Conan the Barbarian #100

The Black Corsairs may mourn the loss of their leader in this dynamic, double-sized issue!

Conan and Belit reach aboard the Tigress their pirate ship flow down the western sea in search of a mythical treasure. Conan has a bad premonition. Belit reassures him saying that she will protect him even after she dies if he ever gets in mortal danger. Then suddenly the ship gets attacked by a giant two headed snake which devours one of the men. Conan attacks the monster and repels it after it got his man. After a while they find the island where the treasure is hidden. They see an abandoned tower and a huge, winged creature looming above it. N'Yaga the ships sage tells them that it is the shadow of the legendary man-ape who dwells in the tower. Conan and his companions reach the tower and find that in front of it lies a huge stone with four handles. Conan tries to lift it but then Belit pretends that she hears something. Conan rushes to her side only to avoid a rock avalanche that kills the four men that lifted the monolith. Conan and the Tigress crew clear the rubble and find a huge treasure underneath it. They head towards their ship. Then Conan gets attacked by a black lotus plant and falls unconscious.

Conan sees a terrible vision while being unconscious. In it he sees winged men that used to tread the earth long before mankind. Devastated earthquakes and other natural disasters ravaged earth and these men became shadows of themselves. The last of them, a hideous ape shaped creature was left to roam a deserted land. After that the scene swifts and Conan sees his men arriving on the scene. Over them the hideous man ape looms in the sky. He then wakes up and looks around.

Conan shouts for his crew. He sees one of them in a mad state. The crewman attacks him and Conan is forced to slay him. Then Conan proceeds to the ship to watch a terrible scene. His crew members are all dead and Belit hangs from a golden necklace. Conan makes decides to cremate her dead body along with the ship.Then he returns to face the monster. He kills all the hyenas that it sends him and then enters the tower. The winged ape-man half buries him under heavy rocks. Then Conan sees an impossible apparition, the ghost of Belit fighting against the monster. She hurts it and then disappears buying him the time needed to get out of the rubble. Conan slays the beast. Then he moves to the shore where he sends the dead body of Belit and the ship of Tigress into their final voyage in a funeral pyre. Her memories will haunt him for a long time.

Notes:

• The cover is a homage to the cover of Baffling Mysteries #7.
• Ranked #83 in Wizard Magazine's list of "100 Best Single Issue Comics Since You Were Born".