Savage Avengers by Gerry Duggan Omnibus

Savage Avengers (2019) #1-5

by Gerry Duggan, Chris Claremont, David Finch (Cover Art)

Collects Savage Avengers (2019) #0-28 and Annual #1, Uncanny X-Men (1981) #190-191 and material from Free Comic Book Day 2019 (Avengers/Savage Avengers).

Out of the Hyborian Age and into the Marvel Universe, here comes Conan the Barbarian! As the Cimmerian warrior finds his way in the 21st century, he'll meet savage new friends more than happy to join him in battle - including Wolverine, Venom, Elektra and the Punisher! The Hand has summoned a death god from a celestial hell, and the only thing standing between Earth and destruction is Conan and those who will fight by his side. As Conan's global journey begins, he is joined by Doctor Strange, Black Widow, Doctor Doom, Magik, Deadpool and more - but can even a whole army of Savage Avengers stand against evil wizard Kulan Gath, harnessing the awesome power of the elder god Shuma-Gorath?

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Superheroes

768 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 24, 2023

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poorly written, for sure. Gerry Duggan eventually finds his footing, and gives each character, more or less, their own voice, but you can't help but be won over by the sheer bat-shit-craziness of it all. Cannibalism, dinosaurs, ninjas, endless deaths and resurrections, time-travel, heroes and villains working together, dystopian futures, a kill baby Hitler dilemma.....this book has it all, and it is all attractively illustrated.

Where it all really came together for me was in the very last chapter of the Kulan Gath saga, which takes up 95% of this book. Conan is presented with a dilemma that he solves so elegantly and beautifully that it nearly brought a tear to my jaded eye.

I can't recommend this as high art, but if you just want to see violence, carnage, and a wizard slowly eating an Elder God, this is the place to come.

[Jason Waltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The omnibus graphic novel I have with this ISBN is the entire SAVAGE AVENGERS run (1-28 + specials). Storytelling is pushing a 5. Story delivery and plotlines hovers at 3-4 because of too many too often just dropped characters and illogical/unexplained jumps or sudden new appearances. Art...only the issues by Mike Deodato Jr. are good (1-5). Sorely sorely missed his hand the vast majority of the remainder. The other art was frankly mostly insulting. Art is super important in a story presented like this, and a lot of the art is childish, a mockery of the great action hero art that typically accompanies a great heroic tale. I mean, several times Conan looks like a muppet/puppet guest staring on that infamous ANGEL episode (which was funny - this was not). So art for me drops to less than 3 and the only thing keeping it above a 2 is Deodato. Which is sad. But what gives this the 4 stars you see above: no matter what, no one dropped the ball on Conan's heart. The big guy empathically lives his passion to triumph and his indomitable will shines bright from beginning to end, no matter how ugly the art.

[Nate Deprey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duggan delivers the full range of emotions during Conan's 28 issue walk about through the Marvel Universe. The art is consistently impressive and the story is maximalist without feeling absurd. Duggan also perfectly sticks the landing and uses the comic format to perfectly answer the philosophical question, "If you could go back in time and murder an infant Hitler, would you?" Savage Avengers is also exhibit A in the value of reading a series in omnibus form as it allows for the full sweep of the story without interruption as I was able to read the last 14 issues or so in one go and let it build in a way single issues or collected volumes wouldn't.

[Burton Olivier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the raddest comics ever made.

[Sheepysheep · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable!!

[Petrit Kabashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was not expecting to like this story so much. Conan, the punisher and wolverine do make a killer team. The main character of the omni is Conan so irs basically a Conan story takinf place in the marvel universe. Fun read!

[Craig Childs · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Kulan Gath can have this cursed land! The women are slaves, the wine is piss, and the bugs are the size of my fist…"

When Marvel regained the rights to Conan in 2019, they made the controversial decision to insert him into a team-up of anti-heroes including Venom, Punisher, Elektra, and Wolverine. Avengers: No Road Home brought Conan forward in time from the Hyborean Age into Earth-616 continuity.

Marvel clearly wanted to position Conan so that they could eventually work him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This never happened, as Marvel lost the rights to the character again in 2023.

I admit I prefer my Conan firmly rooted in antiquity. However, there is a lot of tongue-in-cheek appeal to Conan the Barbarian in a fish-out-of-water tale, mixing it up alongside the pantheon of MCU's popular superheroes.

This omnibus collects the entire run of Savage Avengers Vol. 1 by Gerry Duggan:

"City of Sickles" (Free Comic Day 2019 + issues #1-5)

Sorcerer Kulan Gath, who first appeared in Conan the Barbarian #15, summons a demon in the Savage Land by sacrificing the blood of the world's greatest warriors. Conan is possessed by a Venom-like symbiote. He becomes friends with Punisher and Elektra. He gains the begrudging respect of Wolverine in the fight.

"To Dine with Doom" (issues #6-10 + Annual #1)

Doctor Doom attempts to buy a powerful amulet that Conan has stolen. The two of them team up with Doctor Strange to defeat Kulan Gath a second time. Also includes a one-off adventure in Annual #1 wherein Conan, Hellstrom, and Black Widow rescue Brazilian women from being sex-trafficked.

"Enter the Dragon" (issues #0, #11-16)

Strange and Elektra retrieve Doctor Voodoo from the twilight realm by killing his twin brother (who already died once) and swapping their souls. Meanwhile, Conan, Magik (Illyana Rasputina), Juggernaut, and Black Knight steal the Second Eye of Agamotto from Sadurang, the Asgardian red dragon.

Issue #0 reprints 1984's Uncanny X-Men #190-91, the story of Doctor Strange's first battle with Kulan Gath. Additional new material bookends these issues, framing it as a flashback between Savage Avengers #11 and #12.

"King in Black" (issues #17-22)

Conan joins Night Flyer, Deadpool, and several of the X-Men, including Callisto and Iceman, against Storm, Cyclops, and Knull's race of symbiotes. The Conan and Deadpool repartee, especially in issue #17, is a highlight of this series.

Spider Man tries (and fails) to stop Conan and Rhino from robbing a bank. Then, Conan and Ghost Rider are trapped in a shifting reality controlled by Nightmare.

"The Defilement of All Things by the Cannibal-Sorcerer Kulan Gath" (issues #23-28)

The full Avengers team assembles to defeat Kulan Gath, but is it not enough until Kang the Conqueror and Conan engage in a thousand years of time travel hijinks to course correct history. (Note: Kang refers in passing to the events of the alt-timeline one-off comic Conan 2099 also written by Duggan.)

"Empyre: Savage Avengers"

This one-shot issue is the tie-in to the 2020 crossover event Empyre. On a vacation in Mexico City, Conan and Venom get embroiled in the war between the Kree, the Skrull, and the tree-like Cotati aliens.

This is as good as comic team-ups get: 4 stars

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is undoubtedly a fun series, and Duggan and co. do a good job incorporating as many Marvel characters into team-ups with Conan as they possibly can without making it repititive. This series follows Conan's inclusion into the Marvel Universe (see "Avengers: No Road Home" - not essential reading, but decent supplemental reading) and how a ragtag team of heroes must confront the threat of Kulan Gath. The series does a good job incorporating Conan lore with that of Marvel's own history, and even though some of the time travel shenanigans and retrofitting of the "Hyborian Age" is a little clumsy at times, it doesn't really break the immersion (for me, atleast).

While the narrative throughout Duggan's run is basically to lead up to this world/dimension ending climax where many of Marvel's heroes have to face Kulan Gath, a major Conan foe (and has also previously been included in Marvel comics during Claremont's Uncanny X-Men run). Kulan Gath's goal is basically subjugation of the entire multiverse by consuming the powers of all sorcerers and mystical entities. The mode of this stealing of powers is an interesting choice by Duggan, but works well for the tone of the story at hand.

While the conflict between Conan and Kulan Gath serves as the backdrop for the series, much of the issues are really team-ups between Conan and various Marvel characters. There are some fun pairings for sure, like with the Punisher, Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange, but also plenty of uninteresting ones as well. It's not really ever too dull or repititive, but it can sometimes feel like the series was being unnecessarily stretched out. The series climax also gets too far into the weeds of the ill-conceived time travel messiness Marvel is known for, and very litle of it makes real sense. There's pretty much an expectation that the reader should not dig too deep into that stuff and instead just lean into the hilarity and the action.

The artwork is pretty good throughout. Mike Deodato Jr. does some of his best work in the issues he's on, and Patch Zircher is solid throughout. Greg Smallwood does such a spectacular job on Savage Avengers #0 and the Empyre tie-in issue that I wish he had got more issues to work on. Other fill-in artists like Guice, Walker, Tartaglia, etc. are solid entries as well, though I do wish Deodato Jr. could have carried on for longer than just the initial five issues.

This series won't blow you away or anything, but it's a fun time for the most part. I had limited expectations going in, and I enjoyed myself sufficiently.

[Jaime Guzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Marvel's Conan for years and to bring him into the current universe and have him rub elbows with current Marvel heroes seemed like such a sin.
This book starts very rough but suddenly Gerry Dugan finds the distinct voice of each character and gosh darn it the stories as wacky as they are begin to be quite enjoyable.
Kulun Gath, an evil sorcerer who has had a run in with our swarthy barbarian is back and has plans to mystical powers and control the world and everything on it.
It's up to Conan and with the help of Wolverine, The Punisher, Venom, Brother Voodoo, and Elektra to stop Kulun Gath.
I found this book to be over the top, action packed, and sometimes quite funny.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, violent slug-fest full of fights, sorcery, death, and more. Gerry Duggan tells a Conan story in the guise of an Avengers book. Think of this more of Conan Team-Up. He does battle with Kulan-Gath for almost 30 issues and while that seems boring it was exciting. Conan adapting to our time, possible teammates, and his never-ending quest to not lose. The book is simple for the most part but there were some complex solutions and the ending was fresh. The book had very good art especially Patrick Zircher, who carried the load. The book won't be for everyone but if you want to see Conan fight his way through time, this is the book for you.

[John Shaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the comic shop.
When you thought the Big Two ( Marvel & DC ) had exhausted every harebrained stupid assed crossover idea they could come up with....
Grabbing characters from hither and yon the main requirement being a propensity for violence.
FFS they even put Conan in the mix.
The Hell???
STUPID!!!!!
STUPID!!!!!
STUPID!!!!!
STUPID!!!!!
STUPID!!!!!

[OmniRob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this Omnibus just based on the hype and I did not want to miss out on something great. I had a serious case of FOMO. Once I cracked it open and started reading it I could not stop until that last page was turned….then I wanted more! Still need to pick up the first volume of the latest run, but honestly Conan made this series great and the fact he just disappears after the 5th issue saddens me!

[Λευτέρης Αναγνωστόπουλος · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look. If you don't like Conan the Barbarian using a symbiote to make weapons, if you don't like Conan fighting like a demon side by side with other Marvel heroes, if you don't like Conan wearing Doom's armor, or Ghost Rider riding a flaming dinosaur or a gigantic flaming spider, do you even like heavy-metal, bro?

[Zachary Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a fun read and the most enjoyable read of 2023 so far. Conan is dropped into the marvel universe in a way that makes sense and has adventures with a crazy cast of characters. The art is stellar from start to finish. This is a run I will be coming back to for years to come.

[Omni Theus · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 out of 5 stars - Hijacked by events too much. Without those events probably more like a 3.5-3.75 but the pacing fell off as did shoe-horning the terrible dated tale of Kulan-Gath's last attempt thrawted by Strange...

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to see Conan in the modern day marvel universe.

[Δημήτρης Αθανασόπουλος · Rating 2 out of 5]

Άλλη μια Μαρβελικη μπαρουφα. Ο Κόναν πάλι με το ζόρι μέσα στην ιστορία. Χαοτικες ανοησίες.

[DURTY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Strange & Elektra get it on while floating in the air! What else do you need?

[Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Comic, thoroughly enjoyed.

[Dan Solomon]

a real hoot, if you have affection for conan the barbarian, which i certainly do. he's pretty much the only character here who's written consistently and whose behavior tracks with the character we know—pretty much all of the marvel characters are off, either by a little bit (doctor strange comes out mostly okay) or by a lot (never seen this version of the punisher before). but also, who cares, the fun here is in seeing conan drink and fight his way through the marvel universe, so you get fun stuff like him bro-ing out with the rhino and laughing in spider-man's face when he does the "great power/great responsibility" line. plus there's a scene where wolverine is trying to stab a demon's brain but can't get his claws in far enough, so conan and venom each grab a hammer and start pounding poor logan's fists to get the claws deeper. if that sounds like your idea of a good time, it is.

[J.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wild ride! Conan’s the chief protagonist, pitted against the evil sorcerer Kulan Goth. Dr. Strange plays heavily too. Gonzo team-ups and nutty brutality meet magic and inter-dimensional travel (sometimes through time as well). Plus, there’s a two-issue Claremont’s X-Men right in the middle of the tome. Super fun read.

[Sebastian Kayser · Rating 2 out of 5]

predictable, cheap action, bad characterizations

Gerry Duggan writes like he’s just playing with action figures, can’t seem to get any character right. This basically turned into future imperfect/maestro but not done well. Waste of money.. find something else to read.