Conan the Barbarian #159 – “Cauldron of the Doomed” – Michael Fleisher/John Buscema
This one starts with Conan in a gladiator pit wrestling a brute named Tonzhog. Apparently, Conan found himself without a horse and any money to buy a new one, so he figured he’d win a bit of coin fighting. The spectators aren’t expecting him to win, but of course he does. They pay him and as he’s leaving one of the spectators, a beautiful woman named Marielle, pretends to twist her ankle just as he walks by. Conan is no stranger to feminine wiles, but he does see Marielle home and is invited in for supper. Marielle shows him her sculpture gallery, with some
very lifelike statues crafted by Marielle herself. At dinner, Marielle shows her true colours by almost beating a servant (Nateesa) for spilling some wine until Conan stops her. Marielle serves the wine herself and of course it’s drugged. Conan becomes Marielle’s mindless slave, following her about like a dog and catering to her every whim. The drug seems to have made Conan more eloquent, as well as less belligerent. It hasn’t dulled his other instincts, but Marielle doesn’t seem too interested in sex (at least she says Conan’s touch makes her sick, 
so I assume she’s not banging him). Nateesa tries to switch out the drugged wine so Conan can break the mind-control, but Marielle finds out and sends her to the torture chamber to be whipped. Marielle has grown bored of hr latest plaything, so she sends Conan to be immortalized … by tossing him into a vat of chemicals that will turn him into a statue. (I’m sure we’ve all been expecting something like that since we saw the “statues” in Marielle’s gallery.) Nateesa recovers from her whipping and goes to help Conan, throwing a dagger into his arm just as he’s about to go into the vat. The pain shocks him back to normal and he starts wasting guards, while Nateesa punches Marielle out. Conan can’t remember anything from the last few days, but Nateesa
promises to fill him in if he takes her along when he leaves. This is a pretty good story, although Marielle’s deception is pretty obvious from the start. I like how Nateesa saved Conan, although I would’ve liked to see her throw Marielle into the statue-making vat as a form of poetic justice. John Buscema draws Marielle to look very attractive (she kinda reminds me of the Dragon Lady from Terry and the Pirates), so I guess I can’t fault Conan for being distracted by her beauty.
Conan the Barbarian #160 – “Veil of Darkness” – Michael Fleisher/Bob Camp/Armando Gil
This one starts with Conan riding through the streets of Ophir. Some brigands spot him and realize he’s the one who kicked the crap out of them on the Road of Kings, cutting off the leader’s arm. They attack him and he takes a few of them out, but gets a glancing blow across the temple (which would’ve been worse if not for the warning of a friendly bard). The rest of the brigands flee before the town watch arrives, which turns out to be a good thing for Conan since that blow to his temple has rendered him blind. The bard takes him to the house of a local healer, a wise-woman who gives Conan a potion to restore his sight. She says it’ll either take effect
within a couple of weeks, or hell be blind for the rest of his life. She recommends peace and quiet to increase the odds, but the bandits have found out where Conan went and are headed this way. Conan and the bard take off out the back on some horses the old woman lends them, just before the bandits bust through the front door. The bandits are pissed off to see they’ve missed Conan, but they’re quite happy to find out he’s blind. In a nearby wood, Conan tells the bard he’ll have to act as Conan’s eyes for the upcoming fight, calling out the positions of his adversaries. They practice on some bushes and things go pretty well, though not perfectly. By nightfall, the brigands find their camp, but Conan turns the tables by luring them into an ambush. With the bard 
directing his movements and strikes, Conan does pretty well, taking out some of his attackers. With only two of them left (the leader Vezek, whose arm Conan cut off, and his minion Gurneg) disagree on what to do next; Vezek still wants revenge but Gurneg wants to get the hell out of there. Vezek points out that Conan and the bard are headed into a dead-end canyon, which will give the bandits the advantage. Turns out Conan knew it was a dead end and came that way anyway, so he and the bard could get into an abandoned gold mine Conan knows about. He and the bard place obstacles all over the mine, the positions of which Conan memorizes. When Vezek and Gurneg arrive, Vezek puts a dagger into the bard to keep him from helping Conan, but the wily barbarian snuffs the candle to throw the chamber into total darkness.
Everyone is now blinded, but Conan has the advantage since he knows where all the obstacles are. He wastes the bandits without too much trouble and bandages up the bard before taking him outside. Conan’s eyes are already starting to heal, as he can see some light from the morning sun. This is a pretty good issue, with Conan having to learn to fight blind. I like how they used a bard (who’s good at observing and describing things) as Conan’s proxy eyes, although I wish they’d given the bard a name.