Matthew Sunrich Presents...Sword of Sorcery #2
Sword of Sorcery #2
By Matthew Sunrich
If there really is
such a thing as "honor among thieves," it certainly doesn't exist in
Lankhmar, the home city of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, at least if the events
in Sword of Sorcery #2 are any
indication.
Continuing the
adventures of Fritz Leiber's sword & sorcery duo, the second issue of this
dynamic series finds our heroes at odds with the Thieves' Guild, as well as a ghostly
triumvirate threatening vengeance if a certain purloined item is not returned
to them. Denny O'Neil and Howard Chaykin again take the reins as the
crimson-haired barbarian and his cloaked companion become ensnared in a morass
of skulduggery.
"Revenge of the
Skull of Jewels," adapted from Leiber's story "Thieves' House,"
opens in the expansive and malodorous tomb of Votishal. We are thrown right
into the middle of the action as Fafhrd attempts to keep some sort of
humanoid-lizard guardian at bay while the Mouser picks at a difficult lock and an
impatient, corpulent man named Fissif stands nearby.
As the Mouser gets
the lock open and Fafhrd defeats the monster, it becomes clear that Fissif is
the mastermind behind the raid, having hired the pair for their reputation. Opening
a coffer, he retrieves a skull with ruby eyes and diamond teeth and a pair of
skeletal hands with pearl fingernails. He has promised to share the riches, but
he outwits Fafhrd and the Mouser by giving them drugged wine: a simple ploy,
but an effective one.
When they awaken,
they head to the Thieves' House to find Fissif and make him pay for cheating them.
Inside, they find the leader of the thieves and a red-headed wench admiring the
jeweled skull and hands. Without warning, the woman takes the treasures and
disappears through a door that cannot be opened from their side. When the
attempt to question the leader, they discover that he has been strangled.
Hearing footsteps, they duck behind a tapestry.
Fissif enters with a
man named Sleyvas and two other members of the guild. The fat thief tells
Sleyvas that the leader was murdered by the skeletal hands and that the skull
flew away. Of course, Sleyvas rejects this absurd tale, insisting that Fissif convinced
Fafhrd and his companion to steal the treasures for him. While this heated
exchange is going on, one of the thieves spots Fafhrd's shoes beneath the
drapery, and a swordfight ensues.
Fissif bashes the
barbarian on the head with a vase, but thanks to the Mouser's quick thinking
they escape. They duck down a dark passage, and Fafhrd manages to hit his head again on a low-hanging beam. The Mouser
exits through a window before realizing that he has left his friend behind. By
this point, the barbarian's brains are effectively scrambled, and as he
staggers down the hallway he stumbles into a hidden chamber.
There, he encounters
three ghosts who know of the theft of the skull and hands and demand that they
be returned to them within a day, or else they will drain the very life from
his body. While weighing his options, Fafhrd is ambushed and captured by the
thieves. They have also discovered the Mouser's whereabouts and send him a
message, stating that if he does not return the skull and hands to them they
will take it out on the barbarian.
Disguising himself
as a fortune-telling hag, the Mouser gains admittance to the apartment of the
woman, known as Ivlis, who stole the treasures, having figured out its location
based on its proximity to the Thieves' House. He ties her up, reclaims the skeletal
treasures, and returns to the den of thievery. Pretending to be the spirit of
the dead man whose skull and hands were made into valuables, the Mouser
succeeds in freeing Fafhrd. The thieves attack the interlopers just as Ivlis
appears, having been freed by her housekeeper.
Realizing they are
outnumbered, Fafhrd resolves to take as many of them with him as he can. Just
then, the skull's eyes begin to glow, and its jaw begins to move. This
terrifies Fissif, but Sleyvas becomes enraged, insisting that the fat man is
again acting foolishly. He strikes the skull with his blade, causing the ghosts
to materialize. He suffers the brunt of their vengeance, and they squeeze the
life out of him. The other thieves flee in horror, leaving Fafhrd, the Mouser,
and Ivlis alone.
The Mouser rues the
fact that they failed to profit in any way from this venture. Fafhrd suggests
that they drown their sorrows, as they usually do, with wine.
The art is in this
issue, as in its predecessor, is a cut above what was found in most comics of
the time. Sword of Sorcery was
Chaykin's first major assignment, having been recommended to DC's editors by
Neal Adams, and considering the strength of the illustration it really is hard
to understand why it was canceled so quickly. It's entirely possible that it
just got swallowed up in the racks by the numerous other comics that were
coming out around the same time. (Recall that the Seventies was a period of
major expansion for Marvel, DC, and others.) Despite this initial hiccup, Chaykin
would go on to do groundbreaking work in the following years (American Flagg!, Black Kiss, features in Star*Reach
and Heavy Metal).
Definitely deserves a slot in every sword & sorcery fan's longbox.
Definitely deserves a slot in every sword & sorcery fan's longbox.
Labels: comics, Guest Blog, Matt Sunrich, Sword of Sorcery
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