Zub Tales

The climax of our second Conan event mini-series arrived in stores last Wednesday – what did critics think of the big finish and the pieces it sets up for the future?

• 9 Panel Grid: “It feels like these events are stacking up and making a story unto themselves where one leads to the next and we get this great fleshing out of all the Robert E. Howard properties…I had a really good time with it.”

• Brother Lore: “As far as everything goes – the writing, the pacing, the suspense, who is behind it all (which I’m not going to reveal) and the art. This comic book is a culmination, an apex, and 100% worth it to go and either get the single issues or paperback.”

• Comic Culture: “Gil on the art spectacular. Love the art. Love the coloring inside the stories and I feel like I get my money’s worth when I read Conan every single time.”

• Comic Patrol: “This really impressed me and won me over in a big way…Holy smokes, did I ever love this.”

• Comical Opinions: 8/10 “Ivan Gil’s artwork on this issue is the strongest yet because he has to illustrate something that should not be illustratable: a god existing outside of time speaking directly to a human consciousness…A confident, ambitious final chapter that makes a genuine philosophical statement.”

• Cool Thunder: 9/10 “This issue brings everything together in a stunning and satisfying finale…Jim Zub continues to write with a sense of grandeur and mythology that feels unmatched in current comics, while Ivan Gil proceeds to artisticly deliver epic weight on every page.”

• Eternal Crusader: “It becomes evident Zub has been planting both subtle and more overt hints throughout his Conan run from the very beginning, all of which come together here in a harmonious way…Artist Ivan Gil unleashes a veritable fireworks display of epic spreads and striking panels. It’s a feast for the eyes, though by now that’s something I’ve come to expect given the consistently high quality of the artwork throughout Titan’s Conan run.”

• Fanlight Zone: “Conan by Titan and Heroic Signatures is one of the best books on the shelf every single month. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it – This crossover event has been fantastic…Awesome art and a really cool story.”

• League of Comic Geeks: 10/10 “Ivan Gil’s artwork is a feast for the eyes, capturing the raw ferocity of battles and the eerie, otherworldly dread of the cosmic sequences with equal prowess. The colors pop with a gritty Hyborian palette. If you’re into pulp fantasy laced with cosmic chills, this is essential reading.”

• Major Spoilers: “I still enjoyed it very much, even though I’m not a big Robert E. Howard scholar or fan of all his work, and I was still able to follow it. It’s a very good four issue series.”

• Pop Culture Philosophers: “The end of this book was masterful. This is a must-read if you’re following the work Jim Zub and company are doing on Conan, which is phenomenal work…The entire family of Conan books have become some of my favorite books to read.”

• Stygian Dogs: “A magnificent marker in this multi-year mission to deliver pulp adventure and mystery drawn from the wider cast of Robert E. Howard’s formidable stable of characters…The result is a story that raises the stakes and inexorably pulls readers along, thrusting us deeper into an encroaching mystery that leaves us eager and guessing for more.”

• Thinking Critical: “This issue’s foot is on the accelerator and it just flies by…It’s tension filled, fast-paced, well illustrated and once again left me wanting more.”

• Two Guys and a Stack of Comics: “This is build up. This is payoff. Great action, incredible art, and balancing different timelines, delivering stakes and I’ll give them credit – One of the coolest last page teases for what comes next.”