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The brooding barbarian hits Sin City in Marvel's new Conan: Battle For The Serpent Crown
If the brilliant idea of plopping Robert E. Howard's brooding Cimmerian, Conan The Barbarian amid the lights and lusts of Las Vegas isn't one of the most appealing notions to arrive this new year, then may the mighty Crom strike me down with ten-thousand crimson lightning bolts!
Since reacquiring the Conan license in 2018, Marvel Comics has been flashing its creative broadsword with a bold lineup of bloody adventure comics set in the Hyborian Age with series like Conan the Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan, Age of Conan: Belit, and Age of Conan: Valeria.
Now charging into 2020 comes a provocative new offering carrying the pulp-inspired title, Conan: Battle For The Serpent Crown, that deposits the hulking antihero and his eternal bad attitude into the drunken neon jungle of Sin City — and SYFY WIRE is doubling down on an exclusive four-page peek from the premiere issue and comments courtesy of its talented team.
Penned by Eisner Award-winning writer Saladin Ahmed (Black Bolt, Miles Morales: Spider-Man) and perfectly matched with rousing artwork via Luke Ross (Star Wars: Allegiance, Savage Sword Of Conan), Conan: Battle For The Serpent Crown #1 arrives on Feb. 5. and finds the legendary assassin far from home, but far from helpless in the most decadent den in all modern America.
It's a surreal plunge into the Marvel playpen where Conan will encounter a colorful collection of intriguing Marvel heroes and iconic evil villains, including the demonic manipulator, Mephisto. The familiar sights of the Hyborian Age might be a distant dream but Conan's indomitable will, Herculean strength, and savage sword will plunder Las Vegas on his epic quest to locate a storied relic known as the Serpent Crown of Atlantis.
Getting to write Conan clashing with the Marvel Universe is a widescreen dream gig for Ahmed.
"Conan: Battle For The Serpent Crown is a globe-trotting, high-octane adventure that sees Conan matching wits and crossing swords with modern-day Marvel heroes and villains from Vegas to Wakanda to Atlantis," Ahmed explains to SYFY WIRE. "It's full of easter eggs and cameos and cool 616 crossovers. But it's also a noir story at heart – a story about what it means to be a thief and a killer in a world of brightly-costumed heroes."
Series editor Mark Basso is thrilled for readers to see the imposing warrior exploring this strange new land since being transported to the Marvel Universe in Avengers: No Road Home and Savage Avengers.
"Saladin’s set Conan on a quest that’ll take him — in classic Conan fashion — to lands beyond those he’s ever imagined," he tells SYFY WIRE. "The Marvel Universe as a whole is a bizarre, strange place for Conan, so starting in Las Vegas he’ll have a lot to contend with…to say nothing of the Serpent Crown’s trail leading him through Wakanda…and a place from further back than even Conan’s own Hyborian Age! And with Luke Ross illustrating the story, you’ll experience these places like never before through his fantastic renderings, brought to colorful life by Nolan Woodard!"
Now strap on your sandals and trek into our exclusive look at Marvel's Conan: Battle For The Serpent Crown #1 in the full gallery below before all the looting and lasciviousness is over. It's Vegas, Baby!
