The Last Celt

05
Jul

The Last Celt: A Bio–Bibliography of Robert Ervin Howard is a biography and bibliography of Robert E. Howard by Glenn Lord. It was first published by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in 1976 in an edition of 2,600 copies. This is the paperback edition from Berkley Windhover.

Not a standard biography nor bibliography, but more like a compendium of all bits and pieces of minutiae and obscure material about or related to Howard. There are several autobiographical pieces, biographical pieces by H.P. Lovecraft and others.

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The Conan Grimoire

20
Jun

The Conan Grimoire is a 1972 collection of essays, poetry and fiction edited by L. Sprague de Camp and George H. Scithers, published in hardcover by Mirage Press. The essays were originally published as articles in Scithers’ fanzine Amra. The book is a companion to Mirage’s previous two volumes of material from Amra, The Conan Reader (1968) and The Conan Swordbook (1969). Most of the material in the three volumes, together with some additional material, was later reprinted in two de Camp-edited paperback anthologies from Ace Books; The Blade of Conan (1979) and The Spell of Conan (1980).

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Sword & Fantasy #12

15
May

Features include an article on Frank Frazetta, 1945 Harper’s review of H.P. Lovecraft, covers of foreign HPL books, old article on Clark Ashton Smith, index to STRANGE DETECTIVE STORIES, E. Hoffman Price tribute to Edmond Hamilton, an interview with the late Nils Hardin (publisher of XENOPHILE), a long article on comic books and horror by James Van Hise, previously unpublished fantasy art by Eduardo Barreto, article on artist Mahlon Fawcett who died in 2015, and more.

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Sword & Fantasy #3

13
May

The front cover art is by Joe Jusko (which he sent to Van Hise to use as it previously only appeared on a promo for a statue and was not a SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN cover). The back cover is the color art for the cover of the 1976 British paperback edition of KING KULL. Articles include a lengthy section on the making of the movie KULL THE CONQUEROR, including examinations of three different screenplay drafts, and an interview with screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue (who wrote the original screenplay which was later rewritten by others). There is also a look at the Conan story “Shadows In The Moonlight” (complete with the old WEIRD TALES illo). A 1935 biographical sketch of E. Hoffman Price. A 1951 author profile of L. Sprague de Camp, a WEIRD TALES cover gallery and more, including artwork by Eduardo Barreto, Rick McCollum, Hannes Bok and others.

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Sword & Fantasy #1

09
May

Fanzine published by James Van Hise.

Articles include detailed guides to several classic Robert E. Howard fanzines (CROSS PLAINS, LONE STAR FICTIONEER, etc). Jim also gives a detailed look at the Robert E. Howard story “Valley of the Worm.” There is also the transcript to the Wandering Star Robert E. Howard panel (which I was on) from the 2002 San Diego Comicon. Plus featuring his 7,000 word article on Karl Edward Wagner’s KANE series wherein he reviews and examines every published Kane story Wagner wrote. Jim also takes a detailed look at Gil Kane’s classic sword & sorcery comic BLACKMARK.

This issue also features artwork by Mike Zeck (a vintage Conan illustration he did in the 1970s, which is a real knockout), art by Steve Fabian, Rick McCollum and others. Plus some surprises, like a nice repro of an illo from the WEIRD TALES appearance of “Kings of the Night”.

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Skull-Face Omnibus

12
Apr

Skull-Face Omnibus is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer Robert E. Howard. It was the author’s third book and was published by Nville Spearman 1974,

Most of the stories had originally appeared in the magazine Weird Tales.

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