By Crom, It’s Cimmerian September: Marvel Does King Conan

Monday, September 7, 2026 Bob Byrne Comments 0 Comment

Even as another Summer of A (Black) Gat in the Hand ran in my Monday morning slot (nine years now!), I’ve been spending a lot of time in Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone on West 35^th Street, in Manhattan. But I didn’t feel like I could miss out on Cimmerian September. A few of you may recall that last year I joined in the month-long celebration of Robert E. Howard’s mighty-thewed sword slinger.

Later this month I will be on the third and final Solomon Kane Youtube panel by the Robert E. Howard Foundation (here’s the first one). So, getting my REH on this month.

I’ve said that I came late to REH. I was in my forties and my young son would play with the wooden train sets in the kids playroom at Barnes and Noble. One day I picked up the first Del Rey Conan and read it for a bit. I ended up getting it later. And Robert E. Howard would ascend the ranks to surpass all my other favorite writers, with the exception of John D. MacDonald.

My buddy Howard Andrew Jones would stick a verbal elbow in my ribs that I was a rookie sword and sorcery fan, and never changed that opinion, as I still hadn’t shown any interest in C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry (hey – I’m interested in what I’m interested in). But I made up a lot of Conan ground (I had read Moorcock and Leiber by junior high), and I can hold my own in the REH room now.

BUT…I never got into the Marvel comics of the 70s and 80s: including superhero ones. I bought baseball cards and books, not comics. During COVID, I started to buy the Marvel Conan Omnibuses of Conan the Barbarian (CtB) and enjoyed them. I’ve blogged about them, including this one.

A few years into that, I gave The Savage Sword of Conan (SSoC) a try, and I quite enjoyed the depth of the stories in that one. I’ll be doing some blog posts on Savage at some point.

Having said all that, I never read L Sprague de Camp’s King Conan stories. I like most of de Camp’s pastiches, and I acknowledge the work he did popularizing Howard: while disliking the way he characterized Howard. But I didn’t care about ‘Son of Conan.’ I couldn’t have been less interested in Conn.

But, as I continue to trod upon new jeweled Conan kingdoms in my tennis-shoed feet, I bought the first King Conan Omnibus (Titan’s packaging of the Marvel comics). In 1979 with CtB and SSoC selling very well, Thomas pitched a third Conan comic to big boss Stan Lee. His Red Sonja, and The Invaders, had been canceled, and he didn’t want to go back to superhero writing. Thus, a third Conan comic was born.

He did not realize he would be gone from Marvel by issue #9, but the project moved forward. The four stories contained in Conan of Aquilonia, by L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, were adapted.

Thomas scored by securing John Buscema, and Ernie Chan. The comic’s look would be consistent with CtB, appealing to readers of that one. I agree with Thomas and Buscema’s choice to not give Conan a beard and mustache, as de Camp and Carter did in the stories. I don’t need to see an old-age Conan (which is why I have zero interest in the oft-rumored Conan the King Schwarzenneger project. He just turned 79. I don’t need a Conan who should be in an old folks home.

The Witch of the Mists features Hyporboreans, a stereotypical old witch, the set-up with Thoth Amon, a sulky teenaged Conn, and a determined but a little sappy, Conan. Without being too spoiler-ish, Conn is captured out in the forest and Conan sets off alone to rescue him. Thoth Amon will clearly be the main villain going forward.

King Conan is…okay. I’m glad I discovered CtB, and SSoC, first. I wouldn’t have been that interested if I’d started with KC. By the time this posts on Monday morning, I will have read the second story. We’ll see how I like it.

Can’t say it gave me any desire to go ahead and read the paperback. I honestly don’t care about Conn. Nor, Conan’s ‘dad feelings.’ So, there’s not much for me in this comic.

ALL MY REH POSTS SO FAR

Being a blogger is a different kind of writing experience. I feel like 99% of my essays ‘disappear’ within a week or maybe even two, of going online. It’s not like a book, that sits there on the shelf after being read for days or weeks (well, maybe a virtual shelf these days).

I have written a LOT of Robert E. Howard stuff; some which I think is pretty darn good. So, just a gentle nudge to maybe skim down the list below and click on a link that catches your eye.

I plan on revising and improving a few, like my Steve Harrison piece. And there’s always more ahead. I’ve got part of a post on Conan, and Nero Wolfe. You know that’s what I want to dig into!

So, go forth and do all that is good in life and enjoy Cimmerian September.

Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every Summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, and founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.

MISC. MUSINGS RELATED TO REH & HIS WORKS

CONAN – Reviews & Pastiches

CONAN – Comics & Misc. Essays

CONAN – Hither Came Conan

CONAN – Gaming