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Solomon Kane: Death’s Black Riders Issue#2
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: Scott Allie
Artist: Mario Guevara
Color Artist:Juan Ferreyra
Cover:Darick Robertson and Chad Vaughan
Dark Horse continues its uber-swank run of Solomon Kane: Death’s Black Riders with issue #2, which came out on stands yesterday. The mini-series continues to develop and unlike the action packed first issue, issue #2 develops the story and background we need to know. Although there is a lot of dialogue and way less blood shed, it doesn’t mean nothing interesting is going on here, hark, the story unfolds smoothly, packed full of suspense giving this issue more of a Hitchcock vibe.
The art and writing are both still killer-diller from the Dark Horse crew of Allie and Guevara. Unlike the dark brooding “night in the woods” visual-vibe Guevara provided us with last issue, in this one we get a creepy inn, that has seen better days, still with that same horror-tone, but a lot more detailed and interesting to look at when compared to the Black Forest setting of issue #1. Writing as mentioned is solid and stronger then the previous issue, giving us some much needed story, but without giving away the mystery, all while throwing us some twists and turns. I’d also like to point out how damn cool I think this cover is. Good covers are like when you eat the top of a muffin, it just makes the whole package so much better, and Robertson and Vaughan have given us a great piece here. The whole “fighting off skeletons” deal echoes this Harryhausen-horror-hybrid, which I think is key to any great Solomon Kane tale.
Issue #2 is over-all a more solid piece than the first entry in this mini-series, which will make those who wanted more out of issue #1 very happy. Although some may debate, I think issue #1 was an exciting set-up, and I liked the story unfolding more staring with this issue. Scott Allie is telling this tale to point, although with an action heavy first issue followed by a story heavy second, Death’s Black Riders may prove to be something easier to enjoy by some in a collected edition, where we can read it all at once.
The mini-series thus far has been a fantastic read in my book, hitting all the points a horror/action comic should, without sacrificing the classic Kane-vibe from Howard’s original stories (some hardcore Howard-fans may dislike this adaptation, however they haven’t seemed happy with any Kane comic adaptation, Marvel or Dark Horse). Worth every penny you sink into it.
Drew McCabe
drew@comicattack.net