COMIC BOOK OF THE WEEK – “Conan the Barbarian” #244 (May 1991)

This week’s “Comic Book of the Week” is “Conan the Barbarian” #244, which was published by Marvel Comics in May 1991. This comic was titled “Fiends of the Flaming Mountains” and featured Conan and two of his old sidekicks, Red Sonja and Zula. This issue’s creative team included Roy Thomas, writer; Gary Hartle, penciler; Mike DeCarlo, inker; Mike Heisler, letterer; Nel Yomtov, colorist; Mike Rockwitz, editor; and Tom DeFalco, editor and chief. Steve Lightle was the cover artist for the issue, which sold for $1 at newsstands.

“Conan the Barbarian” #244 was a 32-page issue that begins with Conan and Red Sonja, who are on horseback near Koth’s eastern border. Not only are they fleeing from King Strabonus’ troops, but they’re also having to dodge a field of erupting “fire geysers.” Conan manages to miss one, but in the next instant one of these geysers takes out Sonja’s horse.

Sonja and Conan stand their ground against the approaching troops, who are out rounding up mercenaries to keep them from joining the army of Khoraja. Conan and Sonja take out a few troops before their commander gives the order to take the two adventurers alive so that they can be questioned in regard to the whereabouts of Amalric the Nemedian. The battle continues for a little while longer, and Conan and Sonja are eventually knocked unconscious.

When Conan and Sonja regain consciousness, they realize they’ve been tossed into a stockade. They discuss their situation for a few moments before they realize that they’re not alone. Someone, who knows Conan’s name, is sitting in a dark corner. This stranger and Conan exchange a few words and when Conan leaps upon the stranger, he realizes the man’s no stranger at all. It’s his old friend, Zula, a Kushite known as the “Last of the Zamballahs.”

Conan hasn’t seen Zula in over three years. Before that, they sailed together on the Tigress with Conan’s old girlfriend, the pirate queen Belite, who has died. Zula explains that he was on his way to Khoraja to work as a mercenary when he was captured by the Kothians the day before Conan’s capture.

Zula didn’t resist capture, which is why he wasn’t killed, and the Kothians have given him until dawn to decide whether to join them or not. Zula says he plans to join them just long enough to desert at the earliest opportunity. Zula also shows Conan and Sonja the corpse of another man in the stockade, a man killed when he tried to defend himself against the guards.

A few moments later, Zula also shows Conan and Sonja a small passage in the back of the stockade that was covered by an ill-balanced boulder. The small tunnel leads into the mountain, but the three adventurers don’t plan to venture down the tunnel without weapons. Two guards are gambling outside the stockade, and Zula throws his voice to draw them to the bars.

When they get too close, Zula grabs them through the bars, knocks them out and gets their weapons and a nice torch. Conan, Sonja and Zula enter the tunnel, and it goes down and down. Suddenly and without warning, out of the darkness, swoops what at first looks like a huge bat, but actually turns out to be an “afterling,” a large type of man-bat that Conan and Sonja’s encountered before.

The afterlings Conan and Sonja saw before in a hidden valley in the Zamorian Badlands were gentle and revered humans. They were created by the brother and sister duo of Morophla and Uathacht, who weren’t vampires, but kept themselves alive for centuries by drinking blood. Conan and Sonja defeated the brother and sister and were eventually helped to safety and freedom by the afterlings.

As Conan and Sonja tell Zula about the afterlings, they’re attacked by an enormous swarm of unfriendly afterlings. The man-bats are too numerous to fight, and the three adventurers eventually stop fighting for fear of being dropped from a deadly height. The swarm carries them through the bejeweled caverns and eventually sets them down before a talking afterling.

Conan and Sonja wonder if Morophla may have survived their earlier encounter and brought his afterlings to Koth. While talking this over, they turn to realize that they’ve been set down in a hellish throne room lorded over by Varnae, the “First Lord of the Vampires.” Conan, Sonja and Zula gaze as Varnae’s horrible bulk and skull-littered throne, and the issue ends as Conan utters a single word – “Crom!”

This comic (unless I’ve sold it) and others are available for purchase through Peacock’s Books on Amazon.com. If you’re interested in buying it, search for it there by title, issue number and date of publication.