I was getting into Marvel's Conan the Barbarian run just as these stories were being published for the first time (1979-80), so this collection brought back a lot of pleasant memories. In fact, "The Devil Has Many Legs!"--the second story reprinted here--was my introduction to the comic, and it made an instant fan of me. In this tale, Conan is traveling through the Black Kingdoms and briefly becomes the war-chief of the Bamula tribe after vanquishing their fiercest warrior (and their giant spider god). Conan and the Bamulas go on to encounter a group of cave-dwelling vampires before the barbarian's wanderlust leads him to the kingdom of Kush, and to new adventures with an evil queen and a sorcerous nobleman.

Roy Thomas successfully recreates the atmosphere of Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age in a comic book setting (though only one of the stories, "The Vale of Lost Women," is actually based on a finished Howard tale), and John Buscema's artwork is fantastic. (John's brother Sal is guest penciller on one story.) My only quibble is with the new coloring, which occasionally is so dusky that it becomes hard to follow the action. This is not a deal-breaker, but it is a little distracting for someone who remembers the original, brighter hues. ( )