This year marks the 100th since the birth of American author Robert E. Howard (1906-1936). Howard was a prolific short-story writer, most famous for his character Conan, who later appeared in dozens of novels, comics, and two Hollywood movies.Howard was born in Peaster, Texas, the son of a country doctor. His early life was spent moving from town to town across central Texas as his father searched for better opportunities. The family ended up in the little town of Cross Plains, where Howard lived the rest of his short life.
Cross Plains was an oil boom town. Though once a sleepy backwater, it was now overrun with burly oil rig workers, gamblers, thieves, and brawlers. It was a world away from the ancient Hyborian setting of Howard's Conan stories, but was the inspiration for most of his characters.
Howard was considered to be among the greatest pulp fiction writers of the era. In addition to the 20 Conan stories for which he is most famous, he published numerous stories about modern and historical adventure, detectives, boxers, cowboys, science fiction, and horror.As a teenager, I read dozens of Conan novels. The character, although different through the pens of different authors, helped shaped my image of masculinity. Conan was (generally), tough, honorable, fearless, shrewd, and adventurous. One could do worse than grow up to be a Conan.
5 comments:
As a kid, I absolutely loved the Conan books. I would sometimes get frustrated when different authors would contradict each other, but loved the books nonetheless. Comics, too... in fact, in the back of a closet somewhere, I've still got a box stuffed with old Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Kind, and The Savage Sword of Conan comics.
I never read the comics, but I loved the paperback novels. They were good car trip books, and library procured them in bulk.
I occasionally read the Howard stuff, which is very dark. Particularly the non-Conan stories.
I live in the conference that takes in Cross Plains. According to the city's website, www.crossplains.com, a non-profit organization is restoring Howard's house and making it into a museum.
Right after Christmas, brushfires swept through Cross Plains, destroying 50 homes and the United Methodist Church. Howard's home was spared.
The currect comic series dark horse is putting out is quite good and is heavily derived from Howard's original Conan stories.
The really great thing is that Howard's unadulterated stories are now being republished. Much of the works people know as "Robert E. Howard" are actually pastiches created by watering down Howard's stories with the work of another author. So instead of collections of short stories you see his novellas expanded into full novels. Just like liquor, much money was made by debasing the product.
I've read some of those -- Black Vulmea stories with the name changed to Conan.
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