You have possibly heard of the name Conan, Conan the Barbarian. The Nemedian Chronicles have come to life on the big screen, with Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the lead character twice in Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984). And those who love the movies may have hummed the original soundtrack composed by the Robocop music director Basil Poledouris.
Conan the Barbarian: When a God Lives begins with the title character going to Arenjun, city of thieves. As the text suggests, by day, businessmen grace the area, but by night, unsavoury elements rule the roost. Reverting to the story, Conan gives an antiquities expert named Gennaro a statue that looks like a demon for sale.
However, this was a trap set by Gennaro in co-ordination with Captain Tharh Helm of the Zamorans. He orders his men to capture the hero of Cimmerian origin.
The silent Conan does not take it lying down. He makes a daring escape, but his pursuers do not stop at that. By this time, the reader is convinced that these set of characters are probably going to remain till the end of the issue.
Stealing a horse, he takes to a hill, jumps off to give the impression that he has lost his footing. Though the Schwarzenegger incarnation would have stood his ground and fought off the soldiers like a faithful terminator, this version prefers to be more Rambo-like. He starts eating food that not everyone finds palatable, and even though edible, not in the most civilised manner known.
Elsewhere, Captain Helm’s platoon is still on the lookout for him despite the odds that their quarry might be dead. Yet there seems to be something that is looking out for them. One-by-one, the soldiers are trapped, but don’t think that this will lead to a Predator-style storyline. This is if the reader makes the Schwarzenegger association with the way things are going. Think more on the lines of tribal captivity.
A group of displaced Kushites are behind this new predicament. In another area, Conan and some of them engage each other in a physical altercation, but he does not prevail this time. He is taken to a ‘ruined, crumbling temple edifice’ that was possibly erected by the ancient Zhemri people who were the forefathers of the Zamora.
There, the Shaman-Priest Kwasuthu and the golden-haired goddess Persaphne are shown to be followers of the demon-god Uggrahk. As the story unfolds, there seems to be a deep connection between the issue’s prologue and this situation. The question is whether Conan is safer with the Kushites or whatever is remaining of Captain Tharh Helm’s regiment.
Even as Michael Fleisher writes, it is John Buscema’s plot and pencils that give the issue the black-and-white look of an ancient setting. This is in stark contrast to the evergreen-like colour in the movies. The late Buscema is noted for his contributions to The Avengers, The Silver Surfer, Tarzan, Wolverine (of the X-Men comics) and Thor. The art-story narrative, if the reader is not careful enough, can be misleading. One might think that it is going in a linear manner, but only the die-hard graphic novel connoisseurs will know how to follow the media text. Some boxes are bigger than those in the rest of the panel, which makes the average reader compulsorily navigate to the left to continue to understand the story.
Since there are no advertisements in the graphic novel, it gives the impression of a Mills & Boons book, without the whole chivalrous persona attached to the hero. Other than spouting out brave or defiant remarks, Conan does not have much time for the lighter side of life, like pursuing marriage. That way, upon further examination, this character seems to be a critique of the human beings’ functioning in an environment of greed and deceit. Since this is an ‘ancient’ story presented in a contemporary format, it just goes to show that no matter whether it is the Stone Age or the Computer Era, the nature of human beings will still be the same.
Conan personifies the very essence of a moral human being. The law of his place is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and he has completely embraced that code. He will not kill a person of his own accord. Similar to the cowboy system, this emanates from a nature of self-dependence that leaves no room for betrayal. Conan is a reflection of what our society used to be like in comparison to today’s ‘civilised’ times.