Tim Truman tackles Conan

Dark Horse announced this week that Tim Truman will take over as the regular writer of Conan the Barbarian as of issue #33. Current Conan writer Kurt 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." Cary Nord will continue as the artist for the series.

Truman was recommended for the title by both Busiek and Mike Mignola, who will contribute a three-issue arc adapting Robert E. Howard's "The Hall of the Dead" before Truman begins his run.

"Truman really has the same sensibilities as Howard," commented Mignola. "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."

Busiek agrees. "I'm absolutely thrilled that Dark Horse got Tim Truman for Conan," said the former Conan scribe. "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."

Truman and Nord will 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."

Speaking of Conan, worthplaying.com has information on a new Age of Conan video game, as well as information on the overall Conan franchise:

The Conan brand is destined to become THE fantasy license of 2006 as over 45 companies are working on a massive coordinated re-launch of the world's greatest fantasy hero. With a movie from Warner Brothers and an anime movie from Swordplay Entertainment underway, an ongoing comic series from Dark Horse Comics, new novels from Penguin, a collectible toy line from McFarlane Toys, an Online Action RPG from Funcom and a vast range of official merchandise, Conan is reentering the global scene of entertainment with a brutal beheading of the competition.