The Last Barbarians #2

Major Spoilers

There are many fun and exciting ideas in The Last Barbarians #2. Watching them explore the magic shop and engage amongst themselves was incredibly engaging. However, this interlaced monologue of Sylv herself enforces the characterization of the first issue. Something about Sylv is relatable to me. She is constantly trying to figure things out, has big dreams, and is also willing to ditch the mission if it means saving her brother and maybe herself. Watching her navigate themes of war, deception, and intrigue engages me more than anything else. However, I was off-put by some of the art. On the one hand, we have beautiful drawings of people. Still, we have had a stark style change in architecture and monster design several times. It almost feels like an odd computer 3D rendering intermixed with a more traditional comic art style. It distracted me from the nuanced plot every once in a while. (...) The Last Barbarians #2 continues the momentum of the previous issue by having an excellent characterization of its main characters.

Comic Watch

THE LAST BARBARIANS #2 makes good on the creator’s intent of exploring the serialized and often chaotic storytelling of table-top RPG’s in comic book form. The biggest strength to this issue, and series in general, has been the creative team’s ability to weave in a significant amount of minor plot points into the narrative that help build the world of THE LAST BARBARIANS in an easy to read and lean way. Moments of downtime within the story, when characters are wandering around the city waiting for time to catch up with them , aren’t just used to build up characters in great ways, but introduce key world concepts regarding it’s magical system. While concrete rules for the science of magic is not key for quality, it does add legitimacy to the world’s realism. (...) The Last Barbarians #2 is good ol' fashioned sword & sorcery fun. In a comics market devoid of classical fantasy comics, it does scratch, but fails to stand out with this issue. It's a fine read, but nothing you haven't seen before.

ComicBook.com

This second issue suffers from all the problems that were bringing down its premiere issue. Muddied backgrounds, character designs that look copy and pasted from far superior pop culture figures, and a first-person narrator who does more to dissuade the reader than bring them into this magical realm. There's nothing appealing about The Last Barbarians and this Image series needs a complete overhaul moving forward to bring in readers. The Last Barbarians is simply a chore to get through and I don't know the best way it can change course.