Half a decade of savagery
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Marvel Comics debut of Conan the Barbarian, the ultimate survivor in an age where sword and sorcery rule.
“CRUSH your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!”
Those who have watched the classic 1982 Conan The Barbarian movie will probably remembered Conan’s straightforward response to life’s ultimate riddle – What is best in life?
It’s not exactly a remark expected from a hero. Then again, Conan is not your average hero, nor even an anti-hero. He is, after all, a barbarian.
Unlike the “holier-than-thou” heroes we are accustomed to, Conan is a true savage in all sense of the word and has no moral compass whatsoever. He acts and reacts instinctively and is the ultimate survivor in an age where sword and sorcery rule.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Cimmerian’s comic book debut via Marvel Comics. For the record, Robert E. Howard’s greatest creation made his “original” debut in a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales (1932) and got his “first” comics adaptation in Mexico in 1952.
However, the ultimate credit goes to Marvel Comics for paving the way for Conan to reach a larger audience. Marvel acquired the rights to Conan twice, first from 1970 to 2000 and then from 2018 till now. In between, Dark Horse Comics were the ones publishing Conan tales from 2003 to 2018.
Via the House of Ideas, Conan boasted a regular series (nearly 300 issues), several notable spinoffs (ie Savage Sword Of Conan, King Conan, Conan The Adventurer, etc) and two noteworthy cinematic outings (1982’s Conan The Barbarian and 1985’s Conan The Destroyer).
Despite all these successes, the word “gamble” still best describes Marvel’s decision to invest in Conan. This is how it all began:
Let me see that Thongor
Stan “The Man” Lee may have co-created the Age of Marvels, but he did make a few mistakes along the way. One of those was his decision to pursue the rights for a character named Thongor (a crossover between Conan and John Carter) instead of Conan.
Fortunately, Roy Thomas’ (then Marvel’s associate editor) perseverance in securing the publishing rights to Conan ensured that the deal eventually went through.
Inspired by the Frank Frazetta covers on Conan paperbacks, Thomas was even willing to sacrifice part of his wages to get the Conan comics published.
With a shoestring budget to work with, Marvel’s “Project Conan” couldn’t afford established talents such as John Buscema and had to make do with (then) newcomer – Barry Windsor-smith, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Amazingly, this shoestring creative team did wonders for Conan’s early years, garnering solid readership numbers and bagging a few awards along the way. Windsor-smith was named the now defunct Academy of Comic Book Arts’ Shazam Awards Best New Talent in 1971, while in 1972, Thomas won Best Writer (Dramatic Division) and the series won Best Continuing Feature.
Thomas contributed the scripts from #1 to #115 and #240 to #275, while Windsor-smith stayed on for two dozen issues before Buscema (finally) came in to contribute a majority of #25 to #190.
Loincloth V spandex
The year 1970 marked the beginning of Marvel’s Bronze Age, after a star studded Silver Age which saw the debut of many of today’s Marvel Cinematic Universe characters.
After the spandex overload of superheroes, from Spider-man’s web-suit to the Fantastic Four’s unstable molecule uniforms, the sight of a muscular long-haired brute clad in a loincloth was indeed an unlikely comparison.
Marvel had definitely ventured into unfamiliar territory and had taken a huge gamble in Conan but even in the 1970s, diversity meant variety.
The journey away from the Big Apple to the Hyborian Age (a post-atlantean setting created by Howard) provided a new dimension and an unlimited creative landscape to explore. The threat of Galactus was replaced by evil wizards and warlords, sentinels with serpents and laser beams with Hykranian steel.
All these changes also meant an unlimited body count for a blade-happy Barbarian to slice and dice.
Despite the simplicity found in a barbaric life, Conan’s adventures were not always straight forward nor rewarding – as he does bleed, grief and even curses his lord (ie Crom) for the misfortunes that befell him.
Unsung creative talents
The bargaining chip that enabled Thomas to secure the rights to Conan was the promise of a larger audience, which he delivered in spades.
However, credit for Conan’s surge in popularity is not solely attributed to Thomas but also the other creative talents who have moulded Conan’s adventures into “quality work of fiction”.
Chief among those were Windsor-smith, Buscema, Ernie Chua, J.M. Dematteis, Bruce Jones, Alan Zelenetz and Chuck Dixon.
Special mention also, to the Savage Sword Of Conan series, which ran for 235 issues. It set a high benchmark for other blackand-white comics/magazines, as it displayed the true beauty of comics drawn simply in pencil and ink.
Damsels, queens and a she-devil
While the barbaric lifestyle excluded the sanctity of marriage for Conan, the savage Cimmerian’s life was not solely occupied by damsels and wenches, for even a barbarian’s heart has room for true love.
From Belit and Valeria to Zenobia, these femme fatales have all left indelible marks in Conan’s heart, but the sentimentalists’ choice will always be the “She Devil” aka Red Sonja aka “who will never sleep with a man unless he defeats her in fair combat”.
Sonja is the co-creation of Thomas and Windsorsmith, and she made her debut in Conan The Barbarian #3, which also happened
during Windsor-smith’s swan song for the series.
Savage for all seasons
What makes Conan such a versatile character is his ability to command attention in all situations, eras and even alternate settings.
Be it “Young Conan”, “Middle Age Conan” or “King/old Conan” – he will always be the centre of attention and commands respect all the time.
The storytelling opportunities do not end there, as proven by the numerous “what ifs” or alternate settings used for Conan, where he has, in the past, battled Thor, played a part in the Dark Phoenix saga and even recently joining the Avengers, albeit a “Savage” franchise.
Here’s to 50 more years of Conan!