My Rating
“Thrice Marked for Death! – Part 02 The Curse”
And in an instant, ever foul bit of evil erupted from the dreaded black stone, surrounding the trespassers with an adversarial force of ancient specters. Conan’s plea was too late to stop the greedy Kamal from grasping Tarim’s Touch. Now the thieves were unwillingly lock in a battle against creatures immune to mortal weapons.
Greff the lock springer was first to fall victim to the specters’ icy touch as the thieves began their retreat from the tower study above. Conan raced into the fray to retrieve his fallen comrade, but the necromantic nightmares quickly cover the distance to their prey. The Cimmerian swung his sword with a heavy hand to stay the attackers while the others reach the doorway to the stairs. Yakur turned to see Conan’s progress but even he knew the Northerner’s blade would be useless against the death magic.
With a mighty yelp, the Gloryhounds’ one sorcerer yelled out to Conan instructing him to swing at the small leather pouch he was about to lob. In seconds the projectile was hurled towards three of the specters, and Conan, the blade master that he was, sliced a line through the airborne container causing an explosion of fine dust. The specters retreated in pain as one hissed out “Silver!”
Can the motley crew escape the Temple of Bel with their prized artifact or fall to the icy death which pursues them? Will Conan shake his melancholy for the dead Queen of the Black Coast? Does a reward cover the object requested or what awaits inside? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
If you have ever asked yourself what the quintessential Conan story arc from the golden age entails, this issue is a perfect representation of Robert E. Howard’s writings. The art and drama were amazing in this latest installment of Titan’s Conan the Barbarian series. The story jumps between Conan’s past adventure with Bêlit the Pirate Queen and the battle within the Den of Deceit. I love the callbacks to Howard’s original work as it anchors the new storylines to the Hyborian Age we have all come to love.
I would like to point out some of the artist interpretations brought to of the winged “devil-ape” which fist appeared in Robert E. Howards classic “Queen of the Black Coast” adventure. Ablaze comics covered this story with outstanding art by Pierre Alary. His view of the monster was more of a bat like creature. Where here, Doug Braithwaite took a more traditional winged gorilla approach. In my honest opinion this level of story writing and production is what every major comic book publisher should be inspiring too. DC and Marvel better take note because they will eventually fall to publications like this one. I’m giving this issue five out of five stars.
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