The crown is barely warm and there’s already a blade aimed at the king’s throat. 

March brings a collision between Conan’s new reign and an old darkness – plus a pair of massive omnibuses that crack open one of the most underrated eras in the barbarian’s comics history.

Sharpen your steel, for Spring is upon us. 

The King Meets His Shadowin Conan the Barbarian #30

You watched Conan topple the mad king Numedides and seize the throne of Aquilonia. You watched Jim Zub dedicate an entire issue to building up the Son of the Tooth, a killer who wears trophies from old prey around his neck and tracks Conan’s spirit like a bloodhound. 

If that was the setup, then issue #30 is the payoff.

The cult of the Black Stone has sent their weapon straight at Aquilonia’s new king before he’s had time to learn which fork is for salad. 

Doug Braithwaite brings the kind of atmospheric, heavy-shadow art this confrontation demands. 

Two arcs of buildup converge here, and this is the issue where the “Ghosts & Echoes” arc bares its teeth.

The Devourer Awakens Twice in Original Comics Omnibus Vol. 7 

Here’s something Titan pulled off that’s worth paying attention to: two Omnibus Vol. 7s releasing in the same month, covering the same era from two different angles.

Conan the Barbarian: The Original Comics Omnibus Vol. 7 

Released on March 3rd, this omnibus collects Issues #172-194 plus Annuals #10-11 to cover the first half of Christopher J. Priest’s run on the color Marvel series. Before Priest became the definitive voice of Black Panther, he was writing Conan. This is 680 pages of a writer finding his edge, introducing Wrarrl the Devourer of Souls (one of the most genuinely formidable super-villains in Conan’s rogues gallery), and building a supporting cast that gave the series a depth it hadn’t had in years. Digitally remastered with rarely seen bonus material, this is well worth your time.

The Savage Sword of Conan: The Original Comics Omnibus Vol. 7

Released on March 4th, this omnibus collects Savage Sword #88-101, the black-and-white magazine counterpart running parallel to Priest’s color book. 

Michael Fleisher writing, John Buscema and Ernie Chan on art. 936 pages. 

This is where Wrarrl first appeared before crossing into the color title, where Captain Bor’aqh Sharaq returns from the dead to hunt Conan, and where the double-length format let the stories breathe into something nastier and more unrestrained than the Comics Code would ever allow.

Buy one and you get a great run. Buy both and you see how two books told the same era’s story from completely different angles. That’s a reading experience you can’t get any other way.

Pirate Conan Aids a Kidnapped Princess in The Treasures of Tortage

Robbie MacNiven drops Conan onto a pirate ship with a bounty on his head and a cabin boy who turns out to be a runaway Nemedian princess. 

Both of them end up in chains. She’ll be ransomed. Conan faces something worse.

This is the Heroic Legends Series doing what it does best: standalone novelettes that capture the pulp energy of Weird Tales at a price point ($1.99-$2.99) that makes impulse buying a non-decision. 

MacNiven knows how to write adventure fiction that moves, and the setup here is pure Howard: bad odds, worse company, and a plan that depends on a princess trusting the most dangerous man on the ship.

Roy Thomas Returns in The Savage Sword of Conan #13

The magazine that triumphs year over year now enters its third year with the one name that matters most to the format’s legacy: Roy Thomas. 

The man who brought Conan to comics in the first place now reunites with Roberto De La Torre for a new story in the pages he helped create fifty years ago. That alone is worth the cover price.

But there’s more in this 64-page issue: a silent Solomon Kane story by Enrique Dueñas González and James Castillo, pin-ups, bonus content, and covers by Alex Horley and Castillo. 

The black-and-white magazine format remains one of the best things happening in comics, and Issue #13 is stacking the deck when it releases on April 1.

From a king’s first real fight to a fifty-year legacy walking back through the door, March has had the kind of range that reminds you why this franchise is hitting on all cylinders right now.

Spring has spun, indeed.