The last we saw Conan, not only was he betrayed by the brother of one of his party members, but he came face to face with what appeared to be a troll. Most of Issue #3 deals with the immediate threat which is veiled in a mystery we may not figure out, but while Conan is away, chess pieces continue to shift at home.

Conan has made friends with a group of Turranian warriors with some interpersonal political backstabbing underway. One brother wants to take the reins of leadership from his father and has sent his only brother and Conan into a trap. What he doesn’t seem to get is that this is Conan who can get out of any situation. So far, the series has been eloquent and extremely enjoyable with nice doses of flowing blood.

Cullen Bunn fills this issue with the blood, teasing only a little bit of new information with a decent cliffhanger. Depending on how he uses the troll creatures, this issue could prove to be mostly a short digression or could twist what’s going to happen in the next two issues into something amazing. A digression can be fun, but what I’ve loved most about this book so far is the poetry to it, and that was given short shrift here. The cadence shifted, and the element of surprise gave way to predictable story developments.  Sergo Davila’s art continues to be exceptional.

Knowing Bunn, nothing is going to progress quite as it seems, so judging this issue unto itself will probably be a mistake. This issue is a bridge getting us from one side to the other.