Conan the Barbarian has been in the background of pop culture for 94 years now. Created by Robert E. Howard in 1932, the character was published in the sci-fi/fantasy anthologies of the day. Howard only wrote four years of Conan stories before his suicide, but the character didn’t die out. Howard’s stories, and new ones from writers inspired by him, kept popping up. In 1970, Marvel editor Roy Thomas lobbied hard for the publisher to get the Conan license and they succeeded, even if the price meant they couldn’t the artist that he wanted for the book. Thomas teamed with Barry Windsor-Smith and Conan the Barbarian #1 was a hit. Windsor-Smith drew the first 24 issues, until the book’s budget allowed Thomas to get the artist that he wanted all along – John Buscema.
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Their run together on Conan is legendary. The book ran for 275 issues; Thomas and Buscema worked on the majority of it, working on the book together in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. Their Conan work is some of the best fantasy comics you can ask for, and you can draw a direct line to the Conan the Barbarian movies of the ’80s, keeping the character in the mind of the public and giving readers the kinds of stories they can’t get anywhere. Conan the Barbarian revitalized the swords and sorcery film genre. Their epic team-up began with issue #25, starting a run that has gone down in legend.
Thomas and Buscema Are the Greatest Conan Team Ever
Nowadays, when you hear the name Roy Thomas, it’s usually him trying to take credit for something that happened at Marvel during his tenure there, especially in the ’70s, when he was an editor (and eventually editor in chief). While sometimes it’s rather despicable – his recent claiming credit for the creation of Wolverine left a bad taste in a lot of mouths – there’s no doubt that he’s one of the most important creators in Marvel history. He was Stan Lee’s right hand, someone who had grown up with the comics of the ’40s and ’50s, and loved his job. He’s the one who made the Avengers what they are today and he did have a hand in numerous important parts of Marvel history.
Thomas worked a lot with John Buscema, and the two developed a pretty great working relationship. Thomas knew that if anyone should draw the adventures of Conan, it was Buscema. Even today, with all of our fancy coloring, digital pencils, and flawless glossy paper, there are few modern artists who can hold a candle to John. He was an amazing action penciler; his fights had a hard-hitting energy that you don’t see very much anymore. His figure work and character acting were always superb and he was able to lay out a page in such a way that it all felt kinetic; with Buscema, it never just felt like static images on the page.
Thomas was right about Buscema and Conan, and issue #29 is a perfect example of that. The story, titled “Two Against Turan!”, was based on a Howard story “Two Against Tyre” and followed the barbarian into capital of Turan. It has everything you could want from a story starring the Cimmerian berserker – evil cultists, beautiful women, savage fights – all brought to life perfectly by Buscema. There’s an atmosphere to the pages that draws you in and no other artist could manage it. With Buscema, sometimes, it’s the simple things; you can always tell exactly what Conan is thinking just by looking at his face. There’s all kinds of little details throughout the issue, Buscema’s skill bringing it all to life.
By the end of the story, the warrior is forced to choose between his life or joining the Turanian military on whatever fool’s errand their gods want for them and he chooses the army. It’s one of those moments that remind you that Conan is more than just a musclebound warrior; he’s a man who understands the world he lives in. There’s double crosses and evil magic, pitch perfect fantasy that honors all the tropes, but never actually feels tropey. Thomas and Buscema were on fire in their early days of their partnership and issues like this are example of the two of the best doing work that would echo through the decades, the ComicBook Vending Machine giving you a chance to see the mastery firsthand.
Fantasy Comics Don’t Get Much Better Than Conan the Barbarian #29
Conan the Barbarian hasn’t been a force in pop culture in a long time. Sure, we got Arnold Schwarzenegger’s entire acting career from the character, but other than that, you can’t really point to much in 2026. The character has often been around, but there’s no real Conan fandom. However, going back and reading the old Marvel Conan comics, you can see why the character was able to strike such a chord in the ’70s. In a time when things were getting worse and the optimism of the ’60s was dying a slow death, his adventures were the perfect escape.
Thomas and Buscema are the ultimate Conan creative team. Their work together was so special because you could tell the entire time that both men loved working together on the character. I don’t know about you, but I can always tell when a creator is enjoying the work they’re doing and these two were definitely loving their time with the character. You honestly couldn’t keep them away from him, the two of them returning to book many times together. Buscema would continue to be one of the foremost action pencilers in the industry, his work on Conan informing later works like Wolverine (Vol. 2).
The ComicBook marketplace and machine is the perfect place to look for something off the beaten path and in 2026, there’s little more off the beaten path than Thomas and Buscema’s Conan. Conan the Barbarian #29 is perfect comic book fantasy and it can be yours.
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