Conan the Barbarian — Battle of the Black Stone— The Story So Far
Battle of the Black Stone is an enthralling new Conan story arc heralding the birth of a promising
Robert E. Howard multiverse.
The rebirth of Conan in comic book form is still going strong. He never truly went away, but the
heyday of the Marvel Comics series was far behind us when Titan Comics and Heroic
Signatures released Conan the Barbarian #0 during Free Comic Book Day 2023. Following the
original Marvel run, Dark Horse carried the torch for several years, and Marvel did reacquire the
rights to the character in 2018, but only published the title until 2022.
Titan Comics resurrected the two flagship titles, Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of
Conan, but that’s not all: Through parent companies and licensees, Conan fans now have
access to Conan merch, including novels, multiple sets of figurines, T-shirts, and more. The first
two Conan movies (Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer) were also re-released in 4K
this year by Arrow Films, and there is even a new Conan RPG. All in all, it’s a good time to be a
Conan fan. Some will see this as shamelessly monetizing the character, but speaking as a die-
hard Conan fan—just take my money!
I was ecstatic when I read that Titan Comics announced the launch of a third Conan title: Battle
of the Black Stone, and the more I read about it, the more excited I became. It turns out that this
series would feature other Robert E. Howard characters—not in separate stories (as we’ve seen
in the past in Savage Sword of Conan)—but as an ensemble cast in this new story arc.
Crossovers used to be a thing. Even the various Conan books during the Marvel days featured
some interesting crossovers: Conan crossed paths with Kull (another REH character) and even
Elric of Melniboné. While Dark Horse held the rights to Conan, readers were also treated to a
couple of Red Sonja crossovers, which was no small feat considering that the rights to Red
Sonja were being held by a different publisher, Dynamite Entertainment. More recently, Conan
was also featured in Marvel Comics’ Savage Avengers.
Crossovers have gotten stale, however. Gone are the glory days of the Teen Titans versus the
X-Men books, the DC Invasion! series, the original Marvel Secret Wars, and so on… Those
were the days. What I’ve seen of the Black Stone series so far tells me it is a refreshing tale that
will give back crossovers some of their luster. In great part, this is due to the fact that this
crossover doesn’t feel like a gimmick. A REH multiverse was always a possibility, and a
crossover was the natural offshoot. It only took a great creative team to finally pull it off.
Actually, it turns out that the REH multiverse was always a thing—at least in REH’s mind, and
also hinted at in some of his stories. In his introduction to the Black Stone saga (published in
Savage Sword of Conan 4), Jim Zub points out how Kull’s Thurian Age acts as a prehistory to
Conan’s Hyborian Age. He also reminds us that Thoth-Amon’s serpent ring also makes an
appearance in the Kirowan and Conrad story, The Hunter of the Ring. Brank Mak Morn readers
will also remember the story Kings of the Night, where Morn summons Kull to help the Picts
fight their enemy. So, the seed of a REH multiverse was already there; all it needed was the
right creatives to develop it further.
So, an all-out crossover was the next logical step, and Titan Comics is delivering. I can only
imagine the amount of work it took to bring this story to life. Writer Jim Zub needs to be
commended not only for his imagination, but also for the amount of research that must have
been involved. When I first read about the Black Stone in the pages of the Conan comic, I wondered where the concept had come from. The Black Stone seemed like an interesting plot device to bring all those heroes together. It turns out that the idea was plucked from another REH story, aptly named The Black Stone, Howard’s classic horror story (which to my shame I had not read yet). So, everything comes neatly together under the REH multiverse umbrella, from the characters to the Black Stone itself.
This story is being told across many different books. The order gets a bit complicated, but Titan
Comics put out a reading order list. The story will not only be told across all three Conan comic
books (Conan the Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan, Battle of the Black Stone), there is also a
novel thrown in the mix: Conan—Cult of the Obsidian Moon, written by James Lovegrove
(coming out in November 2024).
As of this writing, the series is well underway. The first two issues of Conan—Battle of the Black
Stone are out. I will not spoil the story, but let me just say that it will please—and shock—avid
REH readers. Seeing these beloved characters come together for such an earth-shattering story
is a rare treat.
Overall, the art is great, and Titan Comics certainly know how to do multiple covers right. The
cover by Roberto De La Torre for issue 2 of Battle of the Black Stone featuring Conan and
Solomon Kane battling it out is absolutely fantastic. So is the Patch Zircher cover featuring El
Borak. Each issue leaves you wanting for more, and makes it difficult to wait for the next book in
the series. Savage Sword of Conan #4 is a pivotal installment of the arc. Wraparound cover C by
Ben Cardwell featuring a police lineup of the REH heroes is absolutely awesome; it catches the
full spirit of this series and of the burgeoning REH multiverse being developed by Titan Comics.
I’m usually not a fan of alternate covers, but I make an exception for the Conan books. It’s hard
to pick a favorite—might as well get them all!
Savage Sword of Conan is known for its pin-ups, and the 2-page spread by Robert De La Torre
featuring all the heroes together printed at the back of SSC 4 is worthy of printing and framing. I
like how Brissa (a new character) fits in with the REH heroes, not only in this pin-up and on the
Cardwell cover, but in the story as a whole.
If you haven’t checked out this series yet, it’s not too late. Some comic book stores will still have
the issues already published in stock; and if not, that’s what eBay is there for. The trade
paperbacks are also a good option.
Conan is back. He’s been back for a while already, but with this new story arc, Titans Comics
prove that there are still fresh Conan stories to be told.
About the Author
Jules-Pierre Malartre Jules-Pierre Malartre currently lives in L’Île-Perrot, a small island west of Montreal (Quebec), which is as close to the Great White North that he will ever dare go, but still cold enough to save him from big-ass spiders, alien abductions, undead dinosaurs and tourists who find his French accent charming. In 2005, he quit a promising aerospace engineering career to go into freelance writing, which was a very, very bad idea according to his mother. Since then, he has become considerably poorer, but he has grown much happier. Along the way, he adopted cats—lots of cats! When he is not writing technical manuals, newspaper articles, press releases or blogs on anything from comic books to yoga, he is busy working on his first novel, a semi-autobiographical fictional account of his life that dares to ask the question, “where did God go wrong with me anyway?” His first short story, “The Rest Was Easy,” was published by the online literary magazine Amarillo Bay in 2013. The five people who read it liked it. He’s well aware that it took him over a decade to publish another one, so he’d really appreciate it if you'd cut him some slack about it! He loves coffee, cats and reading, mostly because those three things go very well together.
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