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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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]
Other languages
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]
‡ Conan and the Demons of Khitai #3 featured a spoof nude advert for Conan #24–after complaints a second printing was issued replacing the spoof nude advert with the actual (non-nude) advert for Conan #24, with retailers offering the option to swap copies. (See Recalled comics for more pulped, recalled and erroneous comics.)
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films, television programs, video games, and role-playing games. Robert E. Howard created the character in 1932 for a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine.
Red Sonja is a sword-and-sorcery character created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino.
Roy William Thomas Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes – particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America – and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and The Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.
John Buscema was an American comic book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop-culture conglomerate. His younger brother Sal Buscema is also a comic book artist.
Barry Windsor-Smith is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best-known work has been produced in the United States. He attained note working on Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian from 1970 to 1973, and for his work on the character Wolverine, particularly the 1991 "Weapon X" story arc. His other noted Marvel work included a 1984 "Thing" story in Marvel Fanfare, the "Lifedeath" and "Lifedeath II" stories with writer Chris Claremont that focused on the de-powered Storm in The Uncanny X-Men, as well as the 1984 Machine Man limited series with Herb Trimpe and Tom DeFalco.
"Black Colossus" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine, June 1933. Howard earned $130 for the sale of this story.
"Shadows in the Moonlight" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine in April 1934. Howard had originally named his story "Iron Shadows in the Moon". It's set in the fictional Hyborian Age and narrates Conan's escape to a remote island in the Vilayet Sea where he encounters the Red Brotherhood, a skulking creature, and mysterious iron statues.
Ernesto Chan, born and sometimes credited as Ernie Chua, was a Filipino-American comics artist, known for work published by Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including many Marvel issues of series featuring Conan the Barbarian. Chan also had a long tenure on Batman and Detective Comics. Other than his work on Batman, Chan primarily focused on non-superhero characters, staying mostly in the genres of horror, war, and sword and sorcery.
Savage Tales is the title of three American comics series. Two were black-and-white comics-magazine anthologies published by Marvel Comics, and the other a color comic book anthology published by Dynamite Entertainment.
Pablo Marcos Ortega, known professionally as Pablo Marcos, is a comic book artist and commercial illustrator best known as one of his home country Peru's leading cartoonists, and for his work on such popular American comics characters as Batman and Conan the Barbarian, particularly during the 1970s. His signature character was Marvel Comics' the Zombie, for which Marcos drew all but one story in the black-and-white horror-comics magazine Tales of the Zombie (1973–1975).
Tower of Shadows is a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published by the American company Marvel Comics under this and a subsequent name from 1969 to 1975. It featured work by writer-artists Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Johnny Craig, and Wally Wood, writer-editor Stan Lee, and artists John Buscema, Gene Colan, Tom Sutton, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Bernie Wrightson.
Chamber of Darkness is a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published by the American company Marvel Comics. Under this and a subsequent name, it ran from 1969 to 1974. It featured work by creators such as writer-editor Stan Lee, writers Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, and Roy Thomas, and artists John Buscema, Johnny Craig, Jack Kirby, Tom Sutton, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Bernie Wrightson. Stories were generally hosted by either of the characters Digger, a gravedigger, or Headstone P. Gravely, in undertaker garb, or by one of the artists or writers.
Bêlit is a character appearing in the fictional universe of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian. She is a pirate queen who has a romantic relationship with Conan. She appears in Howard's Conan short story "Queen of the Black Coast", first published in Weird Tales #23. She is the first substantial female character to appear in Howard's Conan stories. Partly thanks to her substantial appearance in the Marvel Comics' Conan series, the character is recognized as being Conan's "true love".
Conan and the Sorcerer is a fantasy novel written by Andrew J. Offutt and illustrated by Esteban Maroto. Featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, it is the first in a trilogy continuing with Conan the Mercenary and concluding with The Sword of Skelos. It was first published in paperback by Sunridge Press in October 1978, and reprinted in May 1979, 1982, and March 1984 by Ace Books.
Conan, the sword-and-sorcery character created by Robert E. Howard, is the protagonist of seven major comic series published by Dark Horse Comics. The first series, titled simply Conan, ran for 50 issues from 2004 to 2008; the second, titled Conan the Cimmerian, began publication in 2008 and lasted 25 issues until 2010; the third series, titled Conan: Road of Kings, started publishing in December 2010 and ended in January 2012 after 12 issues; a fourth series, titled Conan the Barbarian, continuing from Road of Kings, lasted 25 issues from February 2012 to March 2014; a fifth series, titled Conan the Avenger, started publishing in April 2014 and ended in April 2016 after 25 issues; a sixth and final series, titled Conan the Slayer lasted 12 issues from July 2016 to August 2017.
Solomon Kane is a fictional character featured in several comics published by Marvel Comics between 1973 and 1994. He was originally created by the pulp-era writer Robert E. Howard. Dark Horse Comics began publishing a new series of Kane stories in 2008, and also published collections of the 1970s Marvel stories in 2009.
The Savage Sword of Conan is a black-and-white magazine-format comic book series published beginning in 1974 by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of American company Marvel Comics, and then later by Marvel itself. Savage Sword of Conan starred Robert E. Howard's most famous creation, Conan the Barbarian, and has the distinction of being the longest-surviving title of the short-lived Curtis imprint.
Conan the Barbarian is a comics book title starring the sword-and-sorcery character created by Robert E. Howard, published by the American company Marvel Comics. It debuted with a first issue cover-dated October 1970 and ran for 275 issues until 1993. A commercial success, the title launched a sword-and-sorcery vogue in American 1970s comics.
"Black Tears" is a short story by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. It was first published by Lancer Books in the paperback collection Conan the Wanderer (1968), which was reprinted several times, first by Lancer and later by Ace Books through 1982. It has since been published by Orbit Books in the omnibus paperback collection The Conan Chronicles 2 (1990).
Comics featuring Conan the Barbarian and other characters by Robert E. Howard are currently published by Titan Comics, together with entertainment studio Heroic Signatures. Their collaboration to publish comics, graphic novels, and omnibus collections of older Conan comics started in 2023, after Marvel lost the license in 2022. The first ongoing series is Conan the Barbarian which started in August 2023. With crossover events and spin-off mini-series featuring other Robert E. Howard characters, such as Kull of Atlantis or Solomon Kane, they created a shared universe which is sometimes called the Howardverse.
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