Hi Gerry! Glad you found it informative, thank you. I believe there will be 18 volumes of SSOC overall – Titan/Heroic confirmed it in a video a year or two ago. So still a little while to go, but certainly getting closer! I haven’t read some of the ‘newer’ stuff, so I’m looking forward to it though I’m sure it will be a lot more hit and miss!

So the answer is… kind of. You’ve basically nailed it already – Titan don’t have the rights/can’t/won’t/don’t basically print anything except the pure Conan stories. They do have the Valeria stories though, and they’re pretty good. They also have all the stuff related directly to Conan like fan club articles, letters pages etc. The Marvel ones have some extra stuff, especially in the first omnibus – there are several more stories like Black Brother (which is pretty great, but not anything to do with Conan and definitely not necessary).

As you say, there are separate omnibuses for Kane and Kull, and those don’t cross over into the Marvel or Titan Conan omnibuses at all. I’d definitely recommend them both!

Hope that helps a little 🙂

Thanks too, Joe! I’m always happy to hear he’s someone else’s favourite barbarian, too! Enjoy the site!

Thank you very much! I appreciate your words, really happy you enjoyed the post!

Thanks Abhi! I’m glad it’s helpful 🙂

Awesome, thanks for sharing! I can see where your weight for Conan comes in, and I had initially thought around that area, too. I went a bit lower because I decided that his body fat was probably so low it would come out around 225lbs. But might be a bit different when he gets to kingship and over 40 😀

Haha I love running through the forests, too! Same Conan feel. Leaping roots, trying not to get knocked out by low branches, love it. Very primal feeling. Thanks for the heads up about Mountain Tactical Institute!

I think the only area whereas I may disagree a little is in fact Conan’s weight & height.

My Dad & I are huge fans of Conan. My Dad started reading the Conan Paperbacks 70 years ago when he arrived to Canada from Holland.
Dad turned me on to comics & I started collecting over 50 years ago & have had several Comic Shops.
Dad & I both have the complete collections of both
Savage Sword & Conan the Barbarian.

I am a Former Regional Bodybuilding Champion, Marathoner & Triathalete
& Martial Arts Practionet.
From my readings of Conan & Bodybuilding experience this
Is where I have Conan
HT – 6’2” – 6’4”
WT – 250lbs – 270lbs
Dead lift – 650-700lbs
Bench Press – 550 – 600lbs
Squat – 500 – 550lbs

I have him a little on the light side when it comes to squatting as all the running he does actually builds endurance & slims the legs.

My pleasure, I enjoyed writing it and being able to see clearly what’s on the horizon for Conan and the others!

I feel your pain! I have been able to keep getting the latest issues, but VERY delayed (Germany). I hope you can find the later issues – either ebay or similar, or at the very latest the trade paperback will be available sometime in the future, at least. Thanks for the comment, glad you’re enjoying them as well!

Great take, and I’m in agreement for the most part. Perhaps it was too much of a gamble for Titan to go the Dark Horse route – as in, getting a series to stick around for more than a few issues these days is incredibly hard and having the first x amount focus just on Conan’s youth would have been too risky. What I do like especially at the moment is the way we’re seeing links throughout various different time periods and see the strands slowly being pulled together. So even though we’re not getting a full chronology, I get the feeling the stories are all linked and are not just one-offs (for the most part).

Thanks for your thoughtful comment.

Marvel was a good first run, but I wasn’t a fan of Barry Windsor Smith’s artwork. Conan The Barbarian was a decent book but Conan felt one dimensional. Savage Sword is my favourite, but the run eventually got stagnant after adapting all the REH and novels. Artwork was top notch. I liked John Buscema’s take on the character as well as Alfredo Alcala. Ernie Chan was also amazing as a inker as well as artist. I prefer Savage Sword as a black and white magazine. The new Titan color reprints are cool, problem is I read the black and white issues first. King Conan was a decent book too but one dimensional because of the comic codes.

Darkhorse’s early run was also top notch. They got the character. The series didn’t start to lose steam until around the Road of kings run. After that it sort of died a slow death trying to reinvent the art and character. The REH adaptions they did were a high mark far as art, storytelling and the color used. Iron Shadows in the Moonlight was one of my favourites. Too bad they never got to adapt Shadows in Zamboula.

Marvel got the license back for their second run. I had high hopes but between not having a stable crew of artists and writers the series quickly floundered, I had high Hopes and I felt I was let down.

Ablaze had some very decent adaptions of the source material but I found the art lacking. I’m thinking it was the European approach to comic art. It was very nice they published the REH stories with the comics.

I felt originally that Titan was going to be a letdown for me after watching the books die a slow death for Darkhorse’s later run and Marvels second go at the franchise. The first few issues let me know that the book is in good hands. The early run’s artwork screamed John Buscema to me. Conan I felt should be portrayed art wise as a giant in a dirty world. I also love the fact they brought back Savage Sword as a black and white book. The writing was also great. I got the impression that the writers of the book had Gen X sensibilities, and didn’t overcomplicate the character. Conan is both a complex and simple character as far as his portrayal. He has those gruff sensibilities which seem simple in nature. But he’s also a thinking character, who is smarter than those that he’s surrounded by and others simply dismiss him as a dumb barbarian. He’s not out to save the world like in the 2011 movie adaption, or to avenge his parents like in the 1982 movie. He just wants to gather some coin for drinks and whores. When the coin runs out he goes back to work out of necessity. It’s not until later on he pools all his experience and takes a crown for himself.

Conan at 15 realized he’s the top dog of his tribe, and wonders just how far he can go in the outside world and wants more. Titan gets this.

I do hope Titan adapts the REH stories. I just wish Titan took the Darkhorse route and maps out his life so we can watch him wear many job hats until he is king. Would be a great arc.