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.

Hey Drew, very good point! And you’re absolutely right, the timing does coincide. I’ll get that updated. Which ones are you looking forward to the most from the French set?

Great list! It’s extremely informative and seems like an incredibly helpful resource for new readers!

If I can offer one very minor suggestion: while everything in the Ablaze “The Cimmerian” entry is accurate as far as I know, you could also add that all of the stories were commissioned and published by French comic company Glenat in their “Le Cimmerien” series of album-sized graphic novels. (14 volumes so far, with I believe 6 or so still pending.) Ablaze then took those OGNs, translated them into English, split them up into 3-issue minis, and commissioned new covers for them.

Ablaze seem to’ve stopped doing these translations at almost exactly the same time the Conan license reverted from Marvel back to Conan Properties Inc (i.e., the beginning of 2023). That might be a total coincidence, or perhaps CPI decided they didn’t care so much about copyright infringements when they were licensing their character to someone else, but now that they’re publishing their own stories (through Titan), they don’t want any potential competition. Regardless, if any publisher (Titan or any other) manages to release English translations of all of the “Le Cimmerien” albums at their original size, they’ll officially be my new favorite publisher. Some of the ones Ablaze never got around to translating look awesome! 🙂

Great point Christopher, will add, thanks!

Hey Stephen, good point! I’ll add a spin-off list to my post ideas, thanks!