Conan the Barbarian from Titan Comics, a Simple Reading Guide

There is no more iconic pulp hero than Conan the Barbarian. Born from the imaginary mind of writer Robert E. Howard, Conan made his debut in 1932 in the pages of the Weird Tales magazine.

His creator wrote 21 stories featuring Conan before his passing in 1936. However, Conan’s adventures didn’t stop there: fantasy writer Lyon Sprague de Camp obtained the rights, rewrote and expanded the tales, and the character went on to solidify his place in pop culture through comic book adventures.

Capitalizing on the sword-and-sorcery vogue of the 70s, Conan became a commercial success for Marvel in this decade, and the publisher released stories with the Barbarian until 1993 where he was often partnered with Red Sonja. Dark Comics acquired the rights for a time (2003-2018), before Conan returned to Marvel Comics in 2018. This run only lasted 25 issues, and stopped when Titan Comics acquired the license in 2022, in collaboration with Heroic Signatures.

The publisher relaunched Conan, with writer Jim Zub as the main architect of this new era for the Barbarian. It proved successful as the publisher has since extended the world of Conan and started to build a shared universe (nicknamed the Howardverse). 

While Titan Comics has also started to reprint old runs in their Omnibus line, this article is devoted to the Conan Titan Comics published since 2023.

Conan the Barbarian, Titan Comics Publication

Since the release of the first issue of the new Conan the Barbarian comic series, the warrior world has expanded with the relaunch of the black-and-white magazine-format, a digital exclusive comic, some crossover event and a spin-off series starring another iconic Howard creation, Solomon Kane. And it’s just the start! 

• Conan the Barbarian (2023-present) – The Main ongoing comic series written by Jim Zub with various artists.
• The Savage Sword of Conan (2024-present) – A black-and-white magazine-format comic book series with an anthology format. Written by various writers and artists.
• Conan: Battle of the Black Stone (2024) – A crossover event with Conan and other Robert E. Howard characters from Jim Zub and Jonas Scharf.
• Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring (2025) – A four-issue mini series starring Solomon Kane, taking place in the 16th century. From Patrick Zircher.
• Conan the Barbarian: Eastern Horizons (2025) – Digital Exclusive coming from Walt Simonson and Jerry Ma. 
• Conan: Scourge of the Serpent (2025) – The Second Conan Event from Jim Zub and Ivan Gil 

Also, Titan Comics has released a Conan the Barbarian comic for Free Comic Book Day each year since 2023.

Conan the Barbarian, the Titan Comics Collection

Conan’s stories are not released in chronological order. Like the old Weird Tales pulp stories by Robert E. Howard, the Titans series is jumping around to tell stories at different points in Conan’s life.

Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian is the first ongoing comic series released by Titan Comics, which was introduced with a prologue issue during the Free Comic Book Day 2023. While you can read this series without taking into account any crossover, this reading guide follows the internal world-building logic established by the publishing order and recommend the best place to read the limited/crossover series.

• Conan: The Barbarian Vol. 1: Bound In Black Stone
  Collects Conan the Barbarian #1 and Free Comic Book Day 2023: Conan the Barbarian #1. Also exists in hardcover.
• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 2: Thrice Marked for Death
  Collects Conan the Barbarian #5-8
• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 3: The Age Unconquered
  Collects Conan the Barbarian #9-12

Those volumes are also available in a Slipcase set, also containing 3 exclusive Art Cards!

Battle of the Black Stone! The first Conan event featuring other Robert E. Howard’s Characters. Conan of Cimmeria is haunted by shadows, living nightmares connected to a mysterious eye symbol etched in Black Stone. The unspeakable evil foretold by Thulsa Doom looms over the Hyborian Age and every age connected to it… and it will take more than a lone barbarian to stop its relentless march upon time, space, and sanity. Also features Solomon Kane, Dark Agnes, James Allison, El Borak and Conrad and Kirowan.

• Conan: Battle of the Black Stone
  Collects Conan the Barbarian Free Comic Book Day 2024 and Battle for the Black Stone #1-4.

• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 4: Frozen Faith
  Collects Conan the Barbarian #13-16.
• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 5: Twisting Loyalties 
  Collects Conan the Barbarian #17-20.
• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 6: A Nest of Serpents [2026]
  Collects Conan the Barbarian #21-24

Coming Soon… Conan: Scourge of the Serpent

The Savage Sword of Conan

The Savage Sword of Conan was a black-and-white magazine-format comic book series published by an imprint of Marvel Comics between 1974 and 1995. It was a very popular magazine that didn’t have to follow the Comic Code Authority and became a cult classic. Presented as a limited series, Titans Comics first ordered six issues of the magazine featuring comics, prose stories, poems, and art pages. It has since continually been extended.

• The Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 1
  Collects The Savage Sword of Conan #1-3
• The Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 2
  Collects The Savage Sword of Conan #4-6. Issue #4 ties into Battle of Black Stone (see above!)
• The Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 3
  Collects The Savage Sword of Conan #7-9
• The Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 4 [2026]
  Collects The Savage Sword of Conan #10-12

Solomon Kane 

Spinning out from the pages of Savage Sword of Conan (first three issues) and the Battle of Black Stone crossover is Solomon Kane’s solo adventures with a four-issue miniseries. A second limited series starring the ‘Sword of Vengeance’ has been announced.

• Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring
  Collects Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring #1-4

Want to know the Chronological order of the Conan The Barbarian by Titan Comics? At this moment, Comic Book Treasury doesn’t have a chronological order for the Conan Titans Comics. We invite you to check out Dan’s work on Conanchronology.com who has started to create one!