Conan The Barbarian – Volume 01 Issue 09

My Rating

“The Garden Of Fear”

Conan and Jenna have escaped the cult of the Night-God. The city of Shadizar soon fades into the distance. Days later, in the mountains to the east, the two travelers will have their resolve tested once again. A clan of primitive ape men attack Conan for the woman he has in his care. Fortune favors the Cimmerian! These mountain dwellers are fierce fighters but no match for a son of Crom.

After a brief fight, Hialmar – Chief of the Mountain People, befriends Conan and Jenna. Language is a barrier soon overcome by a communal fireside dance. Cimmerian and Shemite break bread with the Mountain Clan, but the alliance is short-lived. In the darkest of night, a demon-like creature attacks the village where Conan feasts. Jenna is carried off once again toward a forbidden ravine. Conan must investigate without the aid of the others. An unholy garden grows down in the valley. One that the primitives will not infiltrate.

What winged nightmare has taken Jenna from Conan the Barbarian? Are the forbidden ravines haunted by demons older than the Great Cataclysm? Will Conan find his friend before the Shadizarian cult arrives to finish what their god could not? Collect the series to find out? Collect the series to find out!

Review

If Batman can have a year one, certainly this is Conan’s. Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith carry on where Robert E Howard left off with this fun standalone event. A young Conan discovers many creatures thought lost to the Great Cataclysm. If you ask me, the Mammoths are the breakout stars of this comic book. I give issue nine a solid three out of five stars.