Conan the Barbarian #101 – “The Devil Has Many Legs” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one starts with Conan camping in the jungle, having given up the sea after the death of his lover Bêlit last issue. As he’s brooding by his fire, he’s attacked by some Bamula tribesmen, who quickly surround him. Conan kills their war-chief but is overcome by superior numbers. The Bamulas’ top warrior (Yorubo) wants to kill Conn immediately, but the others remind him that only a war-chief can make that decision, so Yorubo
will have to wait to see if the tribal council chooses him to replace the man Conan killed. They truss Conan and drag him back to their village, where Conan sees a woman who’s obviously in love with Yorubo. He’s tied up to await his fate and uses the time to observe his captors, seeing them sacrifice another prisoner by tossing him into a pit where the “many-legged one” will devour him. Conan also learns that the Bamulas worship Akku, the God of Chance, so when Yorubo kills a rival for the position of war-chief, Conan invokes Akku and challenges Yorubo for that title. Conan and Yorubo square off on a log above the pit, which contains a giant spider. Yorubo is wily and fast, but Conan topples him into the pit, happy to see him die. But when Yorubo’s wife jumps in after him, Conan leaps down to save her and kills the spider. That 
impresses the Bamulas, who proclaim him their new war-chief. Yorubo is jealous and tries to stab Conan in the back, but Conan kills him instead. That cements his position as war-chief and gains him Yorubo’s wife (Felida) as a reward. Conan can see how sad she is at the death of her husband, so he doesn’t try anything and just goes to sleep. Felida considers killing him in revenge for her dead husband, but decides not to. This is a pretty good story, giving Conan something new to do after his long sea adventure with Bêlit. Roy is still following the De Camp chronology, setting up some later (non-Howard) stories, which is why he has Conan encountering the Bamulas here and becoming their leader.
Conan the Barbarian #102 – “The Men Who Drink Blood” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one starts with Conan leading the Bamulas in a foray against a rival tribe, the Kungados. Conan kills their chief and the Kungados swear fealty to him and the Bamula tribe, but some of the Bamula warriors aren’t happy with Conan sparing their enemies. The tribe’s witchmen aren’t too fond of the outsider either, warning that ill fortune may strike him. Conan still hasn’t banged Felida, although she’s offered herself to him freely; I think he’s still not over Bêlit’s death yet. That night, a warrior guarding the Bamulas’ herd of cattle is attacked by a pale-skinned monstrosity. His screams rouse Conan, who leads the Bamulas against the cattle thieves, but
the Bamulas freak out when they see their opponents are the “blood-drinkers” who the Bamulas think are impossible to kill. Conan proves otherwise and even takes out a couple more of the thieves trying to abduct Felida and some other women. An old Bamula storyteller fills Conan in on their attackers, telling him they aren’t truly vampires but seem that way because they drink the blood of cattle they’ve raised (or stolen). The captive (Ashido) volunteers to lead Conan and some warriors to his blood-drinking tribe’s lair, although he has to wear smoky crystals over his eyes to block the sun. Conan suspects a trap, but Ashido does lead him to the caves where his brethren shelter during the day. Ashido hints that the Bamulas can slaughter all the blood-drinkers while they sleep, including their king. But when they enter the shadowy 
caves, the king awakens immediately and orders his people to kill the interlopers. Conan wastes Ashido but when he tries to stab the king, nothing happens and Conan realizes he’s facing a true vampire (or “drellik”, as the natives call them). Conan is knocked out by the undead king and the Bamulas have no choice but to surrender. This is a pretty good tale, using the blood-drinking traits of the real-life Masai warriors and melding them with vampire legends. It seems the only real vampire is the king, so if Conan can defeat him the rest of the blood-drinkers should fall easily to the Bamulas.