Conan the Barbarian #104

Marvel's Conan the Barbarian launched in October 1970, adapted from Robert E. Howard's pulp stories, with writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith creating the first issues. By the late 1970s, the series had become one of Marvel's most successful non-superhero titles, consistently selling 200,000-300,000 copies monthly. John Buscema had replaced Windsor-Smith as the primary artist by issue #25 (1973), establishing a visual interpretation of Conan that would define the character for decades. The series adapted Howard's original stories while creating new material to fill gaps in Conan's chronology, with Thomas carefully maintaining consistency with Howard's fictional Hyborian Age.

The late 1970s and early 1980s represented the series' commercial and creative peak. The comic's success spawned The Savage Sword of Conan magazine in 1974, which featured longer stories without Comics Code restrictions. By 1980, Conan the Barbarian regularly ranked among Marvel's top ten sellers. Issue #100 (July 1979) featured an oversized story with the death of Bêlit, Conan's pirate queen lover, adapting Howard's "Queen of the Black Coast." Thomas collaborated with Buscema through issue #115 (1980), after which various writers including Bruce Jones, Michael Fleisher, and Doug Moench took over. The series maintained high artistic standards with contributors including Gil Kane, Marc Silvestri, and Mike Docherty.

The 1982 Conan the Barbarian film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger significantly boosted comic sales, with circulation reaching approximately 400,000 copies during the movie's theatrical run. Marvel published a two-issue movie adaptation and adjusted the comic's visual style to somewhat reflect Schwarzenegger's appearance. The series introduced elements that expanded beyond Howard's original stories: extended storylines about Conan's youth, romantic relationships beyond those in the source material, and crossovers with other Marvel characters including Spider-Man in What If? #13. By 1984, the series had published over 150 issues, making it Marvel's longest-running sword and sorcery title.

Conan the Barbarian's influence on comics extended beyond sales figures. The series legitimized sword and sorcery as a viable comic book genre, inspiring numerous imitators including DC's Warlord and Marvel's own Red Sonja spin-off. Thomas's approach to adaptation became a model for translating prose into comics, balancing faithfulness to source material with the demands of monthly serialization. The comic introduced many readers to Howard's work, with letter columns showing fans seeking out the original stories. Internationally, the series performed exceptionally well, with translations in multiple languages spreading Conan's popularity globally.

The series demonstrated remarkable consistency through 275 issues, ending in December 1993 when Marvel lost the licensing rights to Dark Horse Comics. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Conan the Barbarian generated substantial merchandising revenue through toys, posters, and role-playing games. The comic's depiction of violence pushed Comics Code boundaries, helping to gradually liberalize content restrictions. Critical reception praised the series for elevating pulp material through sophisticated artwork and thoughtful writing, with The Comics Journal noting it as "the most successful translation of prose fantasy to comics."

Marvel's stewardship of Conan established the character as a multimedia franchise. The comic's visual vocabulary, particularly Buscema's interpretation, influenced the film adaptations, animated series, and video games. Many creators who worked on Conan went on to influential careers, with the series serving as a training ground for depicting action and anatomy. The Marvel run has been collected in various formats, including the recent omnibus editions that restored original coloring. When Marvel reacquired Conan rights in 2018, they referenced the classic run extensively, acknowledging its definitive role in establishing Conan's presence in popular culture beyond Howard's original stories.