The Conan Saga is a comic book title featuring the character Conan the Barbarian published by Marvel Comics from 1987 to 1995.
Setting edit
Conan stories occur in the fictional "Hyborian Age", set after the destruction of Atlantis and before the rise of any known ancient civilization. This is a specific epoch in a fictional timeline created by Howard for many of the low fantasy tales of his artificial legendary.[1]
Publication history edit
Conan Saga was published by Marvel Comics from May 1987 – Apr 1995 for 97 issues, and was all reprints from Savage Sword of Conan and Conan the Barbarian in large, black and white Savage Sword of Conan magazine format.[2]
Tom Grindberg worked on Conan Saga as part of his work for Marvel Comics.
In 1987 Barry Windsor-Smith returned to his first major success and provided new painted covers for nine issues of Marvel's Conan reprint title The Conan Saga, all issues which contained black-and-white reprints of his original 1970s stories.[3]
The Conan Saga #6 (Oct. 1987) reprinted the story "The Sword and the Sorcerers" from Chamber of Darkness #4 (April 1970; one-shot character Starr the Slayer), by writer Roy Thomas and penciler-inker Barry Smith.
The story "Red Nails" was adapted by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith for issues #2-3 of the Marvel Comics magazine series Savage Tales. The Thomas/Smith tale was later reprinted in the 1987 black-and-white magazine Conan Saga issue #9 (Jan. 1988.)
The Marvel adaptation of "Shadows in the Moonlight" uses the title Iron Shadows in the Moon, and was reprinted in issue 13 of "Conan Saga" dated May 1988.
Tom DeFalco had stories featured in Conan Saga #14 (1988).
Bob Larkin had art featured in Conan Saga #26, 38, 43, 45, 67, 77, 90 (1989–1994).
Conan Saga #31 (1989) featured artwork from Jeffrey Catherine Jones.
Solomon Kane appeared in The Conan Saga #50 (May 1991) by Alan Rowlands, art by Steve Carr and Al Williamson (although this magazine was a reprint title, the Kane story in this issue had not been previously published).
The Official Handbook of the Conan Universe in 1993 was reprinted in black and white (with a different cover and a cover-inside-poster) and then released in June in a polybagged issue with Conan Saga #75.
Tony Salmons had art featured in Conan Saga #76, 1994.
In February 2009, Dark Horse announced a new collection entitled The Saga of Solomon Kane - Soft Cover (ISBN 1595823174) which collected the 1970s Marvel stories.[4] This 400+ page collection includes various stories from Savage Sword of Conan, Conan Saga, Kull and the Barbarians, Marvel Preview, Monsters Unleashed and Dracula Lives.
Conan Saga #97 was reprinted in the collection The Savage Sword of Kull Volume 2 in 2011.
The 2021 Marvel Omnibus collection "Kull: Savage Sword – The Original Marvel Years" included material from Conan Saga (1987) #13, 25, 47, 57, 97.
References edit
- ^ Howard, Robert E. "The Hyborian Age". Conan Saga (50–54, 56). adapted by Roy Thomas and Walt Simonson. Marvel Comics. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011.
- ^ "Conan Saga (1987) comic books". www.mycomicshop.com. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
- ^ Barry Smith at the Grand Comics Database and Barry Windsor-Smith at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ "Dark Horse - The Saga of Solomon Kane". Retrieved 2009-04-20.