bloggerboy's The Savage Sword of Conan #7 - The Citadel At The Center Of Time review

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    Conan is in the House (Citadel)!

    After reading 'The Citadel at the Center of Time' scripted by Roy Thomas and art by John Buscema & Alfredo Alcala (with a fantastic cover by Boris Vallejo) I can say I was thoroughly entertained and amazed at the level of skill and imagination a black & white comic from the '70's can conjure up.

    And speaking of conjuring, having a Wizard-King in semi-control of a magical Ziggurat that can allow it's user to travel in time and act as a zoo for barbarian cavemen and dragons (Tyrannosaurus Rex) is damn cool. The price for fetching creatures like these costs lives from the "present" day timeline. Conan, the chieftan of Zuagirs (desert raiders) at this point quickly ends up kidnapped and is about to be sacrificed along with his captor Alhambra, an exotic dancer/prostitute who has been used to lure men and women to the Ziggurat.

    But I'm getting ahead of myself. The story begins with Conan's Zuagirs attacking a small (and surprisingly helpless) caravan with almost no loot. No loot except for an attractive veiled nameless girl of whom Conan sleeps with. If you think that's being harsh of me the narrator actually states it so. The girl also had in her possession a half tiger half bear that Conan slays at it gets loose. This is what gets Conan up to speed on a Ziggurat that has appeared in the city of Akbitana (where it seemingly engulfed houses and their inhabitants). The animal hybrid came from the Wizard-King of whom the people fear.

    The time travel aspects seem really inventive and also make you go 'huh?' with how un-Conan they are. It's certainly one of the more original stories even if it does have the usual tropes of the mythos. The detail in the story is also incredible. They set up that Akbitana has a gigantic crossbow, a gift from the Wizard-King. How that crossbow is used at the end of the story against the dragon is simple but effective. Also there's a butcher in town who'd like to get his hands on Conan but doesn't know he's actually talking to the Cimmerian.

    The villain is an intelligent man who is after knowledge and despite the lengths he goes through to obtain it he's not really a typical bad guy. Even when he's sacrificing his helper Alhambra (a truly despicable character who switches alliances like the wind changes direction) and Conan you sort of wish he'd get away with it. And he does get away with it to an extent. Conan let's the Wizard-King go only for him to fall (willingly) into the timestream well. What his ultimate fate is, that's left open ended.

    The end fight against the dragon is glorious and really lifts the story from a typical yarn to movie climax magnitude. After it's over, kids are using the tail of the dragon as a slide and the butcher ponders what to charge from dragon steak. Conan shows mercy and decides not to pillage the town and leaves it to lick it's wounds although again, the it's implied that the dragon carcass will provide a good year for Akbitana.

    The mysterious veiled woman who proclaims she will not show her face in fear that Conan might recognize her in the future when she's wed a fat merchant disappears at the start of the story and is not seen again. For this, her part in 'The Citadel at the Center of Time' seems like a red herring but it does enrich the world - not every character is plot integral, although she does provide exposition.

    All in all a terrific Conan The Barbarian story that you'll want to read again and again.

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