| Conan | |
|---|---|
A double panel from issue #0 - The Legend |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Dark Horse Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Number of issues | 120 (including one-shots and mini-series) |
Conan, the sword-and-sorcery character created by Robert E. Howard, is the protagonist of four major comic series published by Dark Horse Comics. The first series, entitled simply Conan ran for 50 issues from 2004 to 2008; the second, entitled Conan the Cimmerian, began publication in 2008 and lasted 25 issues until 2010; the third series, entitled Conan: Road of Kings, started publishing in December 2010 and will end in January 2012; a fourth series, entitled Conan the Barbarian, will launch in February 2012. Dark Horse has also published a few one-shots and more than half a dozen mini-series.
Dark Horse is also publishing ongoing series of collections of the original Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian, The Savage Sword of Conan [the Barbarian] and King Conan series in graphic novel format.
Dark Horse Comics began their take on Conan in 2003 with a one-shot prologue, Conan #0: Conan the Legend.[1]
The Conan, Conan the Cimmerian and Conan: Road of Kings series present a fresh interpretation, incorporating both new material and adaptations of stories by Robert E. Howard, with no other connection to many 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 & Ruth Keegan.
The three main Dark Horse Conan series', Conan, Conan the Cimmerian and Conan: Road of Kings make up a larger ongoing series. This indicated by numbering on the inner cover of these books with the text, "Number [#] in a series".
Conan was Dark Horse Comics' first series about Conan the Cimmerian.
The comic's art consists of only color and pencilwork, with no inkwork, providing a painterly aesthetic.
The series follow Dale Rippke's "Darkstorm" chronology. The story "Helm" in Conan #18 addresses one of the major "faults" in that chronology.
Conan
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)
Born on the Battlefield filler issues: Kurt Busiek (writer) & Greg Ruth (artist)
| Issue | Title | Writer | Penciller | Color | Cover | Notes |
| #0 | "Conan the Legend" | Kurt Busiek | Cary Nord | Dave Stewart | Cary Nord | [2] |
| #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" | Kurt Busiek, adapting Robert E. Howard's "The Frost Giant's Daughter" |
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 | Born On the Battlefield, part 1 | |||
| #9 | "Two Nemedians Walk Into A Bar" | Cary Nord Thomas Yeates |
Dave Stewart | Leinil Francis Yu | ||
| #10 | "The Temple of Kallian Publico" | Kurt Busiek, adapting Robert E. Howard's "The God in the Bowl" |
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| #11 | "The God In the Bowl" | |||||
| #12 | "The Hanumar Road" | Kurt Busiek | ||||
| #13 | "The Devil Within" | |||||
| #14 | "The Ibis and the Serpent" | Cary Nord Tom Mandrake Thomas Yeates |
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| #15 | "Wolves In the Woods" | Greg Ruth | Born On the Battlefield, part 2 | |||
| #16 | "Horror On Uskuth Hill" | Cary Nord | Dave Stewart | Cary Nord Dave Stewart |
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| #17 | "The City of Thieves" | |||||
| #18 | "Helm" | Kurt Busiek Fabian Nicieza |
John Severin | Michelle Madsen | [3] | |
| "Conan's Favorite Joke" | Kurt Busiek | Bruce Timm | [4] | |||
| #19 | "The Thing In the Temple" | Cary Nord | Dave Stewart | |||
| #20 | "The Tower of the Elephant" | Kurt Busiek, adapting Robert E. Howard's "The Tower of the Elephant" |
Ladrönn | |||
| #21 | "The Prince of Thieves" | |||||
| #22 | "The Heart of Yag-Kosha" | |||||
| #23 | "The Battle of Brita's Vale" | Kurt Busiek | Greg Ruth | Born On the Battlefield, part 3 | ||
| #24 | "The Magistrate's Wife" | Cary Nord | Dave Stewart | Cary Nord 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 | [2][4] | |||
| #27 | "The Blood-Stained Crown (A tale of those who tread The Path of Kings!)" | |||||
| #28 | "Storyteller" | Eric Powell | [4] | |||
| #29 | "The Toad" | Mike Mignola, adapting Robert E. Howard's synopsis "The Hall of the Dead" |
Cary Nord | |||
| #30 | "The Serpent" | |||||
| #31 | "The Hall of the Dead" | |||||
| #32 | "Wild Cimmerian Bull" | Kurt Busiek | Greg Ruth | Born On the Battlefield, part 4 | ||
| #33 | "Dogs of the Hills" | Tim Truman | Cary Nord | Dave Stewart | Tony Harris | |
| #34 | "The Sons of Bel" | |||||
| #35 | "They Shall Be Lords Again" | Paul Lee | [4] | |||
| #36 | "Silent To the Sea" | |||||
| #37 | "Rat's Den" | Cary Nord | Richard Isanove | Richard Isanove Cary Nord |
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| #38 | "The Maze" | |||||
| #39 | "In the Tower of Tara-Teth" | Kurt Busiek | Rafael Kayanan | Cary Nord | [4] | |
| #40 | "The Tale of the Head" | Tim Truman | Paul Lee | Dave Stewart | Paul Lee | |
| #41 | "Rogues At the Door" | Tim Truman, adapting Robert E. Howard's "Rogues In the House" |
Cary Nord | Richard Isanove | Cary Nord | |
| #42 | "Red House, Red Priest" | |||||
| #43 | "The Pits of Refuge" | Tomas Giorello | ||||
| #44 | "Man vs Beast" | Cary Nord | ||||
| #45 | "Venarium" | Kurt Busiek | Greg Ruth | Born On the Battlefield, part 5 | ||
| #46 | "Over the Walls" | Born On the Battlefield, part 6 | ||||
| #47 | "The Spawn of Nergal" | Tim Truman, adapting Robert E. Howard's "The Hand of Nergal" |
Tomas Giorello | JD Mettler Tony Shasteen |
Tomas Giorello | The cover title is "The Hand of Nergal" |
| #48 | "Darkness Over Yaralet" | JD Mettler | The cover title is "Darkness Rising" | |||
| #49 | "Flesh For the Gods of the Night" | José Villarrúbia | ||||
| #50 | "The Hand of Nergal" | There is no cover title | ||||
Main sequence:
Supplemental:
Dark Horse also published a short series of specials reprinting stories based on the works of Robert E. Howard:
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, 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.[5][6]
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.
Tim Truman[7] (writer), Tomás Giorello[8] (artist), Richard Corben (artist) and José Villarrubia (colorist).
| Issue | Title | Writer | Penciller | Color | Cover | Notes |
| #0 | "Cimmeria" | Tim Truman | Tomás Giorello | José Villarrubia | Tomás Giorello | [9] |
| #1 | "Hunter's Moon" | Tomás Giorello Richard Corben |
Original cover by Frank Cho, Variant cover by Joe Kubert |
[10] | ||
| #2 | "Mark of the Wolf" | Frank Cho | ||||
| #3 | "Path of Mist" | |||||
| #4 | "The Skrae" | |||||
| #5 | "The Wolf's Promise" | |||||
| #6 | "Homecoming" | |||||
| #7 | "Darkness And the Night" | |||||
| #8 | "The Scorpion" | Tim Truman, adapting Robert E. Howard's "Black Colossus" |
Tomás Giorello | Joseph Michael Linsner | ||
| #9 | "The Mercenary" | |||||
| #10 | "The Commander" | |||||
| #11 | "The Face On the Coin" | |||||
| #12 | "The Battle of Shamla Pass" | |||||
| #13 | "Black Altar" | |||||
| #14 | "Home For the Hunt" | Tim Truman | Joe Kubert Tim Truman |
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| #15 | "The Sorrow of Akivasha" | Paul Lee | ||||
| #16 | "Free Companions, part 1" | Tomás Giorello | José Villarrubia | |||
| #17 | "Free Companions, part 2" | |||||
| #18 | "Free Companions, part 3" | |||||
| #19 | "Kozaki, part 1" | |||||
| #20 | "Kozaki, part 2" | Cary Nord Dave Stewart |
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| #21 | "Kozaki, part 3" | |||||
| #22 | "Iron Shadows In the Moon, part 1" | Tim Truman, adapting Robert E. Howard's "Shadows in the Moonlight" |
Tomás Giorello Paul Lee |
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| #23 | "Iron Shadows In the Moon, part 2" | Tomás Giorello | Tomás Giorello | |||
| #24 | "Iron Shadows In the Moon, part 3" | |||||
| #25 | "Iron Shadows In the Moon, part 4" | |||||
Conan the Cimmerian at the Comic Book DB
Main sequence:
Conan: Road of Kings is Dark Horse Comics' third ongoing series about Conan.
Roy Thomas (writer) Mike Hawthorne (artist)
| Issue | Title | Writer | Penciller | Color | Cover | Notes |
| #1 | Untitled | Roy Thomas | Mike Hawthorne | Dave Stewart | Original cover by Doug Wheatley, Variant cover by Dale Keown |
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| #2 | "Shadizar the Wicked" | Doug Wheatley | ||||
| #3 | Untitled | |||||
| #4 | Untitled | |||||
| #5 | Untitled | |||||
| #6 | Untitled | |||||
| #7 | "Of Princes And Plotters" | Dan Jackson | Aleksi Briclot | |||
| #8 | "The Horrors Beneath the Stones" | |||||
| #9 | "When Death Takes Wing..." | Dan Panosian | ||||
| #10 | "Is Tarantia Burning?" | |||||
| #11 | Untitled | Mike Hawthorne | ||||
| #12 | Untitled |
Main sequence:
Conan the Barbarian is going to be Dark Horse Comics' fourth ongoing series about Conan.
Conan And the Daughters of Midora was a one-shot published in 2004. It was written by Jimmy Palmiotti, with art (incl. cover) by Mark Texeira. The story was set years later than the events in the ongoing series.[11]
Conan And the Jewels of Gwahlur was a three-issue mini-series published in 2005. It was adapted from Robert E. Howard's "The Jewels of Gwahlur" by P. Craig Russell.
Conan And the Demons of Khitai was a four-issue mini-series by Akira Yoshida and Paul Lee published in 2005 - 2006.
Conan: The Book of Thoth was a four-issue mini-series by Kurt Busiek, Len Wein and Kelley Jones, detailing the early life of the Conan villain.
Conan And the Songs of the Dead was a five-issue mini-series published in 2006.
Conan And the Midnight God was a five-issue mini-series published in 2007.
A prelude to this series was published as the one-shot, Conan Funcom Special (2006), written by Joshua M. Dysart, with art by Tone Rodriguez, and cover by Cary Nord.
Conan: The Weight of the Crown was a one-shot published in 2010.
A prelude to this issue was published as two online eight-page issues titled Conan And the Mad King of Gaul (2009).
King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel is a four-issue mini-series published in 2011. It was adapted from Robert E. Howard's "The Scarlet Citadel".
Conan: Island of No Return is a two-issue mini-series published in 2011.
A prelude to this series was published on the site of USA Today as the one-shot, Conan: Kiss of the Undead (2010), online eight-page issue.
King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword is a four-issue mini-series scheduled for 2012. It will be adapted from Robert E. Howard's "The Phoenix on the Sword".
Conan adapts these stories:
Conan the Cimmerian adapts these stories:
Conan the Barbarian adapts these stories:
Conan And the Jewels of Gwahlur (mini-series and collection) adapts:
King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel (mini-series and collection) adapts:
King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword (mini-series and collection) adapts:
This series collects Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian (unless noted), digitally re-coloured.
By Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith (unless noted):
By Roy Thomas and John Buscema (unless noted):
By Roy Thomas, J.M. DeMatteis, Bruce Jones and Gil Kane
By Bruce Jones and John Buscema and others
By Michael Fleisher and John Buscema and others
This series collects Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan:
This series collects Marvel Comics' King Conan: