The Cimmerian, Vol. 1

The Cimmerian

by Jean-David Morvan

BY CROM! Robert E. Howard's famous Cimmerian UNCENSORED! For the first time, Robert E. Howard's Conan is brought to life uncensored! Discover the true Conan, unrestrained, violent, and sexual. Read the story as he intended! The Cimmerian Vol 1 includes two complete stories, Queen of the Black Coast, and Red Nails, plus bonus material, in one hardcover collection!

In Queen of the Black Coast, Conan seeks refuge on a merchant ship, after being pursued for killing a judge. But soon after setting sail, the Cimmerian and his new companions face a threat: the legendary Belit, self-proclaimed Queen of the Black Coast! Soon finding himself smitten by the lovely Belit, Conan agrees to joins up with her and her crew to brutally pillage and sail the poisonous river Zarkheba, encountering ancient ruins, lost treasure, and winged, vicious monstrosities!

In Red Nails, Conan finds himself in the Darfar region, whose territory is almost entirely covered by a huge forest. Here Conan pledges himself a mercenary, promising his sword to the highest bidder, fighting alongside fellow mercenary and fierce female warrior Valeria. After a clash against a terrible dragon, the two go to a strange fortified city, apparently deserted...but the duo will quickly discover that a civilization lives hidden inside, and that the citadel hides a heavy secret.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Adventure, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Jean-David Morvan is a French comic author, best known as the creator of the Sillage/Wake series.

After studying arts at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, he first tried being a graphic artist, but eventually settled for writing instead.

His main series are 'Spirou and Fantasio', 'Sir Pyle' and 'Merlin', all with José Luis Munuera, and 'Sillage', with Philippe Buchet.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This contains 2 adaptations of Conan stories, Queen of the Black Coast and Red Nails by two different creative teams. These were originally printed in France and brought to the U.S. by Ablaze. The tag line listed these as uncensored but I didn't find these any more graphic than the Dark Horse series. Also included are the original prose, Robert E. Howard stories, a gazillion variant covers and some sketches.

Queen of the Black Coast adapted by Jean-David Morvan and Pierre Alary - ★
Everything about this adaptation was terrible. Morvan didn't seem to edit Howard's story at all to adapt it to comics. The pages are littered with text. The only saving grace was that Alary's art was so terrible that those extra text boxes were welcomed to help cover up the art that looked like blown up thumbnails.




Red Nails adapted by Regis Hautiere, Olivier Vatine, and Didier Cassegrain - ★★★★
This is how prose should be adapted into comics. It tells the story without pasting in all of Robert E. Howard's prose as exposition blocks. The art has a classic, pulp cover feel to it. Everything about this is great.



Received a review copy from Ablaze and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of the French versions of Conan as written by Robert E. Howard originally, this voume collects two stories Queen of the Black Coast and Red Nails. Both very good stories written by the original writer.
Queen of the black Coast is a well written and drawn comic that tells perhaps one of Conans the more emotional periods in his life.
Red Nails A story of Valaria, swordswoman excellence, and Conan both end up in a doomed and cused city where they get caught in a civil war. of the two comics this one is visually the best drawn in my humble opinion.

Both stories are the better ones from the Howard catalogue and are celebrated by any Conan fan. What is great about these two comics collected in this volume is that they are European (French) and not Marvel or any other American publisher, they do look different and feel different and yet are faithfull to its source material. It is a must read for any fan.

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of gore, lots of overly flowery language, heaps of stoic Conan, and a little sex combine to make a pulp comic extravaganza that ultimately was just ok. The over the top pulp narration did get in the way and the violence was so gratuitous and disconnected from anything that mattered that it was hard to care. It was cool that they printed the full text of the stories these two comics were based o and the art was aggressive and pulpy too but while this was fine adventure candy, it wasn't substantial enough to captivate me right now.

Thanks to the artists, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truth be told the first of the two stories (an adaptation of the whole "Queen of the Black Coast" story) included in this volume had me ready to walk away between the unappealing blocky art and the weird translations from the original (admittedly likely also a bit weird) French text. As a 42 year old man who has had access to the internet his entire adult life getting a few racy panels of Conan and Bêlit going at it Kama Sutra-style was hardly worth the bother.

Thankfully the second story involving Conan and Valeria versus dinosaurs and some weirdo Aztec inspired tribes was miles better, among some of the best Conan comics stuff I've seen. If I was rating this one on the strength of that one only, titled "Red Nails", I may have been tempted to give it the full five stars!

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains two Robert E. Howard stories, both the original prose and the respective comic adaptations, so that alone is quite a good offer, but I wasn't happy with the adaptations, I quite liked the pencils, specially Olivier Vatine's work on Red Nails, but the art style used for Queen of the Black Coast was too cartoony for the source material, and both the coloring and lettering of the two stories are quite mediocre, it kinda ruined it for me, specially the coloring, Red Nails needed more contrast and vibrant colors to make that story work. I'm giving it two stars for the adaptations, four stars for the stories.

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's cool to see the Conan property become public domain. And then get the R-rated treatment!

These are adaptations of two classic tales with an overdose sexuality and violence. It doesn't really work for me. I've already read these stories and seen numerous comic adaptations.

[Jason Waltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is often buffoonish and nowhere near as risque as advertised, but overall it is a decent package. I especially like the inclusion of the full REH stories in text that accompany each graphic novel respectively. All in all a nice package to keep and display the originals in a dual delivery.

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a little time to get used to Morvan and his illustrations, but in the end I get used to that and Conan is always Conan, so I loved the story.

Mi ci é voluto un pochino ad abituarmi ai disegni di Morvan, ma alla fine ce l'ho fatta e per quanto riguarda la storia Conan é sempre Conan, quindi mi é piaciuto molto:

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Cimmerian' is a graphic novel with adaptations of two Robert E. Howard stories featuring Conan the Barbarian. Each story has a different creative team.

'Queen of the Black Coast' is adapted by Jean-David Morvan with art by Pierre Alary. Conan finds himself hired by a pirate ship as his usual muscle. He finds himself captivate with the ship's captain, a woman who matches his fierce passion. They find themselves in the ruins of a forgotten city guarded by winged terrors.

'Red Nails' with adaptation by Regis Hautiere with art by Olivier Vatine and Didier Cassegrain takes Conan to a lost city where a group of people are trapped and at war with each other. With each death, one tribe drives a nail in to a post. Conan finds himself in the midst of this madness.

Each story concludes with the complete text of the original story, which is a real treat. The adaptations and art are spot on. I preferred the first stories team, but both were worthy. It was great to see these stories in a current adaptation.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Ablaze, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Graphic versions of two stories that stay pretty close to the original source stories, which is what caught my interest. I've never read any original Conan stories, and now I'm sure I don't want to. Conan is pretty much self-centered and amoral. I think that modern versions clean that up a bit, though maybe not as I've skipped almost all of them. Includes: 1) Queen of the Black Coast. 2) Red Nails. In addition to the fact that I don't seem to care for Conan stories, these adaptations are more text-heavy than I like in comics.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My knowledge of the adventures of Conan the Barbarian are very minimal, and yet I enjoyed this a lot. so I think you don't have to have read any of it previously. This series starts by adapting some famous stories about Conan, and this first volume includes two stories/adventures.

I liked that after the graphic story, they actually include the short story itself in case you wanted to read the original. The art is gorgeous, but it's very gory and way too sexual so that might put off some people. each story follows Conan and a gorgeous woman in an adventure filled with killing, magic, and battles.

I'll actually continue the rest of this series, and I'll be putting the artist on my to-read list, because I really loved the art!

[Ryan Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not for kids. Possibly not for adults.

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were not my favourite Conan stories, nor my favourite adaptation of them. Though it was nice to have the original novels to read along with the comic versions.

The Song of Belit. Conan meets his match on at sea in the form of the deadly and beautiful pirate queen. What chaos and destruction could these two cause together.

Red Nails. When the fierce and warrior woman Valeria was forced to flee for her life, she did not realise she was running into more danger. Luckily, Conan followed her, but are even these two a match for a forgotten society at war, full of violence and betrayal.

It was interesting to read the comic versions vs. the original text. However, the Song of Belit especially did not have my type of artwork. Red Nails, the comic adaptation was pretty different from the original story. The book finishes with a thumbnail varient cover gallery and a sketchbook of character designs.

[Володимир Кузнєцов · Rating 4 out of 5]

Гідна графічна адаптація двох гласичних оповідань Роберта Говарта - "Королева Чорного узберіжжя" та "Червоні цвяхи". Позитивний момент - це бандесіне, і на відміну від багатьох сучасних американцських адаптацій Конана, тут немає сценарних витребеньок, але є чудова художня робота, включно зі сторітелингом. На мій смак "Червоні цвяхи" у виконанні художнього дуету Ольв'є Ватіна та Дід'є Кассегрейна вийшов краще, ніж робота П'єра Аларі - утім, це радше суб'єктивне сприйняття.

[Aventinus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm surprised by how often this series is being recommended online to Conan fans. While the explicit violence and raw sexuality are fitting to R.E.H.'s themes, I find the writing to be bad while also completely failing at capturing the essence of Conan.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Groan-worthy adaptations of two Howard stories. Art tries to copy Bruce Timm and then Richard Corben.

[Joe Bogue · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 stars for Queen of the Black Coast and 4 stars for Red Nails

[Philip James Ahlschlager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dug the adaptations, always fun to see new artists take on classic stories. I like that they included the REH prose stories but the text is microscopic.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can this book be?

It's because the original Conan stories have either fallen out of copyright (definitely in many countries outside of the US) or else are contested (in the US, though it's probably fallen out of copyright here too, due to failures to submit or renew copyright notices, under the old 1909 Copyright Act). So that means that as long as the original texts are used, most Conan stories are fair game, but since the name Conan is trademarked, it can't be used in a confusing way on the trade dress. Hence, "The Cimmerian".

Is it any good?

The first adaptation, of Queen of the Black Coast, is horrible. The art is cartoonish in the worst possible way and the comic doesn't so much adapt Howard's text as regurgitate it. Having recently read Roy Thomas' three years of Queen of the Black Coast, I can say that this doesn't hold a candle. I had no emotions for the characters, and when the same art depicted the same scenes, this one always fell short. A travesty.

The adaptation of Red Nails is fortunately much better, with attractive (but uniquely European) art and better storytelling. It's a little hard to get over how bad Queen of the Black Coast was, but seen on its own, this would be a fine adaptation, albeit without the depth possible in a comic with stronger continuity.

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was unexpected and accidental find. Based on Conan stories that are now in public domain and unable to use the name of our hero in the title of volumes these are more ... unrestricted comic adaptations of Conan stories.

And I have to say I like it. These are stories in which Conan is shown as what he truly is - force of nature, force of life that aims to live to the fullest no matter the consequences. In first story we witness Conan joining the forces with Belit. As story progresses and as Belit loses her life we see Conan, dark and vengeful waiting on the murderer of his beloved to exact his revenge.

Second story is one I did not come across before - again, we witness Conan as he sells his martial skills to the greatest bidder and ends up in the mysterious city with no windows, city so large that entire civilization is living within its walls that never saw the sun of the outside world.

Conan is not part of the civilized world, as a matter of fact he is disgusted with civilization. He is powerful man that hates tricksters of any kind and trusts only in himself and power of his body and mind, and people who prove to be worthy of his trust that he might call friends. He is not above brigandry and outright murder, he chases women in a manner that would make him unpopular today but in all of this he is honest. He does not represent himself to be something he is not and while he might be considered epitome of might-makes-right he has a code of honor and tries to get into conflict only with people who truly deserve to meet the edge of his sword.

Art in these two stories is different but rather good. Art style is very European but it works.

As cover blurb states this version of Conan's stories is uncensored one so there is gore and sex, in a manner that reminds me of Metal Hurlant in a good way (which closes the circle because all of the techno-barbarian stories from Metal Hurlant were definitely inspired by Conan's adventures).

So overall this is very different adaptation from Marvel one. Maybe closes thing to this way of storytelling are DarkHorse adaptations, that I truly enjoyed. I am not fan of making everything dark and deadly realistic but for Conan, deadly swordsman and one-man army, approach taken by Ablaze truly works.

Highly recommended to fans of Conan and more dark fantasy approach to his adventures.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a new compilation, dumping the first in this series of Robert E Howard adaptations in with the seventh. Originally in French, they've been retranslated with relative speed – but it's always a bit of a bad sign when you don't get them in the order as initially presented. Still, since when has Conan ever been a sign of quality, or high, literate production values? Conan's a simple, bludgeoning force, and so is every story he's ever involved in, it seems to me. Howard seemed to think just throwing names of copious races at us meant he'd earned his world-building chops, and just gets on with having him hack and slash, all while fit birds in implausible costumes fall at his feet (or at least demand he "take me and crush me with your fierce love" as here). Meanwhile, Howard and his adaptors fit as many words into the action as possible, meaning the first story here, which is supposed to pass for the lunkhead's own narration, is ridiculously, unrealistically, verbose.

The second piece is snappier, and indeed throws us right into the action, ignoring the fact we don't know the owner of the mahoosive boobies he's travelling with. This has a bit more to it, but it's still old-school fantasy hokum. What might appeal, and perhaps make these books rare, is that we get the original prose – a bonus many comics fail to do, even when the prose is long out of copyright. Still, I was here for the graphic novel variants, and while the art direction and design is pretty high, with a good style and craft to the pages, neither of the creative teams involved really manage to make anyone look attractive. Gravity-defying, yes, but not attractive. I dare say if you know the original Howards this will be welcome, for it does its best to put everything on to the page of the comics, while anyone else can see which they prefer – the older pieces, or the more recent adaptations. But everyone has surely to come here with a taste for some very strong cheese.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Ablaze Publishing for the ARC.

The Cimmerian Vol. 1 includes two Conan stories. "Queen of the Black Coast" and "Red Nails".
"Queen of the Black Coast" is a story about Conan and Belit becoming lovers and discovering and sailing the seas while plundering cities. They come across an abandon city that nobody has been able to enter or come out of alive. The first part of this story was not extremely exciting to me. It wasn't bad at all it just wasn't what I was expecting. There was back story building, which is necessary. Then events take a turn and I was hooked. Conan became more brutal and there was more action involved. Overall I enjoyed this first story.

"Red Nails" is the second story and follows Conan and Valeria. Valeria is being hunted by a group of men. Conan finds her first. Together they must flee a dragon and they wind up in what appears to be an abandoned city. After searching for a while they come across other people and eventually learn the secrets of the city. This second story was way more action packed and entertaining to me. I really enjoyed it. I feel like it showed more of how Conan can be as a warrior. Also Valeria is so bad ass. I would love to read more tales of the two of them.

As a whole I would recommend this first volume to fans of Conan and fantasy fans. It was a pretty entertaining read. Warning: there is nudity and it is graphically violent.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great way to begin the new year by reading some comic book goodness. Been hearing a lot about the Conan comics being published by Ablaze, so I wanted to give the first volume a read. The writing here was actually quite good. This feels like the Conan the Robert Howard envisioned. Mr. Morvan does a great job capturing the voice of Conan and the world he inhabits. I have been reading some of the new Marvel stuff but that feels a bit tame compared to what the crew at Ablaze are producing. The only thing that didn't quite work for me was the artwork. The Belit story's art was just too campy for a Conan story. The art follows the pacing of the story well but it just didn't fit the murky and rough quality you want in a sword & sorcery story. I admit ablaze probably can't get the higher quality artist that Marvel can afford but I'm sure there is an upcoming artist out there that could have used this tale as an opportunity to showcase top-notch talent. The second story's art was a tad bit better. Overall I enjoyed the Red Nails story a bit more. This was a really fun volume for any Conan fan and I can't wait to read the next volume. This book is also a great value for the Conan collector as it contains the original short stories for Belit and Red Tails from Robert Howard as well. The covers at the back were fun to look at as well. Pretty good and hoping volume 2 is better.

[Ville-Markus Nevalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The other reviews have covered well both The Queen of the Black Coast's failures and the successes of Red Nails, which I largely agree with, so instead I'll focus on sharing how The Cimmerian offers an interesting perspective to story adaptation to any one curious about them.

Both of the original short stories are printed after the comics so as a reader you can experience both versions and compare and contrast how they are adapted and how successful they are. As comics are largely a visual medium that works in shorter bursts than even some short stories, you can also see how the story could work as a movie. Both comics have changes, good and bad ones, but as said by many readers here, the later one works much better. I especially loved the art style in Red Nails to the point that I tried to see if the artists have done anyhting else I could pick up from them. In any case, I could see myself recommending the comics just for those interested in how to adapt from one medium to another - otherwise it's a pretty bog standard Conan comic. The UNCENSORED parts are pure rubbish, there's nothing shocking here.

[Bexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received an ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for a review.

While reading this, it felt like it was very much styled like 70s and 80s comic books. I'm not sure how accurate the story is to the Conan legend because I haven't actually read very much of the collection. I think everyone could have used a couple more pieces of scraps for their clothes, especially the women. Granted, the Conan storyline has mostly naked women so it's very much in sync with the original tale. I enjoyed the sections with the actual tale that went into the graphic novels. The writing and artwork are good and it is pretty to look at if you don't want to focus on the story. I'm not sure how I feel about the second story where they basically destroy an Aztec civilization, but again, that's right in the Conan storyline. If you like violence, mythical elements, and mostly naked ladies, this is a graphic novel for you.

[Michael Lee My ComicBook World · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel is awesome. It features adaptions of two separate Conan the Barbarian stories. After each story finishes the actual Robert E. Howard short story is printed for those of us who enjoy reading the source material. I loved being able to compare and contrast the graphic novel to the actual short story. I thought this was a terrific addition to a great graphic novel.

The stories in this graphic novel are great. There is plenty of action, adventure, love, sorcery, and awesome barbarian misadventures.

The art is Beautiful. The action is awesome, graphic, and gory. The love scenes are intense and fit perfectly.

If you enjoyed the original Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan movies you will love this graphic novel! Especially if you like the character, Valeria. She’s the heroine of the second story in the graphic novel. She’s beautiful, fierce, and every bit Conan’s equal.

I look forward to reading volume 2.

Stay awesome and keep reading!

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it's an interesting idea to include the original short stories in with the graphic adaptations, I will freely admit that I skipped reading them. Some of that was because I didn't enjoy the stories enough to re-experience them. The first story, with Conan wooing a pirate queen, has its moments, but spends very little time on the theme of Conan as a pirate, instead putting him back aground and following the story beats that surround most of Conan's matches.
The second story was a bit better, although I was more intrigued (and disquieted) by the locale than the characters. It also has one of the better opening sequences I've seen for Conan. the art is good, and the action is brutal. While it earns its 'uncensored' heading, that's definitely not the point of the collection. As stories, they're okay, but they kind of assume a basic familiarity with the character that I wouldn't have expected for a volume 1. Still, an enjoyable enough read.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although overpriced, this series of graphic novels from Ablaze is rather attractive, featuring great art and colouring, and decent storytelling. The back cover blurb suggests that these books are “uncensored” and present Howard’s stories as he intended, however, there’s really not too much here that wasn’t seen in the Savage Sword comics, so don’t expect a vastly different form of Conan, although there is more adult content.

The two stories in Volume 1, ‘Queen of the Black Coast’ and ‘Red Nails’, are created by different teams – both are attractive and quite dynamic in their respective artistic styles, and use passages of Howard’s text to maintain authenticity (although this use is significantly better in ‘Red Nails’). REH’s full text is also included for those who’ve never read them, but the tiny point size they’re printed in would likely frustrate most readers. A cover variants gallery and character sketches round out a solid package.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This adaptation of two stories featuring Robert E. Howard's most famous creation, Conan the Barbarian, stays pretty close to the source material (which is also included in this collection).

I wasn't all that impressed with the overall content. It was okay but never really grabbed me the way something like this should. Perhaps because I grew up in the 1970s reading the old Marvel Comics version of Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan my expectations were too high... I don't know.

It's biggest claim to fame seems to be that it is more graphic (in violence and adult content) than previous offerings. That kind of thing is so common these days that I barely even noticed.

Bottom line: I won't be going out of my way to read any more in this particular series.

*I received a free digital copy of this title through NetGalley.

[Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good fun, currently available on Kindle Unlimited, a one volume US edition of a Franco-Belgian cartoon adaptation of two Conan stories by Robert E Howard. There’s a nice touch as the original stories are included alongside the adaptations. Queen of the Black Coast (originally published in 1934) and Red Nails (originally published in 1936) are two classic adventures. The text sadly has a few OCR aberrations but nevertheless, they’re stomping good reads. The two adaptations are very good, quite faithful to the source material, with nicely flowing storytelling. The art is detailed and dynamic, and thankfully far removed from the usual superhero conventions used in Conan adaptations. This adaptation is thoroughly and refreshingly European in its style. The habitual gallery of alternate covers is boring on the other hand. That aside, the tales will definitely be worth reading again.