Conan the Barbarian (2019) #17 - Full Script (Patreon)

Here's part 1 of a 2-part story called 'The Curse of the Nightstar' that picks up right after our previous 'Into the Crucible' tale. 

I wanted to give readers classic sword & sorcery fare with a cursed and corrupting weapon in the vein of Elric's Stormbringer and I think that parts of this story works, but that we were also hampered by larger issues in and around the chaos of 2020.

This story was in mid-production when we received our 'pencils down' order from editorial at Marvel and that meant not only did artist Robert Gill have to rush through line art on pages, but that when we finally started up production again many months later, he wasn't available to draw the second half. That visual disconnect between the two issues mixed with distraction in and around the pandemic leaves the whole thing feeling a bit unmoored. 

All that said, Erik Gist's cover is really eye-catching and intense and on the whole, as with all the Conan work I did at Marvel, I learned a lot that informs my current writing on the title.

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"THE CURSE OF THE NIGHTSTAR" CLAIMS CONAN! 

CONAN has escaped the Great Crucible, but his "March to Khitai" has just begun!  Conan now possesses the TOOTH OF THE NIGHTSTAR, a mighty weapon liberated from the Uttara Kuru leadership.  But if he's not careful, the sword will possess him!  A dark force is bound to the mystic blade, a spirit hungering for souls - including the Cimmerian's!  And It. Must. Feed!