CONAN THE BARBARIAN 113
byways of comics history, the knotty formal issues, the range of artistic styles, and the
multiplicity of genres it seems unlikely that even an army of funded researchers could
drain the pool of compelling topics. Unlike the mid-century period, scholarly inter-
est remains centered in the humanities rather than the behavioral social sciences. It is
worth emphasizing, however, that some of the most thoughtful writing on comics is by
freelance critics, full-time cartoonists, and other nonacademics. Art Spiegelman, Eddie
Campbell, Jules Feiff er, Trina Robbins, and Matt Madden are only some of the promi-
nent cartoonists who have written with insight on comics history and theory. Th ere are
few other art forms whose practitioners have played such a prominent role in concep-
tualizing their own activity. For more on the prehistory of comics studies, see Arguing
Comics: Literary Masters on a Popular Medium (2004); for a sampling of contemporary
comics scholarship, see A Comics Studies Reader (2009).
Selected Bibliography: Groensteen, Th ierry. Th e System of Comics. Jackson: Univer-
sity Press of Mississippi, 2007; Hatfi eld, Charles. Alternative Comics: An Emerging
Literature. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005; Heer, Jeet, and Kent
Wo r c e s t e r, e d s. Arguing Comics: Literary Masters on a Popular Medium. Jackson: Uni-
versity Press of Mississippi, 2004; Heer, Jeet, and Kent Worcester, eds. A Comics
Studies Reader. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009; McLaughlin, Jeff.
Comics As Philosophy. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005; White, David
Manning, and Robert H. Abel. Th e Funnies: An American Idiom. New York: Free
Press of Glencoe, 1963; Wolk, Douglas. Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work
and What Th ey Mean. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2007.
Kent Worcester
COMIX. See Underground and Adult Comics
CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Conan the Barbarian is a character created in 1932 by
fantasy novelist Robert E. Howard. Originally known as Conan the Cimmerian, the
character fi rst appeared in Weird Tales magazine. Conan is an early example of the iconic
anti-hero, while his adventures represent examples of the sword-and-sorcery genre of
fantasy fi ction writing. Th e character would appear in many forms of popular media
including movies, role playing games, video games, television and, most notably, fantasy
novels and comics. Th e popularity of the character and its continuing endurance is due
in a large part to its appearance in mainstream and adult-oriented comics published by
Marvel from the 1970s to the 1990s. In 2003, Dark Horse Comics began reprinting
collected editions of the Marvel series as well as publishing new Conan stories based on
Howard’s original work.
Conan’s introduction to comics began in October 1970 with the publication of Conan
the Barbarian by Marvel Comics. Th is series lasted until issue #275 in December 1993.
Roy Th omas wrote many issues of the series with art by Barry Windsor Smith. Th e
Conan series was written for a mainstream comic book audience and features original
