Yesterday was Michael Moorcock’s birthday. Today, I tell the tale of when I first encountered Moorcock and Elric of Melniboné. It was a landmark in my Sword-and-Sorcery journey.

Mike Grell’s The Warlord was one of the great Sword-and-Sorcery comics of the 1970s. Its second issue was a particular stand-out and my introduction to the character.

This past week saw four authorial anniversaries, all with some relation to Robert E. Howard. In this post, I pay them proper—albeit brief—respects.

When Dwellers was first published, A. Merritt was forced to change the ending at his editor’s insistence. For the first time ever, the Definitive Edition of Dwellers presents the novel with the ending exactly as Merritt wished it, without editorial interference.

Roy Thomas has been there and done that. Whether it’s bringing Conan to Marvel Comics or his taking over as editor-in-chief of Marvel after Stan Lee in the 1970s or his pivotal role in adapting sword & sorcery to the comics medium for the past half-century, Roy Thomas is a titanic figure in the history of post-WWII comics. Raise your mead-horn high.

Brennus, the Celtic king of Senigallia, was the first man to sack Rome. It would be nearly eight hundred years before another invader matched that feat. His exploits inspired the writings of Robert E. Howard.