Wednesday, May 9, 2018

The Fabulous Conan Series
1957 Gnome Press Catalog page

Doug Ellis has posted a rare bit of Robert E. Howard Conan ephemera on Facebook.  

Doug Ellis says:
Below is the front page of the 1957 Gnome Press catalog.
The catalog is four pages long, printed on an 11" x 17" sheet of paper folded in half.

Among other books, it advertises "The Fabulous Conan Series," stating "CONAN, the very-human splendid barbarian, who found high adventure and fought both men or demon in his climb to kingship in the magical pre-dawn lands of Hyboria." And then followed by a quote on the Conan stories from a professor in the History Department at SMU.

Inside was a one sided sheet offering their Christmas Discount Offer, 10 books for $12.
I'd gladly pay that!

Thanks to Doug Ellis for posting this!


Sunday, May 6, 2018

New at Howard Works

BookRage (Polish)
Conan Barbarzynca. Tom 1
Featuring:
"The Phoenix on the Sword"
"The Frost-Giant's Daughter"
"The God in the Bowl"
"The Tower of the Elephant"
"The Scarlet Citadel"
"Queen of the Black Coast"
"Black Colossus"
"Shadows in the Moonlight"
"The Slithering Shadow"
"The Pool of the Black One"
"Rogues in the House"
"The Vale of Lost Women"
"The Devil in Iron"
"The Hyborian Age"
http://howardworks.com/Conan_Barbarzynca_Tom1-BookRage.html


BookRage (Polish)
Conan zdobywca. Tom 2
Featuring:
"The Hour of the Dragon"
"A Witch Shall Be Born"
"The People of the Black Circle"
"Drums of Tombalku"
http://howardworks.com/Conan_zdobywca_Tom2-BookRage.html


Sir Angels
A Witch Shall Be Born
Featuring: "A Witch Shall Be Born"
http://howardworks.com/AWitchShallbeBorn-SirAngels.html



Arcturus Publishing
Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Stories
Featuring:
"The Phoenix on the Sword"
"The Tower of the Elephant"
"The Shadow Kingdom"
http://howardworks.com/Science_Fiction_and_Fantasy_Short_Stories-ArcturusPublishing.html

Thanks to Richard Sheehan and Jim Barron for alerting me to this title.



Saturday, May 5, 2018

In a little West Texas town, Conan’s creator still lives
By Joe Holley

Article in the Houston Chronicle.


Friday, May 4, 2018

PULPOURRI by Ed Hulse, Rick Lai, Will Murray, Laurie Powers, Jeffrey Shanks, Dave Smith
Edited by Ed Hulse
Now available!

Featuring an REH article and reprint.

Webster's Dictionary describes Potpourri as "a miscellaneous collection."
Murania Press describes Pulpourri as "a miscellaneous collection of well-written, impeccably researched essays on pulp fiction and how it influenced American popular culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries."

This latest volume in the BLOOD 'N' THUNDER PRESENTS series has been assembled by Ed Hulse, co-editor of Amazon's best-selling THE ART OF THE PULPS, from contributions by some of today's most distinguished pop-culture scholars and archeologists. Their lengthy, informative essays are profusely illustrated with pulp and book covers, interior artwork, rare photographs, and movie posters. And the works herein are new to this volume, not culled from back issues of BLOOD 'N' THUNDER.

Hulse leads off the book with a 15,000-word piece on the masterwork of celebrated mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart: THE BAT, which began life as a 1907 pulp yarn and over the next several decades was revived in books, movies, and even a hit Broadway play. More importantly, it influenced the creation of Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

In other essays: Jeffrey Shanks looks at colonialism in the pulps. Dave Smith chronicles the exploits of the original Suicide Squad, a trio of hard-charging FBI agents from the pulp ACE G-MAN STORIES. Laurie Powers profiles Street & Smith's top female editor, Daisy Bacon, who made LOVE STORY MAGAZINE the top-selling pulp and ended her career trying to revive the flagging SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE pulps. Will Murray reveals the early literary efforts of Robert Maxwell, best known for producing the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN radio and TV shows but also a prolific contributor to the notorious girlie pulps published by DC Comics head honcho Harry Donenfeld. And in a massive (18,000 words), exhaustively researched piece, Rick Lai discusses the use of ancient religion and mythology in the works of Conan creator Robert E. Howard. This essay is accompanied by a reprint of Howard's "Black Talons," a weird mystery from 1933 and one of his most obscure stories.

In the realm of motion pictures adapted from pulp yarns, Ed Hulse documents the making of HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS, the 1938 Republic serial version of William L. Chester's classic adventure yarn from BLUE BOOK magazine. And we present what may be the only surviving photos taken on location during production of the aborted 1935 film featuring Street & Smith's Western-pulp hero Pete Rice.

Blood 'n' Thunder Presents #4
Introduction by Ed Hulse
Trade paperback, 8 1/2 x 11, 216 pages
$24.95

PURCHASE PRICE INCLUDES SHIPPING AND HANDLING TO DOMESTIC BUYERS.
OVERSEAS BUYERS MUST INQUIRE FOR SHIPPING RATES BEFORE PLACING ORDERS



2018 Howard Days
June 8-9, 2018


Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Conan le Cimmérien - Le colosse noir 
Full color edition is now available!
B&W edition coming May 16!

Screenwriter Vincent Brugeas
Draftsman and Colorist Ronan Toulhoat

Based in the city of Khoraja, Conan tries his luck serving Amalric's mercenaries. While waiting for the fight, he leads a life of ordinary troop, drinking and frolicking in the taverns. Fate catches up with him one night as he accidentally meets Yesmala, princess and regent of the kingdom in person. She would have seen Conan in a dream: the gods have designated him as the general who must lead his armies against the demonic hordes of the wizard Nathok. As a private soldier, Conan the barbarian becomes the only hope of an entire kingdom.

The authors of the remark Roy des Ribauds plunge us into a black and warlike adventure imbued with witchcraft.
The trait of Ronan Toulhoat unfolds all its excess in the gigantism of architectures and epic battles.

Language: French
Hardcover, 240 x 320 mm, 72 pages, Full Color, 14.95 €
EAN / ISBN: 9782344012475

Language: French
Hardcover, 275 x 368 mm, 72 pages, Black & White, 29.50 €
EAN/ISBN : 9782344029510






Conan le Cimmérien - La reine de la côte noire 
Full color edition is now available!
B&W edition coming May 16!

Writer Jean-David Morvan
Designer Pierre Alary
Colorist Sedyas

Pursued for killing a judge, Conan found refuge in extremis on a merchant ship. But shortly after setting sail, the Cimmerian and his new companions face a threat: the pirates of the legendary Bêlit, self-proclaimed Queen of the Black Coast! After a tough fight, Conan is a sensation to his terrible opponent who soon falls in love. She sees in him the one she has always expected, the pirate king who will lead his men to glory ...

Jean-David Morvan and Pierre Alary deliver a great performance of The Queen of the Black Coast, Conan's matrix narrative that shows all the facets of the character and forms the synthesis of its mythological essence.

Language: French
Hardcover, 240 x 320 mm, 64 pages, Full Color, 14.95 €
EAN / ISBN: 9782344011966

Language: French
Hardcover, 275 x 368 mm, 64 pages, Black & White, 29.50 €
EAN/ISBN : 9782344029503