Barbarian Life: Volume Three: A Literary Biography of Conan the Barbarian

Know Finally, 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 final volume of the series, Roy Thomas explains the creative process behind his final few issues of Conan the Barbarian, his run on King Conan, and selected stories published in Savage Sword of Conan. Additional features include a full-length interview with Roy, a short history of sword-and-sorcery in the comics, and the tale of Conan’s battles with the Comics Code.

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