Conan the Barbarian #131 – “The Ring of Rhax” – Bruce Jones/Gil Kane/Ernie Chan
This one starts with Conan lurking in the wilds, looking for someone to rob. He sees a prosperous-looking Brythunian merchant riding alone and accosts the man, asking for a few coins to protect him from brigands. The merchant knows Conan is a brigand himself and refuses, so Conan demands all his money and possessions. The merchant acquiesces, even offering a beautiful amber ring in exchange for a few gold pieces. Conan takes the ring but immediately regrets it, as the merchant gleefully informs him the bauble is cursed and can’t be removed,
not even by cutting off the finger it’s attached to. The merchant rides away and Conan curses him, calling him a baboon and wishing for his death. A bolt strikes from the sky, killing the merchant … who has transformed into a baboon. Conan quite doesn’t connect this strange event with the ring until he’s riding through a parched land and wishes for water. When a water hole appears out of nowhere, he realizes the ring is making his wishes come true and wonders why the merchant was so happy to get rid of it. He’s attacked by a warrior and due to some bad luck, ends up knocked out and falling into a pool. He wishes to see the sun again and wakes up on dry land, but with everything (including the ring and his horse) gone. He needs his horse, so he tracks the 
warrior, finding him sliced to pieces. Before he can reclaim the ring, he’s attacked by a horde of Picts and almost killed. He saves himself by touching the ring (which magically transfers to his hand) and wishing the Picts away. Conan finds the ring impossible to remove again, so he travels on uneasily, hoping to find answers. He comes upon a hermit’s shack and asks about the ring, which the hermit says is the Ring of Jukas. The hermit tells how an ancient king named Jukas had his sorcerer forge the ring and imbue it with magic so he could give it to his young wife. The ring was enchanted to kill the wife’s lover if she ever strayed, but it worked too well, killing not only her lover but the wife too. Even worse, the ring fastened itself to the king’s finger when he touched his dead wife’s body. The king died horribly soon after and his subjects blamed the sorcerer, who stole the ring and took off, but was found dead himself
not long after. The ring has passed from person to person ever since, always leaving a bloody trail (with the owner dying at the full moon) and only being able to be given by trickery, not force. Conan ponders how to rid himself of the thing, but a tavern wench steals the ring from him as he sleeps. He tries to find someone to pawn it off on, but everyone knows the legend now and won’t bite. He takes the girl back to the hermit, who admits Rhax (Jukas’s sorcerer) is actually still alive and might be able to remove the ring. They go to see Rhax, but he’s immortal (thanks to his first wish from the ring) and attacks them, conjuring a fiery chasm and blasting them with bolts of force. The demon that’s been killing the ring’s owners shows up to claim the girl, so Conan 
takes the ring from her and faces the demon. The girl realizes Rhax can die if he falls into the pit (since he conjured it and can only die by his own hand), so she shoves him in. He tries to bargain so they’ll pull him out and Conan offers his hand, but that just transfers the ring to Rhax, who’s attacked by the demon. They both disappear into the pit and Conan takes the girl to safety. This is a pretty good story, that has a slight D&D feel to it with the cursed ring. It was nice to see the girl contributing to Rhax’s defeat instead of just being a helpless victim.
Conan the Barbarian #132 – “Games of Gharn” – Bruce Jones/Gil Kane/Danny Bulanadi
This one starts with Conan in a tavern (of course) receiving a message from an old friend named Gharn. His friend invites him to the annual games taking place in a nearby town called Cella. Conan is eager to see his friend again and to take part in the games, but his reverie is interrupted when a stranger enters the tavern and is insulted by the barbarian rabble. The stranger is beset when he fights back, but Conan stands with him and they pound everyone before leaving. The stranger (Palla Jhet) is heading for the Cella games too, hoping to win the grand prize (a bejewelled sword) to help feed his family. At Cella, Conan finds Gharn with a bad leg and soon learns why he was summoned. Gharn wants Conan to enter the games in his place and if he wins, they’ll split the
jewels on the sword evenly. Conan ponders just stealing the sword, but Gharn says it’s guarded by a Nubian giant named Loka, who also just happens to be the final obstacle to gaining the sword. But Gharn (who’s quite a ladies man) has another reason for wanting the sword … he wants it as the bride-price to marry a lass named Mira. Conan agrees to enter the contest and the first challenge is to cross a bear pit on a tightrope. He’s doing well when a competitor (Jhara-Arn) tries to sabotage him by shaking the rope. Conan makes it across and returns the favour, but Jhara-Arn kills the bear with his bare hands. Afterwards, Conan runs into Mira, who invites him out for a drink that turns into an all night 
boozefest. The next day, the contestants have to swim across a crocodile-infested river with only a dagger. Conan is doing well, but when he sees Jhara-Arn slashing Palla so the blood will draw the crocs, Conan turns back to help. He saves Palla by killing the crocodile, but wonders if any prize is worth such danger. Again Mira convinces Conan to go drinking with her (by threatening to tell Gharn about the previous night’s debauch) and Conan wakes up hung over. (As far as I can tell, Conan and Mira aren’t banging, but it does seem like she’s trying to sabotage his chances.) The next event is a race in a trench three men wide chased by rats. Conan, Palla, and Jhara-Arn make it out, but Conan ends up having to knock Jhara-Arn on his ass afterwards. Mira again offers to drink with Conan (and maybe more than just drinking this time), but he’s ready for the penultimate challenge the next day. The three remaining contestants are tied upside-down over a roc’s nest. They have to get free
and steal the egg before the roc returns, presenting the egg to Loka for the right to fight him in the final challenge. Jhara-Arn cheats by using a concealed flint to cut his bonds and takes off with the egg. Conan and Palla get free and find Jhara-Arn nearby, all mangled up by the roc. Conan kills (or stuns) the roc, but Palla is too wounded to continue, so Conan takes the egg to Loka. A solar eclipse freaks out the crowd, but Conan assures them it’s only temporary. He squares off with Loka, who uses his chain to break Conan’s sword, but Conan uses the chain to strangle Loka and claim the prize. But he soon realizes the jewelled sword is a fake and finds a tunnel beside the dais. He follows it and finds Gharn at the end, with a head wound. Apparently, Gharn was digging 
the tunnel while Mira kept Conan busy (and drugged) with the wine, and Gharn used the eclipse as a distraction to switch the real sword with the fake one. But Mira betrayed him, knocking him on the head and stealing the jewelled sword. Conan goes after Mira (whose horse Gharn drugged) and finds out she’s Palla’s sister, trying to get the sword for the same reason he was, to feed their family. Mira offers to give Conan some sweet loving if he leaves the sword for Palla to find and he agrees. This is a pretty good story, where Bruce Jones takes a fantasy trope (the skills contest) and puts Conan into it. I liked how everybody except Conan was being dishonest, but at least Mira’s motives were good. I also like how Jhara-Arn was killed by the roc instead of by Conan or Palla.