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Post by hun on Aug 14, 2023 10:45:24 GMT -5
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Post by hun on Aug 24, 2023 16:45:54 GMT -5
Conan the Barbarian #2 Preview:  Conan: the Barbarian #2 (COVER A: ALAN QUAH) Robert E. Howard’s legendary Conan is back in a new tale of bravery and heroism!
Conan and his new ally, Brissa – a deadly Pictish scout, fight back-to-back against a savage horde… only to discover that each success creates a new obstacle to victory over the “Army Of The Lost”.
IN STORES NEXT WEDNESDAY |
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Post by jeffshanks on Aug 27, 2023 15:11:21 GMT -5
Got home from a two-week field project to find my contributor copies of Conan #2 waiting for me! Gotta love that Alan Quah cover. And it's already been announced that issue 2 is going to a second printing! In some ways that's a bigger deal than Issue 1 going to a third printing.  |
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Post by Taurus on Aug 27, 2023 17:42:41 GMT -5
Titan is having success because they are not afraid of publishing mature content featuring Conan the barbarian and always close to Howard's world.
Something Marvel was not willing to do.
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Post by Von K on Aug 27, 2023 19:37:42 GMT -5
Got home from a two-week field project to find my contributor copies of Conan #2 waiting for me! Gotta love that Alan Quah cover. And it's already been announced that issue 2 is going to a second printing! In some ways that's a bigger deal than Issue 1 going to a third printing.  That's another good sign.
Marvel and DC's share of the American comic market has dropped very low, 4% and 6% respectively in 2022 according to Wes' figures from the Thinking Critical youtube channel. Image and Dark Horse were both at 3%. There's every opportunity for Titan's new Conan to attract some of the disgruntled comic fans the big two have been shedding in addition to winning back more of those Conan readers who may have drifted away from the title over the years.
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Post by johnnypt on Aug 28, 2023 5:45:51 GMT -5
Titan is having success because they are not afraid of publishing mature content featuring Conan the barbarian and always close to Howard's world. Something Marvel was not willing to do. Exactly. A second printing for an issue that hasn’t come out yet is very good news. |
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Post by Taurus on Aug 30, 2023 18:24:07 GMT -5
I have just read it and liked it.
It is very similar to #1 when it comes to the art and the quality of the story.
The difference is the new colorist but his work maintains the atmosphere Villarrubia created in # 1 so not a big deal here.
The story ends with a cliff hanger but overall it expands on the idea of the pictish devils doing their horrific job and collecting corpses of the dead.
We now head to the middle of the arch and I assume by # 3 events will flow a little bit faster to come to a close and explain the mysterious destiny of the picts.
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Post by johnnypt on Aug 30, 2023 19:08:54 GMT -5
So far my store hasn't had any luck getting the De La Torre covers, so I went with the SSOC tribute cover (they didn't have any of the A cover either, but had plenty of copies of the other covers).
For those wanting a more mature version of Conan, this issue takes care of that department. Marvel would've never touched a scene like that with a ten foot pole. Yet they managed to do it tastefully so it's not that graphic. Lose one panel and it likely wouldn't have an issue passing the code (if they still do that any more).
We're in a good place right now, hope the can keep it up.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Aug 30, 2023 20:38:09 GMT -5
Excellent artwork and story, continuing the tradition of #0 and #1. Yeah, we definitely wouldn't have had THAT scene at Marvel, that's for sure. This was a great issue, but I have to wonder if they are calling this particular Pict tribe the Gurians instead of the Socandagas to avoid even the smallest chance of repeating the Pocahontas incident at Marvel. I did a google search for Gurians and found nothing associated with REH in the results. There is the real life Gurian Republic, though: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurian_Republic |
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Post by kemp on Aug 31, 2023 7:19:32 GMT -5
Another solid instalment after CtB1. I really like the way they have handled the interaction between Brissa and Conan, and I don't mean just the sex. There is a distinction between the Picts, that is, true Picts associated with bloodlines that have existed from Brule to Bran Mak Morn, and those more debased and brutish savages that have taken the name of Picts.
Conan's people have an animosity towards the latter which they collectively call 'Picts', the Hyborian age Picts that we are normally familiar with.
However, Brissa belongs to a minority of the more noble Pictish clans from Conan's time, Conan can clearly see or feel there is a difference. The ancient Scottish people are descended from Gaels and the more ancient Picts of which Bran Mak Morn and Brissa are a part of, original native inhabitants of western Europe bordering the Atlantic Sea.
I think this is a fantastic treatment, it gives respect to the great Pictish people, and I think Brissa would work in stand alone stories, maybe as a backup story in an issue of SSOC, set in the Pictish wilderness and the lands bordering the Bossonian Marches, Gunderland and Cimmeria.
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Post by kemp on Aug 31, 2023 7:29:18 GMT -5
It's like the comic came out of the 20th century, this is the stuff we would have been taking off the stands back in the 80's and 90's. Amazing story and amazing art, this is heroic fantasy. Hope it stays like this. Keep up the great work Titan.
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Post by johnnypt on Aug 31, 2023 8:50:27 GMT -5
It's like the comic came out of the 20th century, this is the stuff we would have been taking off the stands back in the 80's and 90's. Amazing story and amazing art, this is heroic fantasy. Hope it stays like this. Keep up the great work Titan. That’s what I thought about last issue, it’s a really good early to mid 70s pastiche. Looks like Jim is playing off of some of the ideas Tim worked with in his Wolves Beyond the Border adaptation. Wasn’t sure about it when it came out but now seeing it used in this context, it makes sense about the different line of Picts. |
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Post by Von K on Aug 31, 2023 12:23:04 GMT -5
It's like the comic came out of the 20th century, this is the stuff we would have been taking off the stands back in the 80's and 90's. Amazing story and amazing art, this is heroic fantasy. Hope it stays like this. Keep up the great work Titan. That’s what I thought about last issue, it’s a really good early to mid 70s pastiche. Looks like Jim is playing off of some of the ideas Tim worked with in his Wolves Beyond the Border adaptation. Wasn’t sure about it when it came out but now seeing it used in this context, it makes sense about the different line of Picts. Aha, so I was right about the call back to Tim's Wolves adaptation!
Looks like they have refined some of Tim's ideas, no doubt tweaking it with some refinements from Jeff.
This is pastiche done right! 
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Post by Von K on Aug 31, 2023 12:51:13 GMT -5
Another solid instalment after CtB1. I really like the way they have handled the interaction between Brissa and Conan, and I don't mean just the sex. There is a distinction between the Picts, that is, true Picts associated with bloodlines that have existed from Brule to Bran Mak Morn, and those more debased and brutish savages that have taken the name of Picts. Conan's people have an animosity towards the latter which they collectively call 'Picts', the Hyborian age Picts that we are normally familiar with. However, Brissa belongs to a minority of the more noble Pictish clans from Conan's time, Conan can clearly see or feel there is a difference. The ancient Scottish people are descended from Gaels and the more ancient Picts of which Bran Mak Morn and Brissa are a part of, original native inhabitants of western Europe bordering the Atlantic Sea. I think this is a fantastic treatment, it gives respect to the great Pictish people, and I think Brissa would work in stand alone stories, maybe as a backup story in an issue of SSOC, set in the Pictish wilderness and the lands bordering the Bossonian Marches, Gunderland and Cimmeria. Thanks kemp. I've not read this one yet but I appreciate the details. Is some of that from Jeff's essay at the back of the issue?
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Post by Jason Aiken on Aug 31, 2023 16:27:11 GMT -5
Looks like Jim is playing off of some of the ideas Tim worked with in his Wolves Beyond the Border adaptation. Wasn’t sure about it when it came out but now seeing it used in this context, it makes sense about the different line of Picts. Yeah, reading the original REH yarns is key and priority number one for all Conan pastiche writers, but number two is studying those who came before you and pulled off quality pastiche already. Busiek and Truman are at the top of list. |
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