Regular marked price: $17.95Discount Price: $12.21
Cost Savings: $5.74 (32%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN num: 9781593079031
ISBN number: 1593079036
Label: Dark Horse
Manufacturer: Dark Horse
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 160
Printing Date: April 02, 2008
Publishing house: Dark Horse
Sale Popularity Level: 133892
Studio: Dark Horse
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The Cimmerian finds himself ensnared in the dark intrigues of a city-state where the powerful will stoop to any depths to keep what they have stolen. When a young, idealistic noble offers Conan a ticket to freedom in exchange for a favor, Conan leaps at the opportunity - and into a labyrinth where he must fight to keep not only his word, but his very life. A favorite of fans and critics alike, the seminal Conan story 'Rogues in the House' very first appeared in Weird Tales. Now, writer Timothy Truman and artist Cary Nord bring you the tale of the Red Priest, as you've never seen it before.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
I am an avid reader of Conan. I own every volume of the Dark Horse series to which this volume (unfortunately) belongs. The others are excellent, deserving of at least four-star reviews for the most part. This volume, however, is not. It suffers from, at best, the syndrome of many good titles; shifting creative staffs. It could be blamed on the fact that Conan lost Kurt Busiek, Cary Nord, and Dave Stewart at once, as they worked incredibly hard to define the storytelling and art style of the title.
The replacements, or dare I say _Stand-Ins_, are Timothy Truman as writer (co-creator of the little known GrimJack comic and laughable Turok comics of the 90s), Tomas Giorello as artist, and Richard Isanove as colorist. Although I know very little about Truman and Giorello, I am a fan of Isanove and was disappointed to see his _amateurish_ coloring of this volume, which appears to be halfheartedly painted in in Photoshop rather than approached with any degree of care. He worked on the Dark Tower limited series, which has achieved great sucess and made him known as possibly the best colorist in the business, which makes it seem even more baffling how this project turned out so _poorly_. Recovering from Lasik eye surgery, perhaps?
In short, the quality of this book is disgusting. It almost feels like a betrayal by the original creative team that they would leave a character with a legacy as strong as Conan in such poor, ill-equipped hands, especially after the praise and awards heaped on them by fans.
Rated by buyers 
-
Great book, as always has been this Conan series, enjoy it, because it will change soon.
Rated by buyers 
-
I bought the hardcover collection and wish I hadn't. It's just a habit but this volume has broken me. I'm sure of that.
This series, up until now, has had some good stories, good art and a promise of retained quality. That ship has sailed with this collection. I'd like to have a single factor to blame but it's pretty much everyone's fault, from editorial to the colorist the cylinders aren't clicking, here. It's not a terrible book but the coloring solidly pushes it to my below average rating.
It's not for certain that Cary Nord's art is bad. The coloring muddies it so much that it's hard to fault his efforts, here. Tim Truman is a solid replacement for Kurt Busiek too. This adaptation is mired by lackluster art, that has great layouts but the particulars are ugly. Tim does crisp dialogue with a good framework for the story but it still bogs down. The finale of the story is the best part. It looks like Cary Nord wanted to go out on a high note. Tim has to share blame for insisting on putting his mark on the book by adding a plot thread that does nothing for this story that's high on plot and intrigue but low on action and adventure. The added thread is not necessary and definitely slows the pace of the story more than is warranted. Tomas Giorello, the artist on that part of the story is not a bad artist, but he's not a distinctive one either. And with the bland, slate grays, fudge browns, gun metal blues and dim reds dominating the colour scheme for the entire tale he's just a straw man for an effort that is misguided from top to bottom. My opinion is that the story should have wrapped up in two, perhaps three issues, and not the four it's spread across.
If anyone just has to have this book, for the sake of the much hallowed comic book continuity, knock yourselves out. It's a slog with a few nice touches.
For what it's worth the subsequent volume looks like it's a lot more fun, especially if gritty sword and sorcery horror is your preferred form of entertainment.
Rated by buyers -
I had to respond to the individual who left a one star review, and provide a more balanced perspective, because he's out to lunch. These Dark Horse Conan comics are better (to me far better) than the regular Marvel series from the 1970s and 80s (Savage Sword was generally well done though). The artwork is fantastic, the dialogue is crisp, and most importantly the mood and sudden intensity of the scenarios live up to the spirit of Howard's writing.
It should be mentioned that the early marvel Conan's were generally better than the later part of the run, though sometimes Roy Thomas failed miserably in his writing, with original stories that were so unimaginitive (like the death of Belit) they didn't deserve publication. Marvel was NEVER the golden age of Conan.
I've read all of Howard's original material, almost all of the marvel run, and the all the Dark Horse Conans from the main title in recent years. The reviewer who gave one star must have got knocked in the head or something, because the talent of the writers and the artists simply oozes off the pages in this series. The suspense is gripping and the stories are a fine tribute to Howard's creation. If you liked the very first four Dark Horse Conan trade paperbacks, then you'll like this one too.
Rated by buyers -
Oh,well! It seems the new Golden Age of Conan has passed. The fifth volume in this outstaning series marks a severe dip in quality for what has been one of the best comic book series of the decade.
This volume marks the departure of artist Cary Nord, one of the few artist to live up the the standard set by Frank Frazetta in the 1960's, but what makes this volume so dire is the awful coloring.
Colorist Richard Isanove (replacing Dave Stweart) is usually one of the better colorist in the comic book industry, and does a good job on the very first two chapters of this volume, but the coloring on the four subsequent chapters appears rushed and the heavy handed computer painting all but gobbles up the subtle pencil work it should be complimenting.
I had hoped publisher Dark Horse would correct the coloring on the book before collecting this story arc in paperback, but this did not happen, and one of Robert E. Howard's better stories is left a mess.
I hope future volumes of this series are done with better care, but judging by what has been released by replacement artist Tomas Gorillo, who fills in for Mr. Nord for one issue in this edition, there is not much to be optamistic about. Mr. Gorillo's art is flat and lacks the mastery displayed by Cary Nord or the myriad of fill-in artist who have stepped in over the course of this series to lend a hand, and who were all better suited to continue drawing the series. Tragic.
Find other books like this one:
