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.
Another series, titled King Conan, which takes place during Conan's time as king, ran in parallel for 24 issues from February 2011 to March 2016. Dark Horse also published half a dozen one-shots and almost a dozen mini-series.
Dark Horse also published collections of the original Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian, The Savage Sword of Conan [the Barbarian] and King Conan series in graphic novel format.
The publishing rights for Conan the Barbarian returned to Marvel Comics in 2018.
Contents
Overview
Dark Horse Comics began their take on Conan in 2003 with a one-shot prologue, Conan #0: Conan the Legend.
The Conan, Conan the Cimmerian, Conan: Road of Kings, Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Avenger and Conan the Slayer series incorporate both new material and adaptations of stories by Robert E. Howard, with no other connection to Marvel Comics series or other post-Howard material. An ongoing dialogue between two characters, the Prince and the Wazir, living in an age centuries in Conan's future, is often used as a framing device for the stories.
Each issue also contains "The Adventures of Two-Gun Bob (True Stories from the Life of Robert E. Howard)" by Jim and Ruth Keegan.
Core appearances
Conan #0: The Legend (2003), 1 issue
Conan (2004–2008), 50 issues
Conan and the Daughters of Midora (2004), 1 issue
Conan and the Jewels of Gwahlur (2005), 3 issues
Conan and the Demons of Khitai (2005–2006), 4 issues
Conan: Book of Thoth (2006), 4 issues
Conan: Free Comic Book Day Edition (2006), 1 issue
Conan and the Songs of the Dead (2006), 5 issues
Hyborian Adventures: SDCC Free Giveaway (2006), 1 issue
Conan and the Midnight God (2007), 5 issues
Conan: Trophy (2007), 1 online eight-page issue
Conan the Cimmerian (2008–2010), 26 issues
Conan and the Mad King of Gaul (2009), 2 online eight-page issues
Conan: The Weight of the Crown (2010), 1 issue
Conan: Kiss of the Undead (2010), 1 online eight-page issue
Conan: Road of Kings (2010–2012), 12 issues
Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword (2010–2015), 10 issues
King Conan (2011–2016), 24 issues
Conan
The six main Dark Horse Conan series, Conan, Conan the Cimmerian, Conan: Road of Kings, Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Avenger and Conan the Slayer make up a larger continuous storyline. This is indicated by numbering on the inner cover of these books with the text, "Number [#] in a series".
Conan
Conan was Dark Horse Comics' first series about Conan the Cimmerian. Cary Nord's art consists of only color and pencilwork, with no inkwork, providing a painterly aesthetic. The series follows Dale Rippke's "Darkstorm" chronology. The story "Helm" in Conan #18 addresses one of the major "faults" in that chronology.
Starting at issue #24, Tony Harris became the cover artist. One of the first pieces of art Harris submitted to Conan editor Scott Allie was a fully nude version of the cover of #24. Allie inserted the artwork in a blurb at the back of Conan and the Demons of Khitai #3. This displeased some comic store owners, and Conan and the Demons of Khitai #3 was reprinted with a censored cover in the blurb. Even so, 4,000 copies of Conan #24 were printed with the nude cover, and distributed through the Diamond Dateline retail newsletter shrink-wrapped in black plastic.
4 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Best Single Issue or One-Shot: Conan #0: "The Legend "
4 Eagle Awards
Favourite new comicbook: Conan
Conan the Cimmerian
Conan the Cimmerian was Dark Horse Comics' second series about Conan. A 99¢ issue #0 was published June 2008, followed by the first issue of the series in July (with the usual cover price of $2.99). The series ended with issue #25 in November 2010.
Conan: Road of Kings
Conan: Road of Kings was Dark Horse Comics' third series about Conan. It featured Roy Thomas as the writer and Mike Hawthorne as the primary artist on the series.
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian was Dark Horse Comics' fourth series about Conan. Brian Wood's run on the series was twenty-five issues and expanded on Robert E. Howard's original story "Queen of the Black Coast".
Conan the Avenger
Conan the Avenger was Dark Horse Comics' fifth series about Conan, with Fred Van Lente as the writer.
Conan the Slayer
Conan the Slayer was Dark Horse Comics' sixth and final series about Conan, with Cullen Bunn as the writer. Subsequently, the publishing rights reverted to Marvel in 2018.
Conan (mini-series and one-shots)
In addition to the larger series, there are also several miniseries and one shots.
Conan: The Phantoms of the Black Coast was originally published as an ePlate exclusive miniseries. The back-ups in these issues were reprinted from Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword, and were later collected in the trade paperbacks for that series.
King Conan (series of mini-series)
King Conan was a miniseries about Conan during his time as king of Aquilonia.
Collections
Conan
Conan super-sized collections
Conan Omnibus TPB
Conan (mini-series and one-shots)
Some of these collections also collect issues from the Conan line of comics, yet they were not collected as part the chronological collections.
Adaptations of Robert E. Howard's original stories
Conan adapts these stories:
"The Frost-Giant's Daughter": Issue 2.
"The God in the Bowl": Issues 10 & 11.
"The Tower of the Elephant": Issues 20–22.
"The Hall of the Dead": Issues 29–31.
"Rogues in the House": Issues 41–44.
"The Hand of Nergal": Issues 47–50.
Conan the Cimmerian adapts these stories:
"Black Colossus": Issues 8–13.
"Shadows in the Moonlight": Issues 22–25.
Conan the Barbarian adapts these stories:
"Queen of the Black Coast": Issues 1–3 and 22–25.
Conan the Avenger adapts these stories:
"The Snout in the Dark": Issues 1–6.
"The Slithering Shadow" ("Xuthal of the Dusk"): Issues 13–15.
"A Witch Shall be Born": Issues 20–25.
Conan the Slayer adapts these stories:
"The Devil in Iron": Issues 7–12.
The People of the Black Circle (mini-series) adapts:
Collections of Marvel Comics comics
The Chronicles of Conan
This 34-volume series collects the complete run of Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian (unless noted), digitally re-coloured.
By Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith (unless noted):
Volume 1: Tower of the Elephant and Other Stories (2003) – collects issues 1–8.
Volume 2: Rogues In the House and Other Stories (2003) – collects issues 9–13, 16.
Volume 3: The Monster of the Monoliths and Other Stories (2003) – collects issues 14–15, 17–21 (also by Gil Kane).
Volume 4: The Song of Red Sonja and Other Stories (2004) – collects issues 23–26 and Red Nails, originally published in Savage Tales 2 & 3.
By Roy Thomas and John Buscema (unless noted):
Volume 5: The Shadow In the Tomb and Other Stories (2004) – collects issues 27–34.
Volume 6: The Curse of the Golden Skull and Other Stories (2004) – collects issues 35–42 (also by Neal Adams and Rich Buckler).
Volume 7: The Dweller In the Pool and Other Stories (2005) – collects issues 43–51.
Volume 8: Brothers of the Blade and Other Stories (2005) – collects issues 52–59 (also by Mike Ploog).
Volume 9: Riders of the River-Dragons and Other Stories (2006) – collects issues 60–63, 65, 69–71 (also by Val Mayerik).
Volume 10: When Giants Walk the Earth and Other Stories (2006) – collects issues 72–77, 79–81 (also by Howard Chaykin).
The Savage Sword of Conan
This 22-volume series collects the complete run of Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan.
The Chronicles of King Conan
This 11-volume series collects the complete run of Marvel Comics' King Conan, with five issues in each volume:
Volume 1 – The Witch of the Mists and Other Stories Written by Roy Thomas, Art by John Buscema, Ernie Chan and Danny Bulanadi. (ISBN 978-1-59307-477-7)
Volume 2 – Vengeance From the Desert and Other Stories Written by Roy Thomas and Doug Moench. Art by John Buscema and Ernie Chan. (ISBN 978-1-59582-670-1)
Volume 3 – The Haunter of the Cenotaph and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-59582-939-9)
Volume 4 – The Prince Is Dead and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-61655-062-2)
Volume 5 – The Black Dragons and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-61655-063-9)
Volume 6 – A Death In Stygia and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-61655-195-7)
Volume 7 – Day of Wrath and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-61655-347-0)
Volume 8 – The Road To Empire and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-61655-370-8)
Volume 9 – The Blood of the Serpent and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-61655-371-5)
Volume 10 – The Warlord of Koth and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-61655-372-2)
Volume 11 – Nightmare and Other Stories (ISBN 978-1-61655-576-4)
Other Conan publications by Dark Horse
Conan the Barbarian – The Mask of Acheron (2011 movie adaptation) Written by Stuart Moore. Art by Gabriel Guzman and Jason Gorder. (ISBN 978-1-59582-828-6)
Groo vs. Conan Written by Mark Evanier. Art by Tom Luth and Thomas Yeates. (ISBN 978-1-61655-603-7)
Conan Exiles, by Michael Moreci, José Luis, and Andy Owens. Included in the Collector's edition of the videogame Conan Exiles.
Conan: The Swamp King - Published in Dark Horse Presents Vol 3. #21 (2016), Story and pencils by Aaron Lopresti, inks by Matt Banning.