Marvel regained the rights to publish Conan comics back in 2018, having been largely responsible for the character’s modern popularity via the publication of various Conan titles in the 70s and beyond.

Would there have been a Conan the Barbarian movie in the early 80s, had the character not been popularised on the comic book page? Perhaps, but Marvel’s work certainly helped to breathe new life into the largely forgotten character.

In any case, the character’s return to Marvel after a decade and a half at Dark Horse was a big deal, but sadly It was not to last long. The rights passed to Titan Comics in 2022, and in fairness they have been incredible custodians for the character and his supporting cast.

However, in the few years that Marvel had control of Conan, they brought him into the modern day, becoming part of the Marvel universe. It was perhaps an odd move, but the first issue of the Battle for the Serpent Crown series shows that it just about works.

In this issue, Conan walks out of the desert to find a very strange city: 21st century Las Vegas. It’s not long before he gets in serious trouble, and he’s soon assisting a thief with a heist, in order to get his hands on some very valuable jewels.

Though the fish out of water premise largely works, and the fact that Conan has seen so many strange and otherworldly things on his adventures also helps with him simply accepting that he’s wandered into unfamiliar territory, there’s a few contrivances that are difficult to ignore. There’s no mention of him reacting to cars or anything that his mind simply wouldn’t or couldn’t comprehend (even guns are kind of glossed over).

Still, suspension of disbelief aside, this actually does a great job of just bringing the ancient barbarian into the then-contemporary Marvel world, even bringing some surprising guest stars along for the ride too. It’s very well illustrated by Luke Ross, with gloriously loving shots of the protagonist on just about every page.

Though it might not have been a popular decision with Conan purists, I really enjoyed this issue. I thought it set things up with minimal fuss and with some excellent action beats too. Plenty of humour from Conan’s barbaric nature is wrung from the story as well. Much more enjoyable than I expected, then!

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