Conan and the People of the Black Circle #2 continues the story of Conan as he’s on the run with Queen Yasmina in the new miniseries by Fred Van Lente and Dark Horse. Well, Queen Yasmina is actually his captive who he took in the first issue to use as a bargaining chip to get the release of his chieftains since everything he offered for their release before this was rejected. Unknown to Conan, Queen Yasmina rejected the offers because she wanted Conan to help her get revenge on the Black Circle since this group was responsible for her brother the king’s murder with their magic. However Conan’s last minute plan was going well until they were ambushed by Wazuli Raiders and Conan’s horse was killed. The good thing is Conan knows the leader and so they’re brought back to the camp with the promise of Conan getting a new horse and temporary protection from any pursuers. But things are about to get even more complicated since it was also revealed last issue that the Queen’s servant, Gitara, was also instrumental in the king’s assassination. And Gitara’s ambition doesn’t stop there as she convinces her lover Khemsa to use his black magic for more than just serving the Black Circle and the two of them could take advantage of the situation and build their own empire. And with the way the two of them start going about this it just might make Conan and Queen Yasmina allies much sooner.

I enjoyed the first issue and all the things set in motion that would make Conan and Yasmina’s situation more perilous and the need for their eventual makeshift alliance greater. There was a lot of treachery going on in the kingdom. And this issue doesn’t start off slow either with Khemsa and Gitara coming up with a plan to create their own empire. Even though everything hasn’t been revealed about the king’s assassination, it was convincing that the two of them would try to seize this opportunity for their own gain. And the way the story unfolds is as smooth as it is brutal with the artwork of Ariel Olivetti capturing both the brutality of Conan’s world and the treachery magic of Khemsa’s world, and switching between the two seamlessly.  So the action is excellent. The story is very intriguing in this issue too although there isn’t much interaction between Conan and Yasmina as this issue focuses more on tribal politics and the machinations of their enemies. It’s definitely a good thing that this is handled very well and with the developments in this issue I do expect there to be more direct interactions between Conan and Yasmina next issue.  I was left with the feeling that the alliance they form will be well done because they now have a common enemy, a common goal and they’ll have to rely on each other to achieve that goal. So I’m not fully invested in the duo yet but this was a solid issue and I am looking forward to seeing what’s in store for them next.