Conan the Barbarian #80 – “Trial by Combat” – Roy Thomas/Howard Chaykin/Ernie Chan
This one starts where last issue left off, with Conan in the throne room of the hidden city of Attalus. He was sent there from Harakht to bring a jewel called the Eye of Set, one of two that are exchanged any time one of the cities gets a new ruler. But Hun-Ya-Di, the scheming priest in Harakht, wants the Eye for himself to consolidate power, so he ambushed Conan in the wilds. Conan met a beautiful woman (naturally) named Bardylis, who brought him to meet the king of Attalus (Ptolemy). But Ptolemy is kind of an arrogant prick and doesn’t show Conan much respect, although he does promise to
hear Conan’s story later. Bardylis takes Conan to her father Perdiccas’s house for food and rest, but the barbarian is jumped by invaders who sneak into his bedchamber and dragged off. Turns out a greedy merchant from Argos named Ablah (who Conan has heard of) has been hired by Hun-Ya-Di to get the Eye of Set. Conan was worried about the security of the gem, so he hid it in the bedchamber at Perdiccas’s house. Ablah tries to search Conan for the Eye, but the barbarian breaks loose and starts kicking ass, taking down Ablah’s hired thugs. Ablah flees and Conan goes back to Perdiccas’s house where Bardylis is waiting. He isn’t certain whether she and her father were in on the kidnapping, so he lies about Ablah’s motivations. Ptolemy’s men show up 
and order Conan to come to the palace. Unfortunately, Ablah has gotten there first and is filling Ptolemy’s head with lies about Conan, calling him a murderer. When Bardylis defends Conan, Ablah claims the Cimmerian is a wizard (!) who has bewitched Bardylis. Conan insults Ptolemy’s intelligence and the haughty king immediately jumps him, trying to squeeze him to death. After a tough fight, Conan knocks Ptolemy senseless, which means he’s the new king of Attalus. Before he can celebrate, a guard staggers in to let them know that 300 Stygians are swarming through the pass to attack the city. This is a pretty good story, based on a non-Conan Robert E. Howard tale called “The Lost Valley of
Iskander”. That story was about El Borak, an adventurer in the early twentieth century. Roy kept most of the story intact (including Attalus being founded by Alexander the Great), adding the Eye of Set to give Conan a logical reason to travel there. He also changed Bardylis (who was male in the original story) into a hot blonde. Most Conan tales involve an attractive woman and since Bêlit isn’t here, Bardylis can fill that role (and she certainly is very attractive the way Chaykin draws her).
Conan the Barbarian #81 – “The Eye of the Serpent” – Roy Thomas/Howard Chaykin/Ernie Chan
This one continues straight from last issue, with Conan immediately mustering some soldiers to go fight the Stygians, who have added some hill bandits to their numbers. The Stygians are using longbows, so Conan makes his men take cover until the invaders get close, then orders them to use their own short bows. Many Stygians fall to the arrows and Conan leads his men against the rest of them, hoping to get a chance to kill Hun-Ya-Di himself. That chance comes and Conan engages the priest, who gives him a
tough fight. But Conan triumphs, securing the safety of Attalus and the Eye of Set (which freaks Conan out a bit when it starts oozing blood after the fight). With Hun-Ya-Di dead, the rest of the invaders surrender and Conan wins his first battle as a king. His rule will be short-lived though, as he turns the city back over to the now-recovered Ptolemy, who accepts it without argument. Ptolemy regrets missing the big battle, but did manage to find the sneaking Ablah and decapitate him. Conan and Ptolemy exchange gems and Conan prepares to head back to Harakht, but Bardylis isn’t quite done with him yet. 
Yeah, it’s not stated explicitly, but I’m pretty sure Conan bangs her. It seems like an asshole move for him to cheat on Bêlit, but they aren’t married, and he originally became her mate to keep from walking the plank so it’s not like theirs is a love for the ages. I think it’s a relationship of convenience for both of them and Conan having a purely physical romp with another woman does fit his character. And despite Bêlit’s jealous nature, I could imagine her having a dalliance of her own if the circumstances were right. Anyway, that’s the end of the “Lost Valley of Iskander” adaptation; it was a pretty good story, with some cool battle scenes and Conan getting to play king for a day and feel the responsibility of that role.