The Cimmerian: The Man-Eaters of Zamboula #2

The Cimmerian: The Man-Eaters of Zamboula #2

Ablaze Publishing 2021

By Gess

Lettered by Dezi Sienty

The mysticism continues as Conan and Zabibi venture into the temple of Totrasmek where nothing is as it seems and danger lies around every bend, but this house of spirits isn’t the only place where the Cimmerian will face deception and illusion. Conan must use all of his wits to survive the sorcery working against him so he may receive his prize and get his revenge.

This is some seriously interesting and messed up shit going on right here let me tell you. Zabibi is running around buck-ass naked and doesn’t even take time to get any clothing but continues with Conan to stop the man who took her husband. I think one of the best things about this book is that with a limited word count to the original story Gess manages to really find a way to expand the story visually to keep the comics page count to a point where the entire story makes perfect sense. It is a very genius thing to do and it helps with the overall flow of the story as it fleshes out the scenes beautifully.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continue to bring their personalities to the forefront. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we’re nearly hypnotised by the dance which takes place here.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow and evolve is incredibly well executed. What I really enjoy about what we see in the layers, aside from the characterisation and plot twists, is how they manage to add this depth, dimension and complexity to the story. The two part ending had me increasingly convinced this wasn’t over though it clearly does end with only two issues in this arc. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is beautifully achieved.

The interiors here are absolutely gorgeous. The linework is phenomenal and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality in the attention to detail that we see. The way that we see backgrounds being utilised throughout the book to enhance and expand the moments is exceptionally well rendered. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is marvellous. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding of how colour works.

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This has quickly become one of my favourite franchises in comics today. It has also managed to make me a fan of Conan the Cimmerian, the point where I will not miss one of these that comes out--from Ablaze that is. While I have no idea how many short stories that were written by Robert E. Howard exists I do know that I’ll be here eagerly awaiting for any and all of them, heck even those inspired by. With some amazing adaptation skills and some crazy good interiors this is the kind of unapologetic story that makes Conan such a popular iconic figure.