Paul Lee (1)

In this story we follow Conan leading the embassy from Aquilonia to the mysterious land on the East - Khitai. Here Khitai is a country that is basically blend of Chinese and Japanese in our "universe". We can see some elements of wuxia kung-fu but also samurai warriors and ninja's. In any case blending was done in excellent and seamless way.

Art is very good and scenes of battle are very well done. There is no confusion for the reader and it is very clear what goes on.

Only thing that is missing here is a more thought-out story. Story is ... how to say it, underwhelming. We have our deal of monsters and wizards so that the story resonates with readers of Conan's adventures but they remain nothing else than a prop - even the story climax seems like an afterthought. Also mysterious tribe that helps Conan's escort seems like something that was planned to be used in a more constructive way but was left out for whatever reason. If only the story was presented in a better way.

In general very interesting story recommended to all fans of Conan's universe. Alas due to the rather underwhelming story this adventure seems to be on the list of marginalized less-known ones. Which is a shame because main characters are very interesting.… (lisätietoja)

Im 6. Band von CONAN verschlägt es den barbarischen Krieger mit seinen Freunden in ein fernöstliches Land. Leider ist der Empfang dort nicht sonderlich freundlich und Conan gerät in Gefangenschaft. Er könnte jedoch die einzige Chance auf Rettung für das Volk von Khitai sein, das von einem schrecklichen Fluch heimgesucht wird, der die Krieger des Landes immer wieder zwingt, sich gegen ihr eigenes Volk zu wenden. Eine fernöstliche Odyssee voller Gefahren und Geheimnisse wartet auf König Conan!… (lisätietoja)

I've occasionally wondered if there's such as thing as overdone continuity in comic books-- they are, after all, a continuous medium, so surely continuity is always par for the course? How fortunate for me, then, that Heading into the Light has seen fit to give me the answer. This story has two big continuity elements. The first is that it spins out of the events of Identity Crisis, a story I haven't read. But I soon will, I know what it's about, and it had just came out when this story ran. So that's fine. What's not fine is that the Big Bad behind this story turns out to be some guy called Merlyn. Who the heck's that? Who knows, because this story never bothers to reveal who this guy is or why he might be so ticked off at Green Arrow. I guess they have a vendetta of some sort, but nothing here sells it enough to make me care.

Also: people often complain that the problem with writing Superman is that he's too powerful, and he's out of his antagonists' league. But the problem with Green Arrow is that he's not powerful, and his antagonists are always out of his league. This is at least the third volume is a row where I've seen Green Arrow and company just receive beating after beating from some antagonist with a huge advantage over him. I'm getting tired of it. And Connor is fricking hospitalized yet again. Get a new deal, Winick.

This book is penciled by four different people, but specific credits aren't given to specific bits, so I have no way of telling who did the bit of the book where the art ceases to be dire. Also, I've no idea which part J. Calafiore wrote, but it seems odd that he could write any issue here, as this is a pretty tight story arc all the way through.

Green Arrow: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence »… (lisätietoja)