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. Marvel published Conan comics until 2022, when Titan Comics took over the license (through Heroic Signatures) to begin publishing its own series.
La reina de la Costa Negra 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. The series features the main characters, Conan and Bêlit, though Conan is depicted as blond rather than black-haired. 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. 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.
Marvel Comics
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.
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.
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, new titles included Conan: Serpent War (2019–2020 miniseries), Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown (2020 miniseries), alongside the reappearance of Conan the Barbarian (2019–2021) 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".
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) #4 352 2 Hawks From the Sea 1972-1973 Conan the Barbarian (1970) #14-26 290 3 The Curse of the Golden Skull 1973-1974 Conan the Barbarian (1970) #27-42; material from Annual (1973) #1 336 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 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 6 Vengeance In Asgalun 1977-1978 Conan the Barbarian (1970) #72-88 328 Conan Chronicles 1 Out of the Darksome Hills 2004–2005 Conan (2004) #0, #1–19 496 2 The Heart of Yag-Kosha 2005–2007 Conan (2004) #20–39 504 3 Return to Cimmeria 2007–2009 Conan (2004) #40–50; Conan the Cimmerian #0–7 504 4 The Battle of Shamla Pass 2009-2010 Conan the Cimmerian #8-25 472 5 The Horrors Beneath the Stones 2010-2012 Conan: Road of Kings #1-12; Conan the Barbarian #1-6 456 6 The Song of Bêlit 2012-2014 Conan the Barbarian #7-25 472 7 Shadows over Kush 2014 - 2015 Conan the Avenger #1-19 448 8 Blood In His Wake 2015 - 2017 Conan the Avenger 20-25, Conan the Slayer 1-12 432 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 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
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
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics began their take on Conan in 2003, which ended in 2018 when the rights were repurchased by Marvel.
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
Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures
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. A limited Savage Sword of Conan series in black and white and magazine-sized format started in 2024.
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."Conan le Cimmérien", listing on Bedetheque.
Weird Book (Italian) In Italy, the collective Leviathan Labs publishes a version by the publisher Weird Book.
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.
Titles Conan series Title Publisher Issues Dates Conan the Barbarian Marvel #1–275 1970–1993 Savage Tales Marvel #1–5 1971–1975 Savage Sword of Conan Marvel #1–235 1974–1995 Giant-Size Conan Marvel #1–5 1974–1975 King Conan Marvel #1–19 1980–1983 Conan the King Was renamed from 'King Conan' Marvel #20–55 1984–1989 Conan the Adventurer Marvel #1–14 1994–1995 Conan the Savage Marvel #1–10 1995–1996 Conan Marvel #1–11 1995–1996 Conan Dark Horse #0–50 2003–2008 Conan the Cimmerian Dark Horse #0–25 2008–2010Conan: Road of KingsDark Horse#1–122010–2012 Conan the Barbarian Dark Horse #1–25 2012–2014Conan the AvengerDark Horse#1–252014–2016Conan the SlayerDark Horse#1–122016–2017 Conan the Barbarian Marvel #1–25 2019–2021 Savage Sword of Conan Marvel #1–12 2019 King Conan Marvel #1–6 2021–2022 Conan the Barbarian Titan #1– 2023–present The Savage Sword of Conan Titan #1– 2024–present
Annuals TitlePublisherIssuesYearConan the Barbarian AnnualMarvel#1–121973–1989The Savage Sword of Conan AnnualMarvel#11975 Newspaper Strip (September 4, 1978 – April 12, 1981), ?? strips.
Miniseries Title Publisher Issues Dates NotesConan the Barbarian Movie SpecialMarvel#1–219821982 movie adaptation of the same nameConan the DestroyerMarvel#1–219851985 movie adaptation of the same nameConan and the Stalker of the WoodsMarvel#1–31997Conan the Barbarian–The UsurperMarvel#1–31997–1998Conan the Barbarian–River of BloodMarvel#1–31998Conan the Barbarian–The Lord of SpidersMarvel#1–31998Conan the Barbarian–Return of StyrmMarvel#1–31998Conan the Barbarian–Scarlet SwordMarvel#1–31998–1999Conan the Barbarian–Death Covered in GoldMarvel#1–31999Conan the Barbarian–Flame and the FiendMarvel#1–32000Conan and the Jewels of GwahlurDark Horse#1–32005 Conan and the Demons of Khitai Dark Horse #1–4 2005–2006 ‡ Conan and the Songs of the Dead Dark Horse #1–5 2006 Conan: Book of Thoth Dark Horse #1–4 2006 Conan and the Midnight God Dark Horse #1–5 2006–2007King Conan: The Scarlet CitadelDark Horse#1–42011Conan: Island of No ReturnDark Horse#1–22011King Conan: The Phoenix on the SwordDark Horse#1–42012King Conan: The Hour of the DragonDark Horse#1–62013Conan and the People of the Black CircleDark Horse#1–42013–2014King Conan: The ConquerorDark Horse#1–62014Groo vs. ConanDark Horse#1–42014Conan / Red SonjaDark Horse#1–42015Crossover with Dynamite ComicsRed Sonja / ConanDynamite#1–42015Crossover with Dark Horse ComicsKing Conan: Wolves Beyond the BorderDark Horse#1–42015–2016Wonder Woman – ConanDC Comics#1–62017–2018 DC Comics/Dark Horse Comics crossoverConan – Serpent WarMarvel #1–42019–2020Conan – Battle for the Serpent CrownMarvel #1–52020The Cimmerian: Queen of the Black CoastAblaze#1–22019The Cimmerian: Red NailsAblaze#1–22020The Cimmerian: People of the Black CircleAblaze#1–32020The Cimmerian: The Frost-Giant's DaughterAblaze#1–32020-2021The Cimmerian: Iron Shadows in the MoonAblaze#1–32021The Cimmerian: The Man-Eaters of ZamboulaAblaze#1–22021The Cimmerian: Beyond the Black RiverAblaze#1–22021The Cimmerian: Hour of the DragonAblaze#1–42022Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black StoneTitan#1–42024
‡ 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.)
One-Shots TitlePublisherDatesNotes Conan vs. RuneMarvel1995Conan and the Daughters of MidoraDark Horse2004Conan: The Weight of the CrownDark Horse2010Conan the Barbarian: The Mask of AcheronDark Horse20112011 Conan movie adaption Conan the Barbarian – ExodusMarvel2019Conan the Barbarian 2099Marvel2019The Official Handbook of the Conan Universe Marvel2020The 50th Anniversary Celebration EditionKing-Size ConanMarvel2021The 50th Anniversary Celebration Edition
Graphic novels