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Conan: Dark Horse Collection
Conan: The Spear and Other Stories
Collecting all of the Conan and Conan the Cimmerian comic-book collaborations between acclaimed storyteller Timothy Truman (Scout, Grimjack, Jonah Hex) and veteran artist Paul Lee (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spider-Man), The Spear and Other Stories is a tribute to Robert E. Howard's tenacious King Conan.
Beleaguered by attempts at his crown and sickened by political maneuverings, Conan is the sort of king who takes matters into his own bloody hands. Truman and Lee's "They Shall Be Lords Again" and "Silent to the Sea" — from Conan issues #35 and #36 — work together as a sequel to "The Phoenix on the Sword," a beloved Howard story. "The Tale of the Head," from Conan #40, immediately follows Howard's "The Scarlet Citadel" and pits Conan head-on against the powers of evil wizard Thoth-Amon. In "The Sorrows of Akivasha," Lee fully paints and Truman fleshes out the sad plight of a seductive, centuries-old vampire from Robert E. Howard's only Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon. This collection also includes the Truman/Lee Conan short from the Free Comic Book Day 2006 Special, a Paul Lee sketchbook section, and colors on most stories by Eisner Award-winner Dave Stewart. Brutal battles on Pictish soil, scheming sorcerers, false prophets, a lust-filled vampire, and a little bit of humor — this is an excellent introduction to Dark Horse's Conan universe for both entirely new fans and well-read, seasoned fans!
Beleaguered by attempts at his crown and sickened by political maneuverings, Conan is the sort of king who takes matters into his own bloody hands. Truman and Lee's "They Shall Be Lords Again" and "Silent to the Sea" — from Conan issues #35 and #36 — work together as a sequel to "The Phoenix on the Sword," a beloved Howard story. "The Tale of the Head," from Conan #40, immediately follows Howard's "The Scarlet Citadel" and pits Conan head-on against the powers of evil wizard Thoth-Amon. In "The Sorrows of Akivasha," Lee fully paints and Truman fleshes out the sad plight of a seductive, centuries-old vampire from Robert E. Howard's only Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon. This collection also includes the Truman/Lee Conan short from the Free Comic Book Day 2006 Special, a Paul Lee sketchbook section, and colors on most stories by Eisner Award-winner Dave Stewart. Brutal battles on Pictish soil, scheming sorcerers, false prophets, a lust-filled vampire, and a little bit of humor — this is an excellent introduction to Dark Horse's Conan universe for both entirely new fans and well-read, seasoned fans!
120 pages, Paperback
First published July 7, 2010
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About the author
Timothy Truman
542 books57 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 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 6, 2024
3.5 Stars
September 6, 2022
Here we see tales of Conan soon after he became King of Aquilonia. He struggles with court intrigue, invading barbarians, and of course foul sorcery. There are some connections to the Robert E. Howard "Kull" stories through the lands lost under the sea, the Picts, and the character of Brule. Thoth - Amon makes an appearance, as do the Wazir and the Prince.
This volume contains Dark Horse's "Conan" series issues #35 "They Shall Be Lords Again", #36 "Silent to the Sea", and #40 "The Tale of the Head", as well as issue #15 "The Sorrow of Akivasha" from Dark Horse's "Conan the Cimmerian", a similarly named series.
This volume contains Dark Horse's "Conan" series issues #35 "They Shall Be Lords Again", #36 "Silent to the Sea", and #40 "The Tale of the Head", as well as issue #15 "The Sorrow of Akivasha" from Dark Horse's "Conan the Cimmerian", a similarly named series.
July 13, 2023
While overall enjoyable, the absence of Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord is very much felt with these Conan stories. This collection is mostly a bunch of one-off stories written by Tim Truman with Paul Lee on art duties. The more Lovecraftian inspired Robert E. Howard stories are at the forefront here, with stories involving full on sorcery and creatures from the deep. Overall, a solid volume though I do miss the longer running arcs that the earlier issues of the Dark Horse run of Conan excelled at.
January 25, 2017
So apparently "The Phoenix on the Sword", "The Sacred Citadel" and especially "The Hour of the Dragon" are probably the famous and well loved Conan stories of all time. I haven't read those, but with that in mind it's really to get these little side stories that happen in between these iconic stories. Now I'm actually very much interested to read the King Conan minis that Truman and Giorello did later on.
February 23, 2020
For the Dark Horse Conan completionist, you need this trade to get an two issues not found in the Colossal books or paperback omnis.
April 17, 2012
Never read any Conan comics before, but these were great. Very imaginative and true to the original Howard stories at the same time. The writer says in the afterword that he was sort of driven by the "what happened next" question that so often arises after reading a story and he succeeds here with providing the readers with some very plausible answers. Particularly well done is the story of Akivasha. Great art, lots of fun. 3.5 stars. Recommended.
February 15, 2014
In canon, but side stories to the "Conan Ongoing Series" from Dark Horse Comics. This volume has 5 short stories over 112 pages (plus afterword). All have excellent, expressive art, and many of the stories rely on the art, keeping words to a minimum (and pull it off very nicely). A few minor rough spots in the storytelling, but nothing that made me set the book down and scratch my head and say 'What was that?'
January 26, 2016
The new Conan comic series does good justice to the Robert E. Howard stories. While the art does come and go in quality at time, overall it is a good. The adaptations of the original stories is well done. The fill in stories are also well done and follow the flow of the Character's life as written by Howard. Recommended to comic fans and Very recommended to Howard and Conan fans.
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June 11, 2012I'm not hugely familiar with the Conan stories, but I enjoyed reading these.
Straight forward fantasy, artwork is nice.
Straight forward fantasy, artwork is nice.
April 20, 2013
some good "filler" stories, but you know what was missing.
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Truman should have done the art to his stories.
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Truman should have done the art to his stories.
July 6, 2016
Excellent stories. And the story "The Sorrow of Akivasha" in this book is surely one of the best Conan tales.
June 22, 2016
Excellent.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews