Conan: Returning to Marvel

[JKtheMac]

No one has ever tied Conan into any type of nazi beliefs, Conan was supposed to be a proto Irishman, which makes sense as Robert E. Howard was an Irishmen himself

Howard actually wanted to do historical novels but he felt it'd take too much research, so he just built his own world, which has become a staple of fantasy fiction

And he borrowed heavily from the pseudo histories of the time. I didn't mention Nazis did I? It was relatively common in the preceding era to build notions of where the Europeans came from that pointed north, and you can map that material onto it quite easily. To suggest nobody has ever drawn a link there is nonsense but it is not drawn out very often. Mostly because those histories are now gathering dust and were entirely fictional constructs but they can still be glimpsed in folk tales and in fantasy novels of today with a line drawn through Howard's world building. Also becuse to draw out the similarities is an uncomfortable reminder of an era gone by, just as many pulp novels are.

I can't imagine any of the more academic writers in comics not addressing this in some way, and that may be where issues arise.

[JKtheMac]

Never followed Conan, but I certainly would for Ribic

Absolutely, I would follow Ribic anywhere.

[comicscollector]

Conway would be interesting especially after his awesome Carnage run. Didn't he quit/get fired recently though?

Conway is a awesome writer.I have been looking forward new comic books writen by him.And i think he would be great writing new Conan stories.
I dont know if he quit writing Marvel stories but as somebody that thought the Carnage series was cool,then in that case that would be disapointing news in regards of the team of writers at Marvel.

[Kintor]

And he borrowed heavily from the pseudo histories of the time. I didn't mention Nazis did I? It was relatively common in the preceding era to build notions of where the Europeans came from that pointed north, and you can map that material onto it quite easily. To suggest nobody has ever drawn a link there is nonsense but it is not drawn out very often. Mostly because those histories are now gathering dust and were entirely fictional constructs but they can still be glimpsed in folk tales and in fantasy novels of today with a line drawn through Howard's world building. Also becuse to draw out the similarities is an uncomfortable reminder of an era gone by, just as many pulp novels are.

I can't imagine any of the more academic writers in comics not addressing this in some way, and that may be where issues arise.

Again, you're reading way too much into this. The character is called Conan the Barbarian, don't expect uplifting tales about the virtues of modern society. Yet in his own way Conan is still a heroic figure, a savage man for a savage time, who still incidentally advances the cause of civilisation with every warlord and wizard that he defeats. Why you'd fear Conan and message he represents is beyond me.

[Haquim]

This feels like the first true "LEGACY" themed move Marvel has done: Conan and the Hyborian Age are a BIG part of the Marvel Universe's history. Just to name a few, Mary Jane is a descendant of Red Sonya, Selene was alive during the reign of Kulan Gath, Atlantis sunk, the serpent's crown and so on.
This is big and I'm overjoyed.

[L.R Johansson]

I am excited for this!!

When I first saw the headline, I actually got a bit of a jaw-drop... I never thought Marvel would get their Hyperborea-stuff back! Now we might start seeing more of those ties again, more of the stories with magical beings whom have ties to those ages.

AND... I recall something now... Joe Q once said, about 10 years ago, that the ONE licensed property he was always miffed that Marvel lost, was Conan - he always loved Conan, and thought they should have held on to it.

He's mentioned that he's coming back to comics again... could HE possibly be the one behind this, with the new immense money and greater influence he has from his CCO position?! ; ) H*ll yes, I say! He might also be one of the artists or writers coming on to Conan as well, methinks - at least in a limited capacity.

Here's to me trying out Conan again for the first time in ages! : D

[Kai "the spy"]

I'm less than thrilled. Dark Horse did a fantastic job with Conan, and while Marvel did a lot of fantastic stuff, as well, most of that was in the Savage Sword magazine, and I don't really see current Marvel doing something like that. But I'll be fair, at least Marvel doesn't have to deal with the Comics Code and L. Sprague de Camp anymore, as they did when last they had the license.

[doomeye56]

Cullen Bunn is writing the current Conan Series Conan the Slayer and it has been fantastic.

[MRP]

Cullen Bunn is writing the current Conan Series Conan the Slayer and it has been fantastic.

The last issue of this series was over 3 months ago, so not quite a current series. The current Conan series is the Wonder Woman x-over book and nothing is solicited form Dark Horse after that. I found most of the Dark Horse stuff after Conan the Cimmerian to be mediocre at best. Bunn's book was ok but for me it fell like he was retreading plot twists and ideas he already used in the Helheim and Sixth Gun books just adding a coat of Hyborian Age paint to them rather than telling new and interesting Conan stories in the first six issues and the art in those issues was inconsistent at best on the title, with some solid panels here and there but with problematic panel to panel and page to page storytelling and faces that blended together to make it difficult to tell who was who and who was doing what at times. I didn't read past #6 and I am a die hard Howard fan as it just felt like a pale imitation of a generic Conan pastiche novel rather than something in the vein of Howard's Conan tales themselves. The initial Busiek/Nord issues of Dark Horse's Conan is probably my favorite iteration of Conan in comics form ever, but each successive series from Dark Horse has been less satisfying and less Howard-like as it has struggled to keep its audience over the years.

-M

[MRP]

What I'd really like to see is for someone to get the rights to collect the Mexican Conan comics that came out in the 50s and 60s before Marvel ever had the rights to Conan...

here's Belit the Queen of the Black Coast







-M

[GreenScar1990]

I am quite looking forward to Conan the Barbarian coming back to Marvel Comics. I have always loved the character. I just hope that they do not tone him down, take away all the violence and nudity and pure badassery that comes with Conan and his world/universe. That being said, I cannot help but wonder two things.

1) Will Conan the Barbarian fight and/or team-up with other Marvel characters?

2) Does Marvel/Disney have intentions on eventually making a R-rated Conan The Barbarian film that's faithful to the source material?

Now, I have to ask, who would you like to see Conan the Barbarian team-up with?

I'd personally like to see him team-up with:

1) Hulk/Banner
2) Skaar
3) Thor
4) Wolverine
5) Captain America

[frizb]

The hero vs. hero crap was done already, Bendis and Spencer brought it back for Civil War 2 and Secret Empire

Yep it was. Hence the next sentence that I wrote. Fix it now before it's too late. It was a very well written series and pretty much made it impossible for Marvel to follow up with another Civil War type event. More reason to like it.

[nnelg]

This is kind of funny given DC just did their own Conan crossover with Wonder Woman .

I was just thinking I could see Jason Aaron writing this as well.

He already ruined something I loved. I don't want that to happen again.


I was very pleased when I saw this news but then I realized that PC Marvel will be making Conan titles. That saddens me.

[Charlie_1981]

He already ruined something I loved. I don't want that to happen again.


I was very pleased when I saw this news but then I realized that PC Marvel will be making Conan titles. That saddens me.

A good thing could be resurrecting MAX imprint and put there Conan books, they will do whatever thing they want.

[ElliotJA]

I'd be overjoyed if they placed Conan back in 616's prehistory and revisited the old continuity. If I recall, back when Marvel's black and white CONAN THE SAVAGE magazine was cancelled in the 1990s, there were a number of scripts which never saw the light of day. Now that Conan's back at Marvel, perhaps now would be a great opportunity to resurrect those story ideas? One would have seen Conan encounter the Hyborian Age version of Black Panther, that would be cool.

And now Marvel can reprint those WHAT IF stories were Conan met Thor, Captain America, and Wolverine.