Crom’s balls!. Another super-cool license for the Dark Horse line up, Robert E. Howard’s Conan is one of my favourite characters of all time. This particular story, adapted by Kurt Busiek (JLA/Avengers, Astro City), is based on the Robert E. Howard story of the same name. Kurt Busiek keeps pretty much nailed to the original work, his captions displayed as scraps of paper with the words typed on to show how close. Busiek, having adapted a massive list of Conan stories is the perfect choice to pen this one, being so familiar with the character. He doesn’t disappoint. Conan is the same Cimmerian barbarian we all grew up with (what you didn’t grow up reading sword and sorcery?) - hot-blooded, violent and just too kick-ass for anyone else on the planet. You actually feel sorry for the frost giant’s daughter when he gets a hold of her.

The artwork too is stellar, Cary Nord’s work looking like a marriage between the current comics trend and the old school painted work from the sixties that graces the cover (which adds to the authentic feel too). The barbarian giant is rendered on the page in all his raven-haired, sullen-eyed, bronze-muscled glory, his eyes as savage as Schwarzenegger’s in the thick of the battle scenes.

Speaking of battle scenes, this issue has the kind of violence that brings a smile to your face, blood and guts sprayed across the snow with every silvery arc of his steel blade.