Q&A: How Heroic Signatures makes “the best damn Conan comics” and more
Why license-holder Heroic Signatures is bringing new life to the classic sword-wielding legend through fiction, comic books, and more.
“We had no other goal other than to just make the best damn Conan comics we could that would appeal to Conan fans.”
In this article:
The World of Conan
Interview: Marcos Cronander from Heroic Signatures
Legends of Conan podcast
Although created in the 1930s, sword & sorcery legend Conan the Barbarian has recently made a huge comeback—thanks in big part to the efforts of Heroic Signatures. The company has been bringing new life to licensed fantasy and science fiction brands—with movies, comic books, and video games—to tell better, more exciting stories.
(There are also puzzles and shirts and coffee mugs and other merch. Just so you know.)
As part of this new age for Conan of Cimmeria, the sword-wielding legend has also been appearing in lots of new stories, novels, and comic books. Especially thanks to Heroic Signatures partnering with Titan Books and Titan Comics.
Worth noting is how the original Conan stories by creator Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) are also available now in revised editions. (It’s surprising to learn how these stories have only recently been returned to how Howard actually wrote them. That’s a whole weird story unto itself.)
Monster Complex® has previously talked about REH’s history as an influential author here:
But what’s also exciting is how Heroic Signatures is now adding exciting brand-new stories to that world. As described on the Heroic Signatures website:
“Torn between his barbaric code and the seductions of the corrupt world surrounding him, Conan’s mastery of sword and shield, along with his naturally keen mind, allow him to squeeze all the juice he can from the fruit of life.”
Below, find the Monster Complex® interview with Marcos Cronander from Heroic Signatures. We discuss what it took to relaunch REH’s classic stuff, the new comic book (and repackaged classics), new official Conan media (like the YouTube channel and podcast), and more.
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The World of Conan
Robert E. Howard’s legendary Conan the Barbarian A.K.A. Conan the Cimmerian is a sword & sorcery adventurer facing monsters, wizards, soldiers, and thieves. Conan debuted in a 1932 issue of Weird Tales magazine.
In fact, REH is credited with actually inventing the whole story category that we now call “sword & sorcery.” (As such, his tales have inspired lots more storytellers to create their own sword & sorcery adventurers.)
We should also note that REH actually wrote more than a hundred stories for multiple pulp categories. Not just sword & sorcery stories, but also fantasy, horror, boxing stories, cowboy stories, action and adventure, comedy, and more.
In fact, Howard only wrote only 21 stories starring Conan. But in the decades since his death, Conan has captured the imaginations of many more, leading to books, comic books, movies, TV shows (animated and live action), video games, toys, and role-playing games.
What’s exciting is how Heroic Signatures is now adding exciting brand-new stories to that world. This includes original novels and comic books from authors revisiting the worlds of Robert E. Howard.
Interview: Marcos Cronander from Heroic Signatures
Today, the Conan brand is managed by entertainment providers Heroic Signatures. A studio with a large intellectual property portfolio, their portfolio includes Conan the Barbarian, Kull of Atlantis, Solomon Kane, and more. Marcos Cronander is Heroic Signatures’ Head of Sales and Marketing.
#1) What inspired Heroic Signatures to relaunch Conan (and more Robert E. Howard classic stuff) like this? (And in such a big way?)
Originally, we partnered with Marvel, who had a license to publish the Conan comics. When COVID hit and manufacturing shortages hit, Marvel decided not to publish licensed comics anymore and focus on only publishing comics of the IP they own.
Which is fair enough. I would have probably done the same thing in their situation.
We parted ways with Marvel on good terms, and they decided to finish out their current Conan arcs, but that left us having to find a new comic book partner. The president of Heroic Signatures, Fred Malmberg, heard fan feedback about the modern Marvel run and how many felt that the Conan comics were a little too sanitized under their stewardship and felt that we should be more involved creatively with whoever we partner with next to ensure that he Conan comics felt true to its gritty and brutal sword and sorcery roots.
He spent some time talking to potential partners and ultimately landed with Titan, who proved to be huge Conan fans and also agreed not just to a license, but a joint venture where Titan and Heroic Signatures would be co-publishers of the comic books, giving us more creative control.
Once the agreement was signed, then we had to start looking for a creative team to bring this comic to life. The team had been pretty fond of several writers, and decided to have a “bake off” and take pitches from authors we liked to see what ideas they had for a Conan comic storyline.
Enter Jim Zub, who had done some great Conan stories for Marvel. He pitched us an awesome and grand epic—not just focused on Conan, but also picking on the threads that Robert E. Howard left that connected Conan to his other characters.
It was ambitious bold, and maybe a little crazy. But Jim’s passion for Conan, knowledge of the source material, and enthusiasm won out and he got the gig.
Once he was on board, he recommended Rob de la Torre to do the art. And there you have it—the awesome team came together and made a great splash when it launched.
We had no other goal other than to just make the best damn Conan comics we could that would appeal to Conan fans. And luckily, Jim and Rob delivered exactly that. We’ve been hearing nothing but awesome, positive things from the fan base so excited to see the passion exploding out of these Conan comics for the past few years.
With the success of the monthly comic, we decided to bring back other classics, including Savage Sword of Conan, and really lean into the retro vibe of what made that magazine great.
In addition, with Jim doing such a good job weaving Howard’s characters together in his story, plus being able to put short stories of other Howard characters in Savage Sword, we felt we could bring other characters, like Solomon Kane, to have their own miniseries.
And now we are doing the groundwork for a Kull miniseries as well.
#2) What are Heroic Signature’s goals with this relaunch?
Our real goal is to just give people awesome stories with these awesome characters. We feel if the quality is good, people will pick them up. And, so far, that has been true, bringing in old fans as well as new.
Beyond the monthly series helmed by Jim, the rest of the comics—such as Savage Sword, Solomon Kane, and the upcoming Kull—are all decided and directed by our in-house editorial team here at Heroic Signatures. We discuss what characters do we want to focus on, which creatives we have that want to tell those stories, and do our best to bring it all together!
#3) There are lots of great Conan book AND comic book stuff now coming out from Titan. How did this partnership come about? How directly involved is Heroic Signatures in the actual new stories (and repackaged classic stories) coming out?
We are incredibly involved (LOL). The partnership with Titan is structured that we handle all the creative aspects, and they handle the production and distribution. Of course, they provide perspective on creative as well but pretty much all of it is handled by Heroic Signatures’ own internal editorial team.
They work with all the creatives coming up with storylines, picking authors, artists, and put it all together to be sent off to Titan. We joke internally how Titan gets all the credit for this run of comics and nobody knows how involved we are but it’s OK as Titan is a great partner and they deserve a lot of credit!
The repackaged omnibuses we manage as well with help from some external editors and cooperation from Marvel’s archival team. Marvel started a great program with those books and we felt we owed it to the fans to keep it going even to the point of keeping the trade dress as identical as possible to the Marvel omnibus program so that all the books will look unified on fans’ shelves.
Once we finish this run of omnibuses we’re excited to move on to other eras of Conan and other Robert E. Howard characters, as well as other ways to package the Conan stories that are maybe a little more friendly to new fans or fans who don’t have the money to shell out for a massive omnibus collection lol.
The prose stories are a slightly different deal, they are a straight license with Titan as opposed to a joint venture like we did with the comics but our editorial team is still very involved in reviewing the books and deciding what authors we want to work with.
#4) I’m assuming that Heroic Signatures is doing the official YouTube channel and podcast, too. What are the goals with those? How do you come up with topics for these?
Yes, we are the ones behind the official Conan YouTube channel/podcast. It was something that I personally was very passionate about and fought for. YouTube is one of the best platforms for building a true fan base. I wanted a place where we could provide info to new fans getting into Conan, as well as deep dives for hardcore fans and also serve as a place for us to interact with our fan base.
Once I convinced Fred about investing in YouTube and social media as a whole, we went on the hunt and got very lucky finding the amazing Shawn Curley, who you can see as the host of the YouTube channel and podcast.
He has made every single video single handedly. He came from a great YouTube background, working with some very big creators.
Also a huge Conan fan since he was a kid, he was basically the perfect person for the job. He has been absolutely knocking it out of the park, as the numbers show, and we are excited for you all to see what he is cooking up next.
As for how we come up with the topics, it is really just me and him sitting in a room brainstorming what we think the fans would want to see, what new fans might search if they’re getting into Conan and, of course, comparing that to the data and feedback we receive.
Ultimately, the goal of the Conan channels is to simply bring all the Conan fans together—new, old, comic book, prose, movies, games, etc.—to geek out on all things Conan!
#5) What are the best ways for fans to keep track of what you folks are doing with Conan and other REH characters?
Following us on all our social media is the best way to see what we’re up to. Of course, the YouTube channel that you mentioned is a great place for general Conan lore.
But if you want to stay up to date on all the latest Conan releases, there’s nothing better than signing up for our monthly newsletter that will tell you about all the cool new Conan stuff coming out so you won’t miss a single release. (People can signup for the newsletter at Conan.com)
Connect with Heroic Signatures online
Find more Conan online
The Five: Where to Start with Conan the Barbarian (Conan.com)
Two Years of Steel and Sorcery: How Titan Comics Restored Conan to His Throne (Conan.com)
Bookshop.org (which supports your local bookstore)
Libro.fm (audiobooks which support your local bookstore)
CONAN spoke to his creator? LEGENDS OF CONAN PODCAST: MARK FINN
In this episode of the podcast, they discuss Conan’s creator, Robert E. Howard, with author and Howard historian Mark Finn, author of Blood & Thunder, the premier biography of Robert E. Howard.
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How Heroic Signatures is bringing new life to the sword-wielding legend. “We had no other goal other than to just make the best damn Conan comics we could that would appeal to Conan fans.”