Conan Reviews: Conan the Barbarian 3, Conan the Barbarian 4

Conan the Barbarian #3 – “Twilight of the Grim Grey God” – Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor Smith/Sal Buscema

This story begins with a manacled Conan making his way through the wilds of Hyperborea. He runs into a grey-haired warrior, who tells him Hyperborea and Brythunia will soon be embroiled in a border war. Conan gets snotty with the guy, who tells him to respect his betters and shows him some Valkyrie-type maidens riding through the sky. It’s obvious this is some kind of god, but Conan doesn’t seem too impressed. Conan wanders towards the border and meets a Brythunian horseman (Dunlang) who informs him that the Brythunians are indeed about to fight the Hyperboreans. Since the Hyperboreans are the ones who manacled Conan (after waylaying him and trying to enslave him), he’s eager for revenge and offers to join the Brythunian cause. Dunlang’s lover (Eevin) has dreamt that he’ll die in the upcoming battle and tries to get him to flee with her, but he refuses … although he does accept the armour she gives him. Elsewhere, a meeting takes place between two would-be rivals who have now become collaborators: Malachi, leader of the Brythunian cavalry, and Kormlada, wife of Tomar, the Hyperborean king. Malachi agrees to hold back his cavalry in the battle so Tomar’s forces will win, and he’ll become the new Hyperborean king (though it seems like his main motivation is to bang Kormlada). When she returns to tell Tomar how successful her mission was, we see him treating her like shit, and her vowing to make sure Tomar doesn’t survive the battle. In the Brythunian camp, Dunlang introduces Conan to his king (Brian) who welcomes Conan’s help in the fight. Conan has sworn not to remove the shackles from his wrists until he’s killed the Hyperborean who put them there, but he does let Malachi cut the chain to give him more mobility. The next day, the armies prepare to fight and Conan learns that Brian won’t be leading them in battle, as Brythunian kings don’t fight with their men. As the Hyperboreans charge, they call out to their war god Borri to grant them strength. Battle is soon joined and Conan finds and kills his enslaver. Dunlang notices Malachi hanging back and sends Conan to spur him into battle. Malachi refuses and both Conan and Dunlang realize he’s betrayed them. Dunlang is killed and Conan goes wild, slaughtering Hyperboreans left and right. He goes after Malachi, whose own men desert him, while Tomar slips through the chaos and finds King Brian alone in his tent. Conan kills Malachi (dashing Kormlada’s dreams of using him as her puppet king) and Tomar and Brian end up dying on each other’s blades. Among the carnage, Conan sees the Valkyrie-types swoop down to claim the souls of the dead and realizes the “old warrior” was the god, Borri … and that this battle represents his last, as even gods can’t endure forever. This story was based on a non-Conan tale (“The Grey God Passes”) by Robert E. Howard that Roy Thomas adapted. Originally, Marvel had the right to use Conan as a character, but couldn’t adapt any specific Howard stories featuring him. That changed quickly and Marvel got the rights to adapt not only Howard’s Conan stories, but to turn other Howard stuff into Conan tales, like this one. This was slated to be published in issue 5, but ended up being swapped with the story that ended up there, which is probably why Barry Smith’s art looks more refined here.

Conan the Barbarian #4 – “The Tower of the Elephant” – Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor Smith/Sal Buscema

This was the first Robert E. Howard Conan story I ever read, so it’s one of my favourites (and it seems like a lot of people agree with me). It starts in Arenjun, City of thieves in the nation of Zamora. In a tavern full of riff-raff, a Kothian slaver brags to the crowd about his exploits, but when he mentions the Tower of the Elephant (located right here in Arenjun) and the fabulous jewel at its heart, one listener becomes very interested. That would be Conan, of course, and he gets the Kothian to tell all he knows about the Tower and its treasure. Apparently, the Tower (which belongs to a wizard named Yara) is guarded by soldiers around the perimeter and the walls are too slippery to climb, which explains why no one in this city of thieves has stolen the jewel. Conan insults the Kothian, starting a brawl and slipping away after killing the loudmouth in the confusion. Conan observes the Tower, seeing Yara return (and float above the ground as he “walks”). Conan makes it over the wall into the garden, where he runs into another thief (Taurus of Nemedia), who’s there for the same reason as he. Taurus suggests they team up to liberate the jewel and Conan agrees. They’re attacked by lions (eerily silent) and Taurus uses black lotus powder to kill them. A lone survivor comes after them and Conan deals with it, impressing Taurus. They climb the Tower, but Taurus distracts Conan so he can get inside first to look for the prize. His haste turns out to be a mistake, as Taurus stumbles out of the Tower and falls dead, the only marks of violence on him being two small puncture wounds on his neck. Conan goes inside and is attacked by a giant spider, which he manages to kill. He heads into the heart of the Tower and finds an opulent room containing a weird green creature, vaguely resembling an elephant. Conan’s fear soon gives way to pity as the creature (Yag-kosha) explains how he came from another planet ages ago, watched the others of his kind die, and was worshipped as a god in Khitai. But Yara came and enslaved him, blinding him and bringing him to the Tower to torment him for the past 300 years. But Yag-kosha has a way to get his revenge, with Conan’s help. Conan obeys Yag-kosha’s order to kill him and take the now-blood red Heart of the Elephant to Yara, along with a last message from Yag-kosha. When Yara realizes what’s happened he freaks out, but it’s too late; Yara shrinks and is drawn into the jewel, where Yag-kosha—now hale and hearty—waits to take his revenge. The Tower starts to shake and Conan gets out right before it collapses. As I said, this is one of my favourite Conan tales. It shows off the many facets of the barbarian: brashness, impiety, daring, battle prowess, cunning, and even a certain amount of compassion for the downtrodden. Conan does seem a bit too trusting here, but he’s still quite young (under twenty) and hasn’t yet learned caution (or cynical mistrust, however you want to look at it). Roy Thomas said he’d have preferred Yag-kosha to look a bit more alien and less elephantine, but I think the design works. The thing with Yara walking above the ground was apparently added by Barry Smith; that whole sequence with Yara going into the Tower reminds me of following the wizard in the adventure gamebook Escape From Castle Quarras.