Review: King Conan – The Hour of the Dragon #3

While Hour of the Dragon #1 and #2 seemed somewhat slow-paced, issue #3 goes from one action scene to the next, with a few brief pauses for exposition in between. Conan still hasn’t found out exactly why Zenobia is helping him, but the comic does show a glimpse of King Tarascus’ plans. Xaltotun appears only briefly in this issue, but his role in the story is far from over. I shouldn’t really say more than that, but it’s difficult to discuss this issue without spoiling the plot. Well, Robert E. Howard’s original Hour of the Dragon has been in print for decades now, but for those who haven’t read it, here’s a spoiler-free review: Timothy Truman, Tomás Giorello, and José Villarrubia have created another good issue. King Conan: Hour of the Dragon #3 is full of action, and there are a few significant plot developments. If the first two issues intrigued you, pick this one up, but one more thing I should mention is a poorly-adapted scene in this comic, that I’ll spoil below. My full review, with spoilers, follows after the jump.

As far as the story goes, perhaps the most interesting scene in this issue is when Tarascus finds the magic gem that appears to be the source of Xaltotun’s power. This story won’t just be Conan against the sorcerer; Tarascus knows he can’t trust such a powerful wizard, so he needs some leverage for the likely betrayal. Or maybe Tarascus just wants Xaltotun out of the way now that he’s served his purpose: capturing Conan and defeating the Aquilonian army. 

But thanks to Zenobia, that first goal has backfired on the Nemedians, as Tarascus soon finds out, in what is perhaps the weakest scene in this comic. Conan attacks, but fails to kill Tarascus with his first stab, and has to fight off the king’s bodyguard. After this, he doesn’t go after the king, but decides to run away from the rest of the guards with Zenobia. The way the comic is drawn, Tarascus seems only a few feet away from Conan, running for his life and screaming for the guards. A few pages later, Conan kills Tarascus’ bodyguard by throwing a dagger into his throat, from at least a few feet away. Couldn’t he have done the same to the fleeing king?

In Howard’s original novel, this scene makes a bit more sense. The bodyguard isn’t present in the original, and the room is lit only by a candle on the table. Conan slips and knocks the table over, putting out the candle. Tarascus manages to escape in the darkness, as Conan does not know the layout of the palace. 

taken from http://www.darkhorse.com

Maybe it would have been difficult to draw Tarascus and Conan fumbling in the dark, but the way the scene changes from the original just makes Conan seem cowardly. In the original, he fails to finish off Tarascus because he doesn’t know which way the king went; in this comic it’s not as clear. Sure, Conan is wounded from the fight with the ape earlier, but that’s never stopped him from vengeance before. It seems more like he’s afraid of the palace guards. “Instead of settling my score with Tarascus, I’d kicked up a hornet’s next,” King Conan narrates. “To save my hide, I had no choice… but to run!” 

The rest of the issue is pretty good though. There’s plenty of action, and the artwork is just as good as previous issues. There’s also a clever flash-forward near the end of this issue, using Conan’s face to frame the shift in time. The aging King Conan looks very different from the young King, but he’s still recognizable. This issue is well-done for the most part, but there just isn’t that much to talk about except for the point when the storytelling falls flat. If you’re already following this series, the $3.50 cover price and that one disappointing scene probably won’t keep you away. 

Danilo Culibrk, aka Augustus, is a staff writer for the Red Shirt Crew. He wouldn’t let a few guards stand between him and vengeance. But hornets, maybe. They’re nasty. You can follow his escapes from monster-infested dungeons on Twitter at @Augustusing.