Besides being Stan Lee’s first successor as Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, Roy William Thomas, Jr. has enjoyed a long career as a writer, editor, and comics historian. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comic book audiences.

With Conan The Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan, he added to the storyline of Robert E. Howard’s character and helped launch a sword and sorcery genre in comics. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age superheroes to new audiences by creating The Invaders at Marvel and a short while later the All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc. at DC.

Thomas also enjoyed distinctive, key runs on The X-Men, The Avengers, among other titles, and continues his invaluable contributions in the pages of his award-winning magazine, Alter Ego, which explores comics history (though generally not the history he made himself).