Marvel Reveals Conan: Serpent War Event Featuring Dark Agnes, Solomon Kane, and Moon Knight

Conan has made a big impact in the Marvel Universe since he came back to the House of Ideas, with several ongoing titles already under his belt. Now the legendary warrior is about to get his first event, and we can exclusively reveal all the details. The new four-part event is titled Conan: Serpent War, and it will be written by Jim Zub with art by Scot Eaton and Stephen Segovia. The new event will not only put the spotlight on Conan but also Robert E. Howard’s creations Dark Agnes and Solomon Kane. That said, perhaps the biggest surprise is the inclusion of Moon Knight in this story.

That’s right, Khonshu’s avatar is going to be right in the middle of Serpent War, which itself is an adventure that will deal involve time, space, and Wyrm Gods, and that’s quite the unique combination. We can’t wait to see what this crazy combination of characters gets up to, and we had a chance to talk to Jim Zub all about it and even get a peek at some new artwork from the series, which you’ll find on the next slides.

First though you can find a rundown of the creative team and all the covers for Serpent War below and you can check out an awesome cover by Neal Adams below as well.

CONAN: SERPENT WAR #1 & #2 (OF 4)

JIM ZUB (W)

ISSUE #1 – SCOT EATON (A)

ISSUE #2 – STEPHEN SEGOVIA (A)

COVERS BY CARLOS PACHECO

ISSUE #1 VARIANT COVER BY NEAL ADAMS

ISSUE #1 VARIANT COVER BY INHYUK LEE

ISSUE #1 VIRGIN CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI (1 OF 4)

ISSUE #1 VARIANT COVER BY DAVID FINCH

ISSUE #1 STONE VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE

ISSUE #2 VARIANT COVER BY LUKE ROSS

ISSUE #2 VARIANT COVER BY JUNGGEUN YOON

ISSUE #2 VIRGIN CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI (2 OF 4)

You can find the official description for Conan: Serpent War below.

“WARRIORS ACROSS TIME DEFY THE ELDER GODS!

JAMES ALLISON will soon die. But it’s not his first death. He’s lived many lives, in many places – lives he can recall in vivid detail. But when an Elder God called the WYRM reaches across time to James, an ages-spanning quest begins! The serpent god SET plans to usher in an eternity of darkness, and only the chosen warriors across time and space have a hope of stopping him: CONAN THE BARBARIAN, SOLOMON KANE, DARK AGNES, and the man known as MOON KNIGHT!

In an unprecedented comics event, Robert E. Howard’s characters join forces along with Marvel’s Moon Knight, in an all-new saga built on REH and Marvel lore from across the ages!”

Conan: Serpent War hits comic stores this December, and you can check out our exclusive preview of the new series on the next slides!

The Original

Zub is used to working with Conan in books like Savage Sword of Conan and Avengers: No Road Home, but Serpent War offers Zub a chance to do something extremely different with the character that has definitely been the template for plenty of other superheroes and heroes in general.

“Conan is the original brooding anti-hero,” Zub said. “He’s the template for every Wolverine, Punisher, Elektra, or Winter Soldier-style character in books, films, and comics. He’s absolutely iconic and getting the chance to build new Conan stories is an absolute dream project for me.”

“Serpent War is a sprawling cross-dimensional epic bringing together legendary characters from the mind of Robert E. Howard with a bit of Marvel mayhem added in for good measure,” Zub said. “The story I told in Savage Sword was a straight forward sword & sorcery tale. This one is big, ambitious, and adventurous on a bigger stage. I hope Serpent War engages long-time Conan fans and also brings new readers on board to see what all the excitement is about.”

Clean Start

While Conan has already has plenty of adventures since coming over to Marvel, you won’t have to have read those previous stories to get a handle on Serpent War, making this a great hopping on point. That said, longtime fans will still get a few nods.

“Not at all,” Zub said. “Conan’s motivations and personality are easy to understand here and everyone else who’s a part of this adventure gets a proper introduction so readers can crack open issue #1 and enjoy. There are some really cool callbacks to earlier stories and Marvel continuity, but those are Easter eggs for fervent readers, not knowledge you need when you dive into Conan: Serpent War #1.”

Agnes and Kane

Dark Agnes will be making her Marvel debut in Serpent War, and Zub loves that she’s so different from the other female characters that Conan has interacted with over the years.

“Agnes is Robert E. Howard’s original sword woman, an uncompromising rebel in 16th Century France who fought for her freedom and calls upon bouts of intense fury in combat to overwhelm her foes,” Zub said. “She’s quite different from many of the women Conan has interacted with and the way their personalities clash in this story creates some really memorable scenes between them.

As for Solomon Kane, prepare for the monster hunter to be the Paladin of the group, one who is always at 100.

“Solomon Kane is a puritan monster hunter and explorer in the late 16th-early 17th Century whose fighting abilities are as battle-hardened as his faith,” Zub said. “I absolutely love the intensity he brings to every scene he’s in and the way he pushes himself and his allies to commit to their mission, no matter the cost. In a world of sell-swords and morally-compromised mercenaries, he’s a paladin.”

Moon Knight

One of the most interesting inclusions in this story is Marc Spector, aka Moon Knight, and Zub is excited for fans to see how he’s woven into the story.

“Awww yeah, Moon Knight is our big Marvel wild card in all of this and I’m incredibly happy with how Marc Spector is woven into the big beats of the story and how Khonshu and the power of the moon factor into some of our biggest action scenes,” Zub said. “When we were looking at which Marvel characters could be involved with the story we’d eventually call Serpent War and what their involvement would bring into the mix, Mark Basso introduced the idea of using Moon Knight and I instantly knew he’d be a great choice. Khonshu and Set have been at odds many times in the past and Moon Knight’s troubled history gave us lots of interesting things to explore.”

Zub is especially happy with how Moon Knight and Solomon Kane interact throughout the series, as they are perfect foils for each other.

“Playing Moon Knight off of Solomon Kane is my favorite thing right now,” Zub said. “It’s a puritan with unwavering faith (despite never having interacted with God) set against an unhinged “heathen” (who speaks directly to his deity, yet doubts everything about himself and his place in the world). It’s a study in contrast and they both bring cool things out of each other.”

Serpent War

While Moony and Kane sound like gold together, you can look forward to Moon Knight and Conan producing some amazing scenes as well.

“There are two major story threads that define Serpent War, two parallel paths,” Zub said. “Moon Knight and Conan start off on separate paths, but when they finally come together it’s an explosive payoff.”

While this event will be mostly self-contained, it will feature some lasting effects on the characters involved, including Moon Knight. “

Like many of the super hero comics I write, Serpent War has deep ties to past Marvel stories and moves the ball forward with continuity in mind, but also has all the pieces new readers need to get on board,” Zub said. “At the end of Serpent War, Moon Knight and other characters are altered in some crucial ways, and that will definitely have an effect down the road. Beyond saying that, I don’t want to tip my hand too much.”

Moon Knight Solo?

With Moon Knight being one of our favorite characters here at CB (okay, me and Jim’s mostly), we had to ask if Zubb would ever want to take the character on in a solo series and what his take would be if he did.

“Absolutely! Moon Knight is just all-around awesome,” Zub said. “I love the twisted possibilities inherent in Marc Spector and that he can be played equally as an urban crime fighter or god-touched avatar without losing the heart of the character. I’d be thrilled to explore both his supernatural and super heroic sides in future stories, especially after the crazy stuff I put him through here in Serpent War.”

You can see Moon Knight in action when Conan: Serpent War hits this December! Let us know what you think about the series in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things comics!