What is best in life: Aaron, Asrar, Ribic, Wilson are Marvel’s ‘Conan’ team

After reclaiming the Conan license earlier this year, Marvel has announced the creative team for their new Conan the Barbarian series — writer Jason Aaron, interior artist Mahmud Asrar, cover artist Esad Ribic and colorist Matt Wilson.

Aaron shared his excitement about his new gig on Twitter:

I may have threatened to fight any other writer Marvel might’ve tried to put on Conan. Thankfully it didn’t come to that. I’ve been preparing for this gig for a very long time. This shelf of Conan paperbacks I read as a kid has always been sitting right next to my desk. pic.twitter.com/0JLlpdIXu7

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) August 24, 2018

“The big initial arc we’re doing in this new series is very much done in reverence to Robert E. Howard and those original stories,” Aaron told Marvel.com. “One of the things that initially pulled me into the character was the fact that with each story, Howard jumped to a different point in Conan’s life, where he was in a different setting, interacting with different characters and living a very different life. I loved the grand and epic scope of Conan’s overall journey, and so for this new series, instead of picking just one period from Conan’s life and doing stories set only within that, our opening 12-issue arc will thread together many different periods and aspects of Conan’s journey, from Cimmeria to Aquilonia and beyond. That’s why this story is called ‘The Life and Death of Conan.'”

“Conan is the epitome of an indomitable barbarian and that has fascinated me as a kid growing up reading his stories. What made me stay for the ride was the amazing art on the Conan books throughout the years. So many great artists to name but I can’t tell you how influential John Buscema and his Conan art was for me. It was the first artist I knew the name of as a kid and started intentionally seeking out,” Asrar said. “Now, years later, I get the chance to draw the book myself and do it with the amazing Jason Aaron. I couldn’t be happier to tell epic new tales of the Cimmerian—to continue the legacy that will hopefully make a mark on readers, just like the original comics did for me.”

The new series launches in January.