This week we have unearthed a limited-run 1975 fanzine full of cool fantasy art and . . . poetry inspired by Conan’s creator, R.E. Howard.
Before you skip this Rediscovered Realms’ rhyming class, you’ll want to stick around because I’ve uncovered a little-known illustration of one of the most famous modern-day fantasy artists from his younger days. I’m so excited to share it with you.
Strap on your sandals and grab your quill & inkwell, Rediscovered Realms Readers. Poetry class is in session.
There aren’t many fantasy heroes more famous than R.E. Howard’s Conan.
Howard’s prose has inspired millions since his iron-willed muscle-bound barbarian hit the December issue of Weird Tales back in 1932 in the novelette, “The Phoenix on the Sword”.
From: Weird Tales, December 1932
Did You Know? The Phoenix on the Sword was originally written as one of Howard’s other famous (s)kull crusher characters, Kull? The unpublished original story was named, “By This Axe I Rule!”
When you read Howard’s work, you instantly recognize it isn’t all pulp. He had an eloquent way with words - descriptions, lore, flora, fauna, and Hyborian wisdom.
Take for instance these lines from the opening of “The Phoenix on the Sword”:
“Know, O prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars - Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west.”
Now, it’s hard to evoke more adventure, mystery and thoughts of “omg - I have to read more!” than that.
Like most of us who try to create something, Robert E. Howard faced criticism & rejection in spades. Here’s one such letter:
I guess this guy figured the pronunciation of his last name made him always “wright”. Thanks for the tips, Farnsworth.
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From: Weird Tales, June 1933
Try this one from 1933’s “Black Colossus”:
“Not for naught had he gained access into darksome cults, had harkened to the grisly whispers of the votaries of Skelos under midnight trees, and read the forbidden iron-bound books of Vathelos the Blind.”
The Savage Sword of Conan, Octoer 1974
Kind of just rolls off the tongue, no? Or what about these next two, again from “The Phoenix on the Sword”:
“What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs — I was a man before I was a king.”
And for all Conan fans, you knew this was coming:
“Hither came Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.”
The mid 80’s was a crazy cool time for Fantasy Role-Playing Games (often abbreviated FRPGs). TSR, the first publishers of Dungeons & Dragons™, dipped their toes into all sorts of genres and intellectual properties to ride the wave. There were boxed sets based on pure Sci-Fi with
Here we come to the Fantasae fanzine mentioned at the outset. Just 5.5” x 8.5”, it packs a lot of energy inside.
Artist: Steve Fabian, known for sci-fi and fantasy illustrations. Stephen also produced D&D artwork for TSR, especially Ravenloft. Find out more about him HERE and see some of HIS WORK HERE
Here’s the introduction where you learn Ken & Deb Raney’s creators’ story for their work, and where REH is noted as the inspiration:
Earn 10 cents/line - but remember a loaf of bread only cost only 28 cents in 1975!!!
Let’s take a peek inside to see what we find:
40 pages with 23 illustrations
16 artists
9 writers
Original cost of $1.50 (~$8.50 in 2023)
Without too much commentary, here’s a sampling of the pages inside. (There comes a time in every poet-bard’s life where they need to interpret the style, meaning, & impact of others’ works themselves, no?)
Artist: Broc Sears. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any additional information on Broc as an artist.
Artist: Gene Day, comics artist known for Marvel’s Star Wars and Master of Kung Fu. Find out more about him HERE and see some of HIS WORK HERE
Artist: Frank Cirocco, comics artist, Venture fanzine co-creator, and video game designer. Find out more about him HERE and see some of HIS WORK HERE
Artist: Stan Sakai, cartoonist and comic book creator best known for Usagi Yojimbo. Find out more about him HERE and at his OFFICIAL WEBSITE HERE
Artist: Gary Kato, book illustrator & comics penciler/inker/colorist who also worked on the Xanth graphic novel! You can see some of his work HERE
Artist: Brent Anderson, comics artist known for X-Men, Ka-Zar, Venture fanzine, and more. Find out more about him HERE and see some of HIS WORK HERE
Artist: William (Bill) G. Wilson has a fascinating backstory. He started his own comic fanzine, “The Collector” at age 11! He has gone on to crazy-diverse illustrations, political cartoons, portraits for government officials, children's books, magazine editorials, podcasts… Here’s a REAL INTERESTING READ about him and artist John Fantucchio, and here is his OFFICIAL STUDIO WEBSITE
Artists: Ken Raney & Stephen Riley. I believe this is Stephen’s WEBSITE & GALLERY but I can’t be certain
Artist: Dennis Fujitake, amazing comics (Elfquest included) artist, fanzine artist, & Xanth graphic novel artist who should have more written about him. Find out about him HERE
Artist: Dennis Fujitake - why isn’t there a book with all his art?! I really like his stuff.
And we come to a personal gem of mine . . . from a 27-year-young Clyde Caldwell!
Artist: Clyde Caldwell
By the way, did you catch Rediscovered Realms’ exclusive interview with Clyde Caldwell?
Today, we are speaking with the amazing fantasy artist, Clyde Caldwell. Clyde has been enchanting RPG, book, and art fans for decades with his badass dragons, beautiful maidens and scenes of epic adventure.
Keeping the REH Conan theme, here’s Savage Sword - Clyde-style!, December 1980
There are several other poems and illustrations (some of them really badass!) from Fantasae, but I’m afraid I’ve kept you long enough. We will have to revisit & reveal the missing masterpieces at some future date when we can sit around the fire and share fantastical tales over a few brews.
For now, let’s return to the source and leave you with one last REH poem about the land Conan was born in - Cimmeria. (According to REH, this was: "Written in Mission, Texas, February 1932; suggested by the memory of the hill-country above Fredricksburg seen in a mist of winter rain.")
“It was gloomy land that seemed to hold All winds and clouds and dreams that shun the sun, With bare boughs rattling in the lonesome winds, And the dark woodlands brooding over all, Not even lightened by the rare dim sun Which made squat shadows out of men; they called it Cimmeria, land of Darkness and deep Night.
It was so long ago and far away I have forgotten the very name men called me. The axe and flint-tipped spear are like a dream, And hunts and wars are like shadows. I recall Only the stillness of that sombre land; The clouds that piled forever on the hills, The dimness of the everlasting woods. Cimmeria, land of Darkness and the Night.”
By the way, did you see Rediscovered Realms’ exclusive interview with Jeff Butler?
Today, Rediscovered Realms has the rarified privilege of talking with one of the old school fantasy artist greats, Jeff Butler. Jeff is an American illustrator, comic book and video game artist with a career that spans decades. He worked at TSR during the golden days of the 1980s making RPG, book & module covers and illustrations, most notably for
It's interesting that you mention both Frost Giant's Daughter and fanzines in the same post. Certainly, fanzines have been vital in Howardian research/community building, but more than that the first place that The Frost Giant's Daughter was published was in the 1930s fanzine The Fantasy Fan. It was published in the May 1934 issue. What makes The Fantasy Fan relatively unique is that 1) it's kind of unfair to call it a Fanzine as it looks professional and offered subscriptions, and 2) Charles Hornig the creator/editor of the zine was only 16 or 17 when he published the zine.
I've been pleasantly surprised by a lot of the Conan stories I've read. There are plenty of examples of bad writing in them, but Howard knows how to make his prose HIT when it counts. His fight scenes are invigorating, and the occasional bit of profound insight is always a nice treat.
It's interesting that you mention both Frost Giant's Daughter and fanzines in the same post. Certainly, fanzines have been vital in Howardian research/community building, but more than that the first place that The Frost Giant's Daughter was published was in the 1930s fanzine The Fantasy Fan. It was published in the May 1934 issue. What makes The Fantasy Fan relatively unique is that 1) it's kind of unfair to call it a Fanzine as it looks professional and offered subscriptions, and 2) Charles Hornig the creator/editor of the zine was only 16 or 17 when he published the zine.
I've been pleasantly surprised by a lot of the Conan stories I've read. There are plenty of examples of bad writing in them, but Howard knows how to make his prose HIT when it counts. His fight scenes are invigorating, and the occasional bit of profound insight is always a nice treat.