“Conan finds himself in a mysterious ziggurat. A woman accuses him of violating the temple of Hanuman, but all is not as it seems. Writing blobs, seductive wenches, and visions of the past are not quite what they appear to be. Can the barbarian defeat Mullah-Kajar and his power of illusion?”

(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) #117.)

By ANDY MAGLOTHIN – Paint Monk’s Library Writer

High Priest Mullah-Kajar overthrew the Turanian satrap forcing him into exile – but he holds the Turanian ambassador and his wife hostage inside a great ziggurat. Two of Mullah-Kajar’s guards are inside the entrance, discussing these recent actions and hear something in the hallway. They decide to take a look in the hall and are attacked and killed by Conan.

Conan makes his way through the ziggurat until he finds a great room with a robed figure standing atop a staircase, swinging a censer. As Conan approaches, he asks the robed figure to point him in the direction of the prisoners, but the mysterious figure will not answer. Conan rips off the robes, revealing a scantly clad, dark-haired woman. She curses Conan for desecrating the sacred temple of Hanuman. The curse causes Conan to see the mirror of his soul, which can potentially drive him mad.

Conan’s eyes close against his will and experiences a vision of an endless hallway with walls and ceiling featuring celestial bodies and multiple doors. In the distance, Conan can see the woman running from door to door and he gives chase. Conan sees a vision of himself from weeks ago speaking with the warlord of Turan as they made an agreement for Conan to rescue the hostages. Conan’s next vision was that of the battlefield in Cimmeria where he was born including his mother holding him as a newborn. The vision quickly turns to a nightmare as his mother’s teeth become sharp and arms transform into tentacles. Conan grabs the woman’s arm stopping the visions. Conan focuses back on the mission and wants her to guide him to the captives but before they start moving, Conan blindfolds her hoping to prevent her from putting him under a spell again.

The woman guides Conan to a door and reveals two monstrous blobs with tentacles primed for the attack. If their appearance wasn’t bad enough, Conan experiences overwhelming negative emotions emitted from the creatures. Conan savagely pushes aside his fear and other emotions to defeat the monsters.

Thinking she tricked him, Conan turns his rage to the woman. She reveals he was not actually fighting monsters, but slaughtered the Turanian Ambassador and his wife. He cannot believe they’re dead and potentially taking 10,000 gold pieces out of his payment. Conan grabs the woman stating she’s coming with him to take out Mullah-Kajar when the truth is revealed – there is no woman….it was Mullah-Kajar the entire time.

Mullah-Kajar casts another spell causing Conan to see visions of the cosmic hallway where demons from his childhood nightmares spill out of the doors. Conan begins to hack away proclaiming he will not succumb to the sorcerer’s spells. Mullah-Kajar’s spell causes Conan to view him as death raising a dagger for a final blow to the Cimmerian. Using his great strength, Conan grasps Mullah-Kajar’s wrist forcing him to stab himself in the chest. With his dying efforts, Mullah-Kajar causes Conan to see him as various people from his past: Red Sonja, his mother and Yag-Kosha before showing himself as a skeleton and fading to dust.

CAPSULE REVIEW: Penciled and inked by John Buscema, the cover features Conan battling a monster with a blindfolded woman in the background. Providing a hint of the action within the issue, Conan’s struggle against the enormous green monster is captured in this image. The monster’s color is a combination of greens and yellows giving a slimy appearance compared to the texture of the stone walls surrounding the characters. No word balloons, just a small title and the logo….a very effective, no frills approach fitting for our favorite Cimmerian.

Larry Hama wrote this issue, but I noticed no drop in quality. There are enough twists and action to keep one engaged in the story. Hama provides enough concise information to update anyone who might have missed the previous issue, but not so much it bores long time readers. Hama’s narrative of the ziggurat, Conan’s emotions, and the illusions paint a page turning psychological roller-coaster. His description of Conan’s will to overcome Mullah-Kajar’s influence is intense and serves as a testament to Conan’s physical and mental strength

I always focus on the Buscema / Chan team’s artwork and this issue provides another example of their talents. Look at the details on the ziggurat, monsters, facial expressions etc. They provide depth and gritty detail to the overlying narrative allowing the reader to submerse him / herself in the Hyborian age. Along with Chan’s shading, the coloring work of George Roussos also assists with setting tones and intensity of scenes. Look at the first image of Mullah-Kajar’s influence over Conan then the subsequent scene of the eternal hallway. The other illusions provide the same intensity with the monsters from Conan’s childhood nightmares. I really enjoy the ending where Conan’s view of Mullah-Kajar changes to multiple characters from Conan’s past then he disintegrates….or did he?

It features one of the few Conan issues written by Larry Hama and more sorcery than other issues, this should be a staple of any Conan fan’s collection.

On a scale of 1-10, I give it 7.5 Aquilonian Luna.

Living life my own way – Andy from Aquilonia