[Strom]

Anxiously awaiting this book as I think it will be great!



CONAN: BOOK OF THOTH #2 - Coming in April!
Written by Kurt Busiek and Len Wein, art and cover by Kelley Jones, colored by Michelle Madsen.

The young acolyte Thoth-amon rises quickly through the priestly ranks of Ibis as one by one his fellows fall victim to grisly deaths by an unseen hand. Bewildered and powerless to halt the carnage, one priest fears he has discovered the source of the evil encroaching upon the city, only to learn that the truth is far more horrifying than anyone could have imagined. Meanwhile, the citizens of Memphia are losing faith in the ability of Ibis to protect them, and rumors are spreading of a far more powerful and ancient deity--the snake-god Set.

48 pages, $4.99, in stores on April 19.

[korak]

Still trying to read through these, but it is hard because they are long issues and I cannot stand them. I am not sure why I hate this series so much... I can't tell if it is because Thoth is a bad person, or if it is that the comic book itself is bad. But either way, I can't stand this series and will be glad when it is over. I hope it is not too many more issues.

Normally I really like Busiek's stories, so I guess this is his worst story to date. I hate everything about this... the way that the Stygians are drawn with Luke Skywalker/ Anakin style hairdoes and brown hair; the way that Thoth is already dead from the get-go (was Thoth really dead already in Phoenix?); that Thoth is disgustingly bad and not magnificent in his evil, etc.

No, the only reason I am even reading these is because I am collecting all the Dark Horse Conan titles, and if I pay for a book I like to get my money's worth and read the dang thing. But this is an evil book in more ways than one, IMHO.

[Officer Aggro]

I wasn't so crazy about the first issue, but I'm halfway through the second one and I'm really enjoying it. While I found the whole situation with Thoth and Amon to be confusing (they looked the same) and a little boring, this second part is pretty exciting. I find it interesting that he came to power in a goodly church of Ibis, secretly constructing an altar to Set and making sarcrifices in the dark dungeons beneath. And the younger Cstephon (however his name is spelled) - nice touch! The artwork isn't the greatest, but it somehow fits better now. The use of dark shadows work really well to convey Thoth Amon's wicked nature as he slithers his way to power.

[Croms Bones]

Haven't gotten my comics yet this month... but it's coming, and highly anticipated.

[Glstar6]

I am running out to the store tomorrow after school to pick-up The Book of Thoth #2, Conan #27, Red Sonja #9,Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom #3, Red Sonja/Claw #2, and Stargate SG-1 Ra Reborn. Boy,my comic run tomorrow that is going to cost me a lot of money! I will comment on the Book of Thoth #2 here as soon as I read it. I really despise the artwork in the Book of Thoth, it looks like the kind of art you would find in a Disney cartoon. The only reason I am picking it up is , like Korak,for the sake of completeness and being able to say I have every issue of the Conan comic published by Dark Horse.

This post has been edited by Glstar6: 21 April 2006 - 12:43 AM

[Officer Aggro]

Is Sonja vs Doom #3 out now?? My store only had Sonja #9 and Sonja/Claw #2 in addition to the Conan titles.

[Glstar6]

Officer Aggro, on Apr 20 2006, 07:43 PM, said:

Is Sonja vs Doom #3 out now??  My store only had Sonja #9 and Sonja/Claw #2 in addition to the Conan titles.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oops my mistake. I actually meant to type Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom #2 because I have not yet picked that issue up yet. Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom #3 has not been released yet. Sorry about confusing you Officer Aggro.

[Officer Aggro]

Oh phew hehe. Np, Glstar6. I'm glad I didn't miss an issue! Since I was curious I just did a search - one site said it has a March 23rd release and another said February. I think Dynamite is a bit behind schedule.

[Glstar6]

Officer Aggro, on Apr 20 2006, 07:52 PM, said:

Oh phew hehe.  Np, Glstar6.  I'm glad I didn't miss an issue!  Since I was curious I just did a search - one site said it has a March 23rd release and another said February.  I think Dynamite is a bit behind schedule. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dynamite is probably a bit behind on their schedule like you said and if they are behind schedule I am somehow not suprised. It was listed at the Diamond webpage at one point a few weeks ago for a March 23rd release date but mysteriously it was removed from the shipping list. I had been looking for that issue for the longest time and just gave up eventually and just figured it was an error in Diamond's listing.

[johnnypt]

>>I wasn't so crazy about the first issue, but I'm halfway through the second one and I'm really enjoying it. While I found the whole situation with Thoth and Amon to be confusing (they looked the same) and a little boring, this second part is pretty exciting. I find it interesting that he came to power in a goodly church of Ibis, secretly constructing an altar to Set and making sarcrifices in the dark dungeons beneath. And the younger Cstephon (however his name is spelled) - nice touch! The artwork isn't the greatest, but it somehow fits better now. The use of dark shadows work really well to convey Thoth Amon's wicked nature as he slithers his way to power.<<

I agree, this one really picked up the pace and I ate up every one of the 40 pages. You take one part Revenge of the Sith, toss in parts of the Nemedian royal family and Acheron plots from Hour of the Dragon, shake well and you get a very intriguing story. I'm wondering if Memphia becomes Khemi.

[Officer Aggro]

Glstar6, on Apr 20 2006, 07:00 PM, said:

I had been looking for that issue for the longest time and just gave up eventually and just figured it was an error in Diamond's listing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I suppose it's best that they wait anyway. Three Red Sonja titles in one week would be a bit much. I think it's better to spread them out in order to avoid big gaps.

[Kortoso]

Three Red Sonja what??

Oh, titles, I guess I need new eyeglasses.

[Monstera]

Enjoyed this one slightly less than the first. Kelley Jones has his moments, but most of the time I can't tell who's talking or I start to feel his characters' expressions are over the top or just plain badly-rendered. Whoever called it a bad Disney feature was spot-on. The jackal sacrifice and Karanthus' sorcerous lobotomy were great script-wise, but they way he rendered those two characters, it was just over-the-top.

This post has been edited by Monstera: 22 April 2006 - 01:13 AM

[Strom]

Thoth (or Amon if ya prefer ) is one evil black hearted dude! But we knew that already didn't we? I'm glad Kurt and Len did not pull any punches with Thoth's origin. Everything is falling into place and the path Thoth is on fits seamlessly into the Hyborian version of black magic we already understand. But anyone who doesn't see Conan as a good guy in comparison to his adversary Thoth is two pancakes short of a stack. Hmmmm.... pancakes....

I really liked the art this issue as well. I love the armor Jones is using on the city guard and the two page spread with the Giant Snake is worth the price of the comic. The panels with just black and Thoth's shadowed face were excellently creepy as well.

But I'm totally with Korak - I'm not rooting for this guy or even like him. But I knew this story should be dark and it is delivering.

[Ironhand]

Well, I've read the first 2 issues of BoT, now, and I must confess I'm disappointed. Up 'till now I've done nothing but sing Kurt's praises, but this particular story seems very poorly researched. I don't quarrel with the ambition of the project, or with his concept of young Thoth, or what's going on inside his head, but his Stygia is like no Stygia I ever read of or imagined. Memphia? Never heard of it. REH would have simply named it Memphis. The capital of Stygia?!?! I don't think so. (I may forgive him if Thoth destroys Memphia before the story is over.) Ibis as the dominant god of Stygia??? I really don't think so. Stygia was a sister kingdom of Acheron; they both worshipped Set. Ibis could never have been other than a minor, underground god within the Stygian pantheon. (I speak here of Stygian religious practice, not of any "divine realities"). Such errors send my disbelief crashing down from its suspension.

And the art is bad. Thoth seems to age 30 years, and lose them again, from panel to panel. I might be willing to accept this as some sort of symbolic representation of Thoth's slippery psyche, but other characters do it too, even the steadfast Kalanthes.

Despite my disappointment, I remain a fan of Kurt's Conan.

As an exercise for the reader I leave this challenge: say "Thoth's slippery psyche" ten times in a row, fast.

This post has been edited by Ironhand: 26 April 2006 - 04:11 AM

[Officer Aggro]

Thoth's Thlippery Thyche...damn it!

[Almuric]

I believe Kurt said that this story takes place in the past, long before Khemi became the capital of Stygia.

[Kurt Busiek]

Ironhand, on Apr 25 2006, 01:32 AM, said:

Well, I've read the first 2 issues of BoT, now, and I must confess I'm disappointed.  Up 'till now I've done nothing but sing Kurt's praises, but this particular story seems very poorly researched.  I don't quarrel with the ambition of the project, or with his concept of young Thoth, or what's going on inside his head, but his Stygia is like no Stygia I ever read of or imagined.  Memphia?  Never heard of it.

By Conan's day, it has been renamed. Python, I think. But it wouldn't have been named that during a period that the worship of the great serpent god was outlawed.

Quote

Ibis as the dominant god of Stygia???  I really don't think so.  Stygia was a sister kingdom of Acheron; they both worshipped Set.  Ibis could never have been other than a minor, underground god within the Stygian pantheon.

And Acheron was destroyed and the worship of Set outlawed. Ibis is dominant in Stygia at the time of this story -- by Conan's time, though, the worship of Set has once again become the order of the day. REH's Hyboria is not steady-state -- things change.

Quote

Such errors send my disbelief crashing down from its suspension.

Neither are errors. Both are deliberate choices, within the context of what we know of Stygia from REH.

kdb

[Monstera]

Hey Kurt, you said these events take place centuries before Conan's birth? Is that right? I can see Thoth and I suppose Kalanthes living that long, but what about Csetaphon (sic?)? There's a reference to him being ruler in Conan's day in the Janissa storyline.

This post has been edited by Monstera: 25 April 2006 - 03:32 PM

[korak]

Probably a dynastic title like Pharoah.