Conan The Barbarian #2 Review

Is Conan turning into a must-read series?

Conan the Barbarian #2 Cover
Marvel Comics

When the first of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian comic came out, there was a lot of buzz about how good it was. It was a phenomenal look at Conan’s history, giving the audience a proper introduction to the character for newcomers and exploring timeframes that even long-term readers have seen very little of. This issue doesn’t continue that.

Before the full breakdown, #2 is a good comic. Jason Aaron gives a proper standalone story about Conan during his days wandering the land as a barbarian, actually teaming up with the Picts he was killing to form a bond that transcended him slaughtering them and them slaughtering his friends. It’s a good story for the most part, with giant snakes and even gorier fights. The art is also just as good as last time, with Mahmud Asrar bringing a high-impact style to the fight scenes and a simple but detailed look for the stills.

Conan the Barbarian #2 Respect
Marvel Comics

The problem with it, and it may not seem like much in the grand scheme, is the placement of this story right after the ending of the first one. A first issue is obviously the first step for the plot of a given series, at least the first arc, so when literally the second issue is fundamentally a one-shot with only a tertiary cameo to link it back to the main storyline, it can feel very obtuse. It feels wedged in like it was a plot point that will come up later, but for now, it does feel somewhat out of place.

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Still, it is a great issue, but it does get hurt by a non-sequitur early on. Four stars.

Marvel Comics
 
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Contributor
Contributor

A.J. Carey is a child of pop culture, learning to read on comic books and raised like any true '90s child on films way above his age range and network television!