Conan The Barbarian TP Vol 1 Review

 

Writer: Jim Zub

Artist: Roberto De La Torre

Colorists: Dean White & Jose Villarrubia

Letterer: Richard Starkings of Comicraft

Map Illustration: Francesca Baerald

Editor: Matt Murray

Cover Artist: Dan Panosian

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $17.99

Release Date: February 14, 2024

 

Eight years have passed since Conan left home. Yet Conan has lived a lifetime. Gone is the young man seeking the meaning of his soul. Conan has become a tactician who knows when a leader deploys his soldiers effectively or uses them to shield him. Still, the urge to return home proves irresistible. What will Conan find when he sets course for Cimmeria? Will the kin of his native land welcome his return? Let’s grab our swords and battle axes, leap into Conan The Barbarian TP Vol 1, and find out!

 

Story

When Conan joined his Cimmerian kin at Venarium, he defended his homeland against Aquilonian invaders. Now, an Aquilonian landlord offers him a warm meal and a room while a one-eyed woman offers him a hot kind of hospitality. But an enjoyable evening gets moved to the back burner when the sky darkens, and a Pict scout rides into Hauler's Roam.

 

The villagers and visitors disregard Brissa’s claim that an unbeatable army is heading their way in Conan The Barbarian TP Vol 1. So, when it arrives, Conan and Brissa fight while others die. Then, they watch from the shadows as the army eschews valuables for corpses. The Cimmerian and the Pict scout follow the lifeless, decaying troops dragging the fallen toward Conan’s homeland.

 

While Conan seeks a homecoming he cannot receive, Brissa grasps at any link with her lost kin. For these are her people who have become mindless, slaughtering abominations. Reeling with loss, Brissa latches onto anything she can call her own. At first, she claims Conan’s sword is a Pict artifact stolen from her people. Later, Brissa finds more value in friendship with Conan than a reminder of her culture and history.

 

Conan must also face the specter of his people’s transformation. Some have died. Others are near death in Jim Zub’s story. Perhaps he wonders if his absence led his people to this plight. Yet the great evil that hangs over Cimmeria threatens the Hyborian world in Conan The Barbarian TP Vol 1. To defeat it, Conan and Brissa must brave the horrors of a dark citadel, inhuman magicians, and an otherworldly realm that sucks the life of all who descend into its depths.

 

Art

Roberto De La Torre reintroduces Conan to 21^st-century readers with art that evokes the classic Marvel series. He spices up panel-packed pages with vignettes, one-page scenes, and the occasional double-page spread. He fills Conan The Barbarian TP Vol 1 with dramatic encounters and action-packed panels that portray people living and facing death amid the rugged beauty of the frontier. Two pages of character sketches show Brissa’s development as a friend and compatriot of Conan.

 

Like the blue stripe that crosses Brissa’s features, Dean White & Jose Villarrubia breathe vitality into De La Torre’s iconic art. Conan and Brissa’s skin may fade to gray at night when they face the undead or watch zombies drag their victims toward an ethereal green light. Crashing swords and flying scarlet amid historic dwellings and undeveloped nature recall the glories of the 1980s four-color comics. After Jim Zub’s story about Conan, Brissa, and the Black Stone concludes, a four-page gallery shows all the colorful covers created for the first four issues of this new series.

 

Richard Starkings delivers black uppercase lettering in dialogue balloons and boxes. He also dips his quill into various inks and writes his block script in backgrounds. Sound effects heighten confrontations between Conan, the Hyborian undead, reptilian creatures, and a priest who orders victims flung into a deadly emerald pool. Jeffrey Shanks provides four pages of insightful commentary on Robert E Howard's worldbuilding, fascination with the Picts, and why Conan has leaped from Howard's typewriter into readers' hearts. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

While acknowledging the equality of women and respect for other cultures, Conan The Barbarian TP Vol 1 pays homage to Robert E Howard’s classic stories. Conan befriends a rival for Bêlit and Valeria, fights zombies, ventures into a hidden stronghold, confronts malevolent monsters, and speaks with spirits long past as he remains defiant, dauntless, and undefeatable.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For more covers and a look inside see my preview of Conan The Barbarian Vol 1.

Conan The Barbarian: Bound In Black Stone Vol 1 Preview

Regular Cover by Dan Panosian

 

Last week, a family emergency prevented me from taking long, considered looks at new stories. But I'd been itching to review this trade for some time. I reviewed the first two issues when they came out, and posted short rereads for the first four issues last summer. So I found it calming to focus my mind on this familiar story as my wife and I made the long drive to visit a family member in the hospital. Perhaps it's apropos, as this story forces Brissa and Conan to confront the suffering and loss of their kin. 

Here's a preview of this first volume in Titan's new Conan saga. Enjoy!

 

CONAN THE BARBARIAN: BOUND IN BLACK STONE VOL. 1

Writer: Jim Zub

Illustrator: Rob De La Torre, Dean White, Jose Villarrubia

Cover Artists: Dan Panosian (Regular), Artgerm (DM Edition), Mike Mignola (DM Edition)

Publisher: Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics

SC, 128 pages, FC, $17.99

ISBN: 9781787740143

On sale February 13, 2024

 

He is CONAN THE BARBARIAN - THE GREATEST WARRIOR OF ALL TIME and he's back in this all-new fantasy graphic novel, heralding a new era of savage, sword-slashing, brooding action, in search of high adventure and blood-soaked battle! BY CROM!

 

90 years ago, Robert E. Howard forged a whole new genre – SWORD AND SORCERY when he unleashed his immortal creation CONAN on an unsuspecting world.

 

Often copied, but never bettered, this is the welcome return of the first and mightiest hero ever to stride and slash his way across the world. Featuring an action-packed script written by Jim Zub that would make Robert E. Howard proud, and Buscema-inspired dynamic artwork by Roberto De La Torre! Together these two titans of the comic world have breathed new life into one of the most recognizable characters in fiction and in doing so, have unleashed a fantastic new era!

 

On the eve of his first major battle, young Conan of Cimmeria pictures a life beyond the borders of his homeland and yearns for a life of adventure undreamt of in his small village. Visions of future allies and unspeakable evils he will eventually encounter throughout his fabled life fill his mind, as he makes the choice to take his first fateful step into the Hyborian Age in search of blood-soaked glory.

 

For fans of heroic blood-soaked action-adventure and ancient arcane wizardry. Collects issues #1-4, plus material from the Free Comic Book Day 2023 special edition.

Now, let's take a look inside.

 

 

 

Here are two DM editions of Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone Vol. 1 that are only available in your local comic shop.

 

Cover by Stanley ‘Artgerm’ Lau

 

Cover by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola

 

Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone Vol. 1 is available at bookstores, comic shops and digital. Pre-order now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million and Forbidden Planet for UK. 

Thanks to Titan Comics for sharing this preview with us!

Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #3 Review

 

Writer: Steve Foxe

Artist: Andrea Broccardo

Colorist: Brian Reber

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Mark Bagley & Dean White; Alessandro Cappuccio & Rachelle Rosenberg

Designer: Carlos Lao

Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski

Recap Art: Mark Bagley

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: October 30, 2024

 

Kaine heard his clone-brother was walking a darker path. Perhaps he is the Scarlet Spider now, and Ben is Chasm. Still, Kaine wants to help imbue Ben’s life with more meaning than robbing rich kids and frightening the criminally insane. Then Kaine learns Ben is making monsters out of dead people. Worse, his brother isn’t making quips or puns as he emulates Victor Frankenstein. What would Gene Wilder think? More to the point: can Kaine free Ben from Druig's influence and arrest his downward spiral into villainy? Let’s refill our psychoactive goo guns, leap into Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #3, and find out!

 

Story

After Druig halts Janine's psychic ramble through Ben's mind, Mole Man's Moloids carry the unconscious lovers away. Janine awakens in the sewers, and Druig doesn't want to relinquish another prize. So the Eternal sends Ben to reclaim another plaything, but Janine evades his grasp with a ghost mask. When Kaine finds her, Janine assumes the Scarlet Spider is involved with whoever was messing with Ben's mind. Then Ben finds them and launches another psychoactive goofest.

 

Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #3 ponders who is best qualified to help Ben. Both the Goblin Queen and the Queen Goblin promised to ease his troubled mind. Janine can offer Ben nothing more than diversions from his angst. Ben's actions have isolated him from many of the superhero community who could help him. Could a conventional therapist without the words Goblin or Queen in their name help Ben? Or should Chasm be imprisoned in the cell next to Doppelganger?

 

While Kaine ponders if his connection to Ben can help his brother, the Mole Man is grabbing his opportunity to become more than an Eternal's footstool. As Druig plays games with Ben's mind, he inspires Mole Man to rise above his subterranean existence and overthrow the world above. Druig enjoys watching people like the Mole Man pursue their pathetic schemes as much as Rocket Raccoon enjoys seeing Taserface depose Yondu and declare he will help the Ravagers rise again to glory. But in Steve Foxe's story, all these diversions leave Druig as unfulfilled as a life of crime with Janine would leave Ben. Like frightening Doppelganger with a werewolf mask, all this activity is just meaningless fun and doesn't address the fact that Druig has all the time in the world and nothing to fill it with.

 

 

 

Art

As Chasm pursues Hallows' Eve through the sewers, her eyes glow yellow, and Ben's eyes burn white. Hallows' Eve slips on a mask and fades away like Miles Morales. Then she phases through brickwork like Kitty Pryde. As Ben rips off his mask, tears stream down his face, and the building blocks of reality swirl around Druig’s glowing red eyes. Then Druig descends a revolving staircase and walks through an array of spider people like a Psi Corps officer walking through Commander Jeffrey Sinclair's mind. While Taskmaster projects imagery to make Deadpool smile in Deadpool #4, Druig does so to make Ben more miserable in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #3.

 

Brian Reber lavishes a loaded palette on Andrea Broccardo’s art, coloring sewer scenes in green, purple, and blue. Red dominates Druig’s mental landscape. Yet he wears green, like the Mole Man and the Vermin he views as beneath him. Janine’s red hair and Kane’s red suit link those most concerned with Ben’s mental health, while red drops falling from Kaine’s right arm reveal the lengths he will endure to be his brother’s keeper.

 

Joe Caramagna thwips black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #3. Words grow bold for emphasis, swell or change color for volume, and rarely shrink. The font emulates hand printing, and the balloons get cloudy when Janine decides to change tactics. Colorful and transparent sound effects help us hear Chasm attack, the brothers deploy their webs, and a monstrous attack on the surface world. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

As Kaine attempts to help his brother, Druig empowers people to pursue their greatest desires. Despite his claims about others, the Eternal reveals that he is the pathetic one in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #3. Not only because Druig lacks fulfillment but also because he attacks people with lesser power instead of pursuing his grievances with his fellow Eternals.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2 Review

 

Writer: Steve Foxe

Artist: Andrea Broccardo

Colorist: Brian Reber

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Leinil Francis Yu & Dean White; Chris Campana; Craig Yeung & Rachelle Rosenberg

Designer: Carlos Lao

Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski

Recap Art: Mark Bagley

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 25, 2024

 

While Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Shift have been playing nice with the Vermin, Gwen Stacy and Chameleon gave one of New York’s humanoid rats a roast. But Ben Reilly is a changed man. With his scrambled memories, the former Scarlet Spider enters the fray and kills Jackal’s creations before he wonders, “Gee, might they be sentient?” Ben might not have much to spare, but Druig wants a piece of his mind anyway. What chaos will Chasm unleash when an Eternal messes with his muddled mind? And can his clone brother Kaine help Ben recover what he has lost? Let’s refill our psychoactive goo guns, leap into Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2, and find out!

 

Story

Ben Reilly spent so long trying to be Spider-Man that he doesn't know who he is. The situation worsened when Maxine Danger messed with his memories. Now Druig is influencing him. When Ben realizes he has been sleepwalking, he wonders what else he can try to regain control. His girlfriend offers him fun and diversion in Steve Foxe's story. But Ben's love for Janine is coupled with need. Ben relies on her to retain his sanity in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2. Where would he be without Janine?

 

Like Ben, Janine doesn’t view sleepwalking as a step toward mental recovery. She tries to distract him from his dark thoughts, but her bright ideas leave a trail of destruction in their wake. Still, she has one more card to play. Or should I say a mask? After using her Frankenstein's Monster and Werewolf masks, she pulls out another to help Ben. Using it exposes Janine to danger but demonstrates her commitment to him.

 

Kaine Parker has been following Ben and Janine’s trail of destruction. In the hospital morgue, Kaine doesn’t realize that Druig helped Ben reconstruct Freak. Using the dead Vermin and his psychoactive goo instead of lightning, Ben cobbled together a Super Freak. The monster pursues Kaine through the hospital. Kaine's plan doesn't include bringing the Super Freak home to his mother. (If he had a mother, that is). Kaine wants to get it away from people before the Super Freak brings someone's spirit down. 

 

 

 

Art

On his hands and knees, Moleman looks up at Druig. With a spider crawling over his hand, the Eternal looks down upon another cowering mortal in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2. Kaine somersaults over Super Freak while a portable exam table crashes into the wall and ceiling. One of Jane Foster’s associates hangs from glowing webs alongside a security guard. The supersized Freak pursues Kaine down a corridor that evokes Jackal’s horrors chasing Peter Parker through a nightmare train. Andrea Broccardo’s Super Freak design suggests that HR Giger's Alien art diverted Druig. Kaine's solution to his Freakazoid dilemma evokes how Daniels and Tennessee banish unwanted guests from the Covenant's terraforming bay in Alien: Covenant.

 

Black and red Kaine battles a brown and red Super Freak as a suspended medical examiner’s blue scrubs pair with the blue-tinged white floor and wall tiles. A gray villain who liked Anna Watson stares through a transparent barrier and across a hallway grounded with black and grey flooring and illuminated by a glowing glass ceiling. Chasm’s lavender and black pairs with Hallows Eve’s mauve and black as yellow windows in distant buildings shine against a gray sky. The lovers regain their usual vibrant purple, green, orange, and black in their holy abode. But when Hallows Eve slips on another mask, she explores Brian Reber's purple and lavender world in orange, gray, red, yellow, and white finery.

 

Joe Caramagna thwips black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons and Kaine's white thoughts into red narrative boxes. Words grow bold for emphasis, swell or change color for volume, and rarely shrink. Colorful and transparent sound effects help us hear Super Freak’s rampage and Janine's world shatter, while a yellow and orange growl suggests the rise of another spider villain in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

As an Eternal, Druig has too much time on his hands. Instead of taking night classes at Empire State University or volunteering at FEAST, Druig seeks diversion by manipulating others, including those with all eight eyes open in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #1 Review

 

Writer: Steve Foxe

Artist: Andrea Broccardo

Colorist: Brian Reber

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Leinil Francis Yu & Dean White; Elena Casagrande & Annalisa Leoni; Martín Cóccolo & Dean White; Salvador Larroca & Edgar Delgado

Designer: Carlos Lao

Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski

Recap Art: Mark Bagley

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: August 28, 2024

 

Three teenagers from New Jersey receive an invitation to an underground rave. But when they break the police tape and descend into the closed Long Island subway station, monsters attack them. As they back away, two costumed people block their retreat. Is this an underground masquerade? Did someone lure the teens to their deaths? Let’s grab our Halloween masks, leap into Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #1, and find out!

 

Story

Ben Reilly and Janine Godbe are putting the past behind them. Their idea of making a fresh start is luring teens into confined spaces and robbing them. Freak and the vermin surprise the two antiheroes-turned-villains. Janine dons a mask of Frankenstein’s monster and battles the sewer denizens, while Ben argues that citizens should pay for protection. Freak and the vermin press Janine hard. So, after taking the teens’ money, Ben defends his girlfriend. But then Druig gets into his mind and wonders what he can make of it.

 

The Beyond Corporation corrupted Ben’s memories. Society imprisoned Janine for protecting herself against her abusive father. So, Ben and Janine reject society's laws, customs, and morality. They take what they want and live for today. As usual, someone gets in the way of their happiness in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #1.

 

After recent setbacks, Druig hid beneath the surface and usurped another ruler's throne. Like Hammerhead, Druig needs a victory to rebuild his brand. As an Eternal, he craves diversion. Druig decides to make the spider heroes his playthings. Then Ben Reilly walks into his hands. Stripped of his memories, Ben seems an ideal instrument for his amusement. So Druig attaches strings and prepares for his puppet show.

 

Ben's descent into villainy bothers Kaine. Peter Parker's clones share a dark past. Kaine assumes the moral center of Steve Foxe's story about clones gone wrong, humans playing god, and gods manipulating their creations. Kaine discovers he has his work cut out for him. He watches the police remove vermin and Freak in body bags. Kaine had intended to help Ben embrace heroism again. However, the murders remind Kaine of how he once punished a society that rejected him. Even now, after he has embraced heroism, society has yet to welcome Kaine with open arms. 

 

 

 

Art

Andrea Broccardo imbues Hallows Eve and Chasm with attitude and swagger in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #1. As Hallows Eve wades into the vermin crush, Chasm’s body language suggests he owns the world. As Chasm kills Freak and the vermin, perhaps they remind him of his demonic captors in Limbo. But then the background breaks into blocks, and unseen hands insert an ornate key into his head. The top of his skull hinges open, and webbing thwips out. When Ben and Janine relax in their new home, they look relieved of the burden of recovering Ben’s memories. Yet their boarded-up residence evokes the fake Church with a hidden Beyond laboratory that Peter, Misty, and Lizard sheltered in during Bloodhunt.

 

Brian Reber fills the air surrounding Chasm with glowing green light. Hallows Eve projects yellow and orange light as she fights the red Freak and brown vermin. Druig appears as a red mist before taking Human form. Then, red makes way for a flesh-covered face and green fabric. Kaine thwips through the greenish-brown subway in his red and black suit. He finds the teens hanging from glowing green webs. Blue light tinges the stone throne as Druig kicks away his cringing servant. Like him, the man groveling at his feet wears green.

 

Joe Caramagna thwips black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons and Kaine's white thoughts into red narrative boxes. Words embolden for emphasis and swell or change color for volume. Expressive sound effects relate vermin hisses, Freak's rage, and a grate being pulled away so a Spider-Pinocchio can take the stage in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #1. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Like Victor Frankenstein, the Jackal sought to improve on nature’s work by creating Kaine and Ben Reilly. Like Frankenstein’s ultimate man, the Jackal’s creations have killed others. Now, as Hallow’s Eve dons the likeness of Frankenstein's feared creation, another person follows in the two creators’ footsteps in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #1.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 Review

 

Writers: Derek Landy

Penciler: Ron Lim

Inker: Don Ho

Artist: Sara Pichelli

Colorists: Israel Silva & Travis Lanham

Letterers: Joe Caramagna & Travis Lanham

Cover Artists: Salvador Larroca & Edgar Delgado; Ron Lim & Israel Silva; Mike McKone & Dean White; RB Silva

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: July 3, 2024

 

Thanos made his beloved Death into an Infinity Stone. Like the others, the Death Stone sought a person to inhabit. Sadly for Thanos, it wasn't him. Who are the Infinity Stone Bearers, and what do they have to do with Peter Parker? Let's thwip into Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and find out!

 

The Infinity Watch Part 2

Story

Spider-Man is having a bad day. When he sees someone robbing an armored money truck, he realizes it's about to get better. Apprehending a villain gives him a chance to let off some steam. But will it ease his guilt over not saving a man’s life yesterday? In Derek Landy's story, Peter's not so overwhelmed that he asks Norman Osborn to boost his spider-sense. (In Norman's current mood, he probably wouldn't help anyway). But Fission was learning to use his powers. Perhaps Fission could have matured into a hero and used his powers to help others. But he won't get that chance because Spider-Man couldn't diagnose Fission’s malfunctioning tech before it overloaded.

 

In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, Overtime is having a bad day. Fighting Spider-Man doesn’t make it any better. But then he realizes that Spider-Man is also hurting. So, Overtime abandons his long-term plans to ease his conscience and uses his Time Stone powers to help Spider-Man. In Derek Landy's story, Overtime can return to the same event multiple times without meeting himself. To paraphrase his conversation with Spider-Man, he can mess with the timestream without creating paradoxes. But even when he has part of his personal goal within his grasp, Overtime sacrifices his partial victory to help someone else. 

 

 

 

Art

Ron Lim and Don Ho help Spider-Man emerge from a four-panel page as skyscrapers rise to his left and motion lines streak through the sky to his right before the webslinger alights on a street light and crouches like Spidey The Hunter. Yellow police tape surrounds the broken concrete at the base of a pillar supporting an electronic billboard. Spider-Man's body language suggests more anger than amusement as the green-suited robber escalates from fisticuffs to a side-handle baton. Overtime's easygoing expression graduates to irritation, then anger when he realizes he won't accomplish his goal today.

 

 

Israel Silva lavishes a loaded palette of bright and attractive colors on Ron Lim and Don Ho’s action-packed panels in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. White-green energy mimics the circle on Overtime’s chest as he travels in time. Colors show depth and nuance as Overtime splashes through the wet streets, webbed Fission explodes in the rain, and the bird on the billboard changes expressions and postures. Joe Caramagna enhances Overtime's sacrificial journey with large, black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons, white letters in green narrative boxes, enlarged colorful words, and energizing sound effects.

 

 

 

The Death Stone Saga Part 2

Story

The Death Stone rejected Nighthawk and raised Phil Coulson from the dead. Nighthawk tries to connect with Phil, but the revived man's memories are fragmented. Unlike Star, Quantum, and Overtime, Phil Coulson doesn't understand what has happened to him. But Nighthawk isn't interested in what Phil Coulson might do once he gets his head together. Like Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Nighthawk wants to reshape the universe. But first, he needs all the Infinity Stones. (A shiny gauntlet would also come in handy).

 

Derek Landy’s second story in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 doesn’t feature our web-slinging hero. Still, it’s another story about people trying to rewrite the present to suit their preferred vision of reality. Nighthawk grows more desperate to accomplish his mission here than in the Thanos Annual #1. Perhaps Spider-Man could have talked Nighthawk into making a better choice in The Death Stone Saga Part 2. As things stand, shadows cover Nighthawk's path, and his journey may grow darker with time.

 

Art

Nick Fury’s son rises from bed, pulls on his eye patch, and enters the kitchen. He gazes through the window over the sink and drinks a glass of water. Nighthawk stands atop a crypt. Like Batman or Spawn, he gazes down at Phil Coulson, sitting on the ground between the upright headstones. Coulson resembles a broken man. Yet he soon rises to regard Nighthawk. Resolve washes through his eyes as the purpose that once drove him struggles to return. But then, Tahiti is a magical place.

 

Mattia Iacono casts Nick Fury’s early morning rising in soft blues and paints the graveyard’s sky aqua green. Coulson's dark suit and Nighthawk's black costume stand out amid the pale brown trees and gray memorials. Travis Lanham enhances Derek Landy’s second story in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 with large, black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons and white letters in blue narrative boxes. A shrunken final word suggests Phil Of The Dead's realization that he needs to get his head together fast if he wishes to pursue another celebrated political career.

 

 

Final Thoughts

Should we use our resources and skills to help people today or focus on correcting yesterday’s errors? Or is there a difference between the two options? In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, Overtime sets aside his plans to help Spider-Man, while another hero must decide if a second chance at life is worth fighting for.

 

Rating 9.3/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Conan The Barbarian #2 Review

 

Writer: Jim Zub

Artist: Roberto de la Torre

Colorist: Dean White

Letterer: Richard Starkings

Cover Artists: Alan Quah; Roberto de la Torre; Gerardo Zaffino; E.M. Gist; Dan Parent

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 3, 2023

 

The Tribe of the Dead transformed Hauler’s Roam from a lively settlement to a slaughterhouse. How will Conan and the Pict scout Brissa fare amid this Dawn Of The Hyborian Dead? Let's venture into Conan The Barbarian #2 and find out!

 

Story

After the zombies slay the not-so-peaceful inhabitants, they search the homes and buildings for survivors. Afterward, the methodical murderers march off, dragging the bound and broken bodies behind them. Conan and Brissa follow the trail of blood. Brissa urges him to attack. Perhaps they could slay the undead war party, Conan reasons. But then how would they find who sent them?

 

Conan The Barbarian #2 follows their trek across Conan's homeland. He wonders how many other animated corpses wander the Cimmerian steeps. Conan also learns more about Brissa. Her history makes him ponder the sword he found during the battle of Venerium. It's served him faithfully throughout his wanderings. Might it be linked to whatever sorcery directs the current carnage?

 

Jim Zub draws from Howard’s well, investing Conan The Barbarian #2 with action, mystery, and perhaps even love. At least he delivers plenty to read. He rewards those who persevere with a haunting vision, a heartrending battle, and a discovery that may rock Conan’s understanding of his people.

 

Super 7 Conan Action Figure available at Amazon

 

 

Art

Roberto de la Torre packs pages with panels that follow Conan and Brissa’s trek. They tread through forests, grasslands, barren hills, and dramatic rock formations. Their journey ends in the snowy hinterlands of Conan’s youth. What they find there is beyond anything they might have suspected.

 

Conan’s mane, mien, and muscles convey a majesty that bespeaks his Marvel years. Brissa belongs at Conan's side. The eyes of the undead glow, and their jaws drop open when they spot their quarry. Battles sing as steel sweeps through the air. The rent flesh sends blood flying in this gruesome gallery. And yet, Conan's comradeship with a woman who should be his enemy is what lingers.

 

Dean White streaks the unforgiving land and stormy skies with color. Aside from when Roberto de la Torre leaves areas blank, nuanced and lifelike color pervades. The overall tone is dark amid the short days and long nights and as cool as the Cimmerian winter. Yet light shines down from the sun and the moon, illuminating the living and the dead.

 

Richard Starkings fills spherical white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes with black, uppercase lettering. That is unless they escape and invade the white spaces or colored sky. In rare instances, these wanderers glow white amid dark scenery. While easier to read than his lettering for Dark Horse Comics' Conan series, the words seem smaller and packed tighter than Marvel's 1970s contributors. If Grim Jim stuffs his bags so tightly, perhaps Riotous Richard could ease the load on the travelers who must carry and unpack them. 

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Conan and his Pictish partner learn about each other and search for the source of the soulless scourge in Conan The Barbarian #2.

 

8.4/10

 

To preview interior art and more covers see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.