Colossal Conan - The best Collected Edition ever

[NZ_InFerno]

I started reading Colossal Conan yesterday, I've had it since release but I just hadn't got round to reading it for one reason or another. This is a book I really wanted oversized and waited years for it to be released. I had read the trades previously but reading it at this size is such a treat.

Going through it again reminded me why I had wanted it so badly, the writing by Busiek is perfect, so much heart and character. Conan leaps off the page, realised and alive. Busiek writes in a modern style but it has that feeling of a Silver Age comic, so much detail but without the unnecessary exposition which some SA comics have.

Then there is Cary Nords art which is so like a Frazetta painting it is uncanny, I cant believe this guy doesn't do more comics but he is perfect for Conan. Its so good to see his young Conan, then as he gets older he is drawn differently and more mature. What I love in a great series and is so rare to find now is that he is the consistent artist throughout(450 odd pages in) and I believe he is on for 40 odd issues. And when he isn't doing the art there is a different storyline for the incoming artists to illustrate that is clearly separate from the tale being told but still part of the overall narrative. So far fill in artists are Bruce Timm, John Severin and Tom Mandrake! Not bad.

The colouring is pretty perfect as well, Dave Stewart is really good at this stuff. There is an introductory piece by Kurt Busiek where he details how the early try out art pieces by Nord where coloured by Stewart with no inking, and the result was so good they continued it in the book. It looks brilliant and different. The intro also talks about the lettering style, with the typewriter-esque use perfectly invoking Robert E. Howard at his typewriter banging out Conan stories.

This is really the perfect book. The build and paper are top drawer, though so is the price, and reading it you can tell it was put together with care and attention to detail. My new favourite book, sorry Absolute Planetary.


I took some quick pics with my phone from the first 500 pages, the run was started in the early 2000s iirc and went for about 50 issues. The book itself is $150US rrp and has over 1200 pages over awesome.

[NZ_InFerno]

[PrankT]

I've been aware of the book but haven't seen pictures yet. The art looks fantastic. Does the fighting and tone get pretty graphic (I know of the character from the movies and cartoon, but haven't read the comic at all)? I'm very interested, but lean toward lighthearted stories.

[canadianaidan64]

A while ago I purchased this on a whim along with Robert E. Howard's complete Chronicles of Conan and I haven't started it yet - I want to read the original stories first. So far those are blowing me away. It's so much better than I expected having only know Conan through the Schwarzenegger movies.

I am worried that the comic will just retell all of the same stories in less detail and without adding anything new to them... That's one thing I've never been quite understood with Conan comics - which series tell original stories, which ones are adaptations of Howard's, and which ones expand on Howard's.

[NZ_InFerno]

I've been aware of the book but haven't seen pictures yet. The art looks fantastic. Does the fighting and tone get pretty graphic (I know of the character from the movies and cartoon, but haven't read the comic at all)? I'm very interested, but lean toward lighthearted stories.

There is plenty of fighting, but very little gore. Much like the first pic posted, and the cover.

A while ago I purchased this on a whim along with Robert E. Howard's complete Chronicles of Conan and I haven't started it yet - I want to read the original stories first. So far those are blowing me away. It's so much better than I expected having only know Conan through the Schwarzenegger movies.

I am worried that the comic will just retell all of the same stories in less detail and without adding anything new to them... That's one thing I've never been quite understood with Conan comics - which series tell original stories, which ones are adaptations of Howard's, and which ones expand on Howard's.

They do retell a few famous stories with some new stuff inbetween iirc. This book follows a timeline, and moves Conan to the places/time when those stories happened. I actually have the Complete Chronicles book but have not opened it yet. From the intro the intent of this Conan series is to be based on the Howard stories. If you like Conan you would not regret this book one iota.

[CrazyOldHermit]

I wanted this book until I actually held it. A cinderblock worthy of Conan but Conan I am not.

[aaltomuoto]

Agreed, I'm not a fan of books that are way too heavy to read comfortably.

[zevious zoquis]

Absolutely love this book. It's physically very impressive, but having never read Busiek's run before I was really surprised at how great the writing is. He "gets" Conan and truly respects the character in a way that a certain more current writer absolutely does not.

As far as violence and gore goes, there's certainly lot's of swordplay and head smashing and so forth, but it never ever devolves into the sort of gore porn that a lot of comics seem to think is necessary (and which always turns me off). The emphasis is always on action and pulp adventure.

Honestly, I don't find these big books much more uncomfortable to read than a tpb anymore. Sure, they are huge and heavy and pretty much require that they be laid down on a flat surface, but for me tpbs have their own set of issues related to their construction - I tend to be hyper concerned with the binding cracking which causes me to always hold them open in a very cautious way and ends up making my hands fatigued in pretty short order. Colossal Conan sits nicely on the sofa next to me and I sit semi-sideways while reading it. The over-sized artwork is a joy to behold!

[zevious zoquis]

Here's some more interior shots for anyone interested...

[zevious zoquis]

continued...

[John Keyt]

I love Cary Nords work with conan . I had the chance to meet him back in 2012 and had my issue on Conan # 1 signed by him . Super nice guy . Even got a print signed to . I am going to have to save up and get a copy . I been meaning to complete his series but keep getting side tracked .

[Joshua]

I like the material but not in this format. To each his own.

[mike1981]

I've been wanting to give this book a shot, but was scared away when my copy arrived during release week with it's entire page block separated from the spine (it was actually floating around in the shrink wrap). It seems like this was a one-off issue, but it still scares me to order another copy of a 14 lb. book.

[FanboyStranger]

I wanted this book until I actually held it. A cinderblock worthy of Conan but Conan I am not.

The unheralded benefit of the book is that if you carry the book around all the time, you will gain a Conan-esque physique, much like Conan pushing the wheel in the Swartzenegger movie. (Even if that was really more of a Kull movie.) Busiek and Nord should get a kickback for being undercover personal trainers.

[NZ_InFerno]

Been busy so my reading of this mighty tome has been a bit sidetracked, tucking back in to it today though and still enjoying the heck out of it. I know that Truman/Giorello did some more Conan work after the issues collected in this tome, and then there was Woods runs recently. Is there enough issues to do a second Colossal Conan, and is the material good enough to sit alongside the first book?