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.
Marvel Comics
published several comic books featuring Solomon Kane. He was the lead character in the six-issue limited seriesSword 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, an adaptation of Howard's "Skulls in the Stars" by Roy Thomas, art by Ralph Reese.
Dracula Lives #3, Kane meets Dracula by Thomas, art by Alan Weiss.
Kull and the Barbarians #2–3, an adaptation of "The Hills of the Dead" by Thomas, art by Weiss, Neal Adams and Pablo Marcos.
Marvel Premiere #33–34. Like the Kane mini-series, this was a Code-approved four-color comic, an adaptation of "Red Shadows" by Thomas, art by Howard Chaykin.
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 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", 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.
The Sword of Solomon Kane #1–6. Of the six issues, four adapted Howard stories, and two 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.
It was announced at the 2006 Comic Con that Paradox Entertainment has completed a publishing deal with Dark Horse Comics for a Solomon Kanecomic series, to be written by Scott Allie. 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. It was a five-issue mini-series, based on "Castle of the Devil", and featured art by Mario Guevara, Dave Stewart and John Cassaday. An eight-page sample was posted on the Dark Horse PresentsMySpace page in June 2008 and the first issue was published in September 2008. 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, 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. In February 2009, Dark Horse announced a new collection entitled The Saga of Solomon Kane which collected the 1970s Marvel stories. 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, which collected all the color stories, including the Sword of Solomon Kane limited series.
