Savage Sword Of Conan #6 Masters The Art Of The One-Shot (And Murder)
by Tony Thornley
Savage Sword of Conan was announced as an anthology style series telling stories from all over the Barbarian’s life. With that sort of series format, one-shot stories are inevitable. So as a bridge between the first and second arc of this series, we find our first one-shot story- a tale of revenge in the mighty Conan manner…
Meredith Finch, Luke Ross, Nolan Woodard and Travis Lanham invite us to pull up a chair in this issue to hear the tale of The Suitor’s Revenge.
One wind-swept night, Conan accepts a free drink from a cocky young man, a drink containing a little something…extra. The next thing he knows, he’s in the middle of a tournament with some of the mightiest warriors from across the continent, all for the hand of a mighty female warrior. Can Conan emerge victorious?
This story is impressive in its economy. Finch takes the premise and gives us just enough to be satisfied with fun action and solid characterization while also leaving a lot for the imagination to fill in, in a good way. The important parts of the story are told, we get what we need to know, and we aren’t left wanting. It does also however give threads open that if Finch DID want to revisit anything, especially the jilted warrior bride, she could down the road, without making this story worse for it.
Ross and Woodard take the challenge extremely well too. Conan is as impressive as ever, with an angry presence that makes you believe he could defeat every one of his opponents without hesitation. However, the other characters are designed equally well, from the titular suitor, to each individual warrior Conan faces. The action is also excellent, with the tournament depicted as a single brilliant panel for each fight. None of them feel the same or copies- they’re all unique and exciting. Woodard drenches the panels in sunlight and blood, adding so much depth to each and every page.
If you wanted to hand a friend a single comic to help them understand Conan, Finch, Ross and Woodard have given you a perfect issue to do that.
Savage Sword of Conan #6 is available now from Marvel Comics.