Savage Doings in Shem!

CONAN THE BARBARIAN — Issue no. 91, July 1978

Chance Shirley

Nov 21, 2023

Book: Conan the Barbarian

Issue No.: 91

Published: July 18, 1978

Title: “Savage Doings in Shem!”

Cover Price: 35¢

Format: Original paper copy

Conan the Barbarian is an easy book to enjoy, assuming you have any affinity at all for sword-and-sorcery fare. Conan is an iconic character for good reason, and the folks at Marvel do right by him. (At least that was the case in 1978.) That said, the book doesn’t shy away from intricate political intrigue, and it can get hard to follow sometimes. I know I’m not alone there — one of the letters printed on the fan-mail page mentions how it is sometimes difficult to keep all of the countries and cities and characters straight. And then there’s a note from the editors on the fan-mail page that admits this issue is particularly twisty because the writer (Roy Thomas) basically had to patch up some in-story sociopolitical continuity to pave the way for future adaptations of Conan material that Marvel had recently acquired the rights to.

Whew.

So I think what’s happening in this issue is Bêlit (she’s Conan’s warrior-queen girlfriend) is leading Conan and their pals Zula and M’Gora into the city of Asgalun in the province of Pelishtia in the country of Shem. Bêlit is the rightful heir to the throne of Asgalun, but this dude Nim-Karrak killed her dad and is the ruler of Asgalun now. So Bêlit has her sights set on killing Nim-Karrak and taking over the city. Oh, and there are rumblings that the Stygians are planning to annex Asgalun, and Bêlit wants to take it over before the Stygians do.

Oh, and the Hyrkanians and the Kushites are involved in Asgalun city politics, too. As Conan says at one point, “Civilized men do more plotting than sleeping, it seems!”

Bêlit’s plan to assassinate Nim-Karrak goes south pretty quick — evil magician Ptor-Nubis and a bunch of his Stygian goons are waiting to capture Bêlit and her party. See, Ptor-Nubis did some magic on M’Gora a while back, and M’Gora unwittingly led Bêlit, Conan, and Zula into Ptor-Nubis’ trap.

Two panels from this issue. In the first, Bêlit, Conan, Zula, and M’Gora enter a walled garden. M’Gora says, “— while I lock the door behind us!” Conan whispers, “Breathing! Do you hear it, Bêlit — Zula?” Zula whispers, “That I do! But your man M’Gora wouldn’t have betrayed us, would he?” Bêlit whispers, “Never! He is as loyal as — wait! Look!” The second panel shows a bunch of dudes with swords ready to attack. Someone off-panel says, “Stygians!” One of the Stygians says, “Throw down your weapons, intruders — or die!” Another Stygian says, “By order of Nim-Karrak, king of Asgalun!”

Oh, and Ptor-Nubis is working for Thoth-Amon, another evil wizard who, as I recall, isn’t a fan of Conan or any of his friends.

Like I said, there’s a lot to keep up with. But this was a particularly fun read for me because I found a paper copy of this issue a while back (and, as I’ve mentioned before, I really love reading these old stories in their original format), and it’s in very good shape. I doubt it is “near mint” or whatever, but it’s probably comparable to what I would have found on the spinner rack at the 7-Eleven back in the day. Plus, aside from the top-notch artwork from regular (at the time) Conan the Barbarian artists John Buscema and Ernie Chan, this issue features lettering by the great Tom Orzechowski.

Next time — Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! I’ll be back next week with Hulk or maybe the X-Men. Or maybe Spider-Man!

Marvel Time Warp

Discussion about this post