Dec. 24—Marvel Comics says goodbye to Conan the Barbarian … again … with “Savage Avengers: Time is the Sharpest Edge.”
Titan Comics, a British company, has reportedly acquired the rights to Conan and is expected to begin new issues sometime in spring 2023.
Marvel had the rights to Conan a few decades after acquiring them in the early 1970s. Then Dark Horse Comics had the rights reverting back to Marvel a few years ago.
What a run Conan’s return to Marvel was.
Not only were there the expected adventures set in Conan’s Hyborian Age of about 12,000 years ago but the barbarian was thrust into the Marvel age of the “here and now.”
Conan teamed up with the Punisher, Wolverine, Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, Black Widow, etc.
Most of these partnerships occurred in the intriguing run of “Savage Avengers,” a title that had one initial run of several issues with an overarching story arc and continued in this current collection.
Which seems to be the last of Conan’s Marvel adventures.
Here, the assassin cyborg Deathlok seeks to kill Conan for disrupting the timeline. The barbarian teams with the Elektra Daredevil, the Black Knight, Cloak and Dagger and some other lesser-known Marvel characters.
Spoiler alert: Conan survives (and there’s an even bigger surprise with this Deathlok’s identity) and ends up back in the Hyborean Age to do the things that his creator Robert E. Howard penned back in the 1930s.
But apparently, Savage Avengers will continue with this lineup … minus Conan.