Theagenes

He wept for them. What more do you want? Soft kitty. . . warm kitty. . . little ball of fur. . .

Thanks guys. I also bagged one of my true white whales. This is an incredibly rare 1953 Conan comic from Mexico. How cool is that? A GA Conan comic 17 years before Marvel did it. And yeah, Conan is blonde.

While I was at it, I resubbed my Funnies 37 and this time it got the grade it deserved. (I think the previous graders who called it a 6.5 hammered it unfairly because of the file copy stamp).

Well, I've been working on my Tip Top Tarzan cover run for years now, upgrading when I had the chance, and slowly working my way up the registry (mostly dominated by Peanuts collectors with their high grade 50's issues). Finally, after getting this white pager back from CGC I've taken over the top spot! (sorry dover ). It may not last, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

That was pretty horrible---although it was accident.

No love for rare Spicy pulps with REH? How about an incredibly rare Conan comic from 1953?

Very interesting, BZ. I've read a lot of Poe as well and I had never heard of this one either. Very cool. Thanks for sharing this.

'If you have not yet read “Conan the Existential” you need to seek it out, as it was an incredibly important essay in the history of Howard studies.' Any help for the thread finding this, Jeff? It was most recently published in the collection of essays The Barbaric Triumph IN 2004. I'll see if I can come up with a digital version.

Just listed a rare 1939-40 Ideal 13" wooden Superman action figure/doll in the marketplace: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5772776&fpart=1

Windsor's Nemo had a unique style which reminds me of Escher. Which would be the best way to discover McCay work? I know there is a lot of reprints and hard covers, but which one is the best edition? That's a no brainer: http://www.onfulfillment.com/SundayPressBooks/ Whatever you do, don't order this from Amazon. This massive oversized volume will arrive all banged up. Get it directly from Sunday press. They have a special on both volumes for 225.

Here's my official Howard Days trip report on the REH: Two-Gun Raconteur website: http://rehtwogunraconteur.com/?p=19566#more-19566

Comicjack, these are great books!

It's a Tilley hat. It's awesome. (thumbs u

Day two Saturday is always the biggest day as far as crowds go. There's were more panels including one REH and Acadamia, with myself, Chuck Hoffman, and Mark Finn. In the early evening everyone caravan out to the Caddo Peak Ranch for a Bar-B-Q, the las official event of HDs. Though of course there was another late night at the pavilion and on last breakfast at Jean's feed barn this morning. It was a smaller more subued HDs this year without all of the drama of the movie and honestly it was more enjoyable thzt way. More time to relax and geek out with friends---and of course that what it's about.

A couple of pics from Fist of the Ice House with myself, Mark Finn, and Chris Gruber reading excerpts from Howard's boxing stories on our phones. Gotta love modern technology.

I'm no Flee, but I pieced together a little video virtual tour of the Howard House:

Last night we had the banquet, where Charles spoke and the REH Foundation annual awards were given out. I was very honored to receive the Venarium Award for best emerging scholar (sort like rookie of the year for Howard studies). After the banquet, we had the Fist at the Ice House panel at the old ice house. It wasn't really a boxing match---we just spread that rumor to get more people to show. It's what Howard would call "Tall Lying." We talked about REH's boxing stories and read some excerpts. I don't have any pics yet, because I was on the panel, but I'll try and get some. After that it was back to the pavillion for more drinking and swappin' lies.

There were several panels during the day including a tribute to Glenn Lord and a panel on Conan's 80th birthday. The guest honor this year was Charles Hoffman, who authored one of the first serious articles of literary criticism on Howard's work back in 1974 - "Conan the Existentialist."

Funny you should mention that. Some of the guys from the foundation have been going through all of Glenn Lord's papers and have found a bunch of new stuff. New letters, new poems, drafts, fragments, unknown typescripts, drawings, you name it. Lord's passing was serious blow to Howard fandom, but there will be a lot of new material coming to light. He also owned 95% of the surviving typscripts and these will be donated to the Ransom Center at UT after the foundation scans them all---15,000 pages. His widow Lou Ann and his son have been here all weekend and one of the panels today was a very moving tribute to him and his legacy.

REH Days - Day 2 Today is the official start of Howard Days. After a wonderfully greasy breakfast at Jean Feed Barn, there was a bus tour of Cross Plains by Rusty Burke, considered the preeminent Howard Scholar. This year the police made us use a real bus instead a flatbed trailer with folding chairs on it, pulled by a pick-up. I've done the tour twice before so I skipped it and went straight to the house:

Awesome Gary! Thanks for sharing.

Usually after dinner we vist the REH gravesite, but the weather was drizzly and we all decided to head back to the pavilion at the Howard House to drink Shiner Bocks and whisley. The he lady in the center is Lou Ann Lord, Glenn Lord's widow (for those who know who Glenn was). Lee and I just went in together on a batch of Phantangraphs, and he had my share waiting for me!

Traditionally the members of REHupa and the other fans that show up early on Thursday caravan from the Howard House to Brownwood for dinner at Humphrey Pete's, famous for it's steaks and fried pickles. This is Jim Harron, Dennis McHaney (who was last year's guest of honor), and Lee Breakiron. The two ladies walking in the background are from Scotland. Here we have Al Harron (also from Scotland and my fellow Cimmerian blogger), Paul Sammon (author of Conan the Phenomenon), Rob Roehm (the primary editor for the REH foundation), and Mark Finn (author of the REH biography Blood and Thunder).

REH Days - Day 1 Arrived in Dallas around noon yesterday and drove the two and a half hours to Cross Plains through some nasty. Made it one piece though. Here are a few video clips to give you a feel for the town. Welcome to Cross Plains! Population: Not a whole lot. Driving through downtown. Here you can see the public library on the right with the Conan mural on the side. That's where most of the panels will be. They also have a sweet pulp collectionj. Here you can see first, t he 36 West Motel where all the hardcore folks stay (the saner fans stay in Brownwood 45 minutes a way). Then almost, next door is the Howard house itself.

Thanks for sending me off in style guys! Here's my contribution. This recent pickup is a REH item not many people are aware of. "Sam Walser" was the pseudonym Howard used when he wrote naughty stories for the Spicies. His spicy stories all featured "Wild" Bill Clanton, a south seas smuggler and ne'er-do-well who of course always ends up with the lady.