The Conan Swordbook

20
Jun

The Conan Swordbook is a 1969 collection of essays 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 other two volumes of material from Amra, The Conan Reader (1968) and The Conan Grimoire (1972). 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 #11

15
May

Features include “The Technique of Fantasy Collecting” by Sam Peeples, “A Short Essay on Long” by Arthur J. Cox, “That Moment Of Horror” by Henry Kuttner, “The Case of Howard Phillips Lovecraft of Providence, R.I.” from the Providence Sunday Journal for Dec. 26, 1943, “The Ships of Ishtar,” “7 Footnotes To Merritt” by Thomas Carter, several letters written to me by Glenn Lord, “J.R.R. Tolkien, A Brief Survey & Comparison” by Doc Weir (from ELDRITCH DREAMQUEST #2), “Memories of Seabury Quinn” by E. Hoffman Price, “A Visit Inside Ackerman’s Sci-Fi Mansion,” and more. Full color front and back covers by Mahlon Fawcett.

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Sword & Fantasy #4

13
May

The front cover art is by Wally Wood, reproduced from the color version of the original art. This art first appeared on the dustjacket of the Gnome Press hardcover THE RETURN OF CONAN in 1957.

Articles include the transcript of the entire WEIRD TALES panel from the 1998 San Diego Comicon (the panelists included Forry Ackerman and Gary Gianni). There are also various articles on heroic fantasy and sword & sorcery. An articles on Henry Kuttner’s Elak of Atlantis (a character which was first published in WEIRD TALES from 1938-41). A 1989 interview with Karl Edward Wagner reprinted from the British publication DAGON. An interview with writer Chuck Pogue about the movie and novelization of DRAGONHEART. “Sword & Sorcery In Comics, part 2”. A facsimile reprint of “The Challenge From Beyond” from its original appearance in FANTASY MAGAZINE in 1935. A 1950s profile of Virgil Finlay. An examination of the possible origins of the art published on the cover of SWORD & FANTASY #1 and more. Artwork in the issue is by Rick McCollum, Mahlon Fawcett, Virgil Finlay and others.

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Sword & Fantasy #2

09
May

Articles include a lengthy interview with Jim & Ruth Keegan, the writers and artists of THE ADVENTURES OF TWO-GUN BOB, the Robert E. Howard bio-strip which appears in each issue of the Dark Horse CONAN comic book.

There is also an article on the Conan story “The Scarlet Citadel.” Plus a 1938 article by Henry Kuttner “Selling The Fantasy Story.” Also presented is an 8 page letter by Harold Preece about a Robert E. Howard biography he planned to write. Also included is an article on MODERN ROBERT E. HOWARD FANDOM and the new fanzines currently available, a 1940s article on Robert E. Howard from the old fanzine THE FANSCIENT, and a 1940s review of the Arkham edition of SKULLFACE & OTHERS from a British science fiction fanzine, FANTASY REVIEW. There is also first in a series of articles on Sword & Sorcery in comics (this installment on the 1960s Warren magazines which featured Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, Gray Morrow, Frank Frazetta and Jeff Jones), and much more!

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