After a debut issue full of reprints there are new stories this time! Even the cover, another early work by famous fantasy artist Michael Whelan, looks better than the first one. I’m not sure why they picked Solomon Kane for the second story. Other than being, like Kull, another Robert E. Howard creation, why is Solomon Kane part of the magazine at all?
Why exactly is a Pilgrim in this?
Howard’s Puritan swordsman is a far cry from a barbarian. The Solomon Kane frontispiece by the amazing Bernie Wrightson is cool though. In his first issue editorial, Roy Thomas claims Kane a featured character due to an error in a fanzine news article. Given all the Solomon Kane material in this series I have to wonder if perhaps he was just looking for an excuse to include him.
They should have gone with the Red Sonja story by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin and booted Kane to the number three spot. Thomas pits the pastiche swordswoman, created from pieces of other REH characters, against a werewolf, though it does beg the question—just how many times has Red Sonja fought a werewolf? This one has even more of a split personality than usual for a lycanthrope. Chaykin is said to prefer being recognized for his later work, such as the ground-breaking American Flagg, but this is a nice example of his earlier stuff.
Red Sonja Cosplay
There is a short text piece which features pictures of Thomas with what is now called a cosplayer. Dawn Greil is decked out in what I call the Red Sonja "hotpants" costume. This version covers a little more and seems slightly more practical than the chainmail bikini familiar to most readers.
This section also features a picture of the great Wendy Pini, the woman behind Elfquest and another early cosplayer, in both versions of Sonja's garb. There are several pics and even video floating around the web of not just Wendy as Sonja but also comic artist Frank Thorne dressed up as a wizard, performing their Red Sonja and the Wizard skit. The pictures in this issue were new to me.
From Solomon Kane to Gil Kane
Finally, we have another Kane, Gil Kane, and his illustrated text tale of Blackmark vs the Mind-Demons. This is a neat little entry even if just as an artifact of the comic medium. One of the greats of the comic industry, Gil Kane seemed to really like exploring more text heavy stories accompanied by his illustrations. Similar Kane ventures into illustrated text also appeared in Savage Sword of Conan as well as at least one paperback book that I have been trying to stumble across in the wild.
Overall, Kull and the Barbarians #2 is a good one for completists, but probably not a must-have for the casual collector.
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