“The Devourer of the Dead!”

CONAN THE BARBARIAN — Issue no. 86, February 1978

Book: Conan the Barbarian

Issue No.: 86

Published: February 14, 1978

Title: “The Devourer of the Dead!”

Cover Price: 35¢

Like the February ’78 Savage Sword of Conan, this one is drawn by John Buscema, which make me wonder how many Conan pages per day was that guy drawing? That Savage Sword book was 60 pages, this one is seventeen pages... maybe these books are just coming out every other month?

I peeked ahead to March 1978, and it looks like Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword were both monthly at the time, so I’m gonna assume that Buscema wasn’t drawing 77 pages every month, because that would just be an insane workload. So one or both books must have a rotating roster of artists. I guess I will find out after I make my way through a few more ’78 Conan books.

This story starts with a splash page followed by a double-splash page showing Conan and his pal Zula (another barbarian-looking dude, and bonus, Zula has a cool mohawk) overlooking the walled city of Luxur, the capital of Stygia. The narration lays out the story — Conan and Zula are visiting the city to rescue a “she-pirate” named Bêlit, apparently Conan’s girlfriend. I call Zula Conan’s pal, but they might just be business (barbarian business) associates — I’m not yet quite sure how transactional their relationship is.

I wondered aloud about Savage Sword of Conan being printed in a “magazine” format to get around the censorship of the Comics Code Authority. This Conan comic book is approved by the CCA, but it’s still pretty barbaric (sorry to be so on-the-nose). I mean, Conan breaks a guy’s back. Ouch.

There’s a fun bit where Conan comments on the brutality of the religion of the “civilized” people of Luxur — “And we’re the ones they call savages!” I doubt I would have fully appreciated Conan's anti-authority sentiment in 1978, but I certainly appreciate it now.

As for the rest of the plot, this one is mostly setup. Conan and Zula do manage to fight a slightly Lovecraftian monster and find Bêlit, but I expect the story will kick into a higher gear with some political intrigue next issue, as we’re promised a confrontation with King Ctesphon II. It seems Bêlit is in trouble with the king because she was trying to help a slave girl who is also Ctesphon’s sister.

Next time — Jack (Kirby) is back with Black Panther!