Conan and the Songs of the Dead by Joe R Lansdale. Artwork by Timothy Truman

Published by Dark Horse Books - A Division of Dark Horse Comics.

In Conan and the Songs of the Dead, we are introduced to Conan as he wanders the Stygian desert, hunting food. What he catches is quite unexpected as he stumbles across Alvazar, an old acquaintance, buried up to his neck in sand along with a few other people who really don't look good. After getting rid of the guards who are to watch over Alvazar until he is dead, Conan gets to the root of the problem, literally. Alvazar had found the Demon's root, the key to immortal power which is desperately wanted by a sorcerer.

An encounter with Djinn of the Stones, who resides in the House of the Night, makes the situation more clear to Conan and so begins the duo's adventure filled with skirmishes, monsters, magic, and a meeting with Ohala, a warrior woman who is on a mission to find a dangerous book.

This book was fun to read and filled with action, humour, and some sexual content. The artwork - drawn by Timothy Truman and coloured by Dave Stewart - is just fantastic and unlike most of the graphic novels I have explored so far, filled with amazing detail. In the back pages of the book, there is also a sketchbook included, showing some of the drawings in the earlier states. That was a favourite feature of mine.

My dear husband read and enjoyed this one also. When asked what he thought of it, all I could get out of him was "Crom!".

Author's website: http://www.joerlansdale.com/

Artist's website: http://www.trumanstudio.citymax.com/