Conan the Barbarian hacks and slashes his way back to comics

Conan attacks — (Image credit: Titan Comics)

Oil those muscles and unsheath your sword - a new Conan series is on the way from Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures. Written by Jim Zub, with art from Roberto De La Torre and Jose Villarrubia, the new comic sees Robert E Howard's chivalrous Cimmerian warrior embark on a new adventure.

We've got an exclusive first look at two of the variant covers for Conan The Barbarian #1 below, but first, here's the official blurb for the issue:

"Years after the battle of Venarium, a weary CONAN returns to his homeland to seek rest and solitude. However, a mysterious scout rides in to warn the Cimmerians of an imminent threat on the march from the Pictish wilderness. Will CONAN and his new ally be able to hold off this new horde of invaders?"

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Conan was created by writer Robert E. Howard in the early 1930s. The character made his first official appearance in The Phoenix on the Sword, a short story published in pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1932. In total, Howard penned 21 Conan stories, but the character has lived on through many other writers since.

He was famously played on screen by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a 1982 feature film, which saw the future Terminator knock out a camel with a single punch (not really, the animal was fine). Jason Momoa starred in an unfortunate remake in 2011.

The character also has a long and storied comics history. Marvel's first Conan series started in 1970. Written by Roy Thomas with art by Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema and Ernie Chan, it was a huge success and ran until 1993, with Thomas remaining as the key writer throughout the long run.

Dark Horse got hold of the rights to the character in the 2000s and published their own line of comics, unconnected to the Marvel stories, initially written by Kurt Busiek and Tim Truman and drawn by Cary Nord and Tomas Giorello.

Marvel repurchased the rights in 2018 and launched a number of new Conan books, as well as teaming him up with Wolverine in the Savage Land. The character's last appearance in Marvel continuity saw him give Thulsa Doom a beating in last year's Savage Avengers #5.

Conan The Barbarian #1 is published by Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures on July 26. It follows a Free Comic Book Day issue that will be available in stores on May 6.

Find out what else is coming out on this year's Free Comic Book Day.

Will Salmon is the Streaming Editor for GamesRadar+. He has been writing about film, TV, comics, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he launched the scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for well over a decade. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places too.