CONAN #2 REVIEW
The gist: Amidst a scene of a bloody massacre, Conan meets a very beautiful lady dancing in the middle of the snow. Incidentally, the naked lady also has 20-foot monstrous giant brothers, waiting for an opportune time to prounce on the heroic Cimmerian. Crimson blood never looked prettier on white snow.
When I was a child, comic books always brought me a sense of wonder. These books transported me to worlds I have never dreamed of, leaving me in awe with unforgettable “experiences”. All of that changed, though, when realism started to play a greater role in the medium. I really have nothing against this trend as deconstructionist tales actually top my favorite comic book stories. But I still long for a book with no pretense of bringing in real-world sensibilities - a book that would do nothing but tickle my imagination. Thankfully, I found that in Conan. This is such a wonderful book, and I highly recommend that you include this in your collection.
The book opens with a bloody mess. (That…doesn’t sound right! ) Conan just won’t be complete without decapitated heads and bloody corpses, and right off the bat, we get bloody corpses and severed body parts galore. There is so much raw power in the violence presented in this book. The violent scenes sometimes feel gratuitous, although tastefully handled. Busiek and Nord manages to present violence as a thing of beauty, and I think that’s a necessary thing in making a barbarian book work.
Violence is not the only “primal” emotion tapped by “The Frost Giant’s Daughter”. As is evident in the cover, lust is a very prevalent theme in this story. So far, female characters in this book have been treated with a very old world sensibility. Women here are either weak and helpless, or in the case of the Frost Giant’s daughter, an object of temptation. I don’t know how this story would fare in today’s more P.C. world, but I guess Conan is never intended to be P.C. anyway. I wonder, though, if there are female readers of Conan out there? It would be really interesting to hear what they think.
The narration this issue is beautiful, sometimes even sounding poetic in a few places. I don’t know how much of the script was Busiek and how much was original Howard, but I guess it wouldn’t really matter as the two voices fused naturally. Busiek promised to be faithful to Howard’s work, and he’s doing a masterful job tapping Howard’s spirit when he’s writing.
Nord and Stewart combined their talents once again to deliver yet another artistic masterpiece. From the battlefield to the encounter with the Frost Giant’s daughter, the duo realizes Conan’s savage yet fantastic world to life. I guess by next issue, I would start sounding like a broken record as I heap praise again on the Nord-Stewart team. My only complaint in terms of the art would be Linsner’s cover. Linsner’s cover is not bad, but it lacks the raw power of Nord and Stewart’s art, which perfectly fits the primal nature of a barbarian comic like Conan.
Well, it’s just the second issue, and I’m already running out of words to say. I guess that’s a good thing since that means Busiek and company are delivering consistently top-notch work month-in and month-out. At the rate this is going, maybe I would just cut and paste my comments here for my next review. Incidentally, every issue of this series so far is stand-alone, so if you’re wondering when you could jump on the Conan bandwagon, why not start with this very issue?
Reviewer: Erwin Rafael, 3rdsummers@edsamail.com.ph
Quick Rating: Excellent!
Story Title: The Frost Giant’s Daughter
Busiek and Nord’s first adaptation of a Robert E. Howard original
Scripted by: Kurt Busiek
Cover by: Joseph Michael Linsner
Art by: Cary Nord
Colored by: Dave Stewart
Lettered by: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Designed by: Darin Fabrick
Assistant Editor: Matt Dryer
Edited by: Scott Allie
Publisher: Mike Richardson
