Mmm-mmm, Conan! That's good eatin'!

I know I had this issue from a subscription, but not unlike Fantastic Four around the same time, I was waiting for a promised new storyline to begin, and there was a lot of filler before we got there. From 1990, Conan the Barbarian #228, "Red Teeth" Written by Gerry Conway, breakdowns by Dwayne Turner, cover and finishes by Rodney Ramos.

Conan is seeing a hot dancing girl, Lyanda; and is getting a little tired of other men coveting her: he wants her to quit, and he will support her. She laughs at that, on a mercenary's salary? But their discussion is interrupted by an intruder in her bedroom: her brother, Rasu. Rasu was a captain in the palace guard, but had to keep his parentage and family on the downlow to protect his career. He had to hide out at his sister's, since General Mustafa may have suspected him of disloyalty, and several disloyal men had already disappeared mysteriously. In short order, they are attacked: Conan suggests they fight in the dark, but that doesn't seem to have put the other side at a disadvantage: instead, the small, bitey foes flee from the light.

Rasu explains Mustafa had risen quickly through the ranks, but demanded personal loyalty from his troops, and those who wouldn't swear to him often vanished later. Lyanda wants Rasu to flee, but he's not ready to give up yet, especially if Conan will join him. If Rasu could make general, he could make Conan a captain, and Lyanda would be all his...or so she suggests while giving Rasu a wink. Meanwhile, Mustafa is punishing another he felt betrayed him; so when Conan and Rasu sneak into his place, they find a trail of blood leading to a dank, dark stairway. Mustafa had discovered these cannibal, Moloid-looking creatures; and they had a good working relationship: Mustafa set them on his foes, and they got to eat them. Win-win!

Mustafa tells Rasu he has to die, but if Conan would offer his oath and his sword, he could live. Not unexpectedly, Conan gives him his sword, throwing it hard enough to impale Mustafa. The cannibals aren't really broken up about this, nor are they sentimental enough to not start eating Mustafa; which Conan hopes will give him and Rasu time to escape...This was a two-parter, and pretty sure Rasu and Lyanda were going to betray Conan in the next one.

There's also a preview on the letters page for the "new" Conan; which would be Young Conan with Ron Lim art, which wouldn't start until #232. Now I'm not sure if this was a fill-in, or scheduled; there was another two-parter coming.