Conan (Dark Horse Comics)
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Conan is a Robert E. Howard character, the adventures of whom are published by Dark Horse Comics. The first series, simply titled Conan(starting with Conan #0 in 2003), is set to run for 50 issues, before being relaunched as Conan the Cimmerian with a new #1. There have also been a number of other miniseries.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Core appearances
- Conan #0: The Legend (2003), 1 issue.
- Conan (2004-2007), 50 issues. (ongoing)
- 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.
- Dark Horse 20 Years: Conan Pin-Up (2006), 1 page.
- Hyborian Adventures: SDCC Free Giveaway (2006), 1 issue.
- Conan and the Midnight God (2007), 5 issues.
- Conan the Cimmerian (2008). (ongoing)
[edit] First series
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.
[edit] Background
Each issue also contains "The Adventures of Two-Gun Bob (True Stories from the Life of Robert E. Howard)" by Jim & Ruth Keegan.
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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. |
|||
| #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 |
|||
| #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. |
||
| #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 | 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 |
| #46 | Over the Walls | Born on the Battlefield part 6 | |||
| #47 | Spawn of the Nergal | Written by Howard Adapted by Truman. |
Tomas Giorello. | Adapted from The Hand of Nergal. | |
| #48 | Spawn of the Nergal Part 2 | ||||
| #49 | Spawn of the Nergal Part 3 |
Upcoming Issues
- 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: This story is out of sequence, showing future events in Conan's life.
***Note: This story follows on from Conan's lost helm on the final page of issue 3, and follows its journey.
[edit] Awards
- 4 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
- Best Single Issue or One-Shot: Conan #0: "The Legend "
- 4 Eagle Awards
- Favourite new comicbook: Conan
[edit] Controversies
[edit] Demon rape
A character called Janissa was introduced in Conan #12, with an origin story that involved her being raped numerous times by demons. An ongoing debate about this and the portrayal of female character and sexual assault continued in the letter column of the series.
During the issue "following" the one with the nude cover there were multiple customers complaining about this and how it upset both them and their wives.
[edit] 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)
[edit] Second series (Conan The Cimmerian)
- 99¢ Issue #0 is to be released June 2008, followed by #1 in July.
Conan the Cimmerian is a Dark Horse Comics series about the famous character Conan the Barbarian, who was created by writer Robert E. Howard. It is set to set to start in June 2008 with #0. It follows Conan that lasted for 50 issues.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Creative teams
Tim Truman[1] (writer 2008) & Tomas Giorello[2] (artist 2008-)
[edit] Issues
| Issue | Title | Writer | Penciller | Cover | Notes |
| #0 |
Upcoming Issues
- Issue #1: Shadows in the Moonlight part 1
[edit] Creative teams
Tim Truman (writer 2008) & Tomas Giorello (artist 2008-)
[edit] Robert E. Howard's Conan Specials
A series of specials reprinting stories based on the works of Robert E. Howard from the above series.
- R. E. Howard's Conan: The Frost Giant's Daughter. Reprints Conan #2.
- R. E. Howard's Conan: The Frazetta Cover Series #2. Reprints Conan #10 & 11.
[edit] One-shots
- Conan and the Daughters of Midora (2004): Written by Jimmy Palmiotti, Art by Mark Texeira, Cover by Mark Texeira.
- Conan Funcom Special (2006): Written by Joshua M. Dysart, Art by Tone Rodriguez, Cover by Cary Nord. Prelude to "Conan and the Midnight God".
[edit] Mini-series
[edit] Conan and the Jewels of Gwahlur
- Conan and the Jewels of Gwahlur was a three issue mini-series released in 2005. It was adapted from Robert E. Howard's "The Jewels of Gwahlur" by P. Craig Russell.
[edit] Conan and the Demons of Khitai
- Conan and the Demons of Khitai was a 4 issue mini-series by Akira Yoshida and Paul Lee released in 2005 - 2006. A nude version of the cover to Conan #24 appeared in the letter page of early printings of the fourth issue of Conan and the Demons of Khitai.
[edit] Conan: Book of Thoth
- Conan: Book of Thoth was a 4 issue mini-series by Kurt Busiek, Len Wein and Kelley Jones, detailling the early life of the Conan villain.
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.[3][4]
[edit] Conan and the Songs of the Dead
- Conan and the Songs of the Dead (2006), 5 issues
[edit] Conan and the Midnight God
- Conan and the Midnight God (2007), 5 issues
[edit] Adaptations
The first 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 second series adapts these stories:
- "Shadows in the Moonlight: Issue #1.
The mini-series and one-shots adapt:
- "Jewels of Gwahlur": Conan and the Jewels of Gwahlur (3 issues).
[edit] Chronology
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.
[edit] Collections
[edit] Dark Horse collections
Collects Dark Horse's ongoing Conan series unless noted.
- Conan
- Born on the Battlefield Collects Conan (2008). Collecting #8, 15, 23, 45, 46. Story: Kurt Busiek, Art: Greg Roth.
- Volume 1: The Frost Giant's Daughter and Other Stories (2005). Collects #0 - 6 and #7 (14 pages) of the comic series Conan. Also includes a 3 page, black and white, original Conan story written by Kurt Busiek, and penciled by Cary Nord, never to be concluded. Original cover by Cary Nord.
- Volume 2: The God In The Bowl And Other Stories (2005) Collects #7 (remaining 8 pages) and #9 - 14. Original cover by Cary Nord.
- Volume 3: The Tower Of The Elephant and Other Stories (2006) Collecting #16 - 17, and 19 - 22. Original cover by Cary Nord.
- Volume 4: The Hall Of The Dead and Other Stories (2007) Collecting #24 - 25, 29 - 31, and 33 - 34. Original cover by Cary Nord.
- Volume 5: Rogues in the House (2008) Collecting #37, 38, 41 - 44.
- Conan and the Jewels of Gwahlur (2005) Collecting the mini-series of the same name. Original cover by P. Craig Russell.
- Conan and the Demons of Khitai (2006) Collecting the mini-series of the same name. Original cover by Pat Lee.
- Conan: Book of Thoth (2006) Collecting the mini-series of the same name. Original cover by Kelley Jones.
- Conan and the Songs of the Dead (2007) Collecting the mini-series of the same name. Original cover by Timothy Truman.
[edit] Marvel collections
The Chronicles of Conan
(collects Conan the Barbarian (Marvel Comics), unless noted.)
By Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith (unless noted.)
- Volume 1: Tower of the Elephant and Other Stories (2003). Reprints issues 1-8.
- Volume 2: Rogues in the House and Other Stories (2003). Reprints 9-13,16.
- Volume 3: The Monster of the Monoliths and Other Stories (2003). Reprints issues 14,15,17-21 (also by Gil Kane).
- Volume 4: The Song of Red Sonja and Other Stories (2004). Reprints 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). Reprints issues 27-34.
- Volume 6: The Curse of the Golden Skull and Other Stories (2004). Reprints issues 35-42 (also by Neil Adams).
- Volume 7: The Dweller in the Pool and Other Stories (2005). Reprints issues 43-51.
- Volume 8: The Tower of Blood and Other Stories (2006). Reprints issues 60 - 63, 65, 69 - 71.
- Volume 9: Riders of the River-Dragons and Other Stories (2005). Reprints issues 52-60. (also by Val Mayerik)
- Volume 10: When Giants Walk the Earth and Other Stories (2006). Reprints issues 72 - 77, 79-82 (also by Howard Chaykin).
- Volume 11: The Dance of the Skull and Other Stories (2007). Reprints issues 82-90.
- Volume 12: The Beast King (2007). Reprints issues 91, 93-100.
- Volume 13: Whispering Shadows and Other Stories (November 2007). Reprints issues 92, 101-108.
- Volume 14: Shadow of the Beast and Other Stories (2008). Reprints issues 109-115.
- Volume 15: The Corridor of Mullah-Kajar and Other Stories (July 2008). Reprints issues 116-121 and Conan Annual #2.
The Savage Sword of Conan
- Volume 1. Collects The Savage Sword of Conan #1-10. Written by Roy Thomas, Art by Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala, Pablo Marcos and many more.
- Volume 2. Collects The Savage Sword of Conan #11-24. Written by Roy Thomas, Art by Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema.
- Volume 3. Collects The Savage Sword of Conan #25-31. Written by Roy Thomas, Art by Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcaia, Jim Stalin, Al Milgrom, Pablo Marcos and many more.
[edit] References
- ^ Tim Truman on Conan the Cimmerian, Newsarama, May 21, 2008
- ^ Tomas Giorello on Conan the Cimmerian, Newsarama, May 22, 2008
- ^ Dark Horse Clears Up Conan's Naked Cover Issue. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
- ^ CONAN #24. Mania Comics. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
