Theagenes

The Funnies 41 (April1940)

Nice Blaine piece! I haven't read Salammbo but I bet I would enjoy it. Blood and thunder plus ancient history---right up my alley.

Yep, new one every year and it's only available at the single Post Office in Cross Plains for one day only, the Friday of the Howard Days weekend. It's always fun to rush over to the post office before they close and send off a few postcards.

Try "Lord of Samarcand" The Jokai book sounds fascinating and it does sound like it would be right up REH's alley. Harold Lamb and Talbot Mundy were probably his main inspirations on the historical and oriental adventure stories, but he has a voracious reader. BTW, "The Black Stone" also took place in Hungary and mentions Suleiman the Magnificent.

The Funnies 41 (April1940)

The Funnies 41 (April1940)

So you have your answer. This air factory is producing the atmospere for this dying planet. Without it it becomes a dead world. (thumbs u

One last fun item. This is the original art for the Postal cancellation stamp from the 2010 Howard Days. It's by Jim and Ruth Keegan who do the Two-Gun Bob backup feature in the Dark Horse conan series and who have done the artwork for a number of Howard books by Del Rey and the REH foundation. This hangs in my foyer and is the first thing anyone sees when they enter my house. Amazingly it was my wife's idea to hang it there.

The interior title page and the first ever image of Conan. I love seeing the Nemedian Chronicles passage in its appearance in print.

Todd, you're not alone in enjoying Shadow of the Vulture. Many people, myself included, think that his crusades stories are some his best work. They are dark, cynical works and written in true blood and thunder style. If you're interested in more I would highly recommend the Del Rey collection Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures: http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Woman-Other-Historical-Adventures/dp/0345505468

His first published story.

A 20 year old Howard had a letter published in The Ring

This one has a variant cover:

I'm enjoying seeing everyone else REH items! Keem 'em coming if you've got 'em. I've got way too much to post, but here are a couple of my scarcer items.

I completely agree! If you haven't read the Breck stories you're missing out. Over the top violence in humorous tall tale style. Think Pecos Bill meets Kill Bill. I'm actually giving a paper on the Breckinridge Elkins stories at the pulp studies area at the PCA/ACA conference in April. The Action Stories issues with the Breck stories are nearly impossible and I haven't managed to get one yet, but i did pick up this Star Western last year. The story here was originally entitled "An Elkins Never Forgets" but apparently it went unsold to Action Stories. So Howard rewrote it, changing the title to "The Curly Wolf of Sawtooth" and renamed the main protagonist Bearfield Elston.

I know you guys probably get tired of me spamming the boards with REH stuff, but since it is his birthday and this is a pretty rare item that came in the mail yesterday I thought I'd share. This is a fanzine/chapbook called The New Heiroglyph put out by Donald Wollheim in 1944. This first issue was dedicated to REH and contains three of his poems.

No need! Now they have devices that cure hysteria in the comfort of your own home. (thumbs u

Also, HBD REH!!!

The Funnies 41 (April1940)

The Funnies 41 (April1940)

The Funnies 41 (April1940)

The Funnies 41 (April1940)

Four pages for Sunday! (And the explanation for the breathable Martian atmoshpere.)