Conan The Barbarian #2 - Titan Comics

CONAN THE BARBARIAN No. 2, September 2023

Smartly showing the titular character to be so much more than just a big man wielding a hefty sword, Jim Zub’s penmanship for “Homeland!” does a very good job of depicting the Cimmerian as an already much experienced, thinking fighter. True, the barbarian does eventually wade neck deep into a horde of ravenous undead ghouls towards the end of the comic. But the adventurer is very much forced into this perilous situation after desperately trying to avoid a confrontation with so formidably-numbered a foe for much of this twenty-two-page periodical.

Instead, the Canadian author’s incarnation of Robert E. Howard’s Sword and Sorcery hero, patiently follows his prey over several snowy days, quietly watching the zombies for any signs of weakness, and soundly reasoning that whatever final destination they are travelling to will surely house the source of their black-hearted witchcraft. This somewhat sedentary sequence might have proved a laborious experience in the hands of a less able writer. Yet here, the sheet space is wisely used to bring the audience up to speed with both the background and physical charms of Conan’s new ally, Brissa.

Just as impressive as Zub’s handling of the deadly female Pictish scout, is his ability to emulate the clash with foul, primordial races, which the successful Hyborian Age civilisations were repeatedly shown to have encountered during the titular character’s original printed tales. This publication's particular nightmarish vision of ancient, serpent-men threatening to resurrect their savage epoch of culling numerous human victims with the post-Atlantean people of Cimmeria is genuinely disturbing, and brilliantly illustrates the fate of mankind if the barbarian fails in his mission to thwart the rotting “Army of the Lost”; “Sacrifices made to appease Dark Gods. All of it plummeting toward one who lies beyond flesh… beyond death… beyond time.”

Also unquestionably causing the odd shiver of trepidation whenever a bibliophile unwisely casts their eyes into one of this book’s numerous, well-sketched shadows for too long, is Rob De La Torre, whose utterly uncanny ability to replicate the prodigious pencilling style of John Buscema is phenomenal. The aforementioned double splash concerning an endless line of sheeplike prisoners being walked off of a cliff-top to a bone-crunching end by their scaly captors is quite possibly the highlight of this comic’s layouts. Though Conan’s grim-faced decapitation of several revenant villagers in a shockingly savage fight scene is not to be sneezed at either.

The regular cover art of "CONAN THE BARBARIAN" #2 by Alan Quah