Sword & Fantasy #10

15
May

Features include a long article on Virgil Finlay by Sam Moskowitz, a folio of the 1953 Kelly Freas art from the TOPS IN SCIENCE FICTION reprint of “Lorelei Of The Red Mist” (just the art, not the story, too), 5 page reprint of the James Blish anti-A. Merritt reviews from the 1957 FANTASY TIMES and the original fan responses to them, facsimile reprint of Donald A. Wandrei’s 1926 OVERLAND MONTHLY article on Clark Ashton Smith “The Emperor of Dreams”, a 2 page article written by H.P. Lovecraft in 1929 discussing his own horror stories “In The Vault,” “The Hound” and “The Colour Out of Space”, reprints of the 1933 & 1934 letters by Forrest Ackerman and others regarding whether the fantasy stories of Clark Ashton Smith belong in the science fiction mag WONDER STORIES (even H.P. Lovecraft weighed in on the debate), a tribute to artist James Cawthorn (1929-2008), and more. Full color front and back covers by Mahlon Fawcett.

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Sword & Fantasy #9

15
May

Features include a 6 page reprint of the Frank Frazetta comic strip “Diamonds & Pebbles” from HAPPY COMICS #33 (Sept. 1949) in black and white (a version of this issue with the strip in full color is also available but at a higher price in a separate listing). An art folio by Howard Pyle. An original 9 page sword & sorcery comic strip by Ron Wilber “The Accursed Wizards Land.” Articles on H.P. Lovecraft from 1950s fanzines. “On Science Fiction And The Weird” by Seabury Quinn from the fanzine THE TALISMAN (Summer, 1950), a 5 page Roy Krenkel folio and more.

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Sword & Fantasy #7

15
May

The front and back cover art is from foreign Robert E. Howard paperback editions. Articles include part two a long analysis of the Robert E. Howard story “Tower Of The Elephant” (profusely illustrated) by Rick McCollum. An eight page folio of illustrations from Robert E. Howard stories printed in pulp magazines. An interview with Karl Edward Wagner from 1980. “H.P.L.: The History” by Lin Carter (from 1950). “An Appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith” by Lin Carter (from 1949). An article on A. Merritt from 1948 (with pulp art by Virgil Finlay and others). And more. Artwork by Rick McCollum, Eduardo Barreto, Mahlon Fawcett, and others.

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Sword & Fantasy #6

15
May

The front and back cover art is from foreign Robert E. Howard paperback editions. Articles include a long analysis of the Robert E. Howard story “Tower Of The Elephant” (profusely illustrated). A six page folio of illustrations from Robert E. Howard stories printed in Czechoslovakia. An interview with Ray Capella and a short sword & sorcery story by Ray titled “The Lair.” A seven page folio of WEIRD TALES pulp art from Robert E. Howard stories. An article on the REH story “Lord Of The Dead.” An article on Conan pastiche novels (in other words Conan books not written by REH), and more. Artwork by Rick McCollum, Eduardo Barreto, Mahlon Fawcett, and others.

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Sword & Fantasy #5

15
May

The front cover art is from a foreign Conan paperback edition. Articles include a facsimile of the 24 page writer’s bible to the 1997 Conan The Adventurer TV series. Two vintage 1940s articles on Clark Ashton Smith from the British fanzine Fantasy Review. The novella “Demon Wizard” by James Van Hise. A review of the 1982 Conan The Barbarian movie. A folio of covers from foreign language Robert E. Howard paperbacks. “Lin Carter And The Curse Of The Monolith” by Richard Toogood. A 1959 fanzine article about Robert E. Howard. Artwork by Rick McCollum, Virgil Finlay, Virgil Partch, Alfredo Alcala, Frank R. Paul and others.

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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 #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 #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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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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