Conan the Cimmerian is back in comic strip. The character of heroic fantasy created in 1932 by american novelist Robert E. Howard, having been immortalized in american pop culture of the 70s and 80s by Frank Frazetta, or in the comic books by John Buscema, is experiencing a resurrection. This time, the barbarian mythological passes through France, thanks to the éditions Glénat.
of course, no need to deny the importance that has taken the brawny hero barbarian in the guise of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film of John Milius released in 1982. Robin Recht, the virtuoso designer of the series, Elric is not a mystery. “At the age of 12 years, he says, I’ve mainly been marked by the movie of John Milius with Schwarzy. It was a proposal for a cinema that wasn’t going exclusively to the adventure. Some passages of the film without dialogue were fascinating and uncompromising. Milius was a personal vision, atypical, that of a hero, libertarian pure and hard. A teenager such as me could not be attracted by this kind of universe.”
Durably impressed by this giant with an indomitable spirit, a great reader of Jules Verne and the famous Five draws on the same source , it devours the novels of Howard. “This hypervirilité of the hero, this character of fantasy was my imagination ado, it is sure, remembers Recht. But after that, I didn’t really thought about it… Until my editor Benoît Cousin offers me to adapt a story of Robert H. Howard. I accepted it because I knew that the character had been infused in me for years. I quickly knew that I wanted to work on a narrative short. When I read the daughter of The giant of the frost, I immediately fell in love with the text that goes toward impressionism, symbolism, and which moves away from the adventure. I’ve always been more Excalibur as the Lord of The Rings …”
Album sumptuous, violent, full of rough beauty, playing on the themes of the archetype, the Daughter of The giant of the frost, succeeds in magnifying the character, while recalling the animated film of Frank Frazzetta, Tygra, ice and fire , released in 1983.
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THE BOX BD:
Robin Recht about drawing Conan: “I looked for a posture that reflects the act of resistance. This is the time where Conan is the more itself in the album, this is the quintessence of the character. The shadow of Schwarzenegger and Milius hover above this drawing. “Conan the Cimmerian, volume 4, editions Glénat
“On this board, remembers Robin Recht, it took me to fight with the mounting original that I had imposed. I wanted a narrative, epic and mythological. In forming my story board, I quickly realized that I would not have enough boards to make off the story. In short, I need additional pages to install a climate, and out of a simple narration.”
This is how the album ends up to 71 pages. The central image portrays a Conan shirtless in the snow, which falls at the sound of his heart beating (“Tôm Tôm”). He was foaming at the mouth and evil look.
In the story, after having flirted with the character of Atali, who likes to seduce Conan, before dismissing it, Conan the barbarian towel several disappointments. Here, the narrative passes to the seduction and confrontation.
Not a fault of framing but a choice taken
“You will have noticed that the back of Conan touches the top of the box, analyzing Recht. This is not a fault of framing, it is a choice taken. I wanted the character to sort of the box. Conan is too big for this board. This induces an effect of power. The man gets up and frees himself from his humanity. He will tap into his animality, where the trickle of drool… It goes to the end of his savagery.”
The goddess Atali also changes of physiognomy. She embodies more the lovely young woman, carefree and mischievous, red hair flaming, which causes the heroes. Three bubbles burst at the top of the board: “mortals must submit to the gods!”, “It’s my law!”, and “Submit!”. “I drew Atali no longer in a position of seduction, but planted on his two legs, in an assertive posture,” says Robin Recht. It will be desirable to give a figure of authority. His pose reflects a commitment dominatrix. She begins to doubt his divinity in the face of this man, who is recovering…”
As for Conan, he appears as a block of power, a kind of mountain moving. “Conan has something very basic in him, deciphers the designer. I’ve been looking for a posture that reflects the act of resistance. This is the time where Conan is the more itself in the album, this is the quintessence of the character. The shadow of Schwarzenegger and Milius hover above this drawing. In my imagination, Conan speaks little. It is. It is in the present. The freedom in him, comes from the fact that it is able to ignore the past and the future, he has not afraid. Conan is totally in the present…”
Conan the cimmerian, the Daughter of The giant of the frost, after Robert E. Howard, by Robin Recht, editions Glénat, 15,95 €.
