Comic Book News
Hellboy creator Mignola to write Conan special
By M&C News
Dec 9, 2005, 17:53 GMT

Cover for Conan #26

Dark Horse Comics has announced that Hellboy creator Mike Mignola will write a special adaptation of Hall of the Robert E. Howard’s Hall of the Dead for the Conan series, and that writer Timothy Truman will take over as the regular writer on the series following the departure of Kurt Busiek.

Current Conan writer Busiek has decided to amicably move on from the title to pursue other ventures after an award-winning run of over two years on the title.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that Dark Horse got Tim Truman for Conan,” said Busiek in a Dark Horse press release. “And I’m not just saying that because I suggested him. I’ve been a fan of Tim’s work since he did Scout, way back in the Pleistocene Era, and I think he’s terrific at rough heroics in a brutal, corrupt, decadent world, which suits Conan beautifully. Heck, if it had been a choice between Tim and me, back when Dark Horse started the series, I’d have picked Tim.”

Mignola’s short run on the title came about when editor Scott Allie was seeking out Busiek’s replacement. Mignola suggested a bizarre and haunting adaptation of Howard’s “The Hall of the Dead” as well as encouraging Dark Horse to hire Truman as the permanent replacement.

“Truman really has the same sensibilities as Howard,” commented Mignola in a Dark Horse press release. “His stuff has that gritty, tough, action-adventure feel, but he also knows the bigger-than-life pulp-era monster stuff that comes from the old-fashioned supernatural literature. You can tell he learned that from reading writers like Howard as opposed to from reading superheroes.”

After Mignola’s chilling adaptation of “The Hall of the Dead,” Truman and Cary Nord, Conan artist, pick up plot threads laid out by Busiek, Mignola, and Howard himself, building up to one of Howard’s most famous tales, “Rogues in the House.”

“Being asked to write Conan was a real surprise—quite literally, the fulfillment of a childhood dream,” commented Tim Truman. “Conan is one of the very few characters that I’ve ever been fannish about. I’m an unrepentant, unreconstructed Robert E. Howard fanboy and have been since I was twelve years old. Howard’s Conan marked every important character that I’ve ever done—Grimjack, Scout, Hawkman, Jonah Hex.”

Regarding his plans for the series Truman commented, “I want to maintain the level of wonderful literacy and humanity that Kurt Busiek brought to the character and series, while adding my own naturally darker and more intense spin on things. I want to keep the humanity and character interactions, while at the same time injecting even more of Howard’s poetic, dime-novel darkness into the mix. Luckily, we’re entering a phase of Conan’s career, chronologically, where it will fit really well.”

Award winning Ex Machina artist Tony Harris will be the exclusive cover artist on the regular monthly beginning January 2006.

Visit Dark Horse for more information on Conan, Hellboy, and other available titles.