The second volume of the new Conan series made it into Tom’s review. Not entirely without spoilers, though.
Contents (blurb)
Volume 2 of the acclaimed new Conan comic saga, for all fans of Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas and John Buscema! New adventures in the tradition of Roy Thomas and John Buscema
criticism
In the second Conan volume, our barbarian is still suffering from the aftermath of the death of his lover Belit. The drawings may not be quite up to the level of superhero comics, as the environments and characters here seem a bit rougher and more edgy. But on the other hand, this also supports Conan’s barbaric world, as blood is flowing in droves in some panels. In addition, at least scenes such as the possession are well implemented and show this in the facial expressions.
Conan the Barbarian 2 (paninishop.de)
As mentioned, we have a Conan who is devastated – and that is why he is vulnerable. This is captured quite well in this volume and to a certain extent you can follow Conan’s path. Of course you could ask when our hero will finally pull himself together again, because it is somewhat predictable that the impending crisis will bring about his change. Later on he fights against his arch enemy within himself, although one cannot talk about the end of the volume without giving away spoilers. So you have been warned.
The thieving spree that Conan pulls off here starts off like a standard mission, but then the mystical events start to pile up. Magic comes into play again, which is nothing new for Conan. And then there is Conan’s archenemy Thulsa Doom, who operates in the shadows and is behind everything here. And it is only thanks to Conan’s vulnerability that he manages to take possession of him. The path to this is nice entertainment, but occasionally lacks a bit of depth. Because apart from Conan’s depression and a bit of carnage, there isn’t much here.
Slaughter is also the keyword, because Conan then slaughters his way through the city, possessed and searching for his sword (yep, it’s the iconic sword from the film). Let’s see if this is taken up later. At the end there is a shocking moment, because in a moment of clarity Conan rams the sword into his own chest. Of course, we readers know that he doesn’t really die, after all he is the hero of the series. And we see one or two ghosts appear, so we can expect an exorcism story in the next volume, where Conan can also come to terms with the past. In that respect, this cliffhanger unfortunately only works to a limited extent.
