Conan (Marvel Comics)

Conan
An interior panel of "The Tower of the Elephant" comic adaptation by Roy Thomas featuring the art of John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala. The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard and first appeared in a 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970)
Created by	Roy Thomas Barry Smith

Conan is a fictional character based on Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian. He was introduced to the comic book world in 1970 with Conan the Barbarian, written by Roy Thomas, illustrated by Barry Smith and published by Marvel Comics.

The highly successful Conan the Barbarian series spawned the more adult, black-and-white Savage Sword of Conan in 1974 (published by the Marvel imprint Curtis Magazines). Written by Thomas with most art by John Buscema or Alfredo Alcala, Savage Sword of Conan soon became one of the most popular comic series of the 1970s and is now-considered a cult classic.

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 Thomas and illustrated by Buscema, the strip was continued by several different Marvel artists and writers.

Marvel ceased publishing all Conan titles in 2000. In 2003, Dark Horse Comics acquired the license to publish the character.

Core appearances

Marvel Comics' Conan's core appearances include:

Title	Issues	Dates	Notes
Conan the Barbarian	#1 - 275	1970 – 1993
	Annual #1-12	1973-1987
Savage Tales	#1 - 5	1971–1975	Conan only appeared in the first five issues; the final six issues featured Ka-Zar
Giant-Size Conan	#1 - 5	1974–1975
Savage Sword of Conan	#1 - 235	1974–1995	Black-and-white "mature readers" title originally published by the Marvel imprint Curtis Magazines
	Annual #1	1975
Conan newspaper strip	16 stories	1978 – 1981
Handbook of the Conan Universe	#1	1985
King Conan/Conan the King	#1 - 55	1980 – 1989	Title changed from King Conan to Conan the King after issue #19
Conan the Adventurer	#1 - 14	1994 – 1995	A "reboot" of Conan the Barbarian
Conan	#1 - 11	1995 – 1996
Conan the Savage	#1 - 10	1995 – 1996	A "reboot" of Savage Sword of Conan

Comic Strip Stories (Dailies and Sundays)

1. The Coming of Conan, Roy Thomas & John Buscema
   (Sep 4, 1978 - Sep 9, 1978)
2. The Wizard's Daughter, Roy Thomas & John Buscema
   (Sep 10, 1978 - Oct 21, 1978)
3. Red Sonja, Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Ernie Chan
   (Oct 22, 1978 - Dec 24, 1978)
4. The Slavers, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
   (Dec 25, 1978 - Feb 10, 1979)
5. The Stolen City, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
   (Feb 11, 1979 - Mar 25, 1979)
6. The People of the Cataclysm, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
   (Mar 26, 1979 - Jun 10, 1979)
7. The Castle of Vincenzo, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
   (Jun 11, 1979 - Aug 26, 1979)
8. The Rescue of King Sohram, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
   (Aug 26, 1979 - Oct 28, 1979)
9. Bride of the Black Book, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
   (Oct 29, 1979 - Dec 22, 1979)
10. Red Sonja and Thulsa Doom, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
    (Dec 23, 1979 - Mar 15, 1980)
11. The Jewel of the Ages, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
    (Mar 16, 1980 - Apr 27, 1980)
12. Treasure Ship, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
    (Apr 28, 1980 - Jun 22, 1980)
13. Island Warrior, Roy Thomas & Ernie Chan
    (Jun 23, 1980 - Aug 27, 1980)
14. The Plague Demon, Roy Thomas & Alfredo Alcala
    (Aug 28, 1980 - Oct 19, 1980)
15. The Tower of the Elephant, Roy Thomas, Rudy Nebres, Pablo Marcos & Alan Kupperberg
    (Oct 20, 1980 - Jan 3, 1981)
16. Revenge of the Son of Yara the Wizard Priest, Roy Thomas, Doug Moench, Alan Kupperberg, Pablo Marcos & Tom Yeates
    (Jan 4, 1981 - Apr 12, 1981)

Marvel graphic novels

• The Witch Queen of Acheron (Marvel Graphic Novel [MGN] #19, 1985)
• Conan the Reaver (MGN #28, 1987)
• Conan of the Isles (MGN #42, 1988)
• The Skull of Set (MGN #53, 1989)
• The Horn of Azoth (MGN #59, 1990)
• Conan the Rogue (MGN #69, 1991)
• The Ravagers Out of Time (MGN #73, 1992)

Marvel Conan the Barbarian miniseries

• Stalker of the Woods (1997), 3 issues
• The Usurper (1997–1998), 3 issues
• Lord of the Spiders (1998), 3 issues
• River of Blood (1998), 3 issues
• Return of Styrm (1998), 3 issues
• Scarlet Sword (1998–1999), 3 issues
• Death Covered in Gold (1999), 3 issues
• Flame and the Fiend (2000), 3 issues

Marvel Universe appearances in the modern day

• What If (Volume 1) #13 Conan briefly appears in the modern world and walks past Peter Parker and Mary Jane.
• What If (Volume 1) #43 In the sequel to What If? 13, Conan fights Captain America.
• What If (Volume 2) #16 Conan fights Wolverine (in his own time) and briefly a Skrull, a Kree, and amidst the death of Jean Grey on the moon, throws a rock at Cyclops' head.
• Avengers Forever #12 (1998) This was Kurt Busiek's first writing of Conan. The Conan in this comic (1 panel) was the same Conan as the one in What if? #43.
• Excalibur #47 with Satyrnine.
• Fantastic Four #405 fighting Ant-Man, Iron Man 2020, and Zarrko.
• Incomplete Death's Head #11 where he appears in one panel.
• Green Goblin #10 What appears to be a robot of Conan fights Green Goblin in Arcade's Murderworld.
• Paradise X: Heralds #1 What may be a reincarnated Conan (and Red Sonja) by Kulan Gath appears and is apparently killed by Hyperion before issue 2 begins.

The following occur in the Hyborean age:

• Dr. Strange #11 (volume 3, 1989) versus Varnae
• Dr. Strange #26 (volume 3, 1991) apparently a panel versus a werewolf
• Thor Corps 3 Conan appears with an astronaut.
• What If (Volume 2) #39 with Thor.
• Conan #249-250 with Red Sonja, he fights Varnae, the first vampire (who has fought Dr. Strange and Thor).
• Conan vs Rune (1995)
• Conan #4 (1995) featuring Rune
• Savage Sword of Conan #?-? with Solomon Kane.

Note: At least some of these appearances (e.g. What If?, Avengers Forever, and Excalibur), if not all, were not of Conan from Earth-616.

Miscellaneous appearances

• Conan the Barbarian Movie Special (1982), 2 issues
• Conan the Destroyer Movie Special (1985), 2 issues
• Marvel Age, issues 1, 2, 8 and 13

Reprints

• Conan the Barbarian (1978 to 1979), six paperback-sized books published by Ace Books/Tempo Star. Reprints issues 1–3 (vol. 1); 4–6 (vol. 2); 7–9 (vol. 3); 10–11 (vol. 4); 12 (first story), 13 and 16 (vol. 5); 12 (second story), 14–17 and 87 (second story) (vol. 6).
• Conan the Barbarian – Special Edition (1983), Red Nails
• Conan Saga (1987–1995), 97 issues
• Conan Classic (1994–1995), 11 issues
• Marvel Treasury Edition, issues 4, 15, 19 and 23
• Marvel Super Special, issues 2, 9, 21 and 35
• Essential Conan (2000), Vol 1 (reprints issues 1-25)

See also

• Conan (comics)
• Conan (Dark Horse Comics)
• Starr the Slayer