Robert E. Howard’s Savage Sword, Volume 1
Written by Paul Tobin, Scott Allie, Mark Finn, Marc Andreyko, Joe Casey, Robert E. Howard, Jeremy Barlow, David Lapham, Joshua Williamson, Dave Land, Peter Doree
Art/Illustrations/Pencils/Inks/Colors by Wellington Alves, Ben Dewey, Greg Scott, Pop Mhan, Tony Parker, Fabio Cobiaco, Patric Reynolds, M.S. Corley, Sean Phillips, Tim Bradstreet, Tim Seeley, Robert Atkins, Rebecca Buchman, Michael Atiyeh, Dave Stewart, Grant Goleash, Michelle Madsen, Jose Villarrubia, Brian Miller, Hi-Fi Colour Design, Dan Jackson
Letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: January 9, 2013
Cover Price: $17.99

Okay, first off, the individuals listed above were done so in the order in which their stories were placed in the anthology, subdivided by the type of work they contributed. No offense was implied towards any person who might have been placed incorrectly in this review. There, I’ve been about as politically correct as I can be. All characters are based upon the work of Robert E. Howard. This is, after all, Robert E. Howard’s Savage Sword, Volume 1.

Conan the Barbarian #12
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Declan Shalvey
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover by Massimo Carnevale
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: January 16, 2013
Cover Price: $3.50

Conan the Barbarian #3 is the last chapter of the excellent “The Death” storyline. This whole three-issue story has been fantastic, running the gambit from emotional to action-packed. This last issue is no exception.

Brian Wood continues to surprise me with each issue that he writes. On the surface, you’d think that Conan would be a pretty easy job, and maybe it was back in the 70s or 80s. But now, you’ve got to not only turn in a compelling and entertaining story, but you’ve also got to pour over a bunch of Conan books, as not to jumble up any other Conan continuity written by his creator, Robert E. Howard. This last chapter in “The Death” story is full of emotion, and a little bit of mystery. FINALLY things start to turn around for Conan and company, only to be hit by a huge shock that none of us ever saw coming. It’s got some great classic Conan moments, and it’s as entertaining as you’d expect it to be.

Rocketeer Adventures, Vol. 2
Written by Marc Guggenheim, Peter David, Stan Sakai, Tom Taylor, Paul Dini, Walter Simonson, Dave Lapham, Kyle Baker, Matt Wagner, Louise Simonson, David Mandel, John Byrne

Art by Sandy Plunkett, Bill Sienkiewicz, Stan Sakai, Colin Wilson, Bill Morrison, John Paul Leon, Chris Sprouse, Kyle Baker. Eric Canete, Walter Simonson, J. Bone, John Byrne
Inks by Karl Story, Bob Wiacek

Colors by Sandy Plunkett, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Stewart, Serban Cristescu, Jordie Bellaire, Eric Canete, Cassandra Poulson, J. Bone

Letters by Robbie Robbins, Bill Sienkiewicz, Stan Sakai, Colin Wilson, Chris Mowry, Shawn Lee. Kyle Baker, John Workman, Neil Uyetake

Cover by Darwyn Cooke
Design by Randall Dahlk
Edited by Scott Dunbier
IDW Publishing
Release Date: January 2013
Hardcover | Kindle

Somewhere, Dave Stevens is reading his copy of The Rocketeer Volume 2 and smiling, as you will be when you pick this book up. To say it brings honor and respect to the late Steven’s work would be an understatement. This is comic storytelling at its finest.

Conan the Barbarian #11
Script by Brian Wood
Art by DeClan Shalvey
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover by Massimo Carnevale
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 12, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

Conan the Barbarian #11 is the second part of “The Death” story line. For my money, this has been THE best arc of Brian Wood’s 11 issues. When we last left Conan, things were grim. Both his lover, Belit, and the crew of their ship, had taken ill with some kind of plague or sickness that was killing them off one by one at a pretty fast rate.

Brian Wood does, in my opinion, his best writing of his Conan career in this issue. As Conan reluctantly leaves Belit and his shipmates to go out and find a cure for what’s ailing them, Belit and the crew continue to get worse. Conan must go through a bunch of locals to get to a healer, and then, things just get worse from there. I will say, this issue gives us Conan, not as a barbarian, but as a HUMAN BEING. It’s really quite jarring and emotional…and I LOVED IT!

Hellboy in Hell #1
Story & Art by Mike Mignola
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Clem Robins
Cover by Mike Mignola with Dave Stewart
Designers: Mike Mignola & Gary Grazzini
Assistant Editor: Daniel Chabon
Editor: Scott Allie
Publisher: Mike Richardson
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 5, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

Hellboy in Hell #1 was the first Hellboy comic that I’ve ever read. Ever. I have nothing against the character, is just seemed that it was one of those books that never interested me. That being said, what I found when I read this comic surprised me.

Mike Mignola packs a LOT of humor in this story, and frankly, I really wasn’t expecting that. Again, I’m not familiar with the Hellboy character or universe, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it sure wasn’t this. As a character, Hellboy is very tongue in cheek and quite a wise-cracking badass. Unfortunately, I found the story a little hard to follow. This is obviously aimed at Hellboy fans, so I’m sure I missed a ton of “in jokes” and references to past stories, but that’s OK. It’s an entertaining read with a couple of really good, funny parts to the story.