''Conan the Barbarian'' is a comics book title starring the sword-and-sorcery

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

created by Robert E. Howard, published by the American company

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. It debuted with a first issue

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d October 1970 and ran for 275 issues until 1993. A commercial success, the title launched a sword-and-sorcery vogue in American 1970s comics. Marvel Comics reacquired the publishing rights in 2018 and started a new run of ''Conan the Barbarian'' in January 2019 with the creative team of writer

Jason Aaron Jason Aaron (born January 28, 1973) is an American comic book writer, known for his creator-owned series ''Scalped'' and ''Southern Bastards'', as well as his work on Marvel series '' Ghost Rider'', ''Wolverine'', '' PunisherMAX'', ''Thor'', and ...

and artist Mahmud A. Asrar.

Publication history

''Conan the Barbarian'' ran for 275 issues ( cover dated October 1970–December 1993). The book had a single writer, Roy Thomas, on issues #1–115 (October 1970–October 1980) and then #240–275 (January 1991–December 1993). It was also the signature work of artist Barry Smith, who pencilled most issues between #1 and #24. Artist John Buscema pencilled the vast bulk of issues #25–190. Interim writers included

J. M. DeMatteis John Marc DeMatteis (; born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, television and novels. Biography Early career J. M. DeMatteis's earliest aspirations were to be a rock musician and comic book artist. He began playing in ban ...

, Bruce Jones,

Michael Fleisher Michael Lawrence Fleisher (November 1, 1942 — February 2, 2018) was an American writer known for his DC Comics of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly for the characters Spectre and Jonah Hex. Biography Early life and career Fleisher was raise ...

Doug Moench Douglas Moench (; born February 23, 1948) is an American comic book writer notable for his ''Batman'' work and as the creator of Moon Knight, Deathlok, Black Mask, '' Electric Warrior'' and '' Six from Sirius''. He is also known for his critica ...

Jim Owsley Christopher James Priest (born James Christopher Owsley, June 30, 1961) is an American writer of comic books who is at times credited simply as Priest. He changed his name legally circa 1993. He was the first black writer-editor in mainstream co ...

Alan Zelenetz Alan Zelenetz is an American film producer and comic-book writer best known for co-creating the series '' Alien Legion'' for the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics and a founder of Ovie Entertainment. Zelenetz also wrote several issues of Marvel' ...

, Chuck Dixon, and Don Kraar. Thomas, Marvel's associate editor at the time, had obtained the licensed property from the estate of its creator, Robert E. Howard, after finding Conan chief among readers' requests for literary properties to be adapted to comics, which also included the pulp magazine character

Doc Savage Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective, and polymath who "rights w ...

, ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'' oeuvre of writer

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

, and Edgar Rice Burroughs' characters

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

and

John Carter of Mars John Carter of Mars is a fictional Virginian soldier who acts as the initial protagonist of the Barsoom stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs. A veteran of the American Civil War, he is transported to the planet Mars, called Barsoom by its inhabita ...

. Elaborating in 2010, he said, Thomas said another reason for pursuing Thongor was that Marvel editor-in-chief Stan Lee "liked that ''name'' the most. . . . I soon got stalled by Lin Carter's agent on Thongor . . . and I got a sudden impulse to go after Conan. Later, following on the success of the Conan series, Lin Carter allowed Marvel to publish a Thongor comic, which appeared as a miniseries in ''

Creatures on the Loose ''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 Wal ...

''." After reading and enjoying the paperback ''

Conan of Cimmeria ''Conan of Cimmeria'' is a collection of eight fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter and featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories were originally publis ...

'', Thomas contacted Glen Lord, literary agent for the Howard estate, and "I said we can't offer much money but it might increase Conan's audience and so forth, what do you think? I didn't have much elasticity, but I was so embarrassed by the $150 that I upped it to $200 without thinking. So that when Glen agreed ... I decided I'd have to write the first issue or so, so that if Goodman objected I could knock a couple pages off my rate to even things out." The extra cost meant, however, that Marvel could not budget for Buscema, Thomas' first choice, serendipitously opening the door to Smith. Buscema, in a 1994 interview, recalled, Comics historian

Les Daniels Leslie Noel Daniels III, better known as Les Daniels (October 27, 1943 – November 5, 2011), was an American writer. Background Daniels attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he wrote his master's thesis on ''Frankenstei ...

noted that "''Conan the Barbarian'' was something of a gamble for Marvel. The series contained the usual elements of action and fantasy, to be sure, but it was set in a past that had no relation to the Marvel Universe, and it featured a hero who possessed no magical powers, little humor and comparatively few moral principles." Marvel initially published ''Conan'' every two months. After sales of #1 were strong Marvel quickly made the title monthly, but sales dropped with each additional issue. Lee decided to cancel the comic with #7, not only because of the weak sales but to use Smith on more popular comics. Thomas argued against the decision and Lee relented, although the book became bimonthly again with #14. By #20 ''Conan'' again became monthly because of rising sales, and the comic became one of Marvel's most popular in the 1970s.

Elric of Melniboné Elric of Melniboné is a fictional character created by English writer Michael Moorcock and the protagonist of a series of sword and sorcery stories taking place on an alternative Earth. The proper name and title of the character is Elric VII ...

first appeared in comics in ''Conan the Barbarian'' issues #14–15 (March–May 1972). The comics were written by Thomas and illustrated by Windsor-Smith, based on a story plotted by

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...

and James Cawthorn.

Red Sonja Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine 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. Marvel Comics p ...

was introduced in issue #23 (February 1973). In 2010,

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During this ...

ranked Thomas' work on ''Conan the Barbarian'' with Smith and Buscema seventh on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".

Annuals and ''Giant-Size'' series

Twelve issues of ''Conan Annual'' were published from 1973 to 1987. ''Giant-Size Conan'' was a series of 68 page giants which ran for five issues from September 1974 to 1975.

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

Collected editions

* '' Essential Conan'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #1–25, 530 pages, July 2000, Marvel Comics, * ''

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

'' published the ''Chronicles of Conan'' series, which comprises 34 volumes released between 2003 and 2017 that collects most of the series and all of the annuals. * ''The Barry Windsor-Smith Conan Archives'' ** ''Volume 1'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #1–11, 200 pages, February 2010, Dark Horse Comics, ** ''Volume 2'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #12–16 and #19–24, 288 pages, May 2010, Dark Horse Comics, * ''Conan the Barbarian: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus'' ** ''Volume 1'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #1–26 plus additional material, 776 pages, January 2019, Marvel Comics, ** ''Volume 2'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #27–51 plus additional material, 856 pages, August 2019, Marvel Comics, ** ''Volume 3'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #52–83 plus additional material, 832 pages, January 2020, Marvel Comics, ** ''Volume 4'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #84–115 plus additional material, 848 pages, October 2020, Marvel Comics, ** ''Volume 5'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #116–149 plus additional material, 1048 pages, March 2021, Marvel Comics, ** ''Volume 6'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #150–171 plus additional material, 672 pages, November 2021, Marvel Comics, ** ''Volume 7'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #172–194 plus additional material, 680 pages, January 2022, Marvel Comics, ** ''Volume 8'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #195–213 plus additional material, 624 pages, June 2022, Marvel Comics, ** ''Volume 9'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #214–240 plus additional material, 704 pages, October 2022, Marvel Comics, ** ''Volume 10'' collects ''Conan the Barbarian'' #241–275 plus additional material, 944 pages, December 2022, Marvel Comics,

References

External links