COMIC BOOK OF THE WEEK – “The Savage Sword of Conan” #175 (July 1990)

'The Savage Sword of Conan' #175

This week’s “Comic Book of the Week” is “The Savage Sword of Conan” #175, which was published by Marvel Comics in July 1990. This comic was titled “Blade of the Demon Slayer.” and in addition to that story, the comic also included a six-page portfolio of Dave Simons Conan drawings.

This issue’s creative team included John Arcudi, writer; Armando Gil, penciler and inker; and Janice Chiang, letterer. Dorian Cleavenger was the cover artists, and the issue sold for $2.25 at newsstands.

“The Savage Sword of Conan” #175 was a 64-page issue that begins with a horse-riding adventurer named Isham of Iranistan. He’s being chased through the mountains on the border of Khitai by two large, hungry mountain lions. After his horse collapses, Isham barely escapes by climbing to the top of an isolated cliff.

On top of this cliff and to his surprise, Isham finds the remnants of a long-ago battle, complete with the skeletal remains of humans and nonhumans alike. Sunk deep in the large horned skull of something that died millennia ago, he finds a large ornate sword that is so sharp that it can cut boulders in two.

The scene then shifts to the night camp of a bunch of drunken bandits just as a group of bounty hunters, led by Conan the Barbarian, storms in and wipes them out. Conan and his friends take the heads of their bandits back to the Khitan trade village of Shar-Pei, where they plan to turn them in for a bounty. While riding into town, they encounter corpulent local crime lord Dai-Ling, the former employer of the bandits Conan killed. Conan and Dai-Ling exchange a few words and dirty looks before they go their separate ways.

Elsewhere in the town, Isham is meeting with a local witch woman named La-Fei, who is examining a bunch of old scrolls Isham found on top of the cliff with the sword. She reads the scrolls and explains that 8,000 years ago a brotherhood of wizards banded together to fight “forces of magic” that threatened to wipe out mankind. The brotherhood combined their life forces to form three powerful wizard warriors, and the best of the three wielded the sword that Isham found atop the cliff.

La-Fei buys the scrolls from Isham, but he refuses to sell her the sword. On the way out of La-Fei’s shop, Isham accidentally bumps into Dai-Ling, and a fight ensues in which Isham cuts down two of Dai-Ling’s bodyguards with his magic sword. Everyone in the town square sees this, including Conan and a host of other folks who begin making plans to steal it.

Later that night, Conan tracks Isham to an inn, where he finds him dead with his throat cut in an upstairs room. While Conan’s still in the room, a trio of ninja-clad thieves working for Dai-Ling slip in the window, and Conan kills two of them while the third escapes. Naturally, the magic sword is nowhere to be found.

A few minutes later at Dai-Ling’s house, he receives word that the sword has been stolen and is then paid a visit by the witch, La-Fei. She convinces him that she’s found a secret within the scrolls that will make him more powerful than the magic sword he seeks.

As the sun begins to rise over the mountains, Conan is still on the hunt for the sword. The town drunk, Ton-Fun, tells Conan that Isham was killed by Mowki and his giant sidekick, who have left town, headed east.

While Conan takes off after them, La-Fei is leading Dai-Ling through an ancient ritual she learned from reading the scrolls sold to her by the late Isham. In the end, the ritual renders Dai-Ling invincible. La-Fei, who is watching Conan through a crystal ball, tells Dai-Ling that the only thing that can harm him is the magic sword Conan’s going after.

Later that day, Dai-Ling and six of his men accost Conan and his group of bounty hunters on a narrow mountain pass. Dai-Ling challenges Conan, who hacks Dai-Ling up one side and down the other without inflicting any damage on him. Conan quickly figures out that his sword is useless, but then gets on his horse and charges Dai-Ling. The horse knocks Dai-Ling off the mountain and the rest of his host flees in fear. The scene ends with Dai-Ling unharmed at the bottom of the mountain, shaking his fist at Conan.

Conan and his group eventually track down Mowki and his giant friend to a small village where they are running a money making scheme that involves a village challenger taking on the giant armed with the magic sword. The giant kills one of the villagers by cutting him in half, but Conan accepts the challenge and gets the magic sword after dispatching the giant with a vicious stab to the gut.

Back in Shar-Pei, Dai-Ling’s men are going on a rampage, killing people left and right and raping any woman they come across. The town drunk, Ton-Fun, slips away to get Conan, who agrees to return to Shar-Pei to take out Dai-Ling. Little do they know that this is all part of La-Fei’s plan. Dai-Ling flips out when she tells him that Conan has the magic sword, but she tells him not to worry.

Around sunrise, Conan and his men arrive back in Shar-Pei, which has been devastated by Dai-Ling and his men. A few minutes later, Dai-Ling steps out, arrayed in full battle armor and “bathed in an aura of white light.” The battle begins and Dai-Ling gets the upper hand until he’s betrayed by La-Fei, who removes the protective aura from around Dai-Ling. Conan cuts him down pretty quick after that.

Later that night, Conan’s in a weird mood around the camp fire and when one of his friends tries to cheer him up, Conan almost loses control and nearly cuts him in two with the magic sword. Conan stops himself just in time and realizes that something’s not right. He then has a vision in which he sees that La-Fei is trying to turn him into her pawn in hopes of getting the magic sword.

Soon thereafter, Conan kicks in her door, and she hands over the ancient scrolls to keep from getting cut down. The story ends with Conan standing on a cliff high over the shores of Lake Ho. He puts all of the scrolls and the magic sword in a big sack and throws them into the lake.

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.