Conan the Barbarian #2: The Fangs of the Ghost Snakes!

I loved this issue from Jason Aaron in which Conan seemed to work as hard to contain the monster within himself as he did to kill the monsters outside. As a person with a legendary temper I can relate to the slow realization that the person you’re mad at might not be the only jerk in this situation. The gradual march toward mutual respect is a long one for Conan and the Picts (new band name! i call it!) and i wouldn’t be surprised if the Picts return the favor for Conan in the future.

The pencil and ink work by Mahmud Asrar is a step up from last issue, which i had some minor complaints with. This issue I’d say most of my complaints are resolved and even the dynamics i liked are improved further in this blood drenched issue. I absolutely adore the way Asrar draws creatures he has a flair that I think will play well given Conan’s vast bestiary.

I also appreciated Asrar’s panel layouts especially in fight scenes, they’re dynamic and flow really well. In a way conveying the confusion of battle in a subconscious way to add to the visuals.

The colors by Matthew Wilson really caught my eye in the Pict village during a dance. Most of all I loved the below pictured panel, which could have easily been a throwaway visual but turned into much more.

I wanted to mention also to letterer Travis Lanham’s credit, this issue is DENSE, but it doesn’t feel like it, that’s the sign of good letter work, text is separated in such a way to not feel overly notably overwhelming.