There is no better way to pay tribute to fifty years of comic books starring Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian than a throw-back King-Size Conan edition that harkens back to the era that made him famous.
The oversized 50th anniversary King-Size Conan (2020) #1 features five thrilling stories by creators that are synonymous with the raven-haired Northman and some that have been waiting their entire career to get a shot at penning or illustrating a Conan tale.
The impressive line-up includes: a new prelude to the original Marvel Comics Conan #1 story by Roy Thomas and Steve McNiven, a revenge tale by TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, X-Men’s Chris Claremont and Roberto de la Torre share a glimpse into Conan’s mercenary work, long-time Dark Horse Comics Conan writer Kurt Busiek and Pete Woods detail a sorcerous encounter from Conan’s early career, and Netflix’s Daredevil showrunner Steve DeKnight and Jesús Saiz showcase Conan and Belit on the open seas.
For long-time fans, the return of former Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics Roy Thomas (and one of the writers synonymous with the foundation building of Marvel Comics) to the character that he helped bring to the company in 1970 is especially exciting. Thomas is also excited by the prospect, saying that “I feel that one of the milestones of my creative life was when I stumbled into acquiring, writing, and editing Conan the Barbarian (and Savage Sword of Conan), so I’m very happy to be writing the character again fifty years later, even just for a ten-page story.”
Thomas also complemented McNiven’s work on their story saying that “There’s some really nice stuff from Steve McNiven. He’s not slavishly channeling Barry Smith, but there’s an approximation that really catches that spirit, and it’s really good.”
Check out the beautiful cover by Andrew C. Robinson below and look for King-Size Conan (2020) #1 in stores on December 23.
