The Barbarian and the Playwright
Robert Ardrey wrote for Broadway. Robert E. Howard wrote for the pulps. Both perceived the bloody savage lurking beneath the veneer of civilization.
Read MoreBarbarian Comics
Jim Zub’s Conan comics mostly capture the flavor of Howard’s stories. Not perfectly since Howard was such a unique writer. The art is reminiscent of the original Marvel Conan run which has delighted fans of the original comics.
Read MoreNorman Saunders: One of the Pulp Art Greats
On top of being just a great all-around American, Norman Saunders’ work for the pulps, Men’s Adventure mags and various trading cards from Topps made him a pop art legend. If nothing else, Saunders painted the very first rendition of Conan the Cimmerian for a paperback cover, beating Frazetta by fourteen years.
Read MoreConan, Tannhauser & the State
As free-agents of the hard-boiled school, Conan and Mattias Tannhauser share a deep skepticism of the State. Kingship, the demands and prerogatives of the State, all that is meaningless in comparison to a man’s honor and loyalty to his dearest friends.
Read MoreSir Arthur Conan Doyle: The White Company
The White Company was Arthur Conan Doyle’s tribute to chivalry and the Middle Ages. He considered it his best novel. Robert E. Howard and George MacDonald Fraser were both fans of it.
Read MoreBarry Windsor-Smith's Enigmatic Print, "The Enchantment"
There are several elements in “The Enchantment” that make it stand out as one of Barry Windsor-Smith’s more mysterious works. Let’s take a look.
Read MoreA Review of Titan Books’ Blood of the Serpent: Is the New Conan Novel Really Conan?
Blood of the Serpent is the semi-anticipated latest entry in the prose adventures of Conan of Cimmeria. We’ve had recent video games, RPGs, comics, etc., featuring the barbarian, but the last original standalone authorized prose work of Robert E. Howard’s greatest creation was Harry Turtledove’s Conan of Venarium (Tor, 2003).
Read MoreRafael Kayanan: Four Decades of Savagery and Finesse
Since the 1980s, Rafael Kayanan has been creating dynamic art with a high level of craftsmanship. For the past two decades, he’s also been a fight instructor to the likes of Danny Trejo and Liam Neeson.
Read MoreA Fantastic Chapter for Conan and Sword-and-Sorcery
The late 1960s and early ‘70s were peak sword-and-sorcery. The Lancer Conan Saga was at its zenith of popularity, eventually selling by some estimates upwards of 10 million copies. And as the ‘60s gave way to the ‘70s a struggling magazine was about to get a signal boost from S&S’s mightiest hero.
Read More