“The Crystal Menace!”
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Ed Hannigan
So a big giant blob thing is coming down the mountain. Kull’s men desert but Ridondo and the Lorkars remain. Kull plows head on into the thing and is absorbed and thought dead. Kull though doesn’t just stand still but hacks his way out. He then finds a huge boulder and crushes the blob. So now he attacks Khornah but has to face Shemenon. A skeleton encased in crystal. His sword just bounces off Shemenon and it looks like Kull is finished. Suddenly the flying chariot comes and it is Sarna. Sarna blasts Khornah and Shemenon to oblivion. It looks like Kull is next but instead of Sarna he is confronted by Kareesha. She tells of the history of Shemenon. A great warrior who was sent to retrieve the treasure that plugged the entry to hell. She says that Sarna sent Khornah and Shemenon to hell and will use them to destroy the world. She then opens a stairway to Hell which Kull, Ridondo and the Lorkars go down. As Kull leaves Sarna reasserts control of the shared body and vows to destroy Kull.
Well another action packed issue. Kull is wonderfully portrayed as Howard created him. A fearless barbarian who just plows straight through to victory. Ridondo is showing himself to have exceptional courage. A far departure from his original origin. I do admit this is a strange story what with the shared body between the evil Sarna and beautiful Kareesha. The weird logic of having to go to hell. Still an enjoyable story and look forward to see how it continues.
Comic book cave of awesome 