Review: Worlds Collide In ‘Conan: Battle For The Serpent Crown’ #1 By Ahmed, Ross And Marvel

Since the beginning of Savage Avengers, Conan of Cimmeria has been in the modern Marvel Universe ready to do battle with one of his greatest foes. However Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown #1 draws him into the larger universe, and it might be the toughest battles of his life.

Saladin Ahmed, Luke Ross, Nolan Woodard, and Travis Lanham launch Conan into his strangest adventure yet.

There came a day that Conan of Cimmeria sought riches beyond his wildest dreams, seeking to discover treasure that would allow him to continue his hunt for the wizard Kulan Gath. His wanderings brought him to the strangest city he had ever encountered- Las Vegas. However, finding the riches he desires might be more difficult than he expected when they’re in a hotel owned by none other than Mephisto!

Ahmed crafts a great heist story, but ensures that it’s all about Conan as well. His depiction of Conan is enjoyable and perfectly in character. He’s not an idiot, but being a man out of time, makes it difficult to do many of the things that are second nature to him already. This is also the first Conan story since his return to Marvel that’s centered on his skills as a thief, which makes it stand out from the overabundance of Conan stories we’ve gotten in the past year. The only downside is that we don’t see any hint of the titular artifact in this issue or how it will link to the story at large, so that is a bit confusing.

Ross and Woodard return to Conan after a Savage Sword issue last year, and we see a lot of the same strengths from that one-shot. Conan is intimidating, with his presence always dominating the page, with the layouts always drawing the eye towards him. The colors make him pop when he’s not the only brightly colored object on the page. It’s a good looking issue, especially when it dives head first into the carnival that is Vegas.

This is already an exciting adventure for Conan, and I’m excited to see where it goes from here.

Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.