Conan is a Dark Horse Comics series about the famous character Conan the Cimmerian, who was created by writer Robert E. Howard. It is set to run for 50 issues, before being relaunched as Conan the Cimmerian with a new #1, and has spawned more than 4 other miniseries. The comic's unconventional art consists of only color and pencilwork, with no inkwork, providing a painterly aesthetic.
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Background
Dark Horse Comics began their take on Conan in 2003. This series is a fresh interpretation, original material and stories based on the works of Robert E. Howard, with no connection to the large Marvel run or other post-Howard material. Each issue also contains "The Adventures of Two-Gun Bob (True Stories from the Life of Robert E. Howard)" by Jim & Ruth Keegan. Dark Horse Comics is also publishing 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.
Issues
| Issue | Title | Writer | Penciller | Cover | Notes |
| #0 | Conan: The Legend | Kurt Busiek. | Cary Nord. | Cary Nord. | * |
| #1 | Out Of The Darksome Hills | Original Cover by Joseph Michael Linsner, Variant Covers by Cary Nord; J. Scott Campbell. |
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| #2 | The Frost Giant's Daughter | Written by Robert E. Howard Adapted by Busiek. |
Cary Nord. | Joseph Michael Linsner. | |
| #3 | At The Back Of The North Wind | Kurt Busiek | |||
| #4 | The Gates Of Paradise | ||||
| #5 | Ashes And Dust | ||||
| #6 | Day of Farewell | ||||
| #7 | Blood for Blood | ||||
| #8 | Born On the Battlefield | Greg Ruth | Greg Ruth | Born on the Battlefield part 1. | |
| #9 | Two Nemedians Walk into a Bar | Cary Nord and Thomas Yeates | Leinil Francis Yu. | ||
| #10 | The Temple of Kallian Publico | Written by Robert E. Howard Adapted by Busiek. |
Adapted from The God in the Bowl | ||
| #11 | The God in the Bowl | ||||
| #12 | The Hanumar Road | Kurt Busiek | |||
| #13 | The Devil Within | ||||
| #14 | The Ibis & the Serpent | Cary Nord Tom Mandrake Thomas Yeates |
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| #15 | Wolves in the Woods | Greg Ruth | Greg Ruth | Born on the Battlefield part 2. | |
| #16 | Horror on Uskuth Hill | Cary Nord | Cary Nord and Dave Stewart. | ||
| #17 | The City of Thieves | ||||
| #18 | Helm | Kurt Busiek & Fabian Nicieza |
Art by John Severin | *** | |
| Conan's Favorite Joke | Kurt Busiek | Art by Bruce Timm | + | ||
| #19 | The Thing in the Temple | Kurt Busiek | Cary Nord | ||
| #20 | The Tower of the Elephant | Written by Robert E. Howard, Adapted by Kurt Busiek |
Ladrönn | Adapted from The Tower of the Elephant | |
| #21 | The Tower of the Elephant (The Prince of Thieves) | ||||
| #22 | The Heart of Yag-Kosha | ||||
| #23 | The Battle of Brita's Vale | Kurt Busiek | Greg Ruth | Greg Ruth | Born on the Battlefield part 3. |
| #24 | The Magistrate's Wife | Cary Nord | Cary Nord and Dave Stewart. |
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| #25 | The Hand of the Mighty | Tony Harris. | |||
| #26 | Seeds of Empire (A Tale of Princes - and, perhaps, of Kings!) | Tim Truman | *+ | ||
| #27 | The Blood-Stained Crown (A Tale of those who tread The Path of Kings!) | *+ | |||
| #28 | Storyteller | Eric Powell | + | ||
| #29 | The Toad | Written by Robert E. Howard, Adapted by Mike Mignola. |
Cary Nord. | from Robert E. Howard synopsis "The Hall of the Dead" | |
| #30 | The Serpent | ||||
| #31 | The Hall of the Dead | ||||
| #32 | Wild Cimmerian Bull | Kurt Busiek | Greg Ruth | Greg Ruth | Born on the Battlefield part 4. |
| #33 | Dogs of the Hills | Tim Truman | Cary Nord | Tony Harris | |
| #34 | The Sons of Bel | ||||
| #35 | They Shall Be Lords Again | Paul Lee | + | ||
| #36 | Silent to the Sea | + | |||
| #37 | Rat's Den | Cary Nord | |||
| #38 | The Maze | ||||
| #39 | In The Tower Of Tara-Teth | Kurt Busiek and Tim Truman |
Rafael Kayanan | Cary Nord | + |
| #40 | The Tale Of The Head | Tim Truman | Paul Lee | Paul Lee | + |
| #41 | Rogues At The Door | Written by Howard, adapted by Truman |
Cary Nord | Cary Nord | adapted from Rogues in the House |
| #42 | Red House, Red Priest | ||||
| #43 | The Pits of Refuge | Tomas Giorello | |||
| #44 | Man vs Beast | Cary Nord | |||
| #45 | Venarium | Kurt Busiek. | Greg Ruth | Greg Ruth | Born on the Battlefield part 5** |
| Issue #46 | Born on the Battlefield part 6** |
Upcoming Issues
- Issue #47: Hand of Nergal part 1: Written by Howard, adapted by Truman, art by Tomas Giorello.
- Issue #48: Hand of Nergal part 2: Written by Howard, adapted by Truman, art by Tomas Giorello.
- Issue #49: Hand of Nergal part 3: Written by Howard, adapted by Truman, art by Tomas Giorello.
- Issue #50: Hand of Nergal part 4: Written by Howard, adapted by Truman, art by Tomas Giorello. [Double Sized Final Issue]
*Note: Story is about the Prince and the Wazir reading the stories rather than about Conan, some events in Conan's life may have been altered. **Note: These issues are the "Born on the Battlefield" storyline, a six-part journey through the life of Conan as a young boy, acting as fill-in issues when the regular artist needed time to keep up. Written by Kurt Busiek, it is set to continue, when needed, after he leaves the comic (and is a clause in his exclusive contract with DC Comics). ***Note: This story follows on from Conan's lost helm on the final page of issue 3, and follows its journey. +Note: This story is out of sequence, showing future events in Conan's life.
Awards
- 4 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
- Best Single Issue or One-Shot: Conan #0: The Legend
- 4 Eagle Awards
- Favourite new comicbook: Conan
Nude cover
Starting at issue #24, Tony Harris became the permanent 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 the real cover in the blurb. Even so, 4000 copies of Conan #24 were printed with the nude cover, and distributed through the Diamond Dateline retail newsletter shrink-wrapped in black plastic.[1][2]
Creative teams
Conan Kurt Busiek (writer 2003-2006) & Cary Nord (artist 2003-2007)
Tim Truman (writer 2006-2008) & Cary Nord (artist 2003-2007) Tim Truman (writer 2006-2008) & Tomas Giorello (artist 2007-2008) Born on the Battlefield filler issues: Kurt Busiek (writer) & Greg Ruth (artist)
Adaptations
The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard in 1932 and was not published during his brief lifetime.
The series adapts these stories:
- The Frost Giant's Daughter: Issue #2.
- The God in the Bowl: Issue #10 & #11.
- The Tower of the Elephant: Issue #20 - #22.
- The Hall of the Dead (synopsis only): Issue #29 - 31.
- Rogues in the House: Issue #41 - 44.
- The Hand of Nergal: Issue #47 - 50.
The two ongoing series follow the Darkstorm Chronology. The story "Helm" in issues #18 (first series) addresses one of the major faults in that chronology.
References
- ^ Dark Horse Clears Up Conan's Naked Cover Issue. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
- ^ CONAN #24. Mania Comics. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
