Coming from Panini UK this week...

Conan joins the Avengers?!? Yep! It's the story you thought you'd never see... unless you read the original comic last year of course that this issue reprints. It's surprisingly good actually as it's written by Al Ewing who for my money is currently one of the best and most inventive writers in comics. 
Here's the solicitation info from Panini...

Avengers Universe No.7 Release date: 28/11/2019
76 pages of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! The team-up you never thought you'd see is here – the Avengers travel back to the Hyborian Age and meet the legendary Conan the Barbarian!!! Don't miss the shocks as the awesome ‘No Road Home’ saga continues! By Al Ewing, Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Paco Medina! Featuring material first printed in Avengers: No Road Home #6-8.

...of course, this isn't the first time Conan and The Avengers have appeared in the same scene. At least not if you followed Marvel UK in the 1970s. Although back then it was the result of two comics merging and Conan didn't actually meet The Avengers like he has now. (There's also a US Marvel comic called Savage Avengers featuring Conan in the present day with Wolverine, The Punisher, Elektra and more. That one jumped the shark for me I'm afraid. :)) 

Anyway, here's the rest of the pulsatin' Panini comics that will be in the shops on 28th November... 

Astonishing Spider-Man No.41.
76 action-packed pages of arachnid adventure! Spider-Geddon continues, as a beaten and nearly dead Spider-Man faces the favoured son of the Inheritors, Morlun! The wall-crawler has fought Morlun three times and almost died everytime. Can Spidey beat the vile vampire again?! By Sean Ryan & Juan Frigeri! Also, Miles Morales leads the Spider-Army on a raid on the Inheritors! But is it just a suicide mission?! By Christos Gage, Dan Slott, Todd Nauck & Carlo Barberi! The Spider-Army desperately needs new recruits! No one’s too weird to die for – er – serve the cause! So brace yourselves for SPIDER-MA’AM, a spider-powered Aunt! Also, a nightmare world where monsters roam the streets and a SPIDER-MAN strange enough to call it home! Plus, a Spider-Powered Captain Stacy! Police Officer by day, vigilante by night in a way you’ve never seen before! By Jed Mackay, Scott Koblish, Cullen Bunn, Mark Bagley, Ryan North, David Williams, Geoffrey Thorne & Todd Harris!

Wolverine and Deadpool No.7.
76 pages of Marvel’s toughest heroes! Three great stories! Logan discovers a deadly web of deceit in Alaska – and starts slicing through it! ‘The Long Night’ continues, by Benjamin Percy & Marico Takara! X-23 and Gabby face a new challenge: the X-Assassin! A new story begins by Mariko Tamaki & Diego Olortegui! ‘Night of the Living Deadpool’ continues as Wade Wilson fights to survive a zombie apocalypse! By Cullen Bunn & Ramon Rosanas! Featuring material first printed in Wolverine: The Long Night #3, X-23 #7 and Night of the Living Deadpool #2.

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This week in 1975: Conan joins... The Avengers?!?

  
Two comics merging into one was a commonplace arrangement in the 1970s UK comic scene. Usually it was two similar titles, such as Lion and Thunder, or comics that complimented each other well such as Buster and Jet. One of the more unusual pairings was The Avengers and The Savage Sword of Conan which joined forces 37 years ago this week.

The Savage Sword of Conan had been launched by Marvel UK as one of their 36 page weeklies in early 1975. It failed to find an audience and after just 18 weeks needed to be merged into another title. One would have thought that Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes would have been a more likely home, but that comic was selling well and didn't need it. Presumably The Avengers comic was in need of a boost, so the stage was set and The Avengers and The Savage Sword of Conan became a reality. The cover even featured Conan the Barbarian running alongside The Avengers, in all-new artwork. (Not sure of the artist. Keith Pollard? Rick Hoberg? Pablo Marcos inks?) Conan wasn't actually part of the team in the stories though of course.

Admittedly The Avengers comic had previously shared its pages (and temporary cover billing) with Master of Kung Fu, but at least Shang Chi shared the same universe as The Avengers. Conan just seemed an odd fit. 

This was of course in the days when Marvel UK comics had black and white interior pages. At least by this time they'd abandoned the heavy use of Letratone so the artwork could be seen clearly and sharply. This definitely benefited artists such as Gene Colan.

However, Barry Smith's work didn't fare as well. At least not in this issue, as much of Smith's fine line detail has been lost.

It's particularly evident in this page, where the battle scene is barely legible, but (UPDATE) as Phil Rushton explains in the comments below this post: "It's not entirely surprising that the B&W reproduction of the Conan story looks a bit unfinished. As I remember it the majority of the artwork for that particular issue got lost in the post, forcing Marvel to use a copy of Barry's uninked pages instead!"

Barry Smith's other work, reprinted from a Doctor Strange story in that same issue, fares better. 

As you probably know, back then Marvel UK chopped up the strips into two or three part weekly serials so they could fit three or four different strips into one comic. This necessitated creating new splash pages for the start of some episodes. These pages, rarely credited, often featured some nice work and have never been reprinted anywhere since, as far as I know.

A Bullpen page in the comics that week explained how the merger was due to reader demand. An unlikely story, but even more shocking was the unnecessary apostrophe in the headline. 

The back page featured an ad for the latest Marvel Treasury Edition imported from the USA. 100 pages of Barry Smith's Conan in full colour. One of the few Treasury Editions I've kept. And all for only 50p.