For once, it’s not Conan doing the beheading—and he doesn’t like it. Conan manages to play everyone into the positions he needs them in order to steal the coveted jewels, but he’s still victim to the mystical fortress in which they’re contained, and the primitive thugs who worship the dead oracle watching over the Teeth of Gwahlur. P. Craig Russell has proved himself not only one of the greatest fantasy artists in the history of comics, from his early work on Elric through collaborations with Neil Gaiman, and the only man to make a reputation adapting stories from other media, including his award-winning Ring of the Nibelung. His adaptation of Howard is a real masterpiece, as inventive and intricate as anything he’s done to date.