Meanwhile, the Cimmerian Rages on...

Torture's the name of the game in the 4th issue of Dark Horse Comic's CONAN: ROAD OF KINGS.  While in Belverus, the capital of Nemedia, Conan is lured into a trap by a sexy messenger girl who has managed to steal a secret pass phrase.  When Conan is brought before Belverus' king (and refuses to give up any information), he's given over to Arixtheus, the city's chief inquisitor.  Before long Conan's placed in an iron maiden, and just as its spikes begin to enter his flesh, he's "rescued" by a bunch of thugs who have been sent by Shadizar to kill him---only he finds himself fighting alongside his assassins as the city's guards begin to flood Arixtheus' torture chamber.  With a sad ending, a killer cover by Doug Wheatly, and some very well done panels by artist Mike Hawthorne, this stop on the ROAD OF KINGS delivers the barbarian goods big time.

The 3rd issue of Dark Horse's KING CONAN re-vamp continues with the adaptation of the Robert E. Howard classic, THE SCARLET CITADEL.  King Conan continues to tell the story of what he experienced in the dungeons beneath Tsotha-Lanti's citadel: this time how we rescued a man from a hell-spawned plant (that makes the plants in THE RUINS look like chia pets), and how this man, Pelias, a sorcerer and rival to Tsotha-Lanti himself, had been prisoner for 10 years before Conan's rescue.  As Pelias' power comes back, they find Tsotha's looking crystal, and see that Conan's city is coming under attack.  With no normal means to get there in time, Pelias conjures a flying creature (who under artist Tomas Giorello's pencil, looks like a suped-up Cthulhu) who Conan mounts and heads off to free his people.
This tale concludes with the next issue,  but I wish the folks at Dark Horse would keep this title going; between Giorello's phenomenal artwork and Timothy Truman's writing, this duo has been producing some of the best Conan comics ever to see print--BY CROM keep this series alive!