Conan: Queen of the Black Coast #2
Written by: Brian Wood
Art by: Becky Cloonan
Colours by: Dave Stewart
Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Conan is just a bad man!
There is no better way to put that without losing the PG rating of this review, Conan is awesome! Everything a real warrior should be and Brian Wood brings that out and makes it shine gloriously in this issue.
This issue is pure action, continuing on from the events of issue one, Wood and Cloonan bring you a straight up, no holds barred vicious brawl, and Wood gives you an insight into the mind of the famous barbarian of Cimmeria through the narration boxes, that again stay really close to Robert E. Howard’s original dialogue. You know where Conan comes from, what he does and why he is in his element!
Then Becky Cloonan brings it to life!
Every panel in this issue is gorgeous! The expressions on Conan’s face fills you with energy as he jumps, runs, punches and stabs his way through mayhem, Cloonan’s used angular jagged panels and rich lighting to let you know that this is a war! There is nothing asked, nothing given, the last man standing is going to win and every bit of action is rendered beautifully!
Within this, Cloonan still as time to convey emotion and allows Wood’s (or Robert E. Howard’s) psychology of our hero to be conveyed by his posture, body language and wry smile. The final panel speaks volumes even before you read Wood’s dialogue- it is that intense an interaction between 2 characters and you can feel the passion in how Cloonan delivers both faces.
My compliments also has to go to Dave Stewart’s colour on this one as he emphasises the tone and shocking bloodshed beautifully with his colour palette, the sharp contrast of the red blood under the pale hews and lights of a clear sky over the ocean really emphasises each stab, thrust and disembowelment that is horrific yet gorgeous.
The story, again, sticks to the original prose quite closely but adapts it to allow for the visual medium for comics. Brian wood uses caption boxes sparingly and keeps dialogue to a minimum because he knows he can let Cloonan do most of the story-telling for this chapter. This issue is a great action packed thriller and if you hadn’t read issue 1 you could still read this without much knowledge and get an enjoyable single issue. Three cannot come sooner!
Rating: 10/10
