“Conan’s female companion Jenna has cheated death numerous times, and now the Hand of Erlik comes to claim her! But no matter how hard Conan tries, this adversary is immune to his sword-strokes. Can Jenna’s feminine wiles charm the servant of death, or will she finally meet the demise she has eluded for so long?”

(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) #120.)

By ANDY MAGLOTHIN – Paint Monk’s Library Writer

Traveling down a winding road through Shem, Conan and Jenna are startled by the sudden appearance of ghostly, vaporous forms. They hear the sounds of a flute, causing the apparitions to move along with the music. They discover the source of the melodies…Vonndhar, self-proclaimed servant to Erlik, God of Death. Vonndhar expresses his desires for Jenna, but Conan is not about to let her go. Vonndhar challenges Conan to a sword duel which ends with what Conan thinks is a fatal blow.

Vonndhar’s body is on the ground, yet he appears suddenly and explains why he is after Jenna. She survived Myya L’rrasleff’s mystic plague and Erlik wants to understand how. Taking advantage of the distracting conversation, Jenna flees the scene. She finds a camp of brigands lead by Okkan and convinces them she just escaped from a wealthy prince and his servant. Okkan and his crew immediately decide to follow her to find the prince and rob him of his wealth.

Okkan, Jenna and the crew ambush the “prince and his servant” to discover they face Conan and Vonndhar. The ambush changes to a battle between the brigands and the pair of Conan and Vonndhar who quickly kill many of the men. Realizing he’s been had, Okkan calls off the attack and once again Jenna flees the scene. One of the brigands catches her and returns her to the group. Okkan explains there is a war between Akkharia and Pelishtia and convinces Conan and Vonndhar to join them in an attack on the Pelishtia caravan with the intent of stealing their gold. Never one to turn down an opportunity for gold, Conan agrees to join them in the attack.

The new team rests for the evening and Vonndhar describes his origin. He was around in the times of King Kull; before the oceans drank Atlantis. Vonndhar was killed on a battlefield and offered eternal life by Erlik, AKA Death. Vonndhar accepted Erlik’s offer and thousands of years later, he’s relaying this story to Conan and Jenna. During the course of the night, Jenna and Vonndhar’s attraction to each other lead to them sharing some “quality time” adult-style. (Yikes, and Conan was right next to them…ouch!) Jenna awakens in the middle of the night and sneaks away from Vonndhar yet he suddenly appears and she realizes the magnitude of his power.

The next day, prepared for the ambush, one of the men lie on the ground with Jenna pretending to cry over his dead body. They were in the path of the oncoming Pelishtian caravan to stop them long enough for Conan, Vonndhar and the brigands to attack. The Pelishtian group then reveals their tarp covered trailer is actually filled with soldiers who spring into action. Who has the advantage now? Despite having multiple arrows in his torso, Vonndhar’s attack continues to the surprise of the Pelishtians. Their shock provides Conan the window to attack and between he and Vonndhar make quick work of the men.

At the conclusion of the battle, Jenna walks next to the horse-drawn cart which inexplicably flips; landing on her. Conan lifts the cart, freeing Jenna’s body and they realize she is dead. Vonndhar cries out to Erlik blaming him for the deception. Erlik offers to bring Jenna back: and does so at the expense of Vonndhar who dies in the deal. Jenna does not understand why Vonndhar agreed to this and Conan explains he was in love with her and she still does not understand. This enrages the Cimmerian who leaves her with the dead bodies, stranded to find her own way.

CAPSULE REVIEW: A bland cover sets the stage for a slightly above-average issue. Protecting Jenna, Conan is about to face off against Vonndhar featuring the script “When the God of Death Beckons, Even Heroes Must Fall!” I expected the God of Death to look more menacing than Vonndhar. With the combination of an orange shirt with yellow sleeves, yellow pants and thigh-high red boots with heels, Vonndhar looks he just left the audition for a fast-food chain mascot.

Issue 120 is the fourth issue into J. M. DeMatteis’ run on the Cimmerian and it presents a great balance between character development and action. I enjoyed Vonndhar’s origin and it left me wondering if he appeared in any issues of Kull. The deal with Death was a great part of the character, but of course it comes with consequences: you end up in a yellow suit with thigh-high red boots. Remember that folks – there are some fates worse than death.

Conan’s fighting abilities are on display in this issue with his overwhelming abilities taking out many normal people. DeMatteis also shows off Vonndhar’s fighting skills when he battles Conan. One wonders had Jenna not been pinned under the cart, would Conan have been able to defeat Vonndhar? I also enjoyed Conan’s ongoing frustration with Jenna. She takes off on multiple occasions and Conan puts his neck on the line for her one too many times. Abandoning her to deal with the mess she created at the end was a great touch. We’ve all been there – sometimes you just need to walk away, right?

The artwork is the low point of this issue: specifically the coloring. Have I mentioned the eyesore that is Vonndhar? If I’m missing something, please explain it to me, but that was just bad. The team of John Buscema, Bob McLeod, and George Roussos left me thinking I’ve seen better comics featuring our favorite Cimmerian. Issue 120 is the second issue featuring the Buscema’s pencils and McLeod’s inks and shows it takes some time for a creative team to perfect their version of a character.

Many of the panels feature blank backgrounds, so they provide little depth and texture in the images. There are some standout moments like the silhouette of battle behind Vonndhar as he is dying on the battlefield and when Vonndhar and Conan are ambushed. Finally, I think the character’s facial features stood out, especially the brigands, allowing the reader to easily discern characters.

On a scale of 1-10, I give it 6.5 Aquilonian Luna.

Living life my own way – Andy from Aquilonia