‘Event Horizon: Dark Descent’ #3 & ‘Conan the Barbarian’ #26

I’ve got a few bits and pieces to sort out, over the next couple of days, so content here may be a little lighter than normal. And yep, I made a pretty big assumption, about the state of my regular content, in that opening sentence ;o)

Anyway… I did a spot of Christmas shopping, the other day, and made a quick detour to pick the shelves (at Forbidden Planet) clean of some comics that I’d been waiting on. Look at me being all efficient, getting two things done in one trip ;o) Here’s some quick thoughts on the first couple of comics from that little haul…

‘Event Horizon: Dark Descent #2’ – Ward, Jones, Martin (ID Dark)

The ‘Event Horizon’ continues its journey through chaos and most of the crew are now dead. The survivors must deal with Paimon having arrived on board as well as his twisted creations and the secrets of the crew, suddenly brought to awful life…

Well, damn… Every time I think that things cannot get worse for the crew of the ‘Event Horizon’, they promptly go and get worse which, to be fair, is in keeping with the movie so I’m not complaining. At this stage of the tale, there’s no doubt that I was going to stay for the duration but Wards writing and Jones’ art continue to make sticking around a treat, not a chore. I was wondering just how much story you could stretch out of what is really a very limited and close encounter with evil; it turns out that there is a lot to say here with Ward making good use of the crews fears to drive things forward in just the right way. I didn’t see Conners taking a leading role but there is enough about him to make this route an interesting one. The real focus is on the ships doctor though and the nature of his end leaves you in no doubt that the universe has a sick sense of humour.

I don’t know if ‘Dark Descent’ is going from strength to strength, at least not yet, but it has definitely found its groove and is putting out a very consistent tale of terror. I’ll see you for the next issue ;o)

‘Conan the Barbarian #26’ – Zub, Dagnino, Rodriguez (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures)

The King of Aquilonia has gone mad, or so the rumours say. A tyrant sits upon the throne and all will suffer until he is deposed or dead.

Conan the Mercenary cares nothing for these royal rumours and petty politics, but the Cimmerian’s skill in battle is about to put him in the path of a mad monarch and his life will be forever changed.

And talking about finding the groove, it looks like I may have found mine as far as picking up single issues of ‘Conan’ goes. This could well become a habit now and an easy one to keep to as well, Zub has a real happy knack for telling awesome ‘Conan’ stories and it continues here (accompanied by more of Dagnino’s superb art, he really captures the essence and energy of Conan’s adventures). Issue 26 is another ‘jumping in point’ with Conan’s prowess about to bring him to the notice of the King that one day, he will eventually usurp. It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen Conan in the middle of full on wars and that’s what we get here with a good mix of ‘Conan at war’ and his thoughts on the affairs of Kings. And not being a huge ‘Conan scholar’, I’m keen to see whether this is the tale that leads Conan to the crown of Aquilonia or if it’s more of a prelude. It could go either way, I’ll make sure to be around and see where this goes next.