Titan Comics will take over the Conan the Barbarian license from Marvel Comics this fall and enter into a co-publishing agreement with Heroic Signatures, the custodian of all of Robert E. Howard’s intellectual property rights.
The comic deal follows last year’s book deal between Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures, and begins with the Conan: Blood of the Serpent novel by S.M. Stirling on December 6, followed by Conan the Barbarian: The Official Story of the Film, a behind-the-scenes hardcover retrospective of the John Milius production, in 2023.
Titan plans to kick off a new Conan the Barbarian comic book series in May 2023 to coincide with Titan Comics’ tenth anniversary. The new deal also covers all previous comic appearances by Conan, Kull, Solomon Kane, and others from Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics, which will undoubtedly turned into new graphic novel and omnibus editions.
Heroic Signatures president Fredrik Malmberg told the Hollywood Reporter that “We have been working with Titan for a year on the prose side and established a good foundation for expanding our business together. When it became clear that Heroic Signatures would publish our own comics, it was natural to partner with a team that we have known for decades. Their expertise in publishing is stellar, and we couldn’t be more excited to launch a barbarian horde of titles like Conan, Solomon Kane, Dark Agnes, and many more together.”
Marvel Comics originally published the exploits of Conan and friends from 1970 to 1993, before the license was acquired by Dark Horse Comics in 2003 until Marvel reacquired the rights in 2018. Marvel Comics will finish off their Conan series and re-issues program by December 2022.
Look for more information about Titan Comics upcoming Conan series in the weeks and months to come.