Conan (comics)

Conan
Conan
	Cover to Conan the Savage #6 (Jan. 1996).; Art by the Brothers Hildebrandt
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics; Dark Horse Comics (2003–2018)
First appearance	Conan the Barbarian #1; (October 1970)
Created by	Robert E. Howard; Roy Thomas; Barry Smith
In-story information
Notable aliases	Amra the Lion
Abilities	Peak human physical condition; Melee weapons master; Knowledge and experience of fighting the supernatural

Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard was first adapted into comics in 1952 in Mexico. Marvel Comics began publishing Conan comics with the series Conan the Barbarian in 1970. Dark Horse Comics published Conan from 2003 to 2018, when the rights were reacquired by Marvel Comics.^[1] Marvel published Conan comics until 2022, when Titan Comics took over the license (through Heroic Signatures) to begin publishing its own series.^[2]

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The first comic book adaptation of a Howard Conan story was the feature La reina de la Costa Negra (taken from the original Conan story, "Queen of the Black Coast") in the miniature-size Mexican anthology title Cuentos de Abuelito #8 (1952) published by Corporacion Editorial Mexicana, SA.^[3] The series features the main characters, Conan and Bêlit, though Conan is depicted as blond rather than black-haired.^[4] Issues 8 through 12 adapted the original Howard story, while subsequent issues featured original material. The feature ran in nearly every issue of Cuentos de Abuelito up through number 61.^[5] A digest-sized standalone series, La reina de la Costa Negra, was published by Ediciones Mexicanas Asocidas in 1958–1959 which lasted for at least eleven issues. In 1965–66 Ediciones Joma published a standard-size La reina de la Costa Negra comic that ran for at least 53 issues.^[3]

Marvel Comics introduced a version of Conan in 1970 with Conan the Barbarian, written by Roy Thomas with art initially by Barry Windsor-Smith, then John Buscema and Ernie Chan (aka Ernie Chua). The successful Conan the Barbarian series spawned the more adult, black-and-white Savage Sword of Conan in 1974, by Thomas, Buscema, and Alfredo Alcala. Savage Sword of Conan soon became one of the most popular comic series in the 1970s.^{[citation needed]}

The Marvel Conan stories were also adapted as a newspaper comic strip which appeared daily and Sunday from September 4, 1978, to April 12, 1981. Originally written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by John Buscema, the strip was continued by several different Marvel artists and writers.^[6]

Other Marvel Conan titles over the years include Savage Tales (1971–1975, issues 1–5 only), Giant-Size Conan (1974–1975), King Conan/Conan the King (1980–1989), Conan the Adventurer (1994–1995), Conan (1995–1996), and Conan the Savage (1995–1996).

After the 2019 return of Conan to Marvel titles included Conan: Serpent War (2019–2020 miniseries), Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown (2020 miniseries), alongside the reappearance of Conan the Barbarian (2019–present) and Savage Sword of Conan (2019), which both received new #1s but retained the original "Legacy Numbering" continuing where their original Marvel series left off.

Conan later appeared in the pages of Savage Avengers.

King Conan caused controversy when it included a character named Matoaka, the real name of Pocahontas, and with a sexualized design and a backstory similar to that of the actual Native American woman. There was backlash at what was perceived a disrespectful portrayal, so Marvel announced that name would be changed in later issues, reprints and digital editions. Writer Jason Aaron issued an apology, and pointed that "This new character is a supernatural, thousand-year-old princess of a cursed island within a world of pastiche and dark fantasy and was never intended to be based on anyone from history".^[7]

Marvel Epic Collections

More information Volume, Subtitle ...

Volume	Subtitle	Years covered	Issues collected	Pages	Publication date	ISBN
The Original Marvel Years
1	The Coming of Conan	1970-1972	Conan the Barbarian (1970) #1-13 and material from Chamber of Darkness (1969) #4	352	June 23, 2020	978-1302925550
2	Hawks From the Sea	1972-1973	Conan the Barbarian (1970) #14-26	290	December 2020
3	The Curse of the Golden Skull	1973-1974	Conan the Barbarian (1970) #27-42; material from Annual (1973) #1	336	July 2021	978-1302929565
4	Queen of the Black Coast	1974-1976	Conan the Barbarian (1970) #43-59, Giant-Size Conan (1974) #5 (cover only), material from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #1	360	December 2021	978-1302929558
5	Of Once And Future Kings	1976-1977	Conan the Barbarian (1970) #60-71, Conan Annual #2-3 And Power Records #31 - Conan The Barbarian: Crawler In The Mists.	360	March 29, 2022	978-1302933531^[8]
6	Vengeance In Asgalun	1977-1978	Conan the Barbarian (1970) #72-88	328	September 27, 2022	978-1302933548
Conan Chronicles
1	Out of the Darksome Hills	2004–2005	Conan (2004) #0, #1–19	496	February 6, 2019	978-1302915902
2	The Heart of Yag-Kosha	2005–2007	Conan (2004) #20–39	504	April 3, 2019	978-1302915919
3	Return to Cimmeria	2007–2009	Conan (2004) #40–50; Conan the Cimmerian #0–7	504	October 2, 2019	978-1302916022
4	The Battle of Shamla Pass	2009-2010	Conan the Cimmerian #8-25	472	January 14, 2020	978-1302921910
5	The Horrors Beneath the Stones	2010-2012	Conan: Road of Kings #1-12; Conan the Barbarian #1-6	456	June 16, 2020	978-1302923273
6	The Song of Bêlit	2012-2014	Conan the Barbarian #7-25	472	January 26, 2021	978-1302923280
7	Shadows over Kush	2014 - 2015	Conan the Avenger #1-19	448	December 28, 2021
8	Blood In His Wake	2015 - 2017	Conan the Avenger 20-25, Conan the Slayer 1-12	432	January 18, 2022	978-1302933708
King Conan Chronicles
1	Phantoms and Phoenixes		Conan and the Midnight God (2007) #1-5, King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel (2011) #1-4, King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword (2012) #1-4, Conan: The Phantoms of the Black Coast (2012) #1-5, material from Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (2006) #1	464	August 16, 2022	9781302945954^[9]
2	Wolves and Dragons		King Conan: The Hour of the Dragon (2013) #1-6, King Conan: The Conqueror (2014) #1-6, Conan: Wolves Beyond the Border (2015) #1-4, and material from: Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #5		October 2022

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Awards

Academy of Comic Book Arts Shazam Awards:

1970

Best New Talent: Barry Smith

1971

Best Continuing Feature: Conan the Barbarian
Best Writer (Dramatic): Roy Thomas

1973

Best Individual Story (Dramatic): "Song of Red Sonja" from Conan the Barbarian #24 by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith

1974

Best Continuing Feature: Conan the Barbarian
Best Penciller (Dramatic): John Buscema
Superior Achievement by an Individual: Roy Thomas

Thumb — An interior panel of *Conan* comic adaptation by Dark Horse Comics featuring the art of Cary Nord and Thomas Yeates

Dark Horse Comics began their take on Conan in 2003, which ended in 2018 when the rights were repurchased by Marvel.^{[citation needed]}

The first comic series published was written by Kurt Busiek and Tim Truman and pencilled by Cary Nord and Tomas Giorello. This was followed by Conan the Cimmerian, written by Tim Truman and pencilled by Tomas Giorello, Richard Corben and José Villarrubia. This series was a fresh interpretation, based solely on the works of Robert E. Howard and on the Dale Rippke chronology, with no connection to the large Marvel run.

Dark Horse Comics also published digitally re-coloured compilations of the 1970s Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian series in graphic-novel format, by Roy Thomas (writer), Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Ernie Chan (artists), and others.

Creative teams

Kurt Busiek (writer) and Cary Nord (artist) (2003–2006)
Tim Truman (writer) and Cary Nord (artist) (2007)
Tim Truman (writer) and Tomas Giorello (artist) (2008)
Tim Truman (writer) and Tomas Giorello (artist), Richard Corben (artist 2008), José Villarrubia (colorist) (2008–2018)

Awards

2004 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards

Best Single Issue or One-Shot: Conan #0: The Legend

2004 Eagle Awards

Favourite new comicbook: Conan

After Marvel did not extend the Conan license in 2022, Titan Comics took over the license (through Heroic Signatures) to begin publishing new Conan comic series, as well as continuing publication of omnibus collections of the Marvel Conan comics. The first ongoing series Conan the Barbarian, written by Jim Zub, started in May 2023.^[10] A limited Savage Sword of Conan series in black and white and magazine-sized format started in 2024.^[11]

Glénat (French)

In France, the character is under public domain, and on the Franco-Belgian market, the publisher Glénat has, since 2018, published a series of albums with the character, "Conan le Cimmérien", written and drawn by local talent.^[12]

Weird Book (Italian)

In Italy, the collective Leviathan Labs publishes a version by the publisher Weird Book.^[13]

DQómics (Spanish)

In 2021, the Spanish publisher DQómics Conan de Cimmeria, written by Ángel G. Nieto with drawings by Julio Rod and colors by Esteban Navarro.^[14]