Conan # 45 - Venarium

This is the continuation of the Born on the Battlefield story, essentially the origin of Conan.

One of my favorites in the series, it apparently is ending next issue. Incidentally in the letters section of the comic it states that Conan is ending with issue fifty! What the heck is that? They are going to rebrand it to Conan of Cimmeria #1. The artists, writers and such are all different now and I suppose they want a change. I think it is utter crap personally. Just how different is it going to be? Are the Dark Horse characters going to be returning like Janissa or Iniri (who we haven't even really begun to know)? Oh well, we shall see.

Venarium, like previously mentioned, is part of the Born on the Battlefield story. I don't know if it is because they want to wrap up this Conan series or whatnot but of all of the issues dealing with this story, this one seems rushed. The thing I liked about this story is they took the time to dish out Conan's childhood and so forth. In this issue they rush through telling flashbacks, and other stuff so much that it gets confusing. I still don't understand one bit that I had to re-read a few times to try to figure out.

Overall though you get the gist of it. I just wish they had split this issue up into two issues, one to deal with the death of Giallchadh and his retribution to himself, Gial's family, and the Clan... and this upcoming setup for battle.

The Born on the Battlefield line is still one of my faves, but of all the issues it has contained, this one just feels too compressed. It's still a worthy read though.