Conan's Helmet

This page is dedicated to the iconal helmets used by Conan.
(and not all the helmets he used in his life and adventures)

Conan's helmet
Name	Conan's helmet
Owners
Previous Owner(s)	Conan, Drogin
Physical Characteristics
Type	Helmet
Model	Unique
Version	Unique
Origin
Origin	Regular helmet later subjected to a Spell of Enchantment
Reality	Earth-616
Lead Designer	Corin
Additional Designers	Zukala
Place of Creation	Snowhawk Village, Cimmeria
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Barry Smith
First	Conan the Barbarian #1 (July, 1970)
First	Conan the Barbarian #1 (July, 1970)

 It makes you look like a yak, anyway. 

—Jenna, about the helmet, after removing it from Conan's head.

History

Conan's helmet was his "far-wandering" grandfather's, (presumably) Drogin, and/or had been forged by his father Corin.

That helm accompanied Conan's early adventures, saving his life on occasions.

He abandoned it when, after Jenna removed it, stating it made him look like a yak, to kiss more comfortably, they were attacked by cultists of the Night-Cult. Awakening later, he didn't took it and instead rushed towards Shadizar to rescue his damsel in distress.

Notes

• That iconic element of the debuts of Conan in Marvel Comics, debuting in "The Coming of Conan" (Conan the Barbarian #1; October, 1970). This design is tied to at least two other projects around Sword and Sorcery adaptations, where it was used on the title character:
  • Starr the Slayer, who served in Chamber of Darkness #4 (April, 1970) as a trial run for Conan by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith, who were later the original creative team behind the Marvel Conan comics. Starr was created before Marvel gained the rights to the Conan license.
  • Similarly, during the early days of the Conan comic-magazine (Conan the Barbarian #1 was published in October, 1970), Barry Smith and Roy Thomas worked around creating a paperback comic-book dealing with the early years of Kull. Although the project was abandoned for various reasons, Smith produced a number of finished drawings, some of which were eventually published in Savage Sword of Conan #3 (December, 1974) as "Kull of Atlantis", featuring Kull as really similar to Conan's early appearance, including the horned helmet as well.
• The helmet, along with Rion's Pendant, were trademarks of the early Marvel Conan design. Afterwards, they've been regularly used to distinguish young Conan from his older self, and Conan is often depicted wearing them in recountings/flashbacks.
• The helmet was refashioned in relaunches of Conan series:
  • Though Conan wore the classical helmet in Conan the Adventurer #1 (June, 1994), another version of the helmet was featured in 2 (July, 1994), and in 3 (August, 1994), in which it was seemingly lost. It is unknown if that helmet is supposed to be the same one (in a retcon or continuity error), or if it is another helmet all-together.
    • A stylised variant, with lateral horns drawn to the back, was used in Conan the Adventurer #6 (November, 1994). It is unknown if that helmet is supposed to be the same one, or if it is another helmet all-together. Conan kept the helm at the end of the issue (but was helmetless in 7 (December, 1994).
    • A golden variant, without forehead or lateral horns, was used in Conan the Adventurer #12 (May, 1995). No origin was given to that helmet. It was lost in the course of the issue.
  • Following the return of Conan rights to Marvel Comics in 2018, another take was made of the helmet in Conan the Barbarian (Vol. 3) #9 (January, 2019). The design of the helmet changed, with streighter horns and a less spherical basis. That helmet appeared at a time setting way past its loss in the 1970s comics. It is unknown if that helmet is supposed to be the same one (in a retcon or continuity error), or if it is another helmet all-together. It was lost in the course of the issue.
• Some stories ommit (as part of retcons or errors continuities) the presence of the helmet, such as Conan the Adventurer #7 (December, 1994), in which Conan is without an helmet, though it happens in the course of Conan crossing from Brythunia to Zamora, a story happening between Conan the Barbarian #3 (February, 1971) and 4 (April, 1971).

Trivia

• Though Conan abandoned the helmet after Conan the Barbarian #6 (June, 1971) (except in later appearances, such as during "Eye of the Storm" (Savage Sword of Conan #189; September, 1991), or in flashbacks and recaps), the helmet remained part of Conan's corner box illustration until Conan the Barbarian #9 (September, 1971).
  • Similarly, the Conan the Adventurer version of the helmet was abandoned after Conan the Adventurer #3 (August, 1994), the helmet remained part of Conan's corner box illustration from Conan the Adventurer #3 to Conan the Adventurer #7 (December, 1994), except in Conan the Adventurer #5 (October, 1994). It was then used a final in Conan the Adventurer #12 (May, 1995) (the series stopped after Conan the Adventurer #14; July, 1995).
• Though Conan used the original version only in the first issue of Conan the Adventurer (June, 1994) and he didn't used it in subsequent issue, the original design was used in the covers of Conan the Adventurer #2 (July, 1994) (in a refined version), Conan the Adventurer #7 (December, 1994) (in a refined version with no lateral nor forehead horns), Conan the Adventurer #8 (January, 1995), and Conan the Adventurer #13 (June, 1995).

  

  Lord Visis

• Visis (Lord Visis, later Visis the Vagabond) from K'ai (a world inspired by Sword and Planet, a subgenre overlapping with Sword and Sorcery) wore an helmet reminiscent of Conan's own.

See Also

• 20 appearance(s) of Conan's Helmet
• 4 minor appearance(s) of Conan's Helmet
• 4 image(s) of Conan's Helmet