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Review: Conan 2099 #1

Nemesis

In the grand tradition of “What if” and “Elseworld’s”  titles Marvel presents Conan 2099.  This book, a planned one shot that might have some legs in the future, explores Conan’s trek through a post-apocalyptic future.

Transporting Conan forward into the future, writer Gerry Duggan (Deadpool, Nova) gives us an alternate timeline where Conan fights alongside Victor Von Doom and Stephen Strange to battle a cabal of dark wizards and warlords.  Defeating them, Conan wins himself a kingdom in this alternate timeline where most heroes have died or left Earth.  Initially, Conan’s rule is successful and the prophecy that he, Conan, will win himself a throne has come true to great effect.  However, in due course, Conan finds himself the victim of a curse that grants him long life while condemning his kingdom to wither and die.  His subjects, desperate and dissatisfied, seek to depose him through force of arms; failing in their effort.  However, being a dutiful king, Conan abdicates and departs on a quest to rid himself of his curse.  Arriving in the ruins of Los Angeles Conan claims the relic of a fallen super-hero and the story kicks off from there.  (No more spoilers, sorry)

Duggan does a good job crafting this self-contained tale.  He quickly establishes the groundwork for the story and then build upon that bedrock in a steady professional manner.  The story never lags or seems rushed.  While dubious about the idea of Conan in a post-modern world, I was pleasantly surprised about where this story went and, by the end of the issue, I was eager to see where the story would go next.  I hope that Duggan or some other writer will return to this concept in the future.  Roge Antonio’s (Contagion, Tie Fighter) artwork has the feel of Classic Marvel and it evoked a strong sense of nostalgia in me.  The framing, view placement, character design and line work could have been lifted straight out of “Drawing Comics The Marvel Way” but done in a highly professional and polished manner.  While the art style may be dated compared to other books out there, it demands respect because it is done so well.  Similarly, Antonio inks the comic with a heavy hand and elevates the art to a different standard.  With rare exceptions, it is not common to see such a heavy use of inking in this day and age but Antonio spares no ink when inking his pencils.  This produces a book of great depth and heavy shadow; providing a greater sense of grandeur and artistry.  If I had one true critique of the art team’s work it would be with the color.  Erick Arciniega uses a washed out color scheme that, in my opinion, sucks some of the life out of the artwork.  It does evoke memories of newsprint comics and all that came with it but I was left wondering what might have been if Arciniega had used some more dynamic color.

All in all this was a very good book that I was initially skeptical of but enjoyed very much.  If you’re a fan of Conan or just Marvel in general then this is the book for you.  It is an enjoyable one-off that may lead to something in the future and can be enjoyed as a single issue as well.

Writing – 4 of 5 Stars
Art – 4 of 5 Stars
Inking – 4.5 of 5 Stars
Color – 3.5 of 5 Stars

Overall – 4 of 5 Stars

Writer – Gerry Duggan
Art – Roge Antonio
Color – Erick Arciniega
Letters – Travis Lanham

Author Profile

Nemesis
Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.

He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
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