King Conan The Conqueror #4
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The good
Great action sequence combining various elements. Conan's interaction with Akivasha
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The bad
Conveniently ties up earlier plot lines and reduces the impact of the names mentioned behind the respective plans
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The ugly
- Total score
King Conan The Conqueror #4 has Conan coming face to face with an exquisite beauty who knows that he’s not a Set priest nor does he belong in the temple. But she promises him that her goal isn’t to alert those in the temple about his presence and that she’ll lead him to Thutothmes, his intended target, because she’s not particularly fond of him either. And so they descend deeper into the tombs with Conan keeping her at a safe distance, and despite seeing prying eyes filled with evil intentions he won’t let anything sway him from retrieving the Heart of Ahriman. But she doesn’t lead him to Thutothmes and when they reach her room instead she makes him an offer after observing his strength to show him pleasures he’s never seen before and time won’t even matter while he’s experiencing this. She directs him to a sarcophagus in her room, which reads as containing the remains of Akivasha, princess of the Nilus, who was granted eternal life. When Conan opens it he discovers it’s empty and that in fact the beauty that’s been leading him is Akivasha and she makes him a new offer to join her and become king of the shadow. A princess granted eternal life due to becoming the lover of darkness is not one Conan should make enemies with lightly but since he can’t fail in his quest it appears he has no choice but to do so if he wants to make it out alive.
My expectations of this series took a slight hit last issue when it seemed to relegate one of the interesting early plot points to less than a notable mention for the 2nd straight issue and focused on Conan traveling through a maze in an attempt to find his target. It did end on a positive note when Conan ran into Akivasha and the start of this issue didn’t disappoint in regards to that. The interaction was definitely enjoyable and the sequence overall entertaining, and despite feeling like it was another way to sidetrack from the task at hand it did add some value to Conan’s narrative. It did get back on track after this and Thutothmes finally explained how he planned to use the Heart of Ahriman, and it was a relatively impressive plot although it did feel somewhat lessened due to a disconnect of it having any meaning outside of the temple. And finally Conan’s pursuers are addressed but the rest of the issue focuses solely on action, and pretty intense action at that. So if you enjoy action you’ll love this part of the issue like I did as there’s an amazing combination of brute force, skilled use of weapons, and a dazzling display of powerful sorcery. If you’ve been anxiously anticipating the story developing then you might be slightly underwhelmed with how the events unfolded with everything happening at once, and somewhat conveniently. It would’ve helped if last issue at least touched on the names mentioned during this sequence so they could have had more meaning but as a result it’s only satisfying only the level of Conan fighting against random enemies. However with 2 issues left there’s still plenty of room for interesting developments and the conclusion to this issue almost guarantees that.
SUMMARY
King Conan The Conqueror #4 is an entertaining issue and even though it’s an improvement from last issue it still doesn’t quite reach the full potential that was displayed in the first issue. The interaction between Conan and Akivasha was an interesting touch which could have some meaning later. The story definition moves forward this issue, which is a good thing, but the way everything came together felt like a convenient way to tie up earlier plot points instead of the sequences having the impact they could have had with more development. I’m still looking forward to the next issue as well as how this series brings a conclusion to the enjoyable story of how a king was able to regain his status against all odds.
Release Date: 5/28/14
Writer: Timothy Truman
Artist: Tomas Giorello
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