Conan is often seen as a brutish and stupid muscled guy who beats up monsters and beds the ladies. This is absolutely true, but what makes Conan such a great character is much more than that. For one thing, he’s exceedingly clever and resourceful, which tends to keep you alive longer than the smart guy. Though Conan will never be a loveable hero; his main appeal comes from respect. You just have to respect a guy that can run around mostly naked, outsmart the greatest minds of society, kill armies of men and unspeakable monsters, and still gets all the girls despite the square and thug-like rock that sits atop his head. Sure he’s a murderer, a thief, and generally a mean guy, but he’s also got a strange sense of duty, justice, and honor, and so survives his stories as much from karma and luck as from skill. I would never want to meet the character, but boy do I respect him.

Yes, all of this is going somewhere. In Conan: and the Demons of Khitai, we see what exposes Conan’s qualities the best, contrast. He is already a king in this mini series, and is on his way to make a peace treaty with the people of Khitai, a very eastern, Japanese inspired society. But the invitation was a setup by persons unknown, and the ruler has known nothing of Conan’s coming. So naturally, he tries to have him killed. After some fighting, Conan convinces the people to let him travel to the haunted temple he was sent to in the first place to kill a possessed warrior and hopefully find the nare do wells responsible for this traitorous turpitude.

As I said before, the greatness of Conan is seen best when he is contrasted to others that cannot help but gain a deepening respect for him the longer they are around him. Also, what is it with Conan and misfits? He always seems to be joined by some strange or outcast character in ever story. It’s like he attracts people that have no place in the world. Just a thought. Anyway, this is a great story with brilliant writing and phenomenal art. So yeah, sorry about trailing off twice there.

-Fumanchu