Interesting comic and film news about Conan

[RPG Dinosaur]

I recently logged on to the SyFy Channel website for another reason and found out that they have a complete section for comic news.
I don't buy new comics very often for a couple different reasons, but my brother buys a stack more frequently and will let me read them. We are both Conan fans and I've read about fifteen issues of the Dark Horse publisher Conan comics.
Probably some of you more comics involved people know this, but it turns out that Marvel has reacquired the rights to Conan. Here is an article, copied and pasted. It was contributed by Jeff Spry and posted on SyFy on January 12, 2018. There was Conan artwork that accompanied the article on SyFy that of course doesn't show up here:



Jeff Spry

Jan 12, 2018


Conan the Barbarian is bopping his way back to his original comics cave at Marvel! Today, Marvel Entertainment and Conan Properties International announced that a new Conan series will drop in January of 2019.
Robert E. Howard's charismatic Cimmerian was first born in the Central Texas town of Cross Plains with a rousing legacy of pulp stories, starting with "The Phoenix on the Sword" in the December 1932 issue of Weird Tales.



Some of the most authentic and faithful adaptations of those original Conan tales were published under the blazing Marvel Comics banner.
The adventures began in titles like the premiere flagship series Conan the Barbarian; the adult-oriented black-and-white magazines Savage Tales and The Savage Sword of Conan; and the engaging '90s book King Conan. Throughout the years, Conan comics have featured amazing words and artwork from industry luminaries like Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, Barry Windsor-Smith, Boris Vallejo, Alfredo Alcala, Frank Frazetta, John Buscema, and more.



For three decades launching in 1970, Marvel delivered more than 650 Conan-centric issues filled with all the Hyborian Age heroics you could swing a broadsword at. After a decline in popularity for the hulking pulp character in the late '90s, Dark Horse Comics acquired the licensing rights to Conan in 2003 and published barbaric stories in a multitude of series until 2017.



Now Conan is coming back to the House of Ideas after two decades, starting in 2019. Via a Marvel press release, new Editor-in-Chief C.E. Cebulski expressed his excitement:
“From Barry Windsor-Smith to John Buscema to Neal Adams, a legendary line-up of amazing artists brought Conan to life in the pages of Marvel comics. ... It’s a legacy we’re now going to live up to with the talent we have lined up for the Cimmerian barbarian’s homecoming in early 2019. We’re excited!”
With Gail Simone and Aaron Lopresti's Wonder Woman/Conan miniseries slicing its way through comic shops right now, and a new Conan feature film with Arnold Schwarzenegger still with a glimmer of hope, anticipation is building for the sword-and-sorcery action of these classic Conan sagas.


(Image courtesy of Marvel)


(Image courtesy of Marvel)
What about you? Are you thrilled about Conan's Marvel homecoming, and which artistic team would you love to see on the first new title?



I personally feel subdued happiness about the announcement. While I am glad that Conan comics will continue to be published, I just wish that Dark Horse hadn't let their rights lapse. I really like the Dark Horse Conan comics that I read. They reminded me of the Savage Sword of Conan Magazine put out by Marvel in the '80s. Because it was a magazine the writers and artists didn't have to abide by the Comics Code Authority and it contained much more gritty violence, bloodletting and guts and, yes, T&A, than the first Conan comic did. Many of the Dark Horse comics I read had those elements as well. Will the writers and artists have the option to use those elements now that the title is a Disney property?
I'm not saying that Conan HAS to have those elements to be good. I enjoy and own a large amount of the original Marvel Conan comics. And maybe Disney ownership won't be a factor. I was in a comic shop about two years ago and asked the owner if Disney acquiring Marvel had affected the hardcore Max series. He said, no, it hadn't.

Here's another SyFy article about Arnold Schwarzeneggers efforts to get another Conan movie going. It was contributed by Carol Pinchefsky on January 25, 2016:

Conan the Barbarian was the launch pad for the film career of former bodybuilder and future California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The1982 swords-and-sandals fantasy, based on the works of Robert E. Howard, was either epic or epically bad, depending on your taste. Schwarzenegger has had plans for a sequel for some time. Now these plans are taking shape.
According to Screenrant, Schwarzenegger and c-producer Chris Morgan are actively seeking a director for the film, currently titled Legend of Conan. The film already has a completed script, courtesy of Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton) and Morgan (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift).
Schwarzenegger, who spoke at the “Experience with Arnold Schwarzenegger” event in Edinburgh and Birmingham, told audiences:
“Conan the Conqueror, where I’m sitting on the throne for years and years – decades, and then all of the sudden, the time comes when they want to overthrow me. So that story WILL be told and that movie WILL be done.”
Co-producer Frederick Malmberg said,
“Yes, Chris Morgan and I are meeting with directors at this moment. Interest is high, many are fans of Conan but we are not rushing. We have a great script and now we need the right director for the job.”
While waiting for news of the upcoming movie, fans of Robert E. Howard’s excellent work can download the free-to-play MMO Age of Conan (with new Conan-related adventure in 2016); read the Dark Horse comics; and play some Hyoborian-based games. Better yet, we can read Conan’s adventures on Project Gutenberg.
Whaddya think? Would you like to see King Conan on the throne after crushing his enemies, having them kneel before him, and hearing the lamentation of their women?