Global publisher Titan Comics and entertainment studio Heroic Signatures have announced a new co-publishing venture for the Robert E. Howard publishing program of comics, graphic novels and re-mastered archives including the omnibus program previously published by Marvel Comics.
The new line of originated comic books kicks-off with Howard’s most famous character, Conan the Barbarian, in a brand-new ongoing series launching in May 2023 – and will be part of Titan Comics Tenth Anniversary celebrations.
In addition, several mini-series’ are in development that will feature Robert E. Howard’s rich tapestry of iconic heroes.
This news follows last year’s announcement that Titan’s book division are continuing the legacy of Conan with Heroic Signatures in all-new novels, short stories, and illustrated art books – beginning in Autumn 2022, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the character.
The novel, Conan: Blood of the Serpent by S.M Stirling – the first in a series of new standalone adventures – hits book shops from 18th October 2022, followed by Conan the Barbarian: The Official Story of the Film – a behind-the-scenes hardback retrospective book – on 1st November 2022.
In 1932, visionary pulp writer Robert E. Howard ushered in a new genre of sword-and-sorcery with Conan, in the pages of American pulp magazine, Weird Tales. In the fantastical Hyborian Age, the Cimmerian’s wandering adventures featured many thrilling, often vicious, battles with his fearsome enemies. In 2022, the character of Conan – now celebrating his 90th anniversary – continues to captivate audiences across all areas of popular culture including movies, video games, novels, comic books, TV, and soon the streaming world, as a new Netflix series is currently in development.
“We have been working with Titan for a year on the prose side and established a good foundation for expanding our business together,” said Fredrik Malmberg, President of Heroic Signatures. “When it became clear that Heroic Signatures would publish our own comics it was natural to partner with a team that we have known for decades. Their expertise in publishing is stellar and we couldn’t be more excited to launch a barbarian horde of titles like Conan, Solomon Kane, Dark Agnes, and many more, together.”
“Following on from the Conan fiction and illustrated books Titan Books is publishing this year with Heroic Signatures, we are very excited to be extending our relationship with our longstanding colleagues, Fred and Jay and their incredible team, to include Comics, Graphic Novels and Archive Editions through Titan Comics, for all the Robert E Howard properties which we will be launching in 2023.” said Titan Comics and Titan Books co-Publishers Vivian Cheung and Nick Landau.
The comic publishing program will begin in May 2023 with the launch of Conan the Barbarian. This program will be supported by book distribution through Penguin Random House, in comic shops through Diamond Comic Distributors and day-and-date on all major digital platforms.
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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