Conan the Barbarian #103 – “Bride of the Vampire” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one continues from last issue, with the unconscious Conan being taken by the Drellik king and his Bamula tribesmen thrown into a dungeon by the other Drelliks. A Drellik is a native word for vampire, but only the king is a true vampire; his followers have adopted his blood-drinking ways, but they die as easily as any other person. The king is impressed by Conan’s strength, wondering if he could add it to his own by drinking Conan’s blood. Conan wakes up in time to stop him, but
the king tells Conan his origin story. The king was bitten ages ago by a Drellik in the form of a bat and became one, drinking blood to gain strength and subjugating tribesmen with his hypnotic gaze. But the king feels lonely, since none of his followers are true Drelliks. He never changed any of them because he thought them unworthy, but he believes Conan is worthy of this “gift”. Naturally, Conan has no interest in becoming a Drellik and ruling the world, so the king throws him in a cell where he meets a woman named Eesee. She was the king’s wife back when he was human, kept young by his bite but denied immortality. Now that she’s begun to age, the king has lost interest and wants to replace 
her with Conan. The king chains Conan to his throne and forces him to watch the other “drelliks” tear one of the Bamulas apart. To spare the rest of his men, Conan agrees to join the king and become a Drellik. The Bamulas are freed and take off and Conan demands the king free Eesee as well. The king cares nothing for her and when she hears that, Eesee puts a spear into his back. But he can’t be killed by normal means, so he chases Conan outside with the spear still sticking out of him. The Bamulas return to slaughter the other blood-drinkers, as the king pursues Conan up a cliff. The king taunts Conan with his invincibility, but Conan recalls a detail from the king’s origin story and knocks him down the cliff so the spear goes right through him. The wood through his heart (like a wooden stake, I guess) kills the Drellik king and Conan finishes him by cutting his head off. Eesee comes out to die with her
husband and Conan thanks Basuto for leading the Bamulas against the blood-drinkers. Conan suggests that Basuto might like to have Felida, the woman Conan “inherited” when he killed the previous Bamula war-chief. This is a pretty good story, although I’m not sure how well classic vampire mythology fits into Conan’s world. Robert E. Howard did write plenty of horror stories, but this almost feels a bit too modern to me, with all the trappings of vampire lore (blood drinking, stake through the heart, hypnotic gaze) on display. There’s also a vague undercurrent of homo-eroticism, although Roy doesn’t dwell on it. But the Drellik king says he wants Conan as his “consort”, so I can’t help wondering how he meant that. It’s got a bit of an Anne Rice vibe to it, although Conan’s definitely not interested in being a boy-toy.
Conan the Barbarian #104 – “The Vale of Lost Women” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one begins in the village of the Bakalah tribe, who have captured an Ophirean woman named Livia who they plan to sacrifice as they already have done with her brother. Livia hates the Bakalah king (Bajujh) for killing her brother, but is in no position to get her revenge on him. Livia is startled to see Conan arrive at the village with some of his Bamula warriors to conclude some kind of treaty with Bajujh. After a feast, the drunken Bajujh is taken to his hut and Livia sneaks out of her own hut to Conan’s to ask him for help escaping the Bakalahs. Conan seems unmoved by her plight and she
gets pissed off, berating him for being a barbarian and finally offering herself to him if he frees her. Conan points out that she isn’t free to offer herself to anyone since she’s Bajujh’s captive, and if Conan wanted her he’d just ask for her. But he does agree to save her from the Bakalahs, with whom he’s cooperating to attack another tribe. But Conan knows Bajujh plans to betray him, so he figures he’ll strike first and when Bajujh is dead, Livia will be free. The next night, Conan and Bajujh finalize their plans at another feast, but Conan and the Bamulas fall on the Bakalahs and start wasting them. Livia is so horrified to see Conan leading the slaughter, she steals a horse and takes off 
into the wild. She’s thrown off in a strange valley, where she soon finds herself surrounded by weird women who tie her to an altar. Livia recalls a legend about the Vale of Lost Women, who turned into flowers to escape pursuers and now capture all who trespass in their valley. The women start chanting and a giant bat-monster arrives to claim Livia, but Conan shows up and attacks the beast. He can’t kill it, but he does drive it away and the strange women vanish. Livia is still freaked out by Conan’s bloodlust while killing the Bakalahs, but she realizes he saved her from the monster and figures he’ll want sex in return. But Conan surprises her by saying he doesn’t want anything from
her she’s not willing to give him freely, so he’ll take her to the Stygian border so she can make her way home. This story is based on a Conan tale by Robert E. Howard that wasn’t published until 1967, long after Howard died. The story is a bit disjointed, with the lost women stuff almost seeming like it belongs to a separate tale. But it is cool t see Conan’s honourable streak, not forcing Livia to “reward” him, even though he saved her life twice.