King Conan No. 1

Description:

King Conan was a comic book published by Marvel Comics, changing titles to Conan the King after the 19th issue. Overall, the comic ran for 55 issues, from 1980-1989.

In 1970, Marvel Comics began publication of the comic book Conan the Barbarian. The series, Marvel’s first to feature author Robert E. Howard’s muscular hero, became one of the company’s most popular titles, lasting for 23 years and 275 issues. Inspiring countless imitators, Marvel helped propel Howard, and the “sword and sorcery” genre he created, into the mainstream of American popular culture.

Conan first hacked his way into reader’s hearts in Howard’s 1932 story, “The Phoenix on the Sword,” published in the pulp periodical, Weird Tales. 16 more adventures followed, with more published after Howard’s death. Strong, cunning and decisive, Conan’s adventures are set in the brutal “Age of Hyboria” a mythical landscape populated with wicked sorcerers, evil demons and ferocious despots.

Following the success of Conan the Barbarian, Marvel released more titles featuring the character, notably King Conan/ Conan the King (1980-1989) and the black and white magazine Savage Sword of Conan (1974-1995.) In the early 2000s, Dark Horse acquired the license for Conan, developing several well-received Conan titles between 2003-2017, after which Marvel required the property.

Since Marvel’s popularization of Howard’s character, the sinewy swordsman has been the subject of novels, video games, animated television series and feature films, including 1982’s Conan the Barbarian. Directed by John Milius, the film starred Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role, helping launch the Austrian born weightlifter’s, and future Governor of California’s, Hollywood career.