Sunday, January 22, 2017

Bob's Birthday


Today is the 111th anniversary of Robert E. Howard's birth in Peaster, Texas, about twenty miles as the crow flies from where I'm sitting. CONAN THE USURPER, bought brand-new in 1967 at Barber's Bookstore in downtown Fort Worth, was my introduction to his work. I know now that there's 'way too much de Campian meddling in this book, but I wasn't aware of that then, and anyway, I was 14 years old and look at that great Frazetta cover! Look at that giant snake and all those cool monsters and skeletons in the background! What more does a 14-year-old boy need on a paperback cover? (Well, maybe a scantily clad McGinnis babe, but that's a different post.) Anyway, happy birthday, Bob, and thanks for all the great reading over the years.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Salute to REH on his 111th.
I need to pick out one of his works to re-read today.

My Father bought me a copy of the Lancer, Conan the Adventurer, when I was in second grade. People of the Black Circle basically warped my young mind permanently. Thanks, Dad.

John Hocking

Adventuresfantastic said...

I think that's still probably my favorite Conan cover. Happy birthday, Bob.

Unknown said...

I discovered Howard in some of the SF digests in the '50s. I miss the old days.

Paul R. McNamee said...

I drink to his shade, indeed.

thedarkman said...

I was introduced to Howard via the Ace reprints of the Lancer originals. And frankly, I don't care about the deCamp/Carter influence on some of the stories. I own and appreciate the pure Howard material, but to a kid in the late 70's, the Lancer/Ace books rocked my world. Without them, I may never have discovered Howard, and I would have been poorer for it.

James Reasoner said...

The Lancers had great covers and I bought and read all of them in the Sixties. I'll always appreciate them for letting me discover Howard's work. I knew even then as a kid that I preferred the ones that were pure Howard--or close to it--but I never minded the pastiches and posthumous collaborations.

Walker Martin said...

Conan is one of the great hard boiled characters in fiction. In one story he is crucified, hanging on a cross when a vulture gets too close in order to peck out his eyes. Conan bites off the bird's head. Another scene I love is when he casually drops a naked girl into a sewer because she betrayed him.