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My life is for me to give -- not for you to take. And -- I do not choose to give it. Yet, perhaps men shall sing one last song of boastful Gondur. If so, they'll say he was the first man of the Vanir to fall before the slicing sword of... Conan the Cimmerian!
- -- Conan
Appearing in "The Coming of Conan!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Olav
- Tara
Adversaries:
- Gondur
- Hothar
- Sharkosh
- Volff the Wily
Other Characters:
- King Kull (Appears in flashback and main story)
Locations:
- Egypt (Cameo)
- Aquilonia (Cameo)
- Cimmeria (Appears in flashback and main story)
- Valusia (Appears in flashback and main story)
- Vanaheim
Items:
- Great Sphinx (Cameo)
- Conan's sword
- Star-Stone
Synopsis for "The Coming of Conan!"
As Conan once again tries to break his slave chains, he is approached by a man who claims war is coming. The man reveals to Conan the flying-horse-riding Choosers of the Slain and in general acts mysterious and godlike. Conan soon comes across Dunlag, a Brythunian, and learns war is brewing between Hyperborea and Brythunia. Dunlag takes Conan to his camp and they meet Dunlag's lover, Eevin. Meanwhile, in the woods, Brythunian commander Malachi secretly meets with the consort of King Tomar of the Hyperboreans. Malachi agrees to betray Brian, king of Brythunia. Back in the Brythunian camp, Eevin sees visions of the Grey God Conan met earlier, but Dunlag is determined to fight. Conan joins the Hyperboareans, mostly to get revenge for being enslaved, and meets Malachi. The two do not get along. The armies clash the next morning and Conan gets revenge on several Hyperboareans, especially one particular one who whipped him. However, oddly, Malachi refuses to bring his cavalry to bear. Conan suspects treachery. Dunlag is killed, which enrages Conan and he chases and kills Malachi, Brian and Tomar meet and both slay the other as the Grey God watches. The Choosers of the Slain fly from the sky and take the honored dead as Conan realizes he had just encountered the god Borri.
PLOT SUMMARY
This story is an adaption of Robert E. Howard's story The Gray God Passes. We see on the splash page Conan in chains why I don't know. There we meet an old man just talking away about war and blood on the wind. Conan wants to know who this man is instead he lifts his sword. We then look up to the sky and see 12 woman flyin g on horses. The old man calls them the choosers of the slain.The old guy tells Conan he will see and witness the passing of kings and of more kings.. he then tells Conan to get gone for gigantic shadows stalk red handed across the world and night is falling on Hyperborea. Conan does but he turns around and it appears the guy grew and has turned gray. We then come across a lone rider. Conan reaches to him and asks him if Bruthunia has gone to war with Hyperborea. The man says yes and Conan goes with the guy still his arms chained up for Conan has Hyperboreans he wishes to kill. Conan tells the man how he came to be in chains and how he fled. There are close to the camp but a woman named EEvin warns the rider whose name is Dunlang not to go back there.. We then are sent off to the woods between Brythunian and Hyperborean . We see acouple meeting Malachi and Kormlada. Apperantly the plan callesfor Malachi to double cross his Brythunian army for gold and some passion. Cut back to Conan and Dunlang and Eevin. Eevin can see into the future she says she seed Dunlans dead body in a vision. Back in the camp of the Hyperborean army we meet King Tomar who s looking for Kormlada . She just returned from the meeting with Malachi.Tomar is mean and berates and abuses Kormlada who s plotting against Tomar as well.Dunlang takes Conan to meet his King Brian (original name lol). Conan still has his cuffs on and swears not to take it off till he sees the blond who puts them on him and he slays him. Nightfall and Conan sits by a fire. He meets Malachi who proceeds to finally free Conan of his chains. It is dawn and the battle is soon. Everone is getting ready except for King Brian. Conan asks Dunlang why Brian isn't fighting . To which he responds we fight for him. They depart and the men chant for Borri to which Conan asks who that is . Borri is the name of a god whose sacrifices are the men who die in battle.The battle begins and fight on they do. Conan sees the blond guy who chained him and kills him. Dunlang orders Conan to tell Malachi to advance with his horsemen. He does not apperantly it is not yet time. Conan looks like he saw seeds of treachery in Malachi's eyes. Conan runs to tell Dunlang who knows Malachi had betrayed them. He takes off his maging gold mail armor EAevin gave him and then he is struck down from a Hyperborean. Realizing the treachery Conan stalks and goes after Malachi who is on his way to kill King Brian. Conan reaches him and kills Malachi. Meanwhile Ing Tomar reaches an unguarded King Brians tent. There they battle and violently kill each other at the same time. And we see Borri who was the old man at the begginning looking down at the battle.. Rain begins and the winged horses and ladies ride down andConan now nows who Borri is. And now Conan understands what Borri meant. CONAN THE BARBARIAN #3 (Feb'71) -- "The Twilight Of The Grim Grey God" opens with Conan, in chains, escaping from some Hyperboreans, and running into a strange old bearded "gray" man who tells him that soon will see the deaths of kings-- and more. When a fleet of women on horseback he calls "the chosers of the slain" appear above them, Conan figures the guy might be on to something. He soon joins the Brythunian army, in hopes of paying back some Hyperboreans. What follows is a complex web of intrigue, plots, betrayals, and savage fighting as thousands of men on each side have at it. In the end, both leaders are dead, leaving Conan to wonder, "FOR WHAT?"
After 2 relatively "small" introductory stories, this is the first one in this series that can truly be considered an "EPIC". All the more ASTONISHING when you consider it somehow fit into a mere 19 pages!! It's no wonder Barry Smith-- who's art is developing at an AMAZING pace-- had as many as 13 panels on one page. WHOA. I figured it best not to go into too much detail about the plot... better to READ the thing than read ABOUT it.
According to Roy Thomas, he & Barry Smith were cranking along, when he realized this story would better fit "chronologically" here-- it was actually the 5th episode produced, and Roy swapped the ones for #3 & #5, so that #3, 4, & 5 would see print in the REVERSE order of how they were created. While sharp-eyed readers may be able to detect the changes in Smith's art, none of that really matters much or gets in the way. This is just one MAGNIFICENT book.
Appearing in "Lair of the Beast-Men!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Kiord
Adversaries:
- Beast-Men
- Gha-Kree
- Har-Lann
- Zha-Gorr
Other Characters:
- Moira
Locations:
- Brutheim
- The Land of Always Light
Items:
- Conan's sword
- Conan's war helm
"Twilight of the Grim Grey God!"
Synopsis for "Lair of the Beast-Men!"
While traveling through Aesgaard, Conan comes upon the dead remains of a giant Beast-Man. He then spies a young woman shivering in the snow. He chases after her hoping to ask her some questions, but she runs away. The woman, Moira, baits Conan into a trap and he is ambushed by two brutish ape men. The beasts lay him low with a blow across the back of the head and drag him down into their underground kingdom of Brutheim. They place him inside of a dungeon filled with "manlings". These men have been raised in slavery and have never once traveled to the surface world. The leader of the slaves is the Chief Thrall, Kiord. Kiord befriends Conan, but tells him that dreams of escaping confinement are futile. Later, Conan is marched out into the middle of a battle arena and presented to the Beast-Men's king, Gha-Kree. He is stripped of his war helm and Conan fights back, but he is quickly overwhelmed. Gha-Kree is impressed with the Cimmerian's temerity and decides that he will be of great sport in the arena games. Conan is taken back to his cell. Kiord offers Conan a sharpened stone should he wish to take his own life. Conan scoffs at the notion, indicating that he still intends to fight back. He is brought back out into the arena and forced to fight against a savage snow-lion. Conan kills the lion with Kiord's rock knife and the sight of victory inspires Kiord to revolt. He breaks free of his cage and his followers run out into the arena. The Beast-Men are shocked but such never before seen courage and are unsure how to react. Many run in fear. Conan and Kiord press against one of the Beast-Men's wheeled battering rams and push it towards the king's throne. The battering ram smashes through the pillars of the arena causing one side of the structure to collapse. During the frenzy, King Zha-Gorr comes up behind Kiord and strikes him dead. Conan leaps in anger and slashes the king across the back of his neck with his sword. The other Beast-Men are either buried beneath the rubble or have fled the arena. Conan takes Zha-Gorr's crown and places it on Kiord's lifeless head, proclaiming him "First among men".
Appearing in "Twilight of the Grim Grey God!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Dunlang
- Eevin
- King Brian
Adversaries:
- Borri, the Grey God
- Choosers of the Slain
- Malachi
- King Tomar
- Kormlada
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for "Twilight of the Grim Grey God!"
"Twilight of the Grim Grey God!"
Notes
- This issue reprints the following issues of Conan the Barbarian in black and white:
Trivia
- Includes a map of Hyboria.
See Also
- Write your own review of this comic!
- Discuss Conan Saga Vol 1 1 on the forums
- Images from Conan Saga Vol 1 1
Recommended Reading
Footnotes
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