The Cimmerian Vol 1
The Cimmerian Vol 1 book cover

The Cimmerian Vol 1

by
Price
$21.99
Format
Hardcover
Pages
144
Publisher
Ablaze
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1950912209
Dimensions
7 x 1 x 10 inches
Weight
1.15 pounds

Description

"Look no further if you seek a ripping yarn that is true to the spirit of the Bard of Cross Plains, Texas--Robert E. Howard!" --https: //explorethemultiverse.com/"The art is fantastic. It's a really good read."--www.majorspoilers.com"This is such a fantastic thing to read--to see Conan unchained and as brutal as he wants is a breath of fresh air." www.PASTRAMINATION.com"This is the way Conan was meant to be! Howard's barbarian at his most savage and ruthless. Conan has always been one of my favorite characters in comics and I've often referred to the Marvel fare as Conan lite. Ablaze's Conan full and robust. If you've never read the original stories you may have to take it in small doses. But once you've gotten used to it by the gods! There isn't anything better."- www.OUTRIGHTGEEKERY.COM "Look no further if you seek a ripping yarn that is true to the spirit of the Bard of Cross Plains, Texas--Robert E. Howard!" --https://explorethemultiverse.com/"This is such a fantastic thing to read--to see Conan unchained and as brutal as he wants is a breath of fresh air." www.PASTRAMINATION.com“This is the way Conan was meant to be! Howard’s barbarian at his most savage and ruthless. Conan has always been one of my favorite characters in comics and I’ve often referred to the Marvel fare as Conan lite. Ablaze’s Conan full and robust. If you’ve never read the original stories you may have to take it in small doses. But once you’ve gotten used to it by the gods! There isn’t anything better.”- www.OUTRIGHTGEEKERY.COM"The art is fantastic. It's a really good read."--www.majorspoilers.com

Features & Highlights

  • 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.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(166)
★★★★
25%
(69)
★★★
15%
(42)
★★
7%
(19)
★
-7%
(-19)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Excellent Graphic Interpretation Of Conan Stories

Both of these Robert E. Howard Conan stories are superbly handled by the writers and artists. Contrary to a previous reviewer, the Queen of the Black Coast adapted by Jean-David Morvan and drawn by Pierre Alary is outstandingly rendered: the scene of the Belit’s ship entering the fallen city, for instance—is jaw droppingly awesome. Similarly, the scene where Conan steals a horse and rides over rooftops until he runs out of them and plunges into the sea! Overall, one of the best adaptations of Conan I’ve ever run across.

Similarly for Red Nails, fantastically imagined and rendered, by Regis Hautiere and Olivier Vatine/Didier Cassagrain as has been mentioned in other reviews. The opening scene where Conan and Valeria battle the dragon is excellent. Overall the adaptation is on par with the Roy Thomas/Barry Smith version, which as savvy fans know is the pinnacle of Conan in comics form.

If you’re a Conan fan, this is a must own. Kudos to whoever got these teams together. These adaptations are at the quality level Howard’s stories deserve. I hope Marvel takes note and follows their lead.
10 people found this helpful
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Terrible art, weak storytelling

First off, as a fan of the Savage Sword of Conan I personally consider the art absolutely terrible. Your mileage may vary, but this is not my Conan. The second story was slightly improved, but the first was more like a caricature of Conan.

The underlying stories were good, and they do include the full text versions - that earns this a second star at least. But how the stories were told graphically did not at all do them justice.

If you don’t mind a less real-looking art style, I think you could find this worth your time and money. But if the Savage Sword of Conan era is what you like, you probably want to stay away from this one.
8 people found this helpful
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True to the original source material

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.
7 people found this helpful
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Interesting take on these tales!

An interesting volume with two Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian tales brought to life (so to speak) visually. The artwork is generally pretty decent, the liberties take with the story are there to make it more entertaining for the reader visually. The reader knows what liberty has been taken, not because of having memorized the stories, but because the text is available right after the comic version of Queen of the Black Coast or Red Nails. So if you enjoy comics and you like tales about Conan beating great odds, these are two fine tales together in one volume, get them while you can!

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this volume.
4 people found this helpful
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a different, slightly darker take on Conan and his adventures

I wanted to love this. I thought I would, based on the premise and some reviews. But it wasn't quite the mature Conan storytelling that I was expecting. The stories were faithful to the source material, but the storytelling injected some bits of humor that somehow seemed out of place. The art was different...a little rough, and gritty. It did the job for sure. As for content...there were a few severed or split heads, and a couple of suggestive love scenes, but this wasn't like a Marvel MAX title. They did include the original prose stories, which would be a treat for some (I already own them in at least two other books, though.). Overall, I'd say this is a different and interesting take on a couple of classic Conan stories, though its value is diminished somewhat if you already own and have read those stories.
3 people found this helpful
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Fabulous, brutal Conan!

It's Conan doing what Conan does -- hacking off limbs and severing heads! I've read all the original Robert E. Howard stories they they are awesome! So, it's nice to actually "see" these stories. There are two classic stories in this graphic novel, and they are both very well done. There are two completely different art styles present here, one for each story, but they both work extremely well. The first of the the two is a bit more "cartoony" (which is not a bad thing at all!), and the second is...well, I don't know how to describe it, but it fits the dark, grim story of "Red Nails" perfectly.
This was fun to read and look at -- I consider it money well spent. I can't wait for Volume Two!
2 people found this helpful
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Good idea, poorly executed

The comic art is richly colorful on good quality paper, but the quality of the art itself is not up to the standard presented by publications such as the original 'Savage Sword of Conan'. That's disappointing in an edition this expensive. To compound matters, they've tried to pack too much on to each page, so that the artwork is small and the lettering, hard to read. Upon reaching the print version of the story, the lettering there is so small and difficult to read that it causes eye strain to try to read it, or you need a magnifying glass of some sort. All of this is probably done to keep the size of the edition smaller (and costs down), but I think it renders it unreadable. To make matters worse, the story in the comic section has been modified; perhaps they thought it a great idea to update for modern sensibilities? For example, Conan lands on the ship and chooses to misinterpret the captain's statements as making a sexual advance to him, responding in a way that embarrasses the ship captain. The creators appear to have have decided that it's not about Robert E Howard's 'Conan', but rather about their re-imagining of 'Conan'. I will not be purchasing more of these editions, but I do recommend the Donald Grant Publishing editions as a great alternative.
1 people found this helpful
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Savage, Brutal, and Bloody, The best of Conan the Barbarian

Overall, this book is very good. It does a great job of telling two of Howard's best stories with all its action, drama, and world building. Conan is an amazing character and the Cimmerian is a great venture into this character and world.

Where the book falls a bit is the artwork. Its beautifully done, but the art in Queen of the Black Coast is a bit jarring for my taste and falls flat in my opinion. The other thing that is a bit off for me is that some of the story elements from Red Nails and Queen of the Black Coast are either told too quickly or completely removed. This is a bit of a dissappointment as it takes away some of the impact from character actions.

Despite all this, I would give this book an 8 out of 10 and would definitely recommend this to any fantasy or Conan lovers out there.
1 people found this helpful
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Somewhat disappointing.

This book was supposed to bring Conan to life uncensored, but it does not. It is just another comic book for children.
Everyone has their own opinions on art, but I was truly disappointed in the artwork. I would prefer characters to look more like people instead of the caricatures presented here.
1 people found this helpful
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Disappointing

I was looking forward to reading this after reading the description online
Boy, what a let down.
The first story is poorly drawn. Conan does not look like Conan. And Belit looks like a cheaply rendered Disney princess.
The second story is better drawn and more to the appearances of Conan and Valeria. But there was nothing here that hadn't been done better with previous publishers and artists.
As far as "uncensored", there was nothing that stood out as uncensored. Previous renditions have gone further than this one.
I seriously doubt I will buy any more of this series.
1 people found this helpful

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