'Barbarism is the natural state of mankind,' the borderer said, still staring somberly at the Cimmerian. 'Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.'

-Robert E. Howard
Beyond The Black River

Corrupt Cliffs

Corrupt Cliffs
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Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Savage Sword of Conan: Issue #2 (2019)

Savage Sword #2! The first comic sparked a little bit of a firestorm on the internet, so I am understandably curious how this story will continue to feed that fire, or extinguish it a little.


Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Ron Garney
Colorist: Richard Isanove
Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Alex Ross

Much like the first issue of Conan the Barbarian, our map of the world was laid out, but where we are was left blank. Also like Conan the Barbarian, the second issues reveals our location, but not with blood like CtB, with the map scratched out.

Overall this issue is probably more Conan. It reveals more Conan tropes and what he is finally up to. I can't fault the story too much as I have used similar story lines in my own adventures in the Conan 2d20 RPG. There are definitely a few things I liked less or struck at my enjoyment, but as I think about it, I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Without dropping spoilers I can't speak to specifics directly.

The art overall is good, much as issue 1, a raw, loose, savage style with what I think is an excellent depiction of our barbarian hero in general.



Lets get down to where I place it in terms of the skulls of my enemies.

Art:

Story:

Cover:

Sword & Sorcery:


I will drink from 4.5 out of 5 Skulls of my Enemies for this issue.


I still like the art, the lines the color, all of it. High marks from me here again.
Story is also high here as well, great Conan stuff going on, only a few missteps that stuck out at me. If I compared this story directly to what happened in issue 1, I would most likely rate issue 1 a little lower. I also saw no guns, but I admit to not going over every frame with a fine tooth comb, so maybe I just missed them?
The cover is the weakest part of the issue, and it's not that it's bad. It is a great image of Conan, but that is all it is. So hats off to Ross for a cool image, I just wish there was more.
Its general sword and sorceryness is also remaining turned right up and we have what is in my opinion a solid second issue to the series.

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