CONAN: The Frost-Giant's Daughter and Other Stories

The popular barbarian is back in full-color painted adaptations of the original pulp novels by Robert E. Howard. Conan, the dark-haired Cimmerian warrior, leaves his homeland, inspired by his grandfather's tales of Hyperborea, a paradise in the far north. He befriends an Aesir chieftain by showing his skill in battle and joins a raiding party. After a particularly bloody battle, Conan, the last man standing, is visited by the Frost-Giant's daughter, a nymph made of ice. He eventually finds his way to the fabled lands of Hyperborea, where the countryside's beauty comes at a terrible price. These tales, like the originals, are long on swordplay and short on character development. Even so, Conan has an endearing earnestness that hearkens back to the golden age of pulp fiction: what Conan lacks in intelligence he makes up for in brute strength. The illustrations are lush, adding a new vibrancy to this fantasy world. Rounding out this collection of the first six and a half issues is a biography of Howard and Nord's highly amusing audition piece for the job as Conan penciler. (Apr.)