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:
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
I think that's still probably my favorite Conan cover. Happy birthday, Bob.
I discovered Howard in some of the SF digests in the '50s. I miss the old days.
I drink to his shade, indeed.
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.
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.
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.
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