Conan vol. 9: Free Companions

This volume wasn’t as entertaining as the previous ones for the simple reason that it spends too much time hammering home the idea that Conan “isn’t ready for prime time” as a leader of men.  After the previous volume saw the man ingratiate himself into the court (and bedchamber) of Princess Yasmela of Khoraja, this one sees him falling swiftly out of her favor.  After the arrival of a prince from a neighboring nation, who happens to be a childhood friend of Yasmela’s, Conan decides to fast-track the rescue of her brother, the true ruler of the kingdom, to have some fun of his own.  After the rescue is nearly botched, he and his company of mercenaries find themselves turned out of the kingdom and into the titular “Free Companions.”

I don’t need to tell you that things get worse from there because writer/artist Tim Truman makes the interesting choice of telling this story entirely in flashback from Conan wandering half-dead in a marsh.  It has the desired effect of keeping one’s interest by playing up the “How did he wind up like this?” angle, and he eventually manages a kind of triumph at the end.  Still, the overriding message of the tale here is that “You will be king, Conan, but not yet,” and that’s not the most thrilling of tales to tell.  

It still looks great, as regular artist Tomas Giorello shows that he has the chops from drawing anything from velociraptor fights in a swamp, to scheming nobles in palaces.  Truman also draws the flashback scenes from the first half of this arc himself, and while his art isn’t quite as rich or detailed as his previous “Conan” work, he handles the characters and storytelling very well and makes the action look good.  We also get to see legendary artist Joe Kubert tackle the framing sequence from the first story in this volume, and there’s a rawness and grit in his work that suits the barbarian and his world very well here.

So yeah, it’s a slightly disappointing volume but still worth picking up if you’ve been following the series so far.  Even if the story keeps hitting the same note over and over, it still looks great and there’s still plenty of the swarthy action that has made the series so enjoyable so far.  The next volume will be the last we see of Truman and Giorello’s take on the character at this point in his life (they’ll be doing a “King Conan” mini-series sometime next year), and I’ll be looking forward to seeing how they decide to wrap it all up.