Conan the Barbarian #171 – “Barbarian Death Song” – Michael Fleisher/John Buscema/Armando Gil
This one starts with Conan leading a Nemedian army against the invading Aquilonians and pushing them back. His tactics have won the day after six months of back-and-forth struggle, so the Nemedians are eager to make him permanent commander of their army. But Conan is too restless to stay in one place too long and declines the offer. Out on the road, he comes upon a girl being attacked by members of the Falcon Brotherhood (who Conan has fought before) and naturally he
rescues her. The girl (Tasmara) tells her story: she was a simple peasant girl until a god wanted to bang her and bestowed a upon her a gem that can show glimpses of the future in its many facets. The gift turned out to be a curse, as the first vision she had was of her parents’ death, something she was powerless to change. When Baron Gerdeg found out about the gem’s power, he sent the Falcon Brotherhood to grab Tasmara, since the gem’s power only works when she’s holding it. As she tells the tale, Tasmara has a vision of Conan being carried to a sepulchre with a Nemedian honour guard around him. The next night in 
Numalia, a dancing girl named Serena is accosted by the Falcon Brotherhood, who want her to to them a favour. When Conan and Tasmara stop at Serena’s tavern, he’s jumped by the Brotherhood and while he’s fighting them, Serena sends a falcon with poisoned talons to knock Conan out so the Brotherhood can grab Tasmara and leave. The poison is so effective that everyone thinks Conan dead and the Nemedians take him to a sepulchre with an honour guard, thus fulfilling Tasmara’s vision. Conan wakes up inside the sarcophagus and has to break out. He heads to Gerdeg’s castle, where the evil Baron is trying to force Tasmara to use the gem. She refuses to comply and Conan slaughters a
bunch of Falcon Brothers to get to the throne room and confront Gerdeg. Conan kills Gerdeg but the fight starts a fire in the castle. While they’re fleeing, a god manifests and we find out Tasmara’s story was bullshit; she is actually the old god’s daughter, who stole his gem of prophecy to have a little fun (and cause a little chaos) in the mortal realm. The god takes Tasmara and the gem back to his realm, leaving Conan somewhat bemused. This is a pretty good story with an interesting twist at the end that reminds me of the Star Trek episode “The Squire of Gothos”. The fight scenes were well done and John Buscema sure knows how to draw beautiful women, although the art looked less polished to me this time. Maybe the inker made minimal embellishments to the original pencils, something a lot of people probably like, but I prefer a more finished look to the art.
Conan the Barbarian #172 – “Reavers in the Borderland” – Jim Owsley/John Buscema/Bob Camp
This one starts with a Brythunian noble named Zacharus taking a wagon into the Pictish Wilderness. Zacharus is looking for a thief who lives in the middle of nowhere, against the advice of his guards. He’s even brought his daughter (Tetra) along, although he treats her like crap. Naturally, the Picts attack the wagon and slaughter the guards, taking Zacharus prisoner. Their mayhem is interrupted when Conan shows up and wastes a bunch of them, although some get away with Zacharus. Conan finds Tetra in the wagon and realizes Zacharus must’ve come here for a reason, since no
sane person would be anywhere near the Pictish lands otherwise. Conan hears Pictish drums and takes Tetra to a nearby village where the Picts are doing a harvest ritual. They boil two of their own in blood and tell Zacharus he’ll be sacrificed at dawn. Conan figures Zacharus must be after a rich treasure, so he tells Tetra he’ll save her father in exchange for half of it. She agrees and Conan prepares her for battle … by tearing her dress off. But she’s no warrior and Conan has to save her when she’s unable to kill a Pictish guard. Conan draws the other Picts with a fire (and some insults), giving Tetra time to rescue her father. He’s 
not exactly grateful, slapping her around (because she’s no longer wearing her dress) and leaving her behind, where she’s found by the witch doctor. Conan runs into Zacharus and pounds him for leaving his daughter, the has to fight his way through numerous Picts to find Tetra. Conan is almost overwhelmed by sheer numbers, but Tetra shows she has steel in her spine after all by turning the tables on the witch doctor, holding a dagger to his throat and threatening to kill him if the Picts don’t release Conan. Fearful of a bad harvest, they have no choice but to obey. Back at the wagon site, Zacharus admits that he had half a treasure map sewn into Tetra’s dress and a Hyperborean named Keiv (who lives in the Pictish wilderness) has to other half. Zacharus figures he’s
screwed because Conan threw away the dress, but Tetra (ho’s adopted a rather fetching new look) noticed the map and retrieved it. She figures she’s entitled to the treasure since she has the map, but is willing to honour her agreement with Conan to give him half. This is a pretty good start for Jim Owsley (aka Christopher Priest) that has a definite Robert E. Howard feel to it. Tetra’s “makeover” might seem a bit sudden, but I guess it fits for a girl who was treated like shit by her father and kinda dismissed by Conan. I just hope her new boldness doesn’t get her killed.