Good fun! Stirring, unsanitary adventure in the best pulpy style.

Any fans of Cerebus will see where Dave Sim got his art style for his first book.

At times it's sexist, racist, or both (Conan fireman-carries the floopy, helpless buxom blonde away, saving her from the ravening cannibalistic rapist black men!). These comics, made in the 70s, tone that down a bit from the stories on which they are based, written in the 30s. It is what it is. ( )

Once again, a number of great stories at an incredible price.

SPOILER:

My favorite moment involves Conan's reaction to the Strangler of Yota-Pong in the "Shadows in Zamboula" story. The Strangler goes on and on about how he worked his way up from strangling infants to adults and then vows to break Conan's neck. Conan, of course, turns the tables on the Strangler, saying, "Hell! Break the neck of wild Cimmerian Bull before you call yourself strong! I did that before I was a full-grown man--like this!" Classic Conan moment. ( )

The epic 4-issue adaptation of Howard's THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE is the highlight of this second collection, although there isn't a slow story in the lot. Roy Thomas was on fire when he wrote these early issues (here from 1976-77) and it's easy to see why he inspired so many others (I understand he was intepreting Howard, but MAN did he do it good!). Fantastic art throughout, too. ( )

If you are a comic-book fan, this is probably your best chance of liking Conan. If you are a Conan fan, these is are possibly the best comic-book adaptations you'll find, those which defined the Golden Age of popularity for the Cimmerian and eventually spawned the Schwarzenegger movies. However, if you are not interested in swords&sorcery classics, and you don't like comics, you should probably give this a miss. ( )