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Conan: Dark Horse Collection
Conan the Slayer, Volume 2
Superstar writer Cullen Bunn ( Harrow County, Uncanny X-Men ) and artist Sergio Dávila (Red Sonja, Swords of Sorrow ) kick off a brand new story adaptation in their highly praised Conan The Devil in Iron ! Conan and his people parley with the fierce lord Jehungir Agha, who brings along a beautiful woman, Octavia. As part of a plot to end the barbarian's life, she lures him out to the once-deserted island of Xapur. There, Jehungir's murderous plans fall apart--the city has been resurrected, and with it, a creature of nightmares! Will Conan escape with his life?
152 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 2017
53 people want to read
About the author
Cullen Bunn
2,107 books1,061 followersCullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 28, 2018
Volume 2 of the Dark Horse Comics series Conan The Slayer collects "The Devil In Iron" storyline that ran in Issues #7 - #12 of the regular series.
Written by Cullen Bunn, the story finds Conan the leader of the Kozaki and arriving on a deserted island for a secret meeting with pirates. They are teaming up to hunt down ships on the open sea and split the plunder.
Success brings prisoners which Conan trades back for ransom, but fueled by lust for a slave woman he spies, a trap is sprung back on the same deserted island in order to rid the world of Conan.
But the island isn't as deserted as was thought. A spell has been broken and a demon once crawled from the pits of hell has been reawakened. The ruins of a city have magically been rebuilt and the implacable foe is hunting down Conan as well as his pursuers.
Filled with swords, sorcery, cannibals, betrayals and more Conan action than you can shake your head and cry out "Crom" at, the story is decent enough but for some reason I just didn't connect as much to this story as I have with the majority of Conan comic stories I have read. It's not that there's anything particularly wrong with this story, but I thought the mostly silent main villain, unstoppable as he might be, was hampered by their backstory being relayed by a dream sequence rather than with "real time" dialogue. Despite his powerful nature, there really didn't feel like there was a whole lot of dramatic tension built up as to whether or not our hero would survive the day.
Yes, Conan will always survive his endless and epic adventures, not always unscathed, but the key is getting into the story so that there is at least some question in the reader's mind as to how the Cimmerian will get out this particular pickle he is in.
I felt more of that kind of thing with the encounter with the cannibals than the demon from hell.
Still, any Conan is good enough in my book. He may not wear Spandex, but he's the one "superhero" I don't get bored with easily.
Written by Cullen Bunn, the story finds Conan the leader of the Kozaki and arriving on a deserted island for a secret meeting with pirates. They are teaming up to hunt down ships on the open sea and split the plunder.
Success brings prisoners which Conan trades back for ransom, but fueled by lust for a slave woman he spies, a trap is sprung back on the same deserted island in order to rid the world of Conan.
But the island isn't as deserted as was thought. A spell has been broken and a demon once crawled from the pits of hell has been reawakened. The ruins of a city have magically been rebuilt and the implacable foe is hunting down Conan as well as his pursuers.
Filled with swords, sorcery, cannibals, betrayals and more Conan action than you can shake your head and cry out "Crom" at, the story is decent enough but for some reason I just didn't connect as much to this story as I have with the majority of Conan comic stories I have read. It's not that there's anything particularly wrong with this story, but I thought the mostly silent main villain, unstoppable as he might be, was hampered by their backstory being relayed by a dream sequence rather than with "real time" dialogue. Despite his powerful nature, there really didn't feel like there was a whole lot of dramatic tension built up as to whether or not our hero would survive the day.
Yes, Conan will always survive his endless and epic adventures, not always unscathed, but the key is getting into the story so that there is at least some question in the reader's mind as to how the Cimmerian will get out this particular pickle he is in.
I felt more of that kind of thing with the encounter with the cannibals than the demon from hell.
Still, any Conan is good enough in my book. He may not wear Spandex, but he's the one "superhero" I don't get bored with easily.
August 7, 2023
This rather average tale places Conan in an isle with a damsel in distress and a malevolent, awakened, ancient god and other assorted enemies. In other words, it is commonplace and has been done to death in better ways by other writers before this. The tale goes as follows, Conan is lured to an island, Xapur, by the deliberate placement of Octavia as a trap. What the Turannians, meaning Jehungir and his irk did not account for was the presence of an awakened god, and mayhem ensues. Pretty much what is expected to happen happened. The artwork is generic and competent and forgettable and sometimes lazy. There is no feeling, no sense of atmosphere at all unlike the Howard tales.
October 10, 2018
This was a disappointing follow up to the fantastic stories found in the previous volume of Conan the Slayer.
February 19, 2018
Great. Awesome artwork. Very enjoyable adaptation of a classic Conan story.
November 14, 2017
Very nice comic adaptation of Robert E. Howard's story. Very nice are and plotting. A good read for Conan fans and Howard fans also. Very recommended
July 5, 2019
After the well-executed but somewhat bland offering in the previous volume, this one hits all the notes. The art style is the same - which isn't a bad thing - but here they had Robert E. Howard's original material to work with. You have all the elements of a good Conan story; the noble barbarian versus corrupt civilization, a scantily clad princess who is a victim of said civilization and a creature straight from Lovecraftian cosmic horror.
Ultimately the conflict is resolved through brute force and a magical item. A particularly nice twist here is that the woman Conan is out to save isn't particularly likeable at all, making Conan seem like something of a fool. The best parts by far are the panels telling the history of Xapur, with its surreal imagery.
The man-eating demon following Conan through the whole Conan the Slayer arc however is an addition to the story that ended up having no relevance at all. It should've been dropped.
Ultimately the conflict is resolved through brute force and a magical item. A particularly nice twist here is that the woman Conan is out to save isn't particularly likeable at all, making Conan seem like something of a fool. The best parts by far are the panels telling the history of Xapur, with its surreal imagery.
The man-eating demon following Conan through the whole Conan the Slayer arc however is an addition to the story that ended up having no relevance at all. It should've been dropped.
May 9, 2018
Some important parts of the story where left out for some reason, and I guess one cannot expect conan to be beaten in combat so difficulties lie in the situation where his stubborness puts him in, a good read with some fantastic art and narration.
September 21, 2024
Honestly, a little disappointing for the final volume of the long Dark Horse Conan comic series. I expected more of a definitive ending, instead of practically no ending. Overall, Dark Horse still did a great job with their Conan comics, as I thoroughly enjoyed most of the series.
October 2, 2018
Entertaining, if stock, story. Issue #12 was the most jarring of the volume. That twist in the tail.
January 25, 2021
Shambolic.
August 4, 2022
Rather disappointing - but mostly because of the story, which I think was at least partially based on the source material.
September 14, 2022
An exciting sword and sorcery adventure delivered with nice looking art
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews