Conan #5 (11696)
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThis fifth volume in Ace Books' series collecting the original 1970s Marvel Comics run of Conan the Barbarian continues the adventures of Robert E. Howard's iconic Cimmerian hero. It reprints a selection of issues from the early part of the series, featuring Roy Thomas's scripts and Barry Windsor-Smith's artwork, as Conan faces sorcery, warfare, and monstrous foes in the Hyborian Age.
In "The Dweller in the Dark," Conan rises to captain of the royal guard in the city-state of Zahmahn and finds himself entangled in a dangerous web of loyalty and desire, as his relationship with Queen Fatima is tested by a secret liaison with the servant girl Yaila. When the queen discovers their betrayal, she condemns them both to be devoured by the monstrous Dweller in the Dark—only for Conan and Yaila to escape, leading to a shocking twist that upends the throne’s traditions. Written by Roy Thomas and masterfully illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith, whose dynamic art and inks define the issue’s grim, visceral tone, this 1978 tale delivers a potent blend of intrigue, peril, and political consequence, with cover art by Windsor-Smith capturing the story’s haunting intensity.
In "The Dweller in the Dark," Conan—now Captain of the royal guard and lover to Queen Fatima of Zahmahn—finds himself trapped in the city’s deepest dungeon after a scandalous encounter with the servant girl Yaila. With the Dweller in the Dark closing in, their only chance is to survive the abyss and outwit the queen’s wrath. When the unthinkable happens, Conan must make a choice that reshapes Zahmahn’s fate—and elevates Yaila to a throne she never sought.
In the frozen ruins of a forgotten war, Conan tracks the elusive Atali across a snow-laden battlefield, felling her two frost giant brothers in brutal combat before capturing her. But when her father, the towering Ymir, emerges from the storm, the hunt takes a sudden, chilling turn.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Conan the Barbarian #2 (1970), Conan the Barbarian #12 (1971), Conan the Barbarian #13 (1972), Conan the Barbarian #16 (1972)
Reprinted in Conan the Barbarian: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus #1 (2018), Conan the Barbarian: The Original Marvel Years Epic Collection #1 (2020), Conan The Barbarian: The Original Comics Omnibus #1 (2024)
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