or even an accent"; both facts are obviously instrumental in the prosecution of the story, but without any sort of plausible explanation they remain far-fetched. In fact, in this fourth and final volume of the relaunched series (Zub also wrote an interesting storyline of gambling and intrigue at the tail end of the Savage Sword of Conan sister title), a kind of fatigue seems to have settled in, with lackluster results. The plot doesn't lack drive or adventure: Conan is first captured by the Khitai guard, given a love interest in scholar Meiwei (she will turn out to be much more, needless to say), then freed by the rebel clan of Heng the Insurgent which he briefly joins, and eventually brought to the court of the God Emperor, only to be framed for the latter's murder by one of the courtesans. The whirlwind of events reads like what a Conan adventure should be, but mostly fails to be compelling. The last episode of the storyline in particular, in which Conan is eventually rewarded for his loyalty and given treasure and a ship to bring him back to familiar shores, seems little more than a link to the celebratory, anthological issue no. 25, which features Bêlit in what is probably a crossover to the Age of Conan miseries written by Tini Howard.

This is the final episode of the series, and in a sense the closing sigil on this entire (however brief) era of Conan under Marvel Comics. I've now read both 2019 series in their entirety, Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan; as is often the case, they turn out to be top-heavy, with most of the beans in the early volumes. Nevertheless, it's been a great journey into sword and sorcery, and inevitably a teaser for the past glories of both titles.

[Ondra Král · Rating 2 out of 5]

Těžká conanovská spotřebka. Barbar míří na quest do Číny - to zní slibně. Dočkáme se střetu kultur? Dojde tu k wolverinovskému zápolení mezi tradicí, ctí a zvířeckosti? Využijí se nějak místní reálie?

Nic takového (až na cca stránku, kde barbar trénuje na audienci). Na začátku se mydlíme s banditama, pak máme najednou (spoiler) u dvora. Bože... to jsou tak obrovská conanovská klišé, že se to mohlo odehrát prakticky kdekoliv.

Zub navíc používá otravné vyprávěcí rámečky a rozjíždí spoustu motivů, které nezvládne uspokojivě uzavřít.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wrapping up the cursed sword story line was okay, but Conan fighting the alternate versions of himself is the real draw, here. A fitting way to round the series off at an even issue 300.

[Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the terrific things about Jim Zub is that you know what you are going to get whenever he is associated with a title. For those of you unfamiliar with his work (All 2 of you!) that is an outstanding story that is fresh and exciting with some humor thrown in for good measure. Conan the Barbarian: Land of the Lotus is no exception. Our hero gets dropped into the action right out of the gate and is immediately hit over the head with the cliche that, "No good deed goes unpunished."

As you may recall from the previous volume, Conan is attempting to return a cursed sword, "The Tooth of the Nightstar," to its rightful owner. Unfortunately for him pretty much everyone he runs into believes his motivations are not so pure and into the fracas he is thrust. There ae princesses who are not what they seem, military leaders who are hiding agendas, and Kings with secrets. Oh and did I mention demons? All in all, everything Conan needs to pretty much ruin his day. Luckily for him, he is made of stern stuff and does not back down from a fight. Ever! This is everything a Conan story should be, told with aplomb, and jam packed with swords and sorcery.

The fun does not stop there, as there are 3 bonus stories to boot. Including one with old Conan. I like the idea of an elder Conan as referenced in the original movie. I know Arnie keeps talking about a project portraying that, but it seems stuck in development hell. So it was a treat having James Owsley pen a short one. All in all this a great book and one any fan will enjoy.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this more modern run of Conan really brought back lots of nostalgia. I loved when he was able to team up with the Avengers, but since getting his solo book back, he's returned to form... and I really enjoy it.
Highlights:
- Continuing where we left off, Conan has just entered into the land of Khitai, bearing the possessed magical sword "Tooth of the Nightstar", in an attempt to bring it back to it's rightful owner. He is taken captive, but when the band is attacked, he escapes with a scholar Meiwei. Making his way through the jungle, he join sides with Heng, a seemingly immortal man who is battling against the injustice of the Emperor's rule. But Heng is much more so a villain, and after Conan kills him, he is summoned before the Emperor. Returning the Tooth to Maltus-Rai, the sword is immediately used to kill the Emperor and blame Conan. When Conan continues to defend the people of the kingdom, the Emperor kills Maltus-Rai (his death only a magical illusion) and grants favor and some riches to Conan.
- A horrible storm on the Southern Sea kills many on the boat Conan is on, but he makes landfall and survives.
- The story jumps ahead to his time with Belit, the pirate Queen, which we have seen in previous Volumes. Together they investigate a temple and are forced to fight Young Conan and Old Conan... but to what end.

I understand the book is finished, at least for a while, but I appreciate a good fighting book from time to time. While the story is always here, it's not as complicated as most books. I look forward to Conan's return to comics.
Recommend.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Land of the Lotus is a stronger showing than Jim Zub's first Conan effort. The main plot is longer and twistier with some real magical meat on its bones. It's nice to see Conan drinking and battling and winning, but it's also nice to see him surprised by a companion's skills or by the nature of the magical world. Harkens back a bit to Jason Aaron's superb Conan.

Conan's duty-bound to return an evil enchanted sword to its former owner in a mystical, China-adjacent land. Naturally, as soon as he's over the border, he's wrapped up in a revolution. Fortunately, he has a good sidekick in a royal court lackey who is more than she seems. There's a wonderful Game of Thrones twist (when the immortal God-Emperor is abruptly murdered before we get to know him) that fuels an abrupt, battle-heavy conclusion.

Land of the Lotus ends with a few lackluster issues about Conan traveling back home and having various tiny, one-shot adventures. There's one truly excellent one-shot by Dan Slott, though, in which a wordless Conan gets thoroughly blasted and unconsciously has a wicked adventure. It's honestly hilarious. Give Dan Slott the Conan writing job this very instant.

[Pavel Pravda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Původně už jsem tento díl neměl v plánu kupovat. Ale ukázka mě nalákala na děj i na kresbu. S politováním musím konstatovat, že zajímavý děj vzal brzy za své a pokračovalo to už jenom čímsi generickým, co mě už moc nebavilo. Alespoň co se týká titulního příběhu z Kitaje. Problém je nejspíš v dialozích, které jsou místy dost slaboduché. To, že Conan občas prohodí filozofující moudro, už nic moc nezachrání. Po Kitaji následující krátké a kratší příběhy jsou na tom o něco lépe.

Kresba je povedená, ale sem tam jsem měl pocit, že některé panely kreslil někdo jiný, někdo kdo obličeje ještě nemá moc v ruce. Některé jiné panely jsou ale fascinující a celá kniha tak zanechává dobrý dojem alespoň po výtvarné stránce.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Zub's Conan continues in full gear as Conan just seeks to do a simple task which leads to capture, torture, bloodshed, battle, death, intrigue, sorcery, and more. Zub does a good job with the title character as he's a not just a fighter. Conan in the far east was great and I appreciated the interactions with Meiwei. The anniversary issue was just filler but the rest of the book was a fun, thrilling adventure. Cory Smith's art was a perfect match for the story and I was impressed. Overall, Conan was never a character I thought I could enjoy or care about and great authors like Jim Zub and Jason Aaron before him have changed that.

[Zedsdead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up where Into the Crucible left off, Conan is yanked from crisis to crisis at the speed of a turned page. He's captured by soldiers, freed by a beautiful scholar, conscripted by brigands, allied to the soldiers he just escaped from, honored by an emperor, framed by a general, and honored by the emperor (again). Strong as he is, Conan has all the agency of a ping pong ball in a hurricane.

But this is some damned pulpy fun. Zub done good.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Khitai story that takes up most of this is quite good and has some fun twists and turns with nice art. The last two issues are really just a series of vignettes. Nothing too exciting but not bad or anything.

[Eye-ra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love me some good ole Conan and this continuation did not let me down at all. Just good fun brutality.

[Jeff Pfeiffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good old fashion Conan, something you won't find in today's comics, enjoyable stories without identity politics.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s great until the last chapter.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.

The anniversary book was a little disappointing. Though I find I like the Conan action more than I want to.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conan faces magic and strange lands. Beautiful women and cruel men. A stormy sea and his past and future selves. It's all about freedom.

[Craig Childs · Rating 4 out of 5]

"True power cannot be grasped by those with a fearful heart or bended knee."

When Marvel regained the rights to Conan in 2019, the first thing they did was relaunch their flagship Conan the Barbarian title. This trade paperback concludes the series with issues #19-25. Jim Zub remains as the writer of these stories, with Cory Smith stepping in as the new artist. I really enjoyed the artwork in these issues, especially the vibrant primary colors and the effective use of starry night skies.

"Land of the Lotus" (#19-23)

Conan has been captured by the soldiers of Khitai, still carrying the cursed sword Tooth of the Nightstar. He escapes with the help of the beautiful but quite deadly Meiwei, and he joins forces with Heng the Insurgent, who can raise himself from the dead. Soon he is involved in a battle between the rebels and the God-Emperor…

If the next Conan movie ever gets made, the writers could do worse than adapting the three arcs "Into the Crucible", "Curse of the Nightstar", and "Land of the Lotus". It is high adventure full of gods, demons, ninjas, blood oaths, and royal assassinations.

"A Sacrifice at Sea" (#24-25)

Conan faces a preternatural storm on the Southern Sea. He sees a strange symbol in the sky he cannot interpret. Years later, in his pirate days with Bêlit, he finds the same symbol carved above a stone temple…

It seems an odd choice to suddenly fast-forward to the Bêlit years in the last issue of the series. I wonder if this story is in some way related to Marvel’s five-issue spinoff Age of Conan: Bêlit.

The final issue also includes three shorts set in different eras of Conan's life. The most interesting is "Black Orchid" which brings back Wraarl the Devourer of Worlds from CtB #200. It features an embittered, snow-haired Conan years after he left the throne of Aquilonia. He refers to Zenobia as his "nagging wife" and Conn as a "troublesome offspring". I have not read Marvel's King Conan, but this surprises me. In the original Robert E. Howard story and the Dark Horse comic adaptations, Zenobia is portrayed in a positive light.

4 stars

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another great one as we see this time Conan being captured by the soldiers of Khitai (Clearly inspired by Medieval Japan) and like how there he meets a woman named Meiwei and they escape and like meet Heng the Insurgent who may seem like a hero and then we learn the truth behind him and that was awesome reveal and I loved it, and then going to Pai-Kang (I am guessing Capital of Khitai?) and the welcoming there and I love seeing Conan as a samurai and the art there is so gorgeous and it will make you love Conan so much and then the big twists with the God-emperor and the owner of the sword from previous volume, "Maltus-rai" and that was such a good one like its a 2 issue arc maybe but it reads like an intense thriller movie and you will have a great time reading it, and its probably the stand-out story for me!

I loved this one, its got everything from a great setting, awesome world-building and intriguing characters and gives you something new and different and shows you why Conan is so awesome and the artist here just brought his A-game which was cool to see!

The other short story with survival on the southern sea was awesome and how it connects to a future story with Belit was interesting, not the best but I quite enjoyed it and gives a solid conclusion to Zub's run!

Its a volume filled with intrigue and great world building like I said and you will have a good time reading it!

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t care for the initial land of the lotus story- it felt a bit overwrought and boring. Let Conan conquer, too much time spent talking.

The story on the boat was great, a nice take on the madness of the sea. I enjoyed the glimpse of the future leader Conan would become.

The three stories at the end are awesome- this style of storytelling would be a great way to do Conan. Each issue is its own storyline with the larger ideas holding it all together- some may be more silly or more magical but Conan gets to explore!