The first half or so of this issue is worrisome. Williamson brings in a whole bunch of fantasy world vocabulary for a flashback–the structure is fairly simple, present day on Earth with Conan grown-up, the fantasy world in flashback when he’s still an Earth kid adjusting. And while Bressan’s art is fine–his action is better–there’s not much one can do with a fantasy world anymore. They’re standard, thanks to comics, movies, video games and television.

The first half also has the pained meeting between brothers–the younger brother now much older (and Conan). Williamson’s sincere in the scene, but it doesn’t offer anything new.

Luckily, the finale has something also not new, but still awesome. Conan breaks free in the police station and it’s the Terminator only with a magical warrior. Good character work in the sequence too. It pulls the issue around just in time.

If the first issue is an indication, Birthright is going to be a trip.

Writer Joshua Williamson has a big twist at the end–the story of a missing child who returns as a grown, savage warrior out of a fantasy world–but the better stuff is how he’s handling the regular characters. The back and forth between the family is great, especially how Williamson is carefully positioning the older (but not anymore) brother as the protagonist. He’s the one who’s had to be literally responsible for his father but also monitoring the mother.

Williamson opens the issue with the child going missing, showing the family in the happier days. It also seems like he’s going to try for some science with the child’s return.

Andrei Bressan’s art is a little slick, but his composition and visual pacing are both strong.

The cliffhanger’s an obvious one, but Williamson sells it.