CONAN - Under the Watchful Eye of His Mountain God - R.A. Wonsowski

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Panel 1 - Blood red dawn tints the long panel down the left side of the page.  From above, we are looking down the length of a long wooden bridge across a mountain pass.  At the top of the page, CONAN stands, only a sword held in both hands before him, pointed at the three BRIGANDS he is facing (toward the bottom of the page).

CAPTION:  "Red sky at morning, all take warning." - old sailor's adage


Panel 2 - POV shift:  now level with the action, looking down the length of the bridge, a red-pink sky.  As CONAN runs his sword through BRIGAND #1, he grabs BRIGAND #3 around the neck to grasp his head.  BRIGAND #2 readies his sword, holding it behind him to ready his swing.  In the background, the silhouette of a robed man pushing a basket cart.

SoundFX (sword):  shNT


Panel 3 - A pink-white sky as CONAN twists the head of BRIGAND #3 around as decapitates BRIGAND #2 with a backhanded swing.  In the background, the silhouette is more distinct; the scabbard of a long sword can be seen at the hip of the man, and the head and one hand of a child pokes out of the basket cart.

SoundFX (sword):  SHING!

SoundFX (neck):  KRAKK!!


Panel 4 - The sky is white now.  CONAN, tense and alert, sniffs the air and turns his head to look over his shoulder, and we see revealed OGAMI ITTō, the LONE WOLF, one hand pushing his CUB, DAIGORō (about age 3), in a makeshift baby cart, the other hand on the hilt of his long executioner's katana. 

CAPTION:  From the babe's silence, I know the child is no stranger to death.


Panel 5 - As the sky transitions from white to light blue, the POV shifts again:  we see, standing on the bridge, facing each other, CONAN (on the panel's left), bloodied sword at the ready, facing OGAMI ITTō (panel right), whose hand is still on the hilt of his samurai sword, pulled only a few inches from the scabbard, exposing a small measure of the blade to the rising sun, standing calmly erect in front of his son in the baby cart.

CAPTION:  I can smell the touch of Crom upon them both.  Father and child, never to be free of His taint.


Panel 6 - Same as Panel 5, except that the sky is a briiliant morning blue.  CONAN now is out of his fighting crouch, and stands at attention, head back, chest out, back straight; he holds his sword with both hands at the hilt, upside-down, pointed at the ground, pommel to his chest in salute to the samurai.  OGAMI ITTō returns the courtesy with a deep bow at the waist.

CAPTION:  And I know well the look of a man who has not yet tasted his just and rightful vengeance.


Panel 7 - Long panel down the right side of the page, a repeat of the POV of panel 1.  The scene is now brightened by the warm morning sun, the colour can even be a little washed out, giving the blood of the brigands lying on the bridge a coppery brown tint.  From above, we see CONAN, now at the bottom of the page, completing his crossing of the bridge.  At the top of the page, OGAMI ITTō and DAIGORō, the LONE WOLF AND CUB, watch and wait for the barbarian to complete his crossing.

CAPTION:  Though we may worship different gods, I am sure we share the same religion, kneeling only at the altar of our revenge.

CAPTION:  -- from the Chronicles of King Conan the Cimmerian.

Conan created by Robert E. Howard.
Lone Wolf and Cub created by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima.

Conan: Innovator of Violence - Niel Jacoby

Panel 1: Conan writes, pensive, in a sort of ancient version of a notepad with whatever barbarians use to write with, charred bits of enemy or whatever.

Caption(Conan): IN MY TRAVELS, I HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH GANGS OF MULTIPLE SWORDSMEN. THESE GANGS HAVE BECOME DULL OF LATE, SO I HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH DIFFERENT WAYS OF SWORDFIGHTING AS I DISPATCH THEM.

I SEEM TO HAVE CREATED A NEW STYLE THAT WILL FOREVER CHANGE THE WAY SWORDFIGHTING IS DONE.

Panel 2: We see over Conan's shoulder and see what he has in his notepad. It is a stick figure Conan with 2 swords in each hand, one in his mouth, and one sticking out from his bum. Conan is thinking.

Caption(Conan): HRMMM, MAYBE I CAN FIT DAGGERS IN THE NOSTRILS.

Conan - The Swift, The Strong, and The Wise - J.D. Coughlan

Panel 1: Conan, bloodied and battered, runs through a jungle, sword in his hand. Although he is determined, there is a touch of fear in his expression.

CAPTION: There are many skills a warrior must possess in order to be victorious in battle.

Panel 2: Close on Conan as an arrow shoots through his shoulder. He grimaces in pain. Blood splatters.

SFX: thwik

CONAN: NNNN!

CAPTION: He must be swift, to evade his enemy's blows.

Panel 3: Conan looks over his shoulder to see his attacker, a large warrior armed with many weapons, some distance away, putting away a bow and pulling out a large mace.

CAPTION: He must have strength, not just in his body but in his heart as well, for his enemy will be without mercy.

Panel 4: Wide panel. Conan has fallen against a tree. He should look a wreck at this point; arrow still in his shoulder, blood everywhere. He weakly points his sword at his attacker, who is on the other side of the panel, grinning and striding forward wielding his mace.

CAPTION: Swiftness and strength are all that is required for a warrior's triumph.

CAPTION: But to be more than triumphant, more than victorious, to become a legend whose very name inspires defeat in one's enemies, a warrior will need something more...

Inset: Conan's sword falls onto a vine, cutting it.

SFX: KT

Panel 5: Wide panel. Same shot as before, but now a large rock, with vines tied around it, has fallen onto the attacker, crushing him to a pulp.

SFX: SPLCH

CAPTION: For there is no weapon more deadly than wisdom.

END OF PAGE

Conan – Shroud of A Monster - Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 5 PANELS.

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1. A large campfire burns bright against the starless night sky. Rough tents made of animal furs are dotted around the campfire. A lone warrior, clad in a mixture of furs and old armour sits awake as the camp sentry, his rusted battleaxe in hand.

The eyes of a watching pack of  ‘VAMPIRE’ BANDITS speckle the dark horizon with a menacing glow.

NO COPY.

2. The camps tents are all a blaze. The lone warrior lies dead on the ground, as do a dozen of the other camp travellers, some women and child. The BANDITS, all of whom wear black furs and patchworks of bronze chainmail, crawl amongst the corpses. The bandit leader NANG sits on his haunches over the fallen warrior. His mouth wide open and covered in blood, all his teeth have been sharpened to points.

CAPTION CONAN: Only cowards need to wrap themselves in a shroud of a monster, to make use of the fear of myth to give power where there is none.

3. Small panel, tight on the warriors neck, a huge chunk of flesh as been bitten from it.

NO COPY.

4. The sun beats down on the aftermath of the night-time attack. Dry blood stains the earth all around the corpses.

CONAN knees next to a corpse, examining the neck area. He wears leather armour and has his long sword strapped to his back and a small dagger on each hip. His large white horse stands waiting for him.

CONAN: Drinking the blood of your enemies’ is to give your enemy strength, even in death.

(Link)

CONAN: And no true warrior would find an enemy in one’s so innocent.

5. Conan holds the severed head of Nang by the hair in one hand as he walks from the entrance of a dark cave. Splashes of blood are dotted over his furs and armour, a calm look covers his stone face.

CAPTION CONAN: To be bold in the eyes of Crom is to spill the blood of your unworthy foe and have your blade be the summons to hell for such false men.

Conan – (The Barbarian) - MK Stangeland Jr.

(6 Panels)

Panel 1: CONAN, located in a desolate dungeon and fighting a giant snake, rolls to grab his sword.

Panel 2: CONAN rolls to his feet with sword in hand as the giant snake comes down on him with its mouth open.

Panel 3: The snake comes down on CONAN and closes its mouth.

SFX: crash!

Panel 4: The snake comes up from the ground.

Panel 5: CONAN’s sword sticks up through the top of the snake’s head, with bits of blood, brain matter, and other gooey bits stuck to it. The snake has gone wide-eyed from its impromptu lobotomy.

SFX: SHING!

Panel 6: CONAN swings the sword down to leave the upper half of the giant snakes head in two, with all the disgusting splatter one would expect from it as CONAN starts to pop out of his fallen foe.

CONAN: CROM!

(End Page)

Conan- Blowback -Dan Hill

PAGE TWENTY TWO

Panel 1: The face of KING CONAN, cast in stone, stares unblinkingly at us. He’s in his mid fifties.

1 CAPTION: 10 years after The Hour of the Dragon.

2 ADH(CAPTION): The mighty king stood proud and tall.

Panel 2: SMASH! The head of the statue shatters into tiny fragments.

3 ADH(CAPTION): His shadow cast itself over all of Aquilonia.

Panel 3: Thick, sturdy looking, ropes are wrapped around the arm and torso of the statue.

4 AN ADH(CAPTION): We live in that shadow. We are the whispers, the stories that will not die.

Panel 4: Tight on thick, dirt-covered, hands as they pull at the ropes.

5 AN ADH(CAPTION): We are the secrets that cannot be shared.

Panel 5: Wide panel: Three figures stand with their back to us in front of the statue. In the middle, a tall and imposing figure, a battle axe strapped to his back. He wears furs and a patchwork of armour. To his left is a lithe woman dressed in wolfskin, a dagger on each hip. To his right is a short, wide, sparkplug of a man. No force on earth looks like it could move him. He has no visible weapon. His fists are the size of small boulders. These are his weapons.

Before them the statue of King Conan is being pulled down by a large number of MERCENARIES and SOLDIERS tugging at ropes tied around it.

6 ADH(CAPTION): We are the dark past come forth to claim a brighter future.

Panel 6: Wide panel: Tight on the three figures facing us. In the middle is ADH, short hair cropped into a mohawk, dark warpaint daubed across his face. The women to his left, AIGNE, has a feline quality to her features, her long dark hair braided with tribal decoration. To Adh’s right is NEART. He’s almost cro-magnon in appearance, a golem made flesh.

7 ADH(CAPTION): We are the bastard children of King Conan, offspring of whores, commoners and the downtrodden.

Panel 7: Wide panel: As Panel 5 but we pull back further to see an assembled army numbering in the thousands standing behind the trio. They all throw up their fists and arms in triumph as the statue shatters on the ground.

8 ADH(CAPTION): And we will be heard.

Conan - The True Warrior - Ben Rosenthal

1.  Conan is battling a horde of demons at the gates to a castle.

CAPTION

The truly skilled warrior attacks not the body nor the mind.

2.  Conan is inside the castle.  He is walking down the long throne room aisle.  At the end is a throne, with a shadowed individual sitting in it.  From the outline we can tell that is female, but that is it.

CAPTION

But the heart.

3.  A reaction shot of Conan.  He is shocked as he sees who is sitting on the throne.

CAPTION

Fortunately--

CONAN

By Crumm! 

4.  We see the identity of the person on the throne.  It is Bêlit, Conan’s first true love.  However she does not look the same – she has been returned with black magic. She smirks, evilly. 

CAPTION (Bêlit)

--I know this heart well.

Conan - What Lies Beneath - Grant McLaughlin

Conan is traveling through a jungle with a group of warriors / adventurers (say a dozen men and women, give or take).

1 - Establishing shot of the dense, dark jungle.  Conan walks along with a group of capable (and dangerous) looking adventurers.  They aren't facing any immediate threat, but they are at the ready and the rigours of the journey has taken a toll on the group.

(1) CAPTION: Conan the Cimmerian had always preferred to travel alone rather than put his life in the hands of strangers.  However, he also knew that some circumstances warranted more than one set of hands.

(2) CAPTION: Crossing the dense jungles of Keshan was one such instance.

2 - The group is climbing a steep hill / cliff.  One of Conan's fellow travelers, a lean archer, stands at the crest, offering hand to Conan to help him reach the top.  Conan accepts the aid and they clasp arms as the archer pulls him up.

(3) CAPTION: And Conan was pleased to discover that some of these hands could be trusted.

3 - Night.  The group has made camp and is sitting around a fire.  They are divided into smaller sub-groups varying in size from 1 to 3 people.  Conan sits with a few companions, sharing the meal and some laughs.

(4) CAPTION: Similar situations throughout the years had yielded Conan a plethora of comrades and allies throughout the lands of Hyboria.

4 - Focusing on other members of the group, it is evident that some of the fellow travelers are not as impressed with our hero.  Expressions range from indifferent to hostile as they eat their meals away from the barbarian.

(5) CAPTION: But he was well aware that past travels had also earned him more than his fair share of enemies.

5 - The fire has been extinguished.  The group has settled into sleep.  It is dark, perhaps eerily so (for mood purposes).  However, Conan is still distinguishable, as he lies on the edge of the group.

(6) CAPTION: Conan rarely gave second thought to the latter.

6 - Close-up of Conan's eyes in the darkness.  They remain open, looking suspiciously to the potential threats from off-panel.

(7) CAPTION: ...but they were difficult to ignore knowing that one of his current companions had been tasked with his death.

Why Conan?

I could tell you a story about discovering Conan's exploits in an old copy of Weird Tales that I happened to come across at a young age.  I could weave you a tale about going out in search of more of his fantastic adventures, devouring each and every one I discovered with increasing vigour.  I could explain how, Howard's writings finished, I looked elsewhere for my Conan fix, watching the movies, reading the comics, and finding whatever else I could get my hands on.

I could tell you all this and more, but it wouldn't be true.

The fact of the matter is that I don't really know Conan all that well.  I vaguely remember catching part of Conan the Destroyer on TV once upon a time, but beyond an image of Arnold clocking a camel, I don't remember all that much.

No, my interest in Cimmeria's prodigal son is far more recent.  It's only with Brian Wood's impressive work in the pages of Dark Horse's Conan the Barbarian last year that I started to develop an affection for the character.

So while I've been following that adaptation faithfully, I know there's a lot more Conan out there for me to discovery.  Thanks to Wood and company's fantastic comics, it's a journey I look forward to starting, but I'm just as eager to play in Conan's world for a bit.

By Crom, I hope you'll join me on this little adventure.