Cracking Gil Kane Conan cover set to go under the hammer

By John Freeman on August 14, 2025 • ( 1 )

Gil Kane’s first Conan cover art – for Conan the Barbarian #12 – is included in an upcoming Heritage Auction next month.

A surprising amount of controversy surrounds the art. “Even now, it seems there is some doubt around the inker, with early credits going to Ralph Reese,” notes artist and comics archivist David Roach. “But clearly, the inks were by Vince Colletta – doing a pretty good job –with one face heavily retouched by John Romita”.

Heritage Auctions description of the work, published by Marvel in 1971, notes there is no definitive inking attribution on the art featuring “The Most Savage Hero of All”. Ralph inked Gil Kane on Conan, Daredevil, Iron Man and more during his long career, working regularly in comics until the Marvel’s crash in 1995, and then, incredibly, struggled to make a living as an artist.

*Ralph Reese inking Gil Kane on Conan the Barbarian #17*

“Suddenly I just couldn’t get work,” he told Bryan Stroud in 2010, in an interview largely focused on his work for Continuity. “I couldn’t get work anywhere. The comic book business totally tanked. I was working for Acclaim and they folded. I wasn’t politically connected up at Marvel or DC at that time and with everybody desperate and scrambling, I just wasn’t at the top of anybody’s list. Also, coincidentally, right around that time the advertising work started drying up. The agencies cut back on their budgets drastically for hiring outside people doing storyboards and comps for them and started just using the art directors and also at that time the computer revolution started coming along. And what happened was that even people like Neal [Adams] , who had a multi-million dollar business by that time, really got clobbered.”

Gil Kane (6th April 1926 – 31st January 2000) was a legendary comic book artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s. He worked for every major US comic imprint and worked on many influential characters. He’s credited with co-creating the Green Lantern, Atom, and Iron Fist characters.

*Also in the auction: Fred Ray’s original cover art for Action Comics #45(DC, 1942), and Barry Windsor Smith’s Conan the Barbarian #7 Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1971)*

The 2025 September 12 – 14 Comic Art Signature® Auction #7436 auction also includes the original cover art to Action Comics #45 as among the highlights already consigned to this 700-lot auction, which also has works by Jack Kirby, John Buscema, John Romita, Dave McKean, Barry Windsor-Smith, Charles Schulz, Bernie Wrightson, and many more.

• Check out the 2025 September 12 – 14 Comic Art Signature® Auction #7436 here

• Check out the Conan the Barbarian #12 cover here

From the auction lot description: The cover for Conan the Barbarian #12 – for the story, “The Dweller In The Dark” – was created in ink over graphite on Bristol board, then trimmed and pasted onto a sheet of Sparta World Color cover Bristol board stock with a total image area of 10″ x 15″. The corner box figure and logo are original stat paste-ups. The header and lower caption box are recent replacements. There is some discoloration and toning on the board, and a bit of glue residue on the art near the logo and bottom caption. There is also a small slit in the image area from the time of production. Overall in Very Good condition.

With thanks to David Roach

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.