Conan the Barbarian #183 – “Blood Dawn” – Jim Owsley/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one starts right after last issue, with Imhotep the demon showing up on the battlefield near El Shah Maddoc to confront Conan as Shapur (the warlord Conan deposed) and Kollos (leader of the M’gai bandits) look on in fascination. Conan’s magic amulet still protects him from Imhotep, but the demon wants the amulet so it can return to its own realm. As soon as Kollos realizes the demon fears the amulet, he spurs his men to attack and strikes Conan down from behind, claiming the amulet and riding
off. Now that Conan no longer has the amulet, Imhotep attacks him immediately. Back in El Shah Maddoc, the King (Maddoc II) is talking to Swan, the seer who advises him. He reminds her that she’s his slave and will never be set free, and her clairvoyance confirms that. Tetra shows up to give Maddoc shit for not killing Conan yet and punctuates her displeasure by burning his library. Maddoc grabs a sword and comes after her. Near the forest, Conan’s not doing too well since he’s already tired from all the fighting earlier. Imhotep’s horde arrives and Shapur decides he and his men should help Conan since he swore allegiance to the barbarian last issue. It may be too late though, as Imhotep begins to crush the life from Conan, wishing he could do the same to Pathir, 
the demoness who exiled him here in the first place. At the castle, Maddoc tracks Tetra into the dungeons and she taunts him with the fact that his father was a usurper who seized the throne. She uses her sorcery to cause the stone to open up under his feet. In the forest, Shapur and his men find Kollos and the M’gai and Shapur offers to let them go if they give him the amulet. Naturally, Kollos refuses, so Shapur’s cohort attacks the M’gai. Meanwhile, Conan’s willpower won’t let him give in to the demon and he keeps fighting, even after his sword is broken. Shapur manages to get the amulet from Kollos (who gets away) and orders his men back to save Conan. At the castle, Tetra is playing with Maddoc’s mind, making him see his own men as monsters, who he then kills. She leads him to his throne room where she has Swan at her mercy. She commands Maddoc to admit that he’s in love with Swan (which is why he wouldn’t free her), but after he agrees to do anything Tetra wants, she
breaks Swan’s neck. That takes all the fight out of Maddoc and he agrees to serve her, starting with eliminating Conan. Speaking of Conan, he manages to defeat Imhotep without the amulet, but when Shapur returns it to him the demon grabs it so he can communicate with Conan. Imhotep is impressed by the barbarian’s prowess and indomitable will and pledges his fealty, as does Shapur. Conan figures with their help he can take care of Maddoc, not knowing that the young king is now in thrall to Tetra. This is a pretty good issue, although I think there might be a bit too much sorcery in this particular sword & sorcery tale, especially for Conan. Using a magical amulet and enslaving a demon seems a bit of a stretch for someone who used to distrust (or fear) anything with even a whiff of the eldritch.
Conan the Barbarian #184 – “Swords” – Jim Owsley/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one continues from last issue, with Maddoc freaking out about Conan and Tetra ordering him to let her take care of the barbarian. Naturally, Maddoc plans to kill Tetra to avenge Swan, but he has to be very careful about hiding his intentions. Conan returns to his estate (which he received when he became Maddoc new warlord) and lets Keiv know what happened, including the new “understanding” he’s come to with Imhotep. Anneka and Jahli are pleased to see Conan and Shapur (Anneka’s father) return safely and Conan reflects on what a good
king Jahli may be some day (since he suspects Jahli is Maddoc’s son). Conan orders Shapur and his men to round up anyone loyal to the king and confine them. Conan calls a meeting where he tells everyone he plans to depose Maddoc and put Jahli on the throne instead. Keiv suggests they just leave and go find a richer kingdom to plunder and Imhotep (who knows the amulet must be freely given instead of seized) warns Conan that the window for him to return to his own dimension is getting smaller. Conan won’t let Maddoc get away with trying to kill him, so he tells everyone that he’s going ahead and they can follow if they like. That night, he and Anneka end up banging and the next 
day he leads his men (all of whom stuck around) in an attack against the king’s palace. With Keiv and Imhotep helping, the guards have no chance and Conan easily reaches the throne room to confront Maddoc. With everything that’s happened to him, the king has gone rather mad but he’s still a pretty good fighter. He and Conan duel their way through the castle and Maddoc manages to wound the Cimerian several times, but Conan just won’t stop pursuing him. He finally corners Maddoc and tells him about Jahli being his son, but the mad monarch is too far gone to even register what he’s just heard. Conan ends up killing him and tossing his body out the window. Keiv and Imhotep show up to report that many guards switched allegiance and the rest are
dead, but they’re interrupted by Tetra, who blasts the entire castle to pieces around them. This is a pretty good story with some cool battle scenes and a goo final fight between Conan and Maddoc. As some of you may have guessed, Tetra turns out to be Pathir (or is possessed by her), the demoness who banished Imhotep to this realm and he recognizes her immediately. I assume he’ll be the key to defeating her, but whether Tetra will survive or not is something we’ll have to wait to see next issue.