Zub Tales

Bound in Black Stone, our first story arc for the new series, comes to an epic conclusion in CONAN THE BARBARIAN #4! What did the critics think?

• Comical Opinions: 9.5/10 “Conan the Barbarian #4 ends the perfectly crafted first arc on a high note with action, mythos, adventure, and excitement. Zub should be proud of his near-flawless take on the world’s most famous barbarian, and De la Torre’s art is an exquisite pairing.”

• Comicon.com: 10/10 “Conan The Barbarian feels like you are reading an undiscovered pulp classic for the first time and an actual new installment to a landscape you have tread a thousand times before”

• European Lore: “It is everything you want from a Conan the Barbarian story…This is the best comic book experience of 2023.”

• Geek Hard: “It has everything you want in a classic literary story with all the blood and guts you expect…I’m just really blown away by the artwork and story on this one.”

• Grammaticus: “Well done, Titan Comics. Two thumbs up on this one. I really liked it a lot. This is a super strong comic on a super strong series…This comic line is going to go down as one of the great Conan comic books.”

• Hither Came Conan: “Holy s**t! This was such a great freakin’ story and a damn good start to this new Titan run. This is one of those stories that people refer to as an ‘instant classic’. I don’t think it’s going to take too long before people are talking about ‘Bound in Black Stone’ the same way they talk about ‘Red Nails’, ‘The Tower of the Elephant’ and ‘The Phoenix on the Sword’.”

• League of Comic Geeks: 9/10 “This issue had a good balance of action to world building and just makes me want to know more about where this will be headed.”

• Negromancer: “Artist Roberto de la Torre has brought Zub’s script for this final chapter to comic book life in a veil of magic, smoke, and mysticism…if you love Conan comic books, you will hate yourself for denying yourself this new Conan the Barbarian.”

• Pop Culture Maven: “Zub’s done a really nice job of capturing the spirit of Conan in comics and De La Torre’s artwork is just gorgeous. It’s really a good book.”

• Pop Culture Philosophers: “It’s dark, it’s horrific, it’s filled with barbaric violence…These are people who care about this property, these are creators who understand what Conan represents and the fans of this world of Cimmeria, and they nail it every single time. I love the f**k out of that book!”

• Sci-Fi Pulse: 9.5/10 “Roberto De la Torre produces some brilliant artwork for this issue…Jim Zub’s first story arc of Conan with Titan comics comes to a crushing conclusion with Conan and his men doing what must be done.”

• Set the Tape: “With this first story, Zub, Torre, and all the other contributors have proven that a Conan title doesn’t just ‘work’, but can become a must-read title.”

• Stars My Destination: 8/10 “Zub creates a narrative that connects with the way comics were created in the 60s and 70s, with abundant prose that adds a poetic touch to the story.”

• Stygian Dogs: “The chance to see Roberto De La Torre draw an absolutely epic 4-issue arc of Conan the Barbarian, something that seems as if it was always meant to be yet was never guaranteed and now realized and informed by lineage, his work sets a new standard for the barbarian’s comic depiction…This new series has me excited for comics again.”

• Tennessee Fats: “The key takeaway that really makes this story arc successful is the marriage of the art style and the writing. Both of them are well done in their own right, but it’s the fact that these two things together work so well that carry this.”

• Thinking Critical: “Jim Zub, four issues in a row. He nailed it. Told a great complete story and the art in this is just beautiful, a truly great homage to the Bronze Age…If you’ve never read Conan before, this is a perfect jumping on point.”

• Todd Luck: “It has a cameo in the last issue that is very well done, a major cameo and I really enjoyed it and look forward to seeing what they do with other Robert E. Howard properties.”