Pay Tribute to the 50 Year Legacy of Conan with 'King-Size Conan' This December

Discover the creators joining Roy Thomas in celebrating Conan's monumental comic book legacy!

BY Christine Dinh

Last year marked Conan's triumphant return to Marvel Comics, and now this coming December, we celebrate his 50-year legacy with the anniversary special KING-SIZE CONAN #1.

As revealed to Newsarama, writer Roy Thomas penned CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 back in 1970, writing 115 consecutive issues out of the 650 CONAN issues at Marvel from 1970 to 2000, and now returns to the fold with KING-SIZE CONAN #1. Thomas is paired with artist Steve McNiven in one of the five tales featured in this oversized anniversary special.

The other creative teams tackling the remaining four stories include Kurt Busiek and Pete Woods, Chris Claremont and Roberto de la Torre, Steven S. DeKnight and Jesús Saiz, and Kevin Eastman tackling both writing and art duties for one of the tales.

KING-SIZE CONAN #1, cover by Andrew C. Robinson, marks the first Marvel Comics story for both DeKnight (Marvel's Daredevil writer/director/showrunner) and Eastman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator).

"What I wanted to do is get from the first battle Conan had to a time just a few months later when he met the Aesir, which is really about where CONAN #1 starts," Thomas said to Newsarama. "I thought it would be nice to show what happened just before CONAN #1, at least in my mind, with some nice action along the way."

"There's some really nice stuff from Steve McNiven," continued Thomas. "He's not slavishly channeling Barry Smith, but there's an approximation that really catches that spirit, and it's really good."

The oversized 50th anniversary special KING-SIZE CONAN #1 features:

All-new prelude to the original Marvel CONAN (1970) story by Roy Thomas and Steve McNiven
A tale of revenge by Kevin Eastman
A turning point in Conan's career as a mercenary by Chris Claremont and Roberto de la Torre
An early brush with sorcerous forces that will shape Conan's destiny by Kurt Busiek and Pete Woods
Conan and Bêlit sail together again for the first time since the 2019 Marvel relaunch in a story by Steve DeKnight and Jesús Saiz

Take a look at a few sneak interior pieces below!

Celebrate Conan’s epic 50-year legacy when the oversized KING-SIZE CONAN #1 hits stands this December!

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In this article: Conan the Barbarian