Solomon Kane (comics)

Solomon Kane] is a fictional character featured in several comics published by Marvel Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. He was originally created by the pulp-era writer Robert E. Howard. Dark Horse Comics began publishing a new series of Kane stories in 2008, and also published collections of the 1970s Marvel stories in 2009.

See also: Adaptations of works by Robert E. Howard
Solomon Kane
Cover of The Saga of Solomon Kane  (2009), trade paperback collected edition
Character information
First appearanceMonsters Unleashed #1 (August 1973)
Created byRobert E. Howard
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
Dark Horse Comics
FormatsOriginal material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) Savage Sword of Conan and a set of limited series.
Genre
Publication dateThe Sword of Solomon Kane
September 1985–July 1986
Solomon Kane
September 2008–February 2009
Number of issuesThe Sword of Solomon Kane
6
Solomon Kane
5
Main character(s)Solomon Kane
Creative team
Writer(s)Roy Thomas
Reprints
Collected editions
The Saga of Solomon KaneISBN 1-59582-317-4
The Chronicles Of Solomon KaneISBN 1595824103
The Castle Of The DevilISBN 1595822828

Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics published several comic books featuring Solomon Kane. He was the lead character in the six-issue limited series Sword of Solomon Kane, published 1985-6. He also appeared numerous times in the company's black and white, non-Code approved magazine format comics, most frequently in Savage Sword of Conan, starring Howard's most popular pulp character. The complete list of Marvel's Solomon Kane story appearances are:

  • Monsters Unleashed #1 (August 1973), an adaptation of Howard's "Skulls in the Stars" by Roy Thomas, art by Ralph Reese.
  • Dracula Lives #3 (October 1973), Kane meets Dracula by Thomas, art by Alan Weiss.
  • The Conan Saga #50 (May 1991) by Alan Rowlands, art by Steve Carr and Al Williamson (although this magazine was a reprint title, the Kane story in this issue had not been previously published).
  • Kull and the Barbarians #2–3 (July and September 1975), an adaptation of "The Hills of the Dead" by Thomas, art by Weiss, Neal Adams and Pablo Marcos.
  • Marvel Premiere #33–34 (December 1976 and February 1977). Like the Kane mini-series, this was a Code-approved four-color comic, an adaptation of "Red Shadows" by Thomas, art by Howard Chaykin.
  • Marvel Preview #19 (Summer 1979), an adaptation of "The Footfalls Within" by Don Glut, art by Will Meugniot and Steve Gan.
  • Savage Sword of Conan #13–14, 18–20, 22, 25, 26, 33, 34, 37, 39, 41, 53, 54, 62, 83, 162, 171, 219 and 220 (July 1976–April 1994) by Thomas, Glut, Doug Moench, Jo Duffy and John Arcudi, art by Gan, Chaykin, Weiss, and many others, including a sequel to the Kane vs. Dracula story, two adaptations of the Howard poem "Solomon Kane's Homecoming",[1] and in the last two issues, a meeting of Kane and Conan for which Thomas, with artist Colin MacNeil, used Howard's brief Kane fragment, "Death's Black Riders," as a springboard.[2]
  • The Sword of Solomon Kane[3] #1–6 (September 1985–July 1986). Of the six issues, four adapted Howard stories (all previously adapted by Marvel), and two (#2 and #4) contained original stories by Ralph Macchio, with the art credits varying. The finale also contained yet another rendering of the poem "Solomon Kane's Homecoming," illustrated by Sandy Plunkett and Williamson.[4]

Dark Horse Comics

It was announced at the 2006 Comic Con that Paradox Entertainment has completed a publishing deal with Dark Horse Comics for a Solomon Kane comic series, to be written by Scott Allie.[5][6] The first two arcs featured completed versions of two Howard fragments — "The Castle of the Devil" and "Death's Black Riders." The first issue picks Kane up traveling through the Black Forest after ending his military career.[5] It was a five-issue mini-series, based on "Castle of the Devil", and featured art by Mario Guevara (pencils), Dave Stewart (colors) and John Cassaday (covers). An eight-page sample was posted on the Dark Horse Presents MySpace page in June 2008 [7] and the first issue was published in September 2008.[8]

The second arc, "Death's Black Riders", was a four-issue mini-series published from January 2010 to June 2010. The third arc, "Red Shadows," had its first issue published in April 2011. "Red Shadows", based on a Robert E. Howard story and previously interpreted by Marvel in Marvel Premiere #33–34 (1976), follows Solomon Kane as he tracks le Loup, an expert French swordsman and womanizer with a habit of killing his conquests, through Europe, across the Mediterranean, and down the West Coast of Africa.

Collected editions

The Castle of the Devil, a trade paperback collection of the Dark Horse five-issue mini-series, was published in July 2009 (ISBN 1595822828).

In February 2009, Dark Horse announced a new collection entitled The Saga of Solomon Kane (ISBN 1595823174) which collected the 1970s Marvel stories.[9] This 400+ page collection includes various stories from Savage Sword of Conan, Conan Saga, Kull and the Barbarians, Marvel Preview, Monsters Unleashed and Dracula Lives.

They followed this with The Chronicles of Solomon Kane in December 2009 (ISBN 1595824103), which collected all the color stories, including the Sword of Solomon Kane limited series.

Notes
  1. Jess Nevins' Solomon Kane Comic Page.
  2. "Savage Sword of Conan #219". The Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  3. The indicia calls it simply Solomon Kane
  4. Solomon Kane Info Page Archived August 19, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane Returns at Dark Horse, Comic Book Resources, August 18, 2007
  6. Scott Allie - Bringing Solomon Kane to Comic Book Life, Newsarama, July 21, 2008
  7. NYCC Exclusive: Dark Horse Runs Wild with "Solomon Kane", Comic Book Resources, April 20, 2008
  8. EXCLUSIVE: Solomon Kane #1 Preview, Comic Book Resources, July 10, 2008
  9. "Dark Horse - The Saga of Solomon Kane". Retrieved 2009-04-20.

References
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