Barbarian Life: A Literary Biography of Conan the Barbarian (Volume 1)

Know, O Reader...

In thousands of four-color panels for Marvel Comics, Roy Thomas told the tale of Robert E. Howard’s greatest creation, Conan the Barbarian. Now, in this definitive biography and analysis, Roy chronicles Conan’s comic-book life, issue by issue, plot by plot, and artist by artist.

For ten years, from October 1970 when Roy and artist Barry Smith assembled the first issue of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian, to October 1980 when Roy and artist John Buscema completed their last issue together on the series, Thomas wrote of Conan's gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth—as well as the wars, the wenches, and the wizardry that bedeviled the Cimmerian from one issue to the next.

In this first of two volumes, Roy Thomas explains the creative process behind the first 51 issues of Conan the Barbarian. You'll look over his shoulder as he plots and scripts each issue, devises new adventures for Conan that expand Howard's original stories into a world-spanning epic, and works with such Conan artists as Barry Smith, Gil Kane, and John Buscema.

Whether you’re a Conan fan or a comics fan, you'll enjoy this in-depth look at a Marvel comic-book classic.