Appearing in "The City of Skulls"
Featured Characters:
- Conan (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Turanian soldiers (First appearance)
- Juma (First appearance)
- Lieutenant Hormaz (First appearance; dies)
- Prince Ardashir (First appearance; dies)
- Princess Zosara (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Azweri/Meruvians (First appearance)
- Rimpoche/God-King Jalung Thongpa (First appearance; dies)
- Tanzong Tengri (First appearance; dies)
- Gorthangpo (First appearance; dies)
- Shemite slave raiders (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- Yama, King of Demons, the Death God (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Crom (Invoked)
- King Yildiz (Mentioned)
- Kuigar nomads (First appearance)
- Great Khan Kujula (First appearance)
- Ajujo (Invoked)
- Gods of Kush (Invoked)
- Ishtar (Invoked)
Races and Species:
- Humans
- Horses
- Grey Wolves (Mentioned)
- Longtooths
- Nose-horns
- Gods (Also statues)
- Demons (Statues)
Locations:
- Earth-80179 (First appearance)
- Hyrkania
- Talakma Mountains (First appearance)
- Zaporoska River (Mentioned)
- Meru / Cup of God (First appearance)
- Shamballah (First appearance)
- Seven sacred cities (Mentioned)
- Sumero Tso (First appearance)
- Turan (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- Kush (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- Cimmeria (Mentioned)
- Shem (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- Argos (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- Zamora (Mentioned)
- Hell (Invoked)
- Hyrkania
Items:
- Tanzong Tengri's staff (First appearance) (Destruction)
- Holy Texts of the Book of the Death God (Mentioned)
Vehicles:
- Galley (First appearance)
Events and Eras:
Synopsis for "The City of Skulls"
- Synopsis not yet written
Appearing in "The Blood of Bel-Hissar!"
Conan the Barbarian #27The Blood of Bel-Hissar!
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Turghol (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Suwaan (First appearance; dies)
- Army of Yezdigerd
- Hyrkanian brigands (First appearance)
- Kai Shaah (First appearance)
- Mostly non-Hyrkanian brigands (First appearance)
- Kadra Mahmed (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Prince Yezdigerd (Mentioned)
- Noros (First appearance; dies)
- Skol Abdhur, the Butcher (First appearance; dies) (Only in flashback)
- King Bel-Hissar (First appearance; dies) (Only in flashback)
- Naka (First appearance; dies) (Only in flashback)
- Khossus V, Monarch of Koth (Mentioned)
Deities and Invocations:
- Crom (Invoked)
- Mitra (Invoked)
- Bori, Thirsty God of Battle (Invoked)
- Sea-Gods of Acheron (Mentioned)
- Gods from elder times (Statues)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- Hyboria
- Hyrkania
- Hyrkanian dunes and deserts, south of the Zaporoska River (First appearance)
- Bab-El-Shaithan (First appearance)
- Zaporoska River (Mentioned)
- Makkalet (Mentioned)
- Hyrkanian dunes and deserts, south of the Zaporoska River (First appearance)
- Cimmeria (Mentioned)
- Turan (Mentioned)
- Khitai (Mentioned)
- Hyperborea (Mentioned)
- Stygia (Mentioned)
- Acheron (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- Python (Mentioned, possibly first appearance)
- Koth (Mentioned)
- Himelian Mountains (Referenced)
- Argos (Mentioned)
- Hyrkania
- Western Sea (Mentioned)
- Hyboria
Items:
- Aspers (Mentioned)
- Blood of Bel-Hissar (First appearance)
Events:
- Hyborian Age
- Age of Acheron (Only in flashback)
- Sack of Python (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "The Blood of Bel-Hissar!"
Conan the Barbarian #27The Blood of Bel-Hissar!
On his journey away from Makkalet Conan crossed the Zaporoska river southeast of the Vilayet sea. He comes across a khitai woman that is being attacked by a khitai man. Conan leaps to her rescue, but the battle is interrupted by Yezdigerd's men, who after the tarim war now try to conquer all of Hyrkania. Conan grabs the girl and escapes on his horse, with the desert man riding behind him. They come across the fortress Bab-El-Shaithan, and a gate opens to let them in, slamming shut on the Turanian riders. A horde of armed men greet Conan, who wisely decides surrender is the best option. Conan, the mute khitai Turghol and the khitai woman Suwaan, who says she is Turghol's slave, are taken to a feast hall where they discover all the men here are outcasts and bandits under the rule of the outlaw Skol Abdhur, who turned this fortress in a haven for bandits. They are divided in two factions, the hyrkanian bandits under Khai Shaah and the non-hyrkanian under Kadhra Mahmed. The mere fact a woman is in the area ignites passions, and a fight breaks out that is fatally ended by Abdhur, who tolerates no disrespect. Abdhur is friendly with Conan and explains he keeps the men in check with a ruby, the Blood of Bel-Hissar. Should another man slay him and take it, that man would become a target, so the outlaws are content to let Abdhur play them against each other. That night, Conan hopes to spend the evening with Suwaan, but she drugs him, and when he awakens, he finds Abdhur and his men dead and the ruby missing. Conan leads a group of outlaws deep into the fortress, where they find the girl; to Conan's surprise, she fingers him as the thief. Conan fights his way through the crowd, and is pulled through a secret passage by Turgohl. The mute leads Conan outside the fortress and they make their escape. Conan is confused until Turghol pulls the Blood of Bel-Hissar from his pocket. Conan realizes that Suwaan, who turns out to be Turghols wife, had intended to betray them both, but Turghol had managed to snatch the ruby for himself. Suwaan is killed by the outlaws and the both factions engage in battle against each other. Conan contemplates fighting Turghol for the ruby, but decides it's not worth the trouble and takes his leave, again with the intent to travel west to reach the coastal nation of Argos.
Appearing in "Wolves Beyond the Border"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Races and Species:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Events and Eras:
Synopsis for "Wolves Beyond the Border"
- Synopsis not yet written
Notes
- The City of Skulls is based on the story by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. The issue is special in the fact that the story covers the same period/episode (in a far different form after the first few pages) that The Curse of the Golden Skull in Conan the Barbarian #37, written by Roy Thomas:
- As Marvel Comics had originally obtained the rights only to the Robert E. Howard material, the established policy was that when they had produced an episode of Conan's life which had also been covered by other authors, such as de Camp or Carter, the non-comics version were ignored.
- All Conan material became later available for adaptation. On Mike Vosburg's desire, Roy Thomas let him adapt a Conan adventure, and City of Skulls was the only story available at the time.
- The two versions are mutually exclusive, Golden Skull being the "authentic" story in Marvel's Conan.
- The events of The City of Skulls occur in another reality, and it was considered that the story might qualify as a new Conan/What If: "What If the De Camp/Carter Stories Had Been Available to Conan the Barbarian Several Years Ago, and Had Been Adapted Instead of the Originals Written by Roy Thomas".
- The Appendix gave it the designation "Earth-80179", with as description "City of Skulls; markedly divergent version of events of Conan the Barbarian I#37".[1]
- The issue also includes The Kozaks Ride, an article by Fred Blosser.
- The Blood of Bel-Hissar is reprinted from Conan the Barbarian #27.
- Wolves Beyond the Border is adapted from the story by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp.