The Barry Windsor-Smith Conan Archives #1

In "The Twilight of the Grim Grey God!", Conan encounters the ancient and enigmatic Grey God Borri, whose presence stirs both dread and revelation. Drawn into the brutal war of the Brythunian army, Conan fights through blood-soaked chaos, confronting betrayal and death before witnessing the Choosers of the Slain claim the souls of the fallen—leaving him to reckon with the weight of war and fate.

In the shadowed streets of Shadizar, Conan encounters the enigmatic waitress Jenna, whose beauty draws him into a deadly trap when she’s seized by fanatical followers of the unseen night god. As the temple trembles beneath the weight of a colossal bat-winged deity, Conan races to rescue her—only to find that Jenna’s cunning is as sharp as her escape. With the priestess Hajii watching from the dark, and gold vanishing like smoke, one thing is certain: the night god isn’t the only thing that preys in the dark.

Conan takes on a dangerous job when Lady Aztrias of Numalia hires him to steal from the wealthy merchant Kallian, whose home holds a mysterious bowl said to contain a great treasure. What begins as a simple burglary turns deadly when Conan finds the bowl empty and Kallian dead, only to be framed by Aztrias as the killer. As the city guard closes in, Conan must confront a monstrous serpent-man that emerged from the bowl—and in a chilling vision, he glimpses the shadowy presence of the sorcerer Thoth-Amon.

In "The Keepers of the Crypt," Conan stumbles upon the ruins of the forgotten city of Lanjau, where he battles a monstrous lizard before teaming up with a nameless mercenary to claim its lost treasure. As they face undead guardians sealed within the crypt—defeated only by sunlight—an earthquake buries the city and its secrets, leaving Conan alone. He soon finds himself back in a nearby village, where fate reunites him with Jenna. When soldiers arrive to capture him, the two flee together on horseback, their escape echoing into the unknown.

In "The Garden of Fear," Conan and Jenna find themselves in the midst of a remote mountain tribe’s hospitality—only for Jenna to vanish into the night, snatched by a winged creature of ancient lineage. Trapped in a tower guarded by carnivorous blooms, she faces a perilous trial as the last of a forgotten race. Conan must summon every ounce of cunning and strength, rallying a herd of woolly mammoths to breach the tower’s deadly defenses and reclaim her before the garden claims her forever.

In "Beware the Wrath of Anu!", Conan rides the edge of vengeance and myth, bound by a past betrayal and a curse that stirs the stars. With Jenna at his side and the shadow of a fallen comrade haunting his path, he hunts those who wronged him—only to find that the true cost of retribution may lie beyond the reach of steel.