"The Hand of Nergal"

A good many readers may not realize that Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft were contemporaries and exchanged many correspondents regarding their writing and the ideas behind the prose. In this fiftieth issue of Conan the Lovecraftian influences on Howard's work are very apparent and are brought to the page wonderfully by Giorello and Truman.

In this last issue before Conan officially becomes Conan the Cimmerian the barbarian finds himself with good reason to become nostalgic about his homeland. He is trapped in a city overrun with demonic hordes, while the treacherous king's advisor bargains black deals with Nergal, a god of death that has a tentacled, earth-bound servant by the name Ela D'Snal. We've got it all here; betrayal, undead soldiers, scantily clad women, dangerous sorcerers and oblivious rulers. All of this is topped off with the conclusion to the cursed Gunderman, Nestor, and an interesting and chilling, if completely separate, twist at the very end.

Enough kind things can't be said about the art and coloring in this issue. In addition to bringing the big aspects of the story to life, Ela D'Snal being the foremost, there's great attention to detail. Conan, walking through the pages, actually looks like he was in the battle he participated in last issue and looks to have sustained the beating that drummed him unconscious. This eye for the minute also works very well in the battle scenes, where Conan cuts his way through many and varied foes.

The writing, by and large good as well, does hit a hitch or two, particularly in the closing scene with Nestor. The scene is very brief considering all of the buildup to the moment. It also seems strange that Conan should think it impossible to have the corpse of his erstwhile companion show up after fighting off dozens of other animated corpses. However, the killing of Nestor along with all of the other black magicks that take place in this issue certainly provides sufficient motivation for Conan to leave civilized lands behind him.

The book does feel a bit inflated, in page count and price, by the inclusion of an older version of the same "The Hand of Nergal" story in the back. Diehard Conan fans probably already have this, if nothing else in one of its many re-printings, so it being in this issue seems unnecessary for those readers who are here for Dark Horse's version of the hero.

All in all, the conclusion to this story arc is very satisfying with some beautiful art. Readers who have been keeping up with it till now will find it worth the cover price, even if the extra two dollars causes a bit of a flinch.

If you liked this review, be sure to check out more of the author's work at http://madbastard.hypersites.com

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