We go back to the beginning, before the Black Stone, before Thulsa Doom, Conan is a youth from the south, he still has his old Pictish sword (Brule's blade freshly acquired at Venarium in Conan the Barbarian FCBD 2023). Conan ventures North to Asgard in this prequel to The Frost-Giant's Daughter aka The Gods of the North.
Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part 1: Cold Comfort starts now!
Conan remembers Lyolf training him for combat with wooden sticks.
The young Cimmerian questions the existence of his deity Crom, preferring to trust his five human senses, his own strength and steel weaponry.
Conan sees a pack of wolves eating a human corpse next to a campsite. For no reason and with no strategy whatsoever he immediately attacks the pack.
The wolves naturally overpower him. Conan loses his sword.
Conan remembers asking his father the location of Crom's mountain. His father confirming that Crom resides on all mountains and in the souls of all Cimmerians. Conan's father is sure that the Cimmerians are stones left behind by Crom.
Instead of using his other sword, Conan kills one of the wolves with his bare hands, without even losing a finger. The remaining wolves conveniently flee in terror.
Conan eats the butchered wolves, thinking that simply surviving in the wild could be a satisfactory life.
Conan decides to remain at the cozy campsite. He finds a hand axe, a leather waterskin, a bow and a quiver full of arrows.
Conan stumbles upon a bear, a source of food that could last him weeks.
Conan stupidly decides to fight the bear instead of killing the dangerous beast from afar.
Conan remembers besting his teacher Lyolf.
Conan uses the Spear-Slayer's sword to slay the bear.
A completely exhausted Conan decides to carry the bear's heavy carcass on his shoulders back to his camp... without snowshoes.
3 surly Æsir warriors, including Dag and Berg are waiting for Conan at his campsite.
But wait... there's something in those trees, Major! A nearly naked nymph with ivory skin, Atali (the gossamer G-string wearing, golden-locked daughter of Ymir, the frost-giant), is seen spying from a branch.
What I did like:
The cover by Dan Panosian is swear word fantastic!
Nuno Pereira's cover is an homage to What If? (1977) #13 "What If Conan the Barbarian Walked the Earth Today?". The Star Wars poster is replaced with the Conan one sheet by Renato Casaro.
The Doug Braithwaite tetraptych! Combine covers #13-16 to form another cool Conan quadriptych. Do it! Do it, now!
Conan's grandfather (Conn / Connacht) is mentioned.
A strong female character appears, but only on the very last page and it ain't human.
Women appear on some of the variant covers. Bravo!
Inspired by the Apollo and Daphne myth.
Boris Vallejo's 1989 painting of Apollo and Daphne featured Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sandahl Bergman.
Archaeologist Jeffrey Shanks talks about Cimmeria - A Poem, Thomas Bulfinch's The Outline of Mythology and The Hyborian Age essay.
The letters page is back, baby!
The Savage Sword of Conan magazine is now an ONGOING title!
What I did not like:
Rejected by Weird Tales magazine, the Frost-Giant's Daughter is probably Robert E. Howard's weakest tale.
The senseless killing of animals. Always disgusting.
Killing animals to feel alive.
Conquering nature instead of kingdoms.
The word "Stone" is utilized three times!
Conan not thanking the bear after killing it.
Conan calling the bear "him" instead of "it".
Conan's reckless actions border on the suicidal.
Only men appear in Conan's flashbacks. Sexist.
Conan's father is never named. Is he even still a metalsmith?
Conan ignores the dead body. A thing he would never do.
Young Conan never goes ice fishing!
Conan hides in water... and doesn't wear pants in winter? Ridiculous. Imbecilic! Zub is a Canadian, he knows what the cold can do to unprotected body parts.
A brown bear generally weighs around 600 to 1300 pounds, even a full grown Conan would struggle with such a load.
Conan does not notice a fire at his campsite? Please!
Atali is much too tiny on Giada Marchisio's cover.
NO advert for the excellent Heroic Legends Short Fiction Program.
NO variant cover featuring Boris Vallejo's 1989 painting of Daphne and Apollo!
I give it a 6/10. Reading the stories of a completely out of character Conan that is young, dumb, full of doubt, questioning his tribe's faith in Crom and losing his wanderlust does not appeal to me. Maybe it's finally time for Zub to step down and to endorse Barack Obama as the new writer for Conan the Barbarian. I hear that the 44th president of the United States is a big fan of the Cimmerian.
