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Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Arvid Nelson
Artist: Lui Antonio
Cover: Alex Ross

“City of Crows”: After the events of last issue, we pick up here with Thulsa on his way to Maracanda with the individuals he helped save.  Mallius is telling Thulsa that in return for his aid he will introduce him to the Duke, and that Thulsa will be helped in his quest to find what he is looking for.  Coming over the ridge we are shown a city in ruins as a result of the disaster, but the returning people are happy to be home.  Mallius introduces Thulsa to his family, but when he shifts his conversation to the Duke he is shown their decaying bodies hanging from a building.  Mallius is then told that when they left to find the others, a man claiming to be a High Lord of Atlantis came with his army and slaughtered them, taking over the city.  Thulsa lets Mallius know that this man isn’t who he is claiming to be, but he is wearing the amulet that Thulsa has been looking for which makes him very dangerous.

Thulsa suggests they mount a surprise attack at nightfall and though Mallius is uneasy with putting this much trust in a stranger, he agrees.  The attack is bloody and brutal, but the truth is revealed when Thulsa confronts the false Lord face to face.  Stating that the mark on his forehead isn’t one of power but one of shame that Atlanteans place for the foulest of deeds, causes the guy to lash out and he summons a demon that he can’t control.  During the attack Thulsa is able to strip the amulet from the guy and takes control of the demon, but before sending it back he gives it the opportunity to make a last meal of the shamed Atlantean.  The interesting thing here is that before the demon vanishes he has a warning directly for Thulsa.  Hearing this and realizing his men are dead, Mallius demands that Thulsa tell him everything; and as Thulsa begins to come forth, he is attacked from behind by Ancasta who is there for the amulet as well as Thulsa’s head.

As the story goes, I’m liking what Arvid Nelson is doing with Thulsa Doom considering my initial feelings towards the character before starting this series.  Though most of the issue focuses on the battle with the sorcerer, Arvid allows some hints regarding Thulsa and his motives behind retrieving this amulet. It seems as if he wants to do some good with it, but since he first appeared as a villain in Kull, I guess he ends up making some choices that take him down a different path. Now, I was disappointed at the visuals by Lui Antonio in this one when compared to the first issue.  The level of detail that initially wowed me was only on a few pages of this issue.  I actually expect the artwork in a series to kind of slack around the fourth or fifth issues, but not such a drastic change by the second one.  I’m hoping it gets back to the quality of the first issue soon.

I’ve been reading up on the history of Thulsa and it’s interesting to see the different interpretations of him throughout the decades. Too bad that movie made him out to be a petty villain, so I’m definitely glad Nelson and Dynamite Entertainment are helping to change that with this series here.

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