Jim Zub's Twisting Loyalties part 4: Purged
Zula, guardian of the grasslands, is sure that Conan, who speaks with a forked tongue, is a servant of Set in disguise. Conan tries to convince Zula otherwise.
Zula transforms back into a panther, then into a woman (from Conan the Destroyer (1984)). Conan swears to Zula that he has never worshiped the snake god and that he has never set foot in Stygia.
Zula informs the Cimmerian that his aura is tainted/cursed by dark magic and that his soul is in jeopardy.
If Conan wants his spirit to be saved he'll have to reach Zula's ancestors' ancient monument, an immense "Olmec" stone head. Zula transforms into a harmless raven and takes flight, Conan follows on foot.
We get two flashbacks, one from The God in the Bowl and another from Conan the Barbarian #18.
Conan rapidly climbs to the top of the stone head, an amazed Zula starts his True Form ritual. Zula will try to exorcise the Set poison from the Cimmerian. If Conan cannot be saved, Zula will have to kill him.
Conan steps into Zula's magic circle, we see Snake-Headed men and Shapechangers of the grasslands fighting each other.
Conan uses his Pict sword aka Brule's blessed spear to stab the snake spirit that was corrupting his soul.
Now deracinated, the angered snake demon takes physical form (a Serpent Man version of Conan) and attacks Zula. The dark spirit is much too strong, it starts slapping Zula around. Conan remembers Bêlit's words from Conan the Barbarian #17. Now strengthened, Conan saves Zula by slaying his evil snake twin. Zula reassures Conan that Set cannot control his future anymore.
Zula hopes that he will never see Conan ever again.
Asgalun, capital of Pelishtia, coastal city of Shem. Tarnasha, last seen in Kyros, is desperately trying to sell her stolen "Fangs of The Serpent"; i.e., Thulsa Doom's Dagger (still the very same one with the two intertwining snakes from the 1982 Conan the Barbarian movie).
Tarnasha gets jumped by a Serpent Man with piercing eyes!
The End?
What I did like:
We are getting a brand-new slate of e-novellas, the first one will drop in Fall 2025.
The letters page is back!
Another variant cover by Canadian freelance artist Mike Rooth!
Female characters appear... and three actually speak.
A cat o' nine tails also appears. Cat o' Nine Tails (1971) is a must see movie!
Zula finally uses his female form.
Archaeologist Jeffrey Shanks talks shape-shifters: The Hyena (Weird Tales, March 1928), In the Forest of Villefère (Weird Tales, August 1925), Wolfshead (Weird Tales, April 1926), The Shadow Kingdom (Weird Tales, August 1929), Worms of the Earth (Weird Tales, November 1932), Black Colossus, The Hour of the Dragon, The Scarlet Citadel, Kothian wizards Tsotha-lanti & Pelias and The People of the Black Circle.
What I did not like:
Pazuzu's well known connection to Conan is left unexplored.
Conan gets infected, is unaware, suffers no symptoms and gets cured. Weak, embarrassing, fatuous storytelling.
Why is Zula helping Conan? Zub's Conan is a repulsive killer of men and animals, he was even fantasizing about killing some of Zula's people last issue.
The Serpent Man never identifies himself. Lame.
A woman appears on only one of the variant covers.
No interview with Grace Jones!?
No advert for the Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone Deluxe Edition Hardcover, featuring spectacular bonus content.
I give it a 6/10. Sadly, Zub is phoning it in once again. Conan of Cimmeria gets successfully exorcised and nothing goes wrong. A soulless horror tale with a happy ending. Very dispiriting.
