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Conan The Slayer #2
Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: August 24th, 2016.
Written by: Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by: Sergio Davlia
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Picking up directly where the first issue left off, Blood In His Wake Part 2, finds Conan having left Queen Taramis's to lead his crew of Zuagir warriors against the Turanians only to lose that fight in a big way and find himself the only survivor. Captured by Kozaki tribesmen, Conan was hidden by Mykylo, their leader, when some men came looking for him. Mykylo's son, Kyrylo, however, does not share his father's affection for the Cimmerian.
Kyrylo heads into the desert to consult with a supernatural being who tells him 'dead men have no fear of blades.' Kyrylo appears to be taken aback by this, reacting with surprise to the bravado shown by this creature, but when the cloaked, rotting corpse offers him a pact, Kyrylo tells him of his troubles with Conan, how his father Mykylo and younger brother Taraslan welcomed him as if he were one of their own. Kyrylo feels they should have handed him over, to strike a truce with the Turanians, and that he feels his father is no longer fit to lead their people. Of course, Kyrylo feels he should be the new leader. Before this creature can make his offer, he disappears into a pile of dust and bones but Kyrylo already has plans set in place.
Conan, meanwhile, recovers from his wounds. Taralsan makes the mistake of waking him, but then instructs him to prepare - some of the scouts they sent out last night have not returned and they need his help figuring out what happened. Before they leave, Conan and Mykylo talk of Kyrylo's true intentions. He's not as sneaky as he believes himself to be but as Conan rightly points out, blood can be blinding. Conan, Taralsan and the lovely Oksana ride out into the desert and find a corpse decorated in such a way so to serve as a warning to outsiders. Regardless of this ominous sign, they head further into uncharted territory but soon learn the hard way that they've been setup. Oksana proves her worth to Conan in the ensuing fray, but this is more than just a mere ambush…
This second chapter in the latest Conan series from Dark Horse gives readers the right balance of intrigue and action, mayhem and magic. Bunn's script is literate, treating the source material with respect while at the same time working towards building the big picture in terms of the conspiracy that is afoot. Conan is written as appropriately fierce and wily, a cunning barbarian if ever there were one, while the supporting players are starting to get fleshed out nicely. Things will probably heat up between Conan, Oksana and Taralsan as we dig deeper, while it would appear that Mykylo's true motives have already been exposed. It makes for a great read.
Sergio Davlia's artwork is also impressive. He draws Conan with the right amount of hulking strength but doesn't overdo it. There's a lot of great detail in the backgrounds here and the action scenes really hit with some serious, bloody, violent impact. Michael Atiyeh's coloring work accentuates this in a big way - anyone interested in Conan should give this latest series a shot, it's off to a great start.
