Conan's first appearance in print wasn't even supposed to star him - Robert E. Howard took an unpublished story starring his other fantasy hero, Kull the Conqueror, and rewote it to feature Conan for the December 1932 issue of Weird Tales. It opens with Conan in middle-age, having seized the throne of Aquilonia and growing restless. A group of conspirators wish to kill him and retake the throne, but the machinations of the dark wizard Thoth-Amon might have something to say about that. This story established Conan as world-weary, amoral, and a total badass with a long history, and fans were hooked right away.
