And Yet Another COMIC GEEK UPDATE

Only 3 issues into their new GODZILLA series, IDW releases a 2nd Godzilla title (GODZILLA: GANGSTERS & GOLIATHS) with a slightly silly premise: Gangsters attempt to whack a detective who tried to turn in their family...but he manages to escape and washes ashore on MONSTER ISLAND!  Godzilla deep-fries the Yakuza, but the cop is rescued by an ancient order who guard the twin girls who control Mothra.  The cop takes off with the girls, telling them he needs Mothra to help him take down the mob.  It sounds ridiculous but John Layman's script actually works here.  Hopefully it'll work in the 2nd issue.  Either way I'm GEEKING out over all the new Godzilla comics lately...

The 6th issue of CONAN: ROAD OF KINGS wraps up the first section in Dark Horse's current CONAN saga.  Everything that has gone down in the first 5 issues is wrapped up nicely here, especially the fate of Gamesh and the return of the giant gold-eating worm creature.  While the story here is well done, Mike Hawthorne's artwork is a bit too "Saturday-Morning Cartoon-ish" looking for my taste.  (Horror fiction fans: can you spot authors Brian Keene and Mary SanGiovanni in a one-panel cameo?  They make fine barbarians!).  ROAD OF KINGS continues in 2 months, after a brief 2 issue tale called...

...CONAN: ISLAND OF NO RETURN.  In this first issue, Conan is rescued from a frenzied gang of guards by 2 hot-to-trot barbarian women, both thieves.  They blackmail Conan into joining them on a dangerous heist: it seems the girls have learned about a huge treasure that's been left in an isolated castle.  The only problem is the castle sits on a high mountain on a tiny island, surrounded by fierce waves.  Of course Conan manages to scale the mountain and help the girls  up, when they're spotted by a strange creature (we only see its silhouette as the issue leaves us hanging for part 2).
Ron Marz' script is a bit lacking here (way too much silly innuendo and some dialogue that sounds like modern language), and while artist Bart Sears does a decent job, I'm not diggin' his rendering of Conan's face: just doesn't cut it for me for some reason.  Michael Kutshce's cover, however, is fantastic (see above).
Here's hoping we get the classic Dark Horse CONAN team of Truman and Giorello back before this fine series begins to show signs of age.