Conan the Barbarian returns to Marvel

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Submitted by Mike 'Ace' Maillaro on Fri, 01/12/2018 - 19:16

From Marvel:

Today, Marvel Entertainment and Conan Properties International are excited to announce the iconic CONAN franchise will make its grand return to Marvel next year.

With over 650 issues from 1970 to 2000, Marvel brought fans the adventures of Conan The Barbarian, Conan the Adventurer, Conan the Savage, and Savage Sword of Conan, among other popular titles.

“From Barry Windsor-Smith to John Buscema to Neal Adams, a legendary lineup of amazing artists brought Conan to life in the pages of Marvel comics,” said C.B. Cebulski, Editor-in-Chief of Marvel. “It’s a legacy we’re now going to live up to with the talent we have lined up for the Cimmerian barbarian’s homecoming in early 2019. We’re excited!”

“We’re thrilled to be working with Marvel and look forward to the new adventures in store for Conan,” said Fredrik Malmberg, President of Conan Properties International. “As the most well-known and creative publisher in the industry, we think Marvel is a great fit for our stories.”

With this deal, Marvel will again bring new and thrilling stories for Conan fans around the world. Details on upcoming comic book titles, collections, reprints, and creative teams will be shared at a later date.

Source: Marvel

Commentary: This may sound nuts, but when I was a kid, I actually thought Conan was created by Marvel. They published comics with him since the 70's, including him starring in a few issues of What If (if you ever get to read Conan the Pimp...you have to do so). By the time Dark Horse got the licenses in 2000, I had read many of the original Robert E. Howard stories. But it was always those Marvel stories I thought about when it came to Conan. So this is basically a homecoming for me. I am really curious what they can do with the character.

I would love to see Marvel do with Conan like they did with Star Wars. Nice collections of the Dark Horse material, updated collections of the original Marvel Conan series, and putting their top creators on new Conan material. This should be a really cool partnership.

If nothing else, we really need the return of Conan the Pimp!

Marvel did post some teases with Esab Ribic and Mike Deodato (featuring Thor and Wolverine!)