In Review: Conan The Barbarian #24 – Lured into Stygia

Synopsis: The Great Serpent’s influence twists and turns, pulling Conan into their deadly coils as the Cimmerian and his allies are lured into Stygia…

What they find on this journey will make their blood run cold and set the stage for a conflict beyond their wildest imagination!

The Story

This issue picks up directly from where #23 left off, with Conan and his ally Zula having just escaped the chamber of Thoth-Amon. Now hunted through the Stygian city of Keshatta on the orders of the wicked sorceress Athyr-Bast, the two men must tread carefully. Having learned the true scope of Thoth-Amon’s scheme, Conan and Zula make their way to a secret chamber beneath the city streets, where they encounter a brood of serpent-spawn tied to the snake god Set. The spawn lies in wait, poised to unleash its horror across Stygia and far beyond.

Venturing into the cursed tunnels below, Conan’s deep distrust of magic clashes with Zula’s mystical nature, creating uneasy tension even as they push onward to disrupt the awakening brood. Along the way, they confront acts of betrayal and monstrous Man-Serpents that test both their endurance and the edge of their steel. The subterranean confrontation delivers moments of triumph alongside genuine heartbreak, bringing this chapter of the Nest of Serpents arc to a powerful close. Though both Thoth-Amon and Athyr-Bast escape to plot another day, they do not depart without first striking a painful blow at Conan’s heart.

Artwork

Fernando Dagnino and Diego Rodríguez do a brilliant job throughout this issue. One standout moment is the striking two-page splash of Conan and Zula walking through the Birthing Chamber of the Serpent Brood. It’s an evocative piece of visual storytelling and serves as excellent foreshadowing for the horror that awaits deeper within the tunnels. The scale, atmosphere, and sense of dread are all perfectly pitched.

The serpent brood itself is genuinely unsettling. Rather than a single monstrous entity, it appears as a collection of massive serpents, each bearing disturbingly human faces, with writhing snakes replacing hair. At first glance, the imagery briefly evokes Medusa, but it quickly becomes clear that this is something far more alien and grotesque. The design leans heavily into body horror, reinforcing the unnatural nature of Set’s influence and making the threat feel ancient, corrupt, and wrong in a way that fits Conan’s world beautifully.

Overall

This is a strong conclusion that neatly wraps up the story while leaving the door open for the return of Thoth-Amon and Athyr-Bast. Their escape feels natural rather than forced, and the lingering sense of unfinished business adds weight to the ending. I’m very much looking forward to seeing where this story goes next.