Conan of Cimmeria goes by countless titles. Thief. Pirate. King. Conqueror. Barbarian. The most fitting, however, would have to be “most popular pulp hero of all time.” Since his debut in a 1932 issue of the legendary WEIRD TALES magazine, Conan’s starred in countless novels, cartoons, TV shows, movies and, of course, comics, maintaining a foothold in the popular imagination that arguably that of his pulp contemporaries like Doc Savage and Zorro. So profound is this character’s influence on fantasy fiction, J.R.R. Tolkien even admitted to being partially inspired by his adventures when he was first writing THE LORD OF THE RINGS, some 20 years after Conan’s creation. CONAN stories created a breed of sword and sorcery underlined with human nature’s nastier side, and the lineage of that breed traces all the way to the likes of George R.R. Martin’s GAME OF THRONES.
As a new CONAN THE BARBARIAN movie bows this week to introduce a whole new generation to the character on screen, what say we unfurl the scroll of his chronicle some and quickly review Conan's long history in print?
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The archetypal sword and sorcery hero, Conan's a wandering warrior who lives in a fictitious “Hyborian Age” that existed in some mythic time between the sinking of Atlantis and the dawn of recorded history. His origin may not have as many twists as Batman or Spider-Man's, but it’s just as striking nevertheless.
The son of a blacksmith, Conan was born on a battlefield and came of age in the near-constant combat his tribe, the Cimmerians, engaged in. Setting out on his own a teenager, Conan had countless adventures throughout the awe-inspiring, treacherous landscapes of his pre-historic world. He romanced innocent princesses and pirate queens,allied with roguish thieves and noble lords, and battled hideous beasts and vile necromancers... all of which have subsequently become standard in this genre.
One quality of Conan's stories that's especially memorable is how they're all pieces of a fully-realized life. His age and occupation will change significantly from tale to tale - - he'll be a young pirate in one story and a seasoned mercenary in another - - but he's pointed to the destiny of eventually usurping the throne of Aquilionia and becoming a "king by his own hand" in middle age.
The circumstances of Conan’s creation and the tragically-short life of his creator, Robert E. Howard, are really as intriguing as the details of his adventures. Howard was a troubled loner from small-town Texas who committed suicide at age 30, and many see the melancholic tone of even his most rousing adventures as evidence of how the man’s inner demons fueled his creativity.
During correspondences with his friend and fellow “weird fiction” author, H.P. Lovecraft, he often described his writing of CONAN as some dark presence surrounding him - - as if a real spirit of the barbarian were in his direct vicinity.
It may as well have been something unnatural forcing him to write, because Howard produced an impressive number of CONAN stories in the all-too-brief years between the character’s creation and his death. I think somewhat of Jack Kirby, here, in how Howard’s output was so boundlessly creative as to inspire generations for all these decades after his passing. He established an entire genre.
While he starred in prose pastiches throughout the intervening years, Conan secured his seat in the popular imagination with the inception of Marvel’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN and SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN in the 70’s. With Roy Thomas as the main writer, and Barry Windsor-Smith and Sal Buscema as the most frequently-contributing, these comics made significant additions to the Hyborian Age, including a new heroine, the “She-Devil with a Sword” Red Sonja.
After nearly 30 years of continuous publishing, the license eventually went to Dark Horse in 2000, where the likes of Kurt Busiek, Cary Nord, Tim Truman, Ron Marz and Darick Robertson have been using it ever since.
While Conan’s starred in several cartoon and live-action TV shows, his most famous turns on screen have unquestionably been in the movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though those flicks cherry picked plot elements from a variety of CONAN shorts (as well those starring Howard’s other barbarian heroes, Kull and Bran Mak Morn,) they eschewed strict adaptation of the original stories in favor of hewing the Hyborian Age closer to the real history that inspired it.
This new movie, starring Jason Momoa, is expected to be closer to the source material. We'll have to see it to know for sure then, won't we? At least you maniacs will all know the key basics going in to it.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer ofHYBRID BASTARDS!&UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazonhere&here. Follow him on Twitter:@tompinchuk
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