Arak #1 debuted from DC Comics in September of 1981. Created and written by Roy Thomas, it introduced a sword-and-sorcery protagonist who would out-perform every other S&S comics title in the 1980s with the exceptions of Conan the Barbarian and Mike Grell’s The Warlord.
Read MoreKeith Taylor celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday today. That got me thinking about his literary legacy. While Mr. Taylor has more books in print—digitally—at this moment than at any time since the 1980s, there are quite a few of his short stories that have never been reprinted. Many of them are closely connected to his ‘Bard’ tales of Felimid mac Fal. Others are something of a mystery even to me…
Read MoreThis week: Chris Achilléos, Michael Moorcock, Ramsey Campbell and Karl Edward Wagner meet a vampire hunter, Tarzan and Kull comics, and more.
Read MoreIt strikes that there is a lot left to be done in the field of sword-and-sorcery studies. To paraphrase the poignant lament of Roy Batty, I don’t want to see these bits of sword-and-sorcery history lost forever, though I fear they could be.
Read MoreThe latest issue of Cirsova Magazine was published on the 15th December. It’s a long review because there are a lot of stories to cover. If you want a shorter review, I would just say “Great stories, buy it.” But if you want the luxury tour, it’s all here in black and white.
Read MoreThis week: Karl Edward Wagner, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, samurai films, The Tomb of Horrors, and more.
Read MoreBlending fact, fiction, and legend Shirley seamlessly incorporates action, adventure, humor, horror, and plenty of tentacles to make this a fun read.
Read MoreOld Norse literature undoubtedly served as a model for the eventual sword-and-sorcery tales of Kull and Conan. Saga and Norse myth inform sword-and-sorcery more than the more popular Greek and Roman myths, with their warm climates and heroes hailing from civilized lands.
Read MoreThis week: Robert E. Howard, Cauldron Born, The Witcher, Tanith Lee, the Thongor movie that never was, Mesopotamian demons, and more.
Read MoreThe “Gifts for Yuletide 2021” blog entry needed to go up when it did and that’s what happened. However, there were plenty of worthies left out—as I admitted at the end of it. I’ve decided that those omissions shall not stand, so here’s the supplementary post.
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