Conan the Barbarian #110 (Marvel Comics, 1980)

Conan stands face to face with the gigantic monster bear that he encountered in Conan the Barbarian #109 and shouts, "Crom!" Crom indeed, this bear is the size of a building. The golden-haired men of the Aesier call it the "Heaven Bear", but Conan does not believe his eyes. He stands his ground and claims that there is no bear because the grass does not bend beneath its feet.

The bear reaches out to grab Conan, but Conan does not move as its claw moves through him, and then turns into a dark mist. The good news is that Conan was right about the bear not really being there; the bad news is that the dark mist puts Conan to sleep.

When he awakens, Conan finds himself tied to a pole being carried off by the Aesir. Confused, he asks them to untie him, but they instead hit him in the face. A man with a panther tail on his helmet is particularly cruel. Conan is not pleased as the men carry him from the fields of tall grass into a low-walled city filled with dwarves. The dwarven men are armed and control the Aesir, while their wives stand nearby, and children frolic in the streets.

They bring Conan to a white palace filled with strange wonders, like a room with an orb that glows like the sun, and then into a throne room where their leader, King Aosoka, sits in the Throne of the Heaven-Bear. Erfu is there too and tries to speak with the man on the throne, but Conan is belligerent and disrespectful. Rather than killing Conan outright, he will face the Heaven Bear in combat without weapons. Conan is again not pleased.

Conan and Erfu are tossed into a gladiator area where cheering dwarves fill the stands. An enormous bear, a real one this time, enters the ring and attacks. Conan spots a chain "carelessly" left on the ground and grabs it, then he meets the bear as it charges and wraps the chain around it. The two powerful beasts fight, but Conan uses his mighty barbarian muscles to break its back with the chain. As Conan passes out, Erfu tells the crowd that Conan won because of Erfu's mighty magic. King Aosoka makes Erfu the official executioner of the Bear Throne and says that Conan is his slave.

Later, Conan wakes up (again), this time surrounded by luxury in a posh room. Erfu is there and speaking to a beautiful blond woman who calls herself Tossa the Golden. In mid-conversation, a black panther leaps into the room and attacks her. Conan rushes to her aid but gasps when the panther transforms into a man, the man who beat him earlier with the panther's tail on his helmet.

Conan easily defeats him in battle by running him through with his sword. Then, Tossa thanks him and calls him her husband. Conan scoffs and says that "he'll be no wench's husband!" She walks away, and Conan stands there with a pensive look on his face.