Well, Williamson turns in another fine issue of Birthright. I just wish they were all either this fine or I’d even take it a little less fine. Just so it’d be a steady read, because I don’t like feeling iffy on a series.

The story is good, he just doesn’t always tell it the same way. He misses out on where the story works–the characters’ relationships. He’s treating that aspect of the story as the McGuffin, when it’s really the other thing. This issue seems like he’s figured it out.

It’s like he realized he could only cry wolf so many times and he’s finally gotten over it.

There’s some good character development and some amusing scenes. Birthright always feels a little too fast a read, but Williamson gets a bunch of stuff done. Bressan’s good on the art, as always. Even gets to do some superhero-like stuff.

It’s too soon to say I’m worried about Birthright, but I guess I’m starting to get concerned. Or maybe I wasn’t concerned but this issue is concerning.

Williamson is accelerating the story of the evil villain controlling Conan and accelerating Conan’s younger big brother figuring out something’s wrong with his brother. There’s some nice stuff with Williamson writing the character–Conan–as he remembers things from his past on Earth, many years before; it suggests there was probably a story here without the whole betrayal subplot, just not as long of one.

Or as action-packed?

There’s a really lame scene between the parents. Williamson doesn’t have the mother’s character down, which is getting to be a big problem. The parents are both generic–Dad good, Mom bad–and there’s too much time spent on them here.

Nice art from Bressan as usual.

Hopefully Birthright’s just stumbling, not falling.

Williamson has a surprise in him. Birthright has it’s big surprise, of course, the big overall one, but Williamson totally changes the series with the last scene and it’s pretty cool. Birthright, just because the concept is so defined, occasionally feels like it can’t surprise. Even when it’s really good, it’s because Williamson’s doing really well with that concept.

Not here. Here, he shows he can surprise and give the series even more depth. Very cool.

And Bressan gets a hard job–visualizing an “imaginary friend”–and does really well with it. The way the scenes work have the character staggered; on the first appearance, it seems like a big misstep for Bressan. But during the second scene, it’s clear his design is perfect.

There’s a lot of exposition during the fight scene, both from the people in the know and the people not. It’s all just fantastically well-executed.

Williamson keeps improving with Birthright. He never loses what he’s already done, but he develops further–and not with his flashbacks to fantasy land, which get tiresome (something the father realizes too, in a great scene). Instead, he’s able to reveal things about the family without having to use a flashback. It comes up in the conversation, with the older brother reminding Conan of their lives before fantasy land.

What’s particularly compelling about Birthright is how seriously Williamson takes both sides of the story. I’m dismissive of the fantasy elements because I’m not interested in them. But he’s still doing a tough story about this sword and sandal alternate reality; he never forces the tough. There’s an idealism, but a grounded one.

And the family stuff is just getting better. It’s getting so good, actually, Bressan’s a little too clean for it.

Birthright isn’t just impressive, it’s getting more so.

It’s a particularly interesting issue because Williamson never talks about the big secret–the big gimmick, the big deception, the big unknown. There’s stuff related to it, but he never identifies why he’s on these topics. It would be a bad jumping on issue.

There’s some good stuff with the parents. Not together so much, because Williamson is moving quickly. He doesn’t slow down for things he would need to stop and work with. The issue is kind of sprinting, actually. The mom has her good scenes, the dad has a couple scenes where it could lead somewhere better.

Then there’s the brother. The older brother who becomes younger but still somewhat wiser–at least in the ways of Earth. His scenes are good too; probably the best in the issue.

But Williamson is still soft booting the series with every issue. He still hasn’t found the Birthright’s sustainable tone.