Lord Samper's Library

All my reading plans went south yesterday but on the other hand, I finally figured out the name of a movie that I’ve been trying to remember for about the last year. On that basis, I would normally put yesterday in the ‘Win Column’ but the movie was ‘Swamp Shark’ and after watching it, I was kind of nonplussed to be honest. It wasn’t bad, just not as awesome as my memory had tricked me into thinking. Oh well… :o) Anyway… The title is a bit of a giveaway but I did manage to make some time to catch up with some comic book reading. I’ll see if I can finish anything more substantial this week but for now, lets catch up with… ‘The Savage Sword of Conan #12’ – Ryall, Rodriguez, Zircher, Colak, Nicieza (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures) ‘The Savage Sword of Conan Vol.2’ is still waiting to be read but I’m doing better with the single issues. This is probably how I’m going to collect the series going forwards. #12 was a pretty good read although I wouldn’t have minded seeing ‘Conan: Heart of Da...

It hasn't been a bad week but it has been one of those weeks where you feel like it trampled all over you in a rush to get to the weekend first. I can't blame it, it has been an interesting few days ;o) I thought I'd give myself a little break then and let 'Past Me' come up with a post while I either catch up with some reading or catch up with some sleep, it could go either way... I'm still a big fan of Conan's time in Dark Horse Comics so thought I'd take a look at an older blog and see what I could share, 'Road of Kings' is the post I settled on. I've trimmed the thoughts of 'Past Me' a little bit, you can find the original post over Here . I'll leave you to it. See you tomorrow :o) When I heard tell that Dark Horse were publishing ‘Conan: Road of Kings’ I thought they’d dug up the old Karl Edward Wagner tale of the same name. Having only read Wagner’s ‘Dark Crusade’ (which is excellent and I highly recommend it) I was really lo...

Just a quick post today… I spent yesterday with my daughters (which is always great) and today looks like it’s going to be a very busy one; this is the little bit of time in the middle where I can get something on the blog ;o) Yesterday was all about shopping in town, book shopping to be more exact. It was pretty much inevitable that we’d end up in Forbidden Planet and that’s where I took the opportunity to get caught up with my ‘Conan’ reading. I haven’t made it through the latest ‘Savage Sword of Conan’ yet but did manage to read the following in the meantime… ‘Conan The Barbarian #28’ – Zub, Dagnino, Rodriguez And I was doing so well collecting the single issues… That all came to an end yesterday when I found myself going to #28 without having picked up #27. It happens and it’s not as if I can’t go back and buy it later. I read on anyway though and yep, I really should have been better at picking up #27, that’s on me though. It’s not too hard to get back into the groove though and w...

  Page Count: 208 Pages It’s that time of year where I find myself trying to finish off the books that I foolishly promised myself I would read before the New Year started. Books like ‘The Savage Sword of Conan: Volume 1’… Now here’s a book that has been sat on the shelf for the best part of a year; every so often, I’d grab it for a read but never get more than a few pages in before swapping it for something else. I don’t think there was any specific reason why, it just never seemed to be the right time to get into it (which was the same for a lot of books, to be fair, so this was more about me I think). It’s ‘Conan’ though so it was always going to be read, eventually… And ‘eventually’ ended up being last night, in a ‘now or never’ kind of way ;o) The Savage Sword of Conan is back from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics! Featuring an epic new Conan epic from John Arcudi and Max Von Fafner, the rousing return of Solomon Kane written and drawn by Patch Zircher, an electric prose s...

I was going to say that I wasn’t sure how it happened but… I know exactly what happened :o) I returned to work, a few weeks ago, and then I had to sort myself out for Christmas. Nothing that I couldn’t handle but there was only room in my brain for so much so I totally forgot to keep on with my streak of buying single issue comics. Not the worst thing in the world and it ended up not really mattering anyway; I went to Forbidden Planet and found everything I needed anyway (still forgot to pick up ‘Conan the Barbarian #27’ though, stupid brain fog...) Sometimes it pays not to follow the ‘usual series’ too closely ;o) Anyway, a slightly different post from normal… With a couple of the titles, I’ll be doing ‘two issues in one’ (as it were). I’m still up to date with ‘Event Horizon: Dark Descent’ so, lets start there first… ‘Event Horizon: Dark Descent #4’ – Ward, Jones, Martin (ID Dark) ‘Event Horizon’ is a movie that just loves to get right in your face and shock; one of those moments (t...

The first couple of days back have gone ok, can’t ask for a lot more than that really :o) Now I just need to get my Christmas Shopping in order and I think we’re all good (fingers crossed). When your twelve year old daughter has no idea what she wants though, there will be twists and turns to come… Anyway, this is another of those posts where I round up all the little bits and pieces I’ve read over the last few days. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few more of these to come as I fit blogging round my return to work. Lets see how it goes. For now then, lets take a quick look at what I mentioned in the title… ‘Honour to the Dead’ – Gav Thorpe (Black Library) Run Time: 1 Hour, 14 Minutes As Calth burns, the Battle Titans of the Fire Masters legion take to the streets of the city of Ithraca, ready to massacre the fleeing civilian population in the name of their new, dark masters. But the remaining loyalist engines of the Legio Praesagius - the True Messengers - still stand ready to...

Remember yesterday, when I said that I’d be surprised if any reading happened? Well… No reading happened and I wasn’t surprised in the slightest. As much as I will happily take any opportunity to lose myself in a good book, there’s nothing better than hanging out with my daughters, especially watching my youngest play ‘GTA Vice City’ when she decides to go ‘off mission’ :o) Anyway… Where does that leave today’s blog post? Well, it’s going to be a short one but I’ve got my fingers crossed for a day involving nothing but books so things will balance out over the next week ;o) Just a couple of very short reads that I thought had fallen through the cracks; turns out they were being saved for today… ‘The Savage Sword of Conan Reforged’ #1 – Various (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures) REFORGED revitalizes the legendary black-and-white magazine with vivid, all-new color restorations, bringing new depth and intensity to Conan’s celebrated adventures. This new series kicks off with two of Conan’...

I’ve got a few bits and pieces to sort out, over the next couple of days, so content here may be a little lighter than normal. And yep, I made a pretty big assumption, about the state of my regular content, in that opening sentence ;o) Anyway… I did a spot of Christmas shopping, the other day, and made a quick detour to pick the shelves (at Forbidden Planet) clean of some comics that I’d been waiting on. Look at me being all efficient, getting two things done in one trip ;o) Here’s some quick thoughts on the first couple of comics from that little haul… ‘Event Horizon: Dark Descent #2’ – Ward, Jones, Martin (ID Dark) The ‘Event Horizon’ continues its journey through chaos and most of the crew are now dead. The survivors must deal with Paimon having arrived on board as well as his twisted creations and the secrets of the crew, suddenly brought to awful life… Well, damn… Every time I think that things cannot get worse for the crew of the ‘Event Horizon’, they promptly go and get worse ...

It has taken me a little longer, than planned, to get to these two comics but yesterday ended up being the day I finally opened them for a read. I am a good way into Keith Rosson’s ‘Fever House’ (which has been brilliant so far) but there was no way I was going to finish it, for a post today, so I took a short break to catch up with ‘Skinbreaker’ and ‘Savage Sword of Conan’ instead. Quick thoughts follow (yesterday was a little heavy going and today could well be more of the same)… ‘Skinbreaker’ #2 – Kirkman, Finch (Image) The challenge has been made and a new Elder will be chosen through trial by combat. Can Anok do the right thing for his tribe though? And whatever the outcome, what will the future hold…? Okay, I did not see that coming… The fight between Anok and Enor is handled just right; it has to end one way but there is a lot of subtext happening that fleshes things out and says a lot about Anok’s character. This approach dovetails with more superb artwork to create a really co...

Insomnia paid me a visit on Sunday night so I wasn’t good for much yesterday, hopefully today will be a little more productive as far as my reading goes. Lets see… Yesterday wasn’t a total write-off though. I watched some half decent movies (more about those another time, I’m pretty sure you guys don’t want another ‘Movie Post’ right now…) and read a few of the comics that I picked up over the weekend. One good, one ‘not so good’, another that was OK and also prompted me to finally sort out an eye test :o) Let me tell you about them… ‘Conan the Barbarian #25’ – Zub, Horley (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures) As King of Aquilonia, Conan welcomes a mysterious stranger to his court. This hooded wanderer has come to bestow a gift on Conan but it cannot be given, only earned. History itself waits with bated breath as Conan must face his greatest challenges all over again. This is #25 but could just as easily be #1, if you’re picking up the series for the first time, and I love how Jim Zub man...

I’m quite happy to have my blood tested, more than happy in fact, it’s just unfortunate that I’m not so happy about having blood taken out of me to be tested… You can’t have one without the other though so I just have to look the other way while they stick the needle in my arm. That’s what I did yesterday afternoon and I sweetened the deal, for myself, by promising myself a trip to Forbidden Planet afterwards. Just for a couple of comics (which turned into a couple of comics and Book 1 of ‘Bug Wars’, I should have known really…) I’ll tell you about ‘Bug Wars’ another time, maybe tomorrow or the day after, for now, we’re all about the couple of comics that I picked up. The plan was to grab copies of ‘Event Horizon: Dark Descent #2’ and ‘Skinbreaker #2’; the title of the post shows a 50% success rate which isn’t too bad I guess, I really should pay more attention to release dates and such. Anyway, on with the comics… ‘Event Horizon: Dark Descent #2’ – Ward, Jones, Martin (ID Dark) The ‘E...

Yesterday morning was spent at the hospital (blood tests etc) and then I had a Doctor’s appointment in the afternoon; I spent the bit in between trying not to fall asleep… Not the best day but I finally settled on a book to read so that’s a tick in the ‘Positive Column’ ;o) In case you’re wondering, my haphazard journey through the ‘Siege of Terra’ series has jumped to ‘The End and the Death – Part 1’. It’s a thick old book so there was no way I was going to finish it in a day. I made a little time then, for a couple of comic books, so I had a post for today :o) Lets take a quick look then at what I picked up, in Forbidden Planet, on Saturday… ‘Conan The Barbarian’ #24 – Zub, Dagnino, Rodriguez (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures) Conan and Zula have faced down Thoth-Amon in his own lair; now they must escape the Stygian city of Keshatta but not until certain promises are kept… I’m not sure what’s happening at the moment. Four consecutive issues bought has to be a record for me ;o) It cer...

Today is a day in the office and there’s a fair bit to get through (and by a ‘fair bit’, I mean… loads) so while I try and get my head round that, have some quick thoughts on some bits and pieces that I’ve been reading and watching. ‘Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1’ – Ward, Jones, Martin’ (ID Dark) In 2040, the Starship Event Horizon disappeared on its maiden voyage to Proxima Centauri. Seven years later, it reappeared, its crew all dead. This is the story of what happened… I love ‘Event Horizon’ (you knew that already though) and had more or less got used to the idea that not only will we never see the full directors cut, there’s pretty much no more story left to tell. The ending is pretty final ;o) Well, luckily, Christian Ward had other ideas and has taken the tale back to way before Dr. Weir boarded the ‘Lewis & Clark’ to go on a rescue mission. I had no idea this comic was a thing so when I saw it in Forbidden Planet, I was all over it. And… Famous last words, and all that, but...

  I’ll be honest, I have no idea how ‘Cimmerian September’ works… Is it REH stories only or does any tale, featuring Conan, count regardless of author? And am I putting far too much thought into something that is only meant to be a bit of fun? The answer to the second question is, more than likely, yes ;o) As ever on this blog, I will tackle things in my own way. I’ll find time for some original REH ‘Conan’ tales, later this month, but for now, lets kick things off with the latest ‘Conan the Barbarian’ trade from Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures. Jim Zub has done a superb job of adapting REH’s work while filling in the gaps with original pieces; lets see how he fares in ‘Twisting Loyalties’. Conan the Cimmerian and Bêlit, Pirate Queen of the Black Coast, are in their prime, enjoying a life of decadence and debauchery, but a flagrant flash of wealth brings unwelcome attention from thieves with a taste for danger and agents from Stygia on a dark mission for their serpent god! In ...

  Please excuse the ‘slightly shorter than normal’ post. Not only is it my first day back in the office, after a week off (spoiler alert, I’m not enjoying it…), I’m also coming off the back of a weekend that involved a lot of watching ‘The Walking Dead’, with my eldest daughter, and not a lot of reading at all. Despite all my best ‘reading intentions’, that’s the way it went and I’ve got no regrets :o) I did manage to get a little reading done though, just a little… We were in Forbidden Planet the other day and while the girls were off looking for Manga, I pored over the shelves and found a lonely looking copy of ‘Conan the Barbarian #22’. I wasn’t expecting to find a copy quite so soon, after enjoying ‘Conan #21’ , but there it was so I made sure that it came home with me. Lets talk about it a bit… The cage may be beautifully gilded but Conan is still a slave and his barbarian soul chafes under this imprisonment. Conan is patient though and knows that if he bides his time, a cha...

It really is the wrong end of the week for me to try and get ‘creative’ with post titles but… Here I am :o) I really should make a decision and stick with either collecting trades or single issues but every time I find myself in Forbidden Planet, I end up walking out with whatever ‘Conan the Barbarian’ comic happens to be on the shelf. Last week’s ‘Forbidden Planet Trip’ saw me leave with two comics; ‘Conan the Barbarian’ #21 and ‘The Savage Sword of Conan’ #9. I’ve had a bit of a nightmare getting into the first ‘Savage Sword’ collection, no idea why but I didn’t want to miss out so I thought I’d see how I got on with what looked like a fairly self contained single issue. Let me tell you what I thought, ‘Conan the Barbarian’ first… ‘Conan the Barbarian #21’ – Zub, Dagnino, Rodriguez (Titan/Heroic Signatures) Fresh from an eldritch confrontation in the Vale of Lost Women, Conan and his companions chance upon something far stranger, a Stygian village where the inhabitants are overjoyed...

It’s starting to look like this could be the week where I make a half decent dent in my ‘Comics TBR Pile’, lets see how we do... I’ve really been struggling with the ‘Savage Sword of Conan’ collection just recently (more than one reason but I want to finish the collection first before I talk about it) and I thought that I’d have to take a little step back from ‘Conan’ comics and come back when I was in a better mood for it. Until I realized that there was another ‘Conan’ comic lurking in the TBR pile and maybe I could give that a go instead. So that’s what I did. I’ve caught little glimpses of the ‘Black Stone’ storyline, in other ‘Conan’ comics, but I can’t help but feel that the event has kind of passed me by a little. That’s on me though to be fair, I’ve got the attention span of a goldfish right now and there are so many books that I just haven’t been able to focus on; I suspect a couple of them talk about a Black Stone… Oh well, I’m here now. Where better a place to catch up on ‘B...