(EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to The Classic Conan Countdown, a series of reviews focusing on the original 275 issues of Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian, which were published from 1970 to 1993. This is a review of Conan the Barbarian (Vol. 1) #22.)

By WALLY MONK – Paint Monk’s Library Editor

Well, it finally happened! As I’ve been telling you for months, it’s been a terrific strain for Roy, Barry and our hard-pressed, hard-working inkers to turn out an issue of CONAN THE BARBARIAN each and every month. Time after time, the ever demanding deadline has forced them to take desperate measures – including one issue reproduced partly from pencils, another finished up from Barry’s layouts by no less than four penciler/inkers. 

But this time, Fate as well went against them – and you. At the last minute – and believe it when we say we mean just that! – no less than thirteen pages of the 21-page spectacular planned for this issue went lost in the mail, necessitating either a reprint of an earlier CONAN issue – or the substitution of a few “Conan-presented” sword-and-sorcery tales gathered from earlier Marvel mags. There wasn’t even time to change the now-accidentally-misleading cover, since it was printed long before the loss could have been anticipated. (And please, people – don’t tell us we should simply have skipped putting out an issue at all this month. Nothing would have pleased Roy and Barry more – but, once printing schedules are definitely set up, that becomes impossible. By legal contract, Marvel had to put out something called CONAN THE BARBARIAN this month – even if the mag had been completely filled with re-runs of Millie the Model! No lie!)