Review: King Conan – The Hour of the Dragon #4

I should apologize that in my previous reviews of this series, I never mentioned the excellent cover art by Gerald Parel. I’ll try to make up for that here. The cover of King Conan: the Hour of the Dragon #4 shows Conan fighting a giant wolf. It’s pretty awesome, and in a perfect world, that would be all you need to know about this issue. Unfortunately, the comic only features a wolf that’s slightly larger than average, certainly not big enough to hold a man in its jaws. Still, the rest of the issue is great. The last issue ended with King Conan riding off into the sunset to reclaim his kingdom, and in this one we finally get to see what’s happened in Aquilonia because of his absence. This issue introduces several new characters and sets up challenges for the Cimmerian, left “a king without a kingdom” after the battle at Valkia.

There’s some action in this issue, but for the most part it gives us backstory and informs events to come in the next few issues. Issue #3 ended without much direction, so it makes sense that this issue introduces some new events, but there are several new characters as well. This makes the story a bit more complex, but there are only eight issues left to tell it. I’ve said it before, but I’m still worried that this adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s Hour of the Dragon will lose a lot by being compressed into so few issues. There’s not much room for pause in this series; events fly past in just a few pages, but Timothy Truman does manage to highlight the most important parts of the story.

In this issue, the focus is once again on Conan dealing with magic, as well as political struggles. On one hand, there are at least three sorcerers trying to influence the outcome of his quest. On the other, the rival nobles of Aquilonia threaten to split the kingdom. King Conan has a lot to deal with before he can make good on his promise to return for Zenobia, but he’s faced worse before. At least this time, he might find allies in the loyal nobles of Aquilonia. Speaking of Zenobia, she, Tarascus and Xaltotun show up only once in this issue. They’re all still important, but I have a feeling we won’t be seeing much of them for the next couple of issues.

The artwork and colors are just as good as I’ve come to expect from Tomás Giorello and José Villarrubia. Like the previous issues, the artwork is dark and evocative. Giorello’s work always gives these comics a unique atmosphere, and this one is no different. 

If you’ve enjoyed this series so far, King Conan: The Hour of the Dragon #4 is definitely worth the $3.50 cover price. Sure, it doesn’t have the giant wolf that the cover promises, but you won’t want to miss this issue if you’ve been following the story. I just hope that the rest of the story fits in the relatively few issues remaining. This series is already one-third of the way done, but it still feels like the story’s just beginning. 

Danilo Culibrk, aka Augustus, is a staff writer for the Red Shirt Crew. He thinks all comics should have giant wolves on the cover. You can use sorcerous powers to follow him through the eyes of a raven on Twitter at @Augustusing.