Zub Tales

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #36 arrived in stores last week, wrapping up our Cursed Shores Beyond story arc of supernatural pirate adventure. What did the critics think?

• 9 Panel Grid: “My god, it’s so good. Fernando Dagnino is one of the absolute best artists to take on the Conan property. I love the way that he’s rendering the action…If you’re not reading everything in the Conan world, I think you’re missing out on a lot of great comics.”

• Comic Culture: “It’s been one of the most consistent books on the shelf for over three years now. It’s been incredible. There’s not a single dud issue…It’s one of my favorite books on the shelf, month over month. You’ve got to be reading this one.”

• Comic Patrol: “This is maybe my favorite issue yet…It’s so well written, it’s so much fun and the book swings for the fences.”

• Comical Opinions: 9.5/10 “Banger among bangers. Jim Zub calls upon all his mortal powers to deliver a hammer blow of a finale to the arc…The art has to do a lot of heavy lifting to portray an eldritch being from beyond, making it tangible and intimidating while partly ethereal. Dagnino meets the task handily, with disturbing creature designs and a final battle that brims with mystical energy, clashing steel, and pulse-pounding visuals.”

• Doc Lail Talks Comics: “The level of love and support and understanding that Jim Zub has of the character of Conan is second only to Robert E. Howard, and the love and respect he shows the property can’t be denied.”

• Eternal Crusader: “By the time I reached the final page, I was left with a big, satisfied grin on my face. And honestly, that’s a pretty rare occurrence for me when reading comics. A major triumph in an already excellent Conan the Barbarian run!”

• Fanlight Zone: 10/10 “This is top-tier comic book work. This is a legendary run in the making that you’re reading in your hands, what it must have felt like reading Frank Miller’s Daredevil or something like that, where you know you’re reading something that will stand the test of time. An amazing book and it has been for 36 issues now.”

• Gary B the Casual Comic Guy: “The panel work in this particular issue is incredible and I’m going to be singing Dagino’s praises because everything he’s been doing through this arc has been fantastic…An A+ issue.”

• Goodreads: 10/10 “What a great end to this arc. I loved how Zub tied this back to Conan slaying Thulsa Doom, then brought those consequences into a story full of eldritch horror…Dagnino makes the sword fights and monstrous horror look fantastic, and I had a blast watching Conan fight his way through it all.”

• League of Comic Geeks: 10/10 “The battle is epic and worthy of legend. This is the kind of issue you give to a friend and say ‘Don’t worry about the story so far. Just read this.'”

• Pop Culture Philosophers: “What Jim Zub does perfectly in this issue is take a story I thought was just a nice fun throwaway Conan tale and have it be an integral part of the entire tapestry built up across different stories, different eras, different characters into this giant Conan epic he’s been building ever since his first issue.”

• Thinking Critical: “Typically when you do recaps to an event inside an issue, it can be handled haphazardly, but here it’s incredibly well done…Strongest recommendations, my Pick of the Week and will be in the running for Series of the Year.”