In which we discover Bêlit is a truly worthy companion of young Conan, fighting snow blindness and wolves is no mean feat, the identity of Conan’s imposter, whose backstory is a clichéd disappointment, and that the sea beckons after a brief sojourn in Cimmeria.
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Conan The Barbarian was a series which was so full of promise, fulfilled in the early Wood/Cloonan issues. It now finds itself near the bottom of my stack each month, in serious danger of being dropped altogether.
This is largely due to artist Vasilis Lolos, who once again, captures the beauty and peril of Cimmeria adeptly. And boy can he draw a pirate ship. However his close up work is an affront. Whilst an improvement on last month, many of the fundamental problems remain – the facial expressions, in particular the eyes, make characters difficult to distinguish (Bêlit, Conan and his imposter are interchangeable) and his capturing of movement in action sequences is poor.
This issue fortunately marks his departure.
Next month Declan Shalvey joins Brain Wood in a new arc entitled ‘The Death’, in which Conan and Bêlit return to the Western Ocean, and discover they are being followed by a mysterious ship, the cargo of which threatens to tear them apart. Whether I buy this or not next month will largely depend upon Shalvey’s artwork. So far each story arc of this series has been self-contained, albeit with reoccurring characters, with no continuing saga to keep me hooked.
All images courtesy of © Dark Horse Comics.
Mark Brassington 