CONAN #0

Cover shows sharp corners and clean, unworn edges with no visible spine ticks or stress lines. Surface gloss appears strong with no fading or staining, though a couple of tiny dark specks are visible in the lower right image area that may be print flaws or debris. The book is in a protective sleeve, and interior and back cover were not assessed. Minor handling wear cannot be ruled out at this resolution, keeping the grade just below near-mint-plus.

Conan #0 served as Dark Horse Comics' promotional preview for the publisher's 2004 Conan ongoing series, written by Kurt Busiek with art by Cary Nord, the creative team that would helm the flagship relaunch of Robert E. Howard's barbarian for a new generation of readers. Released in late 2003 ahead of the numbered series, the zero issue functioned as an introductory sampler rather than a canonical chapter, but it carries historical weight as the first published material from the Busiek/Nord Conan run that was widely praised for returning the character to a grittier, more literary sword-and-sorcery tone after years of licensing dormancy. This particular printing is the price-variant edition, a scarcer cover variation distinguished by its printed cover price rather than story content.

Market data reflects a modern promotional item with a small but active certified population: fewer than thirty copies have been graded across the CGC Universal census, split thinly across 9.0 through 9.8, with only a handful of recorded sales at the top grade. Demand is driven almost entirely by Conan completists and Busiek/Nord run collectors rather than broad key-issue speculation, since the book is a preview rather than a numbered first issue with a definitive first appearance. The price-variant status adds a modest scarcity premium over the standard edition among variant-focused buyers, but the ceiling remains low relative to true keys given the character's prior Marvel-era first appearances hold the historical significance.

This is a book for series completists, Conan licensing historians, and variant-cover specialists rather than blue-chip investors. Raw copies in low and mid grade trade as inexpensive fillers, typically bought to round out a run rather than sought individually, while high-grade CGC 9.8 examples command a real but modest premium reflecting the thin certified population and steady, if unspectacular, collector interest in the Busiek/Nord Conan launch.