Conan the Barbarian #21 – “The Monster of the Monoliths” – Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor Smith/Dan Adkins, Craig Russell, Val Mayerik, Sal Buscema
Last issue, Conan was part of the Turanian force that attacked Makkalet, a Hyrkanian city who had kidnapped the living god Tarim, resident for many years in the Turanian capital of Agrhrapur. The Turanian prince Yezdigerd led the attacking fleet, but his motives seem to be less about religion and more about eliminating a strong trade rival on the Vilayet Sea. When Yezdigerd allowed Conan’s wounded friend Fafnir to be tossed overboard, Conan freaked out and killed some of Yezdigerd’s men, leaving
the Prince with a scar across his face. This issue begins with Conan washing up on the shore of Makkalet with a Turanian arrow in his back. He’s immediately spotted and attacked by some citizens of Makkalet, who ignore his explanation that he’s come to join their cause. Conan is saved by the intervention of a guard captain, who says the King and his wizard Kharam-Akkad (who seems to be the real power behind the throne) want Conan alive. The barbarian wakes up in a cell, his wounds mended, and is soon taken to an audience in the throne room. King Eannatum and Queen Melissandra greet Conan an he’s 
surprised to see that Melissandra is the woman he met in the temple (last issue), who passed herself off as a simple priestess. Conan knows he’s been spared because these Hyrkanians want something from him and he soon learns what that is. Queen Melissandra’s father is bound by treaty to send aid to Makkalet if asked, so they need Conan to make his way through the ring of Turanians besieging the city and deliver the summons. Melissandra gives Conan a rune-carved armlet, saying it will keep him safe. Conan sets out with three Hyrkanians (including Khurusan, one of the Queen’s guards) and they make their way through the Turanian lines. After killing a couple of scouts, they sneak through a forest and make their way up a steep hill. Khurusan insists they
must crest the hill to perform certain rites that will insure their victory, on the Queen’s orders. On top of the hill lie the Monoliths of Xuthltan, tended by a blind old man and his daughter. The old man tries to warn Conan off, but Khurusan forces him to recite a ritual chant. The old man’s reward is death and Conan is knocked out by Khurusan’s men. He wakes up tied to an altar, with the girl beside him. Khurusan tells Conan the Queen ordered this sacrifice, to appease older gods than Tarim. Khurusan kills his confederates and sacrifices the girl to open a portal for the foul power he summons. A giant frog-creature arrives, bent 
on devouring Conan as an offering. Conan breaks his bonds and tries to get the frog to eat Khurusan, but it remains focused on him. Recognizing the runes on the monolith as the same ones on the armlet the Queen gave him, Conan tears the armlet off and throws it to Khurusan. The frog devours him and goes back through the gate into its own dimension, leaving Conan to wonder if the Queen gave him the armlet to kill him or to give him a chance to save himself. He throws the armlet away and decides to take off and leave the Turanians and Hyrkanians to their conflict, although he does intend to keep his word by letting the Queen’s father know Makkalet needs his aid. This is a pretty good issue, based on a non-Conan horror tale by Robert E. Howard called “The Black Stone” (which De Camp and Carter also turned into a Conan
story called Curse of the Monolith). The art on this one is a little off; apparently there were deadline problems so Barry only did breakdowns. That, combined with the fact that two of the inkers (Russell and Mayerik) were newcomers at the time, made for some sub-par art. (Of course, Russell and Mayerik both went on to be great artists, but at that point they were still pretty raw.) At the end of this issue, Conan vows to deliver the message and wash his hands of the whole affair, but this isn’t the last we’ll see of the Turanian/Hyrkanian War … although we’ll have to wait a bit to continue it.
Conan the Barbarian #22 – “The Coming of Conan” – Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor Smith/Sal Buscema
Despite what the cover says, this is a reprint of Conan #1, which must’ve been quite disappointing to fans who picked up the book at the time … especially if they didn’t open the comic before buying it. I guess the deadline pressures I mentioned above caught up to the creators, forcing them to run a reprint. So there’s not much to say about this issue, except that the cover looks pretty cool, and that the story touted on the cover will appear in the next issue.