Issue 1 hit today & I was a bit dubious of the title. Marvel's been doing some odd things with Conan of late, tying the character in to their mainstream universe. Only thing is .... it's working, with The
Savage Avengers, starring Conan & some of Marvel's more dark characters becomming a must-read of mine, so far. The recent annual, for example was wonderful, teaming The Barbarian with Black Widow & Son Of Satan down in South America pitting them against a prostitution-slavery-drug-cartel. It was bonkers & a ton of fun.
Anyway,
Serpent War ties in to a 1973 issue of Marvel's
Supernatural Thrillers, where Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway & Gil Kane adapted a Robert Howard story much akin to Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion theme, where a man on his deathbed in Cross Plains,Texas back in 1936, dreams of his previous/reincarnated lives all of which deal with Barbarian heroes fighting a snake god.
Serpent War's writer, Jim Zub, takes this Supernatural Thrillers story from 47 years ago & builds his story on it's back. The dying man, in this sequel, also dreams of various other souls from the past battling a similer snake & ties their tales into his own. We now have 3 other Robert Howard creations picking the story up. Conan from the Hyborian Age, Solomon Kane from the late 1600's & Dark Agnes from the 1500's, whom the charater of Red Sonja is based on. Adding a bit of Modern Marvel in to the mix, Zub cherry-picks Mark Spector/Moon Knight in to the pot. It all works.
I noticed on the shelves today that Marvel has also reprinted the original Supernatural Thrillers #3 as a Serpent War #0 to truly kick off the tale, if your so inclined. Believe me it helps & the story & art are both excellent.
Bottom line; this is a pretty cool concept & one I'm quite surprised was ever given the green light. I mean, a modern tie in to a Silver Age' Sword 'n Sorcery comic almost 50 years old! What a risk!
If you at all like Barbarian comics, I highly recommend this start. I've never seen anything like it from Marvel, at least in terms of this comic genre.
