Conan is forced to fight as a gladiator against all comers in the arena, but although of course we know he's going to win every time, there's a cruel twist that keeps it raw. There's no shortage of evil sorceresses in the Hyborean Age either, but despite the familiar situations Jim Zub keeps the story moving with enough aplomb to mean it doesn't matter because it's such an enjoyable ride. Fernando Dagnino is a somewhat typical Conan artist in the John Buscema vein, but he too brings enough extra flair to make it feel sufficiently fresh. I suspect that if the writer and artist slacked off just a bit this series could easily start to come across as generic, but that hasn't happened yet. They're firing on all cylinders!

This is a powerful and exciting issue! Conan faces the shapeshifter Zula and undergoes a ritual atop a gigantic monolith in the Black Kingdoms to rid himself of some kind of snakey infestation that got inside him when he was stabbed a couple of issues back. Jim Zub's story rattles along and Doug Braithwaite draws the fights, the creatures, landscapes and bizarre visions with invention and flair. It's a great Conan comic. My only slight concern is I'd like to have spent more time with Zula and found out more about him/her, but I'm sure he/she will return. Zub is doing a great job with the action and peril, but slowing things down sometimes is also welcome.

Another great tale from Jim Zub with a genuinely creepy sense of growing peril in the seemingly-friendly town where Conan and his crew are relaxing and feasting.It's hard to say there's anything really new to be wrung from the REH mythos, but this is as good as it gets. Fernando Dagnino makes his debut on this issue, following in the footsteps of De La Torre and Braithwaite, in keeping with the established style but bringing his own touches to it. These artists have brought the Hyborian Age to life and it feels as real as this world of wizards and monsters ever can.

The main story follows on from the classic Red Nails, with Valeria staying with Conan for a rip-roaring adventure to the Sunless Isle. Patrick Zircher is the perfect storyteller for this kind of tale. His artwork is incredibly detailed on the locations and people, giving you a real feel for Conan's world, and when it comes to the action he roughs things up enough to make it feel wild. In many ways it's a typical Conan tale - there's only so far you can move away from Robert E Howard's vision before it stops being Conan - but told with sufficient pace and flair to make it enthralling. The back-up story is quite a slight tale of Kull, well-drawn, but a touch too slick for me. Kull and his warriors should look more primitive than this. The coloured sketch cover by Neal Adams is glorious. Titan have done a great job with Savage Sword and it's better when they fill it a long story and a back-up instead of a collection of short stories.

New artist Danica Brine does a great job of depicting the port town and its inhabitants in fine-line detail and her action scenes are dynamic, but her Conan is a little too cartoony and Bêlit far too cute. No pirate queen is so slim and petite and her 'mating dance' is embarrassing. The brief flashback scene, more roughly drawn and sepia-toned, is truer to the characters. The story moves along briskly enough and it's good to see Conan and Bêlit enjoying some down time and sexy times, but the action and the set-up for the second part feel generic and obvious. Not exactly bad, but a slightly disappointing change of pace and style.

A well-paced conclusion to this two-parter that makes for an enjoyable read, but feels too much like a TV cartoon episode. There's not enough sense of danger and Conan takes what looks like a terrible wound that he shrugs off too easily. Yes, of course, he's Conan, but if we feel nothing can hurt him let alone kill him then there's no bite to the tale. Danica Brine again excels at the figures and locations. She brings the people and architecture of the port town to solid and detailed life. But there's a YA look to her faces, and the serpent man is unfrightening and too easily killed. Stories of Conan should look more primitive and less polished than this and the monsters must be more horrific than we see here.

We've had two issues with Bêlit, but now it's two years later and this issue opens with Conan watching her funeral pyre. With this series they're mostly steering clear of adaptations of REH's original tales, but that does feel like a strange abrupt swerve. I'm sure we'll meet Bêlit again, which makes it hard to care that she died before this story. Doug Braithwaite returns, which means the art is a huge improvement on the last two issues and much better suited to this Conan jungle adventure. Braithwaite is my favourite artist so far in the Titan series. His Conan is rugged, other characters are distinctive and the settings are evocative, almost painterly. He brings his own style to it, rather than trying to draw like John Buscema or Barry Smith. Most of the issue is Conan surviving a long journey through the jungle of the Black Kingdoms so not much happens - if you don't count fighting an alligator and then a panther - but you feel the heavy humid atmosphere and the sense of dread at being quietly pursued. This great series is back on track and set up well for the following issue.