Conan the Barbarian #71 – “The Secret of Ashtoreth” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one continues from last issue, with Conan, Bêlit, and some of her pirates in a dungeon in the city of Kelka, where they were captured as sacrifices by the high priest (Akkheba, who drugged their wine) after doing him the favour of fighting off some Barachan pirates menacing the city. Akkheba drops by to taunt them, but one of the pirates finds a hidden tunnel out of their cell. They get out but Conan decides to go back for the gold in the city’s treasury. Bêlit suspects he means to rescue Aluna, the golden-haired woman who was scheduled to be sacrificed along with them. Conan admits he would like
to rescue her, since she’s obviously a mainlander like them, but tells Bêlit to give her jealousy a rest. They send the corsairs back to the ship (not noticing Kawaku slipping off by himself) and sneak back into the city. Conan and Bêlit find two guards arguing over their very own weapons and reclaim them … after killing the guards. They overhear revelers saying that Aluna is to be sacrificed to the goddess Ashtoreth tonight instead of tomorrow and head for the high tower where the sacrifice is to take place. They’re too late and even Bêlit is horrified by Aluna’s senseless death. They run into Akkheba and chase him into a labyrinth of tunnels where they get lost. They 
hear a woman crying and head up to Ashtoreth’s tower, with Conan smashing through some bars that block the passage. They find a woman chained and dressed in rags who claims to be Ashtoreth, though she’s clearly no goddess. She tells them she’s really Astarta, daughter of the king of Mu, who was married to a sea-god ages ago and gifted (or cursed) with immortality. When Mu was destroyed alongside Atlantis, the sea-good took pity on Astarta and swept her to the shores of Kelka, where the people confused her with the goddess Ashtoreth. But the high priests confined her in the tower, using the people’s awe and fear of her to rule the island for generations. Astarta wishes she could get free from her tower so she could call on the sea-god to wipe Kelka from existence. Conan and Bêlit are distracted by the sounds of
fighting below and realize that someone has let the pirate Auro (who they drove away last issue) into the city, where he and his pirates are running amok. Akkheba brings troops to the tower to kill Astarta and her protectors, but Conan and Bêlit slaughter them all and chase the priest into the streets, where Bêlit kills him. That breaks his hold on Astarta, who calls to the sea-god to destroy the island. As the waves rise, the Barachans take off and Conan realizes Kawaku is the one who let them into the city. Conan decks Kawaku and he and Bêlit head back to the Tigress just ahead of the inundation that buries the island. This is a pretty good story, concluding the adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s 
non-Conan tale, “Marchers of Valhalla”. Roy changed a few details, but left the plot basically the same. There’s an interesting parallel between Bêlit and Astarta, since both are the daughters of royalty who were mistaken for goddesses. It’s also cool to see Bêlit kill Akkheba and the look she gives Conan afterwards suggests that she did it to avenge Aluna, even though she was jealous of her. It seems a little weird that Conan or Bêlit don’t kill Kawaku for his treachery, but Conan says they can’t afford to lose any of the crew.
Conan the Barbarian #72 – “Vengeance in Asgalun” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one starts with Bêlit and her crew of pirates boarding a Shemite ship and taking it over. Since Bêlit is from Shem herself, she chooses to spare any of the beaten crew who surrender, but Kawaku disobeys and kills one of them. That earns him Bêlit’s ire and she berates him in front of the crew, which just nurses the hatred he already has towards her and Conan. After the fight, Bêlit finds out that her mentor and shaman N’yaga still isn’t healing from his injuries sustained a few issues back. He says there are some rare healing herbs from Khitai that might cure him, but he left them
in the palace of Asgalun when he fled with Bêlit all those years ago. Bêlit has sworn not to return to Asgalun until she has enough men to conquer it and take back her father’s throne, but for N’yaga’s sake she’s willing to break that oath and try subterfuge to get the herbs. Conan agrees to go with her, disguised as a weapon-maker and his humble wife. They gain entry to Asgalun but are surprised to see a lot of Stygians in the streets, acting like they own the place. Bêlit hates Stygians and is ready to kill one who’s abusing a Shemite woman, but Conan trips her into the mud. He claims he and Bêlit are acrobats there to perform for the court’s amusement, a lie helped by Bêlit whacking him over 
the head with a club. They’re taken to the palace to see Nim-Karrak (who usurped the throne from Bêlit’s father) and his advisor, Ptor-Nubis, emissary of the Stygian king. Bêlit can’t disguise her hatred for Nim-Karrak (which makes him kinda hot) and Conan tries to distract them with some half-assed acrobatics. Ptor-Nubis suggests a fight to the death between them and when Bêlit hesitates, he uses his Stygian sorcery to compel her to attack Conan. Nim-Karrak stops the fight, mostly to show that he’s still the one in charge, and sends Conan to join his army while he invites Bêlit to his bedchamber for some fun. She plays along until she finds the hidden vial of herbs, then attacks Nim-Karrak and reveals her true identity. Nim-Karrak freaks out and claims the Stygians were behind the overthrow of the former king, then drops a bombshell … Bêlit’s father is still alive, held captive in the Stygian capital of Luxur as insurance against Nim-Karrak getting too ambitious. Bêlit believes him but still wants to kill him. She’s interrupted by Ptor-
Nubis but this time she’s smart enough not to let him touch her. She escapes, running into Conan and his escort of soldiers, who he quickly dispatches. He and Bêlit flee the city and she tells Conan what she learned, vowing to go to Luxur and free her father, no matter what. This is a pretty good issue that brings Bêlit home to the palace where she was born, but sooner than she’d planned. Roy obviously set things up by having N’yaga get hurt a few issues ago and now it pays off. This also gives him an excuse to take Bêlit—and Conan, of course—to Stygia, with all its sand and sorcery. Stygia is a stand-in for Ancient Egypt and Shem for the Ancient Middle East (Shemite being the rough equivalent of Semitic). I like seeing Conan adventure in various lands, so this works for me even if it is a bit contrived.