CREATOR EXCLUSIVE
Time War
Conan is crossing over with other Robert E Howard characters in comics and prose
WORDS: STEPHEN JEWELL
Pages from Conan: Battle Of The Black Stone.
SINCE RELAUNCHING CONAN The Barbarian last year, writer Jim Zub has been building towards something much larger, seeding supernatural subplots in Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures’ monthly title that are now being realised in miniseries Battle Of The Black Stone, which also involves several other Robert E Howard characters.
“The plan right from the start was to create a classic sword and sorcery comic readers could enjoy, but also reward them with bigger plot movements and unexpected pay-offs and synergies if they stuck around for the long haul,” says Zub.
“Robert E Howard seeded connections between his characters and their shared history in a way that predates most fictional shared universes. There were obvious links, like Kull’s Thurian Age as the pre-history of the Hyborian Age, and Conan villain Thoth-Amon’s ancient ring as the central piece of the Kirowan and Conrad story ‘The Haunter Of The Ring’. But also more subtle tethers, symbols and terminology being used in other stories as well,” adds Zub.