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

Know Again, 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 second of three volumes, Roy Thomas explains the creative process behind nearly 50 issues (#52–#100) of Conan the Barbarian. Roy talks about how he plotted and scripted each issue, devised new adventures for Conan that expanded Howard's original stories into a world-spanning epic, and worked with such Conan artists and inkers as John Buscema, Gil Kane, Ernie Chan, and George Roussos.

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