Conan the Barbarian #61 – “On the Track of the She-Pirate” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Steve Gan
This one continues from last issue, with Conan getting ready to go after the Dragon-Rider tribe who kidnapped Bêlit from the Watambi village. The Watambi chief (Ombassa) warns Conan not to trek through the jungle alone and offers to send some of his warriors as guides. But one of Bêlit’s crew (Kawaku) thinks she should be left to her fate, since she’s supposed to be the daughter of a goddess. Kawaku is obviously jealous of Bêlit’s leadership, but Conan soon cows him into submission. Before he heads into the jungle, Conan drinks a potion made by the shaman N’yaga which will protect him from the many diseases
that infest the rain forests. Conan and the Watambis make their way through the jungles and Conan reflects on why Bêlit means so much to him. Meanwhile, the Dragon-Riders (who actually just ride giant crocodiles) are taking Bêlit to be a bride for Amra, whom they seem to fear greatly. They tell Bêlit that Amra is a white-skinned savage who runs with a pride of lions and can command them. Amra preys upon their tribe, so they’re hoping that giving him Bêlit will placate him for a while. Bêlit isn’t in the mood to be anyone’s bridal offering, so she breaks loose, swims to shore, and vanishes into the jungle. Conan and the 
Watambis catch up to the Dragon-Riders and use some fire powder from N’yaga to surround them with an inferno. By the time the fires die, most of the crocodiles are dead or have taken refuge in the river, and the Dragon-Riders have been slain by the Watambis. Conan interrogates a survivor an learns of Bêlit’s escape. Elsewhere in the jungle, Bêlit is attacked by a giant moth and tries to fight back, but is almost overwhelmed. She’s saved by the last person she expected to see helping her … Amra, the lion master. This is a pretty good story with a rather obvious Edgar Rice Burroughs vibe to it. Amra is a Tarzan analogue (being raised by lions instead of apes) and Conan’s trek through the jungle has a very Burroughs feel to it. Roy was apparently disappointed in the
depiction of the giant moth, wanting it to be scarier, but it’s not too bad. It was interesting to see Conan thinking about how deep his feelings for Bêlit run, comparing her to the other women he’s known. I don’t think Conan and Bêlit feel what modern people would call “love” towards each other, but they’re definitely more than just fuck-buddies too.
Conan the Barbarian #62 – “Lord of the Lions” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Steve Gan
This one continues from last issue, with Conan and the Watambis on Bêlit’s trail thanks to the surviving Dragon-Rider (Tindaga). They run into a crazed warthog and climb trees to get out of its reach, but Tindaga knocks Conan out of his tree and tries to flee. The warthog goes after him and Conan kills it to save Tindaga, since he’s the only one who may be able to lead him to Bêlit. Speaking of Bêlit, she was saved from the giant moth by Amra, who immediately claims her as his bride. Bêlit’s
not interested and tries to take off, but Amra decks her. When she awakens, he tells her his origin story, which fits the Tarzan mold pretty well. His parents were Aquilonian royalty, attacked by pirates and washed up on the jungle’s shores. When they were killed by natives, Amra was taken in by lions from a lost city and raised by them, eventually becoming their master. The city (which sounds like a cross between Opar and Xuja) is full of riches and some hieroglyphics that Amra can’t decipher. He tells Bêlit how the local tribes offer women to be his brides and how he thinks Bêlit will surpass them all. 
Meanwhile, Tindaga tries to flee Conan’s custody again and ends up dying of a snake bite, forcing Conan to track her himself. Amra takes Bêlit to the lost city, where she marvels at the heaps of treasure lying about. She meets Amra’s current mate, a girl of the Moonhawk tribe named Makeda. She doesn’t want any competition and tries to kill Bêlit, but Amra stops her and tells her to leave the city or be fed to his lions. Makeda obeys grudgingly, but is attacked by a leopard. Conan saves her and demands to be taken to Bêlit, which Makeda agrees to. But she also reveals that she deciphered the strange writings in the lost city and learned the spells therein, casting one before she left that will make the dead rise and kill everyone in the city … including Bêlit. This is a good follow-up to last issue, although it’s mostly setting up the big fight between Conan and Amra next issue. We do get Amra’s story and the
Burroughs influence is even more pronounced here than in the previous story. It’s interesting that Amra has Conan’s woman (who wants nothing to do with him) and Conan ends up saving Amra’s ex, who actually seemed to like being Amra’s queen. The confrontation next issue should be pretty cool; anyone who’s read Robert E. Howard’s original Conan tales is aware that Conan was known as Amra when he sailed the seas as a pirate, so I assume he’ll inherit the title by killing the real Amra.