BangZoom Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Just noticed that this thread is about to reach its fourth birthday and it's gotten over 13,000 page views. Thanks, BangZoom. You are certainly THE MAN! Thanks, Gary. I'm happy there's an audience here that enjoys seeing some of the stuff I like to collect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Hannes Bok is a fascinating study, both as an artist and as an individual. Been doing some research to shrink my knowledge gap, and I didn't know he was the 1st Hugo Award winner, was a good friend of Ray Bradbury, and also sadly passed away at age 49. This is one of my favorite Bok illustrations. Skull-Face and Others by Robert E. Howard (Arkham House, 1946) Theagenes has a magnificent copy. It looks like it's fresh off the presses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 I think the story goes that Kuttner helped Jim Mooney make this early sale and then urged him to head from California to New York to get a job in the comic book biz. Elak is Back! from the pages of the October 1938 Weird Tales... I didn't realize that Mooney had ever done any work for Weird Tales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 My goodness, just to own one of those Brundage or Bok pulps in such amazing condition, let alone having a collection of 'em. Once again, those pulp covers are magnificent... Thanks, Steve. Here are a couple more. Weird Tales (July 1936) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 1942 pb + 1936 poster from web Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Cover painting by J. Allen St. John Weird Tales (October 1936) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 I haven't ventured much into the Gold Comics forum being that I'm still (fairly) new to the genre even though I've collected L.B. Cole horror covers for a while. I have checked out the Cole covers thread, but didn't realize how extensive this part of the forum was. I found this thread and wow - it's going to take me a long time to go through 1300 pages! Jerry Siegel has great taste being that he unwittingly praised H.P. Lovecraft when he referenced reading 'The Last Test' and 'The Electric Executioner' which were both almost entirely written by the old gent by way of his revision client (Castro). Coincidentally I just read both of these recently in Arkham's 'The Horror in the Museum' and his stamp is all over them. Not his best work, but after reading all of his known stuff, the revisions are fun in their own way. Despite being a fan for 30 years, I've never read any of his revision work and am going slowly so as not to eat it all up in a short burst. I've been a Lovecraft devotee for many years and have only recently begun collecting 1st edition Arkhams (not just Lovecraft, but others like Derleth, Wandrei & whoever catches my eye) and I have to say that this thread ROCKS! I look forward to reading more...thanks to all who have contributed. However, I'm very afraid of beginning a Weird Tales collection. I really don't need something new to start acquiring This is the best threaon these boards, imho. BZ, do remember what month this Jerry Seigel letter appeared in? THanks. Thanks, Jeff. The letter was published in the November 1930 issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I wish more of the Fantasy Press books had illustrated endpapers. Here are Bok's from ' The Crystal Horde', by John Taine (1952 from 1930 Gernsback mag). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEyeSees Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Or, J. Allen St. John... Weird Tales (November 1932) Weird Tales (December 1932) Weird Tales (January 1933) Incredible trio of St. John's, BZ!! The condition of those is just Does anyone have the St. John book "Grand master of Fantasy"? Waiting for it to arrive from Amazon. St. John is a god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Knight Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 My goodness, just to own one of those Brundage or Bok pulps in such amazing condition, let alone having a collection of 'em. Once again, those pulp covers are magnificent... Thanks, Steve. Here are a couple more. Weird Tales (July 1936) That's an incredible book. I can't believe the condition and color. How do you store them to minimize damage to the overwrap? I have a few 50s Weird Tales in Mylites with fullbacks. Is that the best thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 #1 February 1953 Bok outside Conan inside... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciorac Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 #1 February 1953 Bok outside Conan inside... Conan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacentaur Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 #1 February 1953 Bok outside Conan inside... Pat, forgive my ignorance but this sparked something - I own very few pulps, one being the July 1939 issue of ASTOUNDING with three illustrated stories by Orban. I lifted the following image and description from Amazon: "Unquestionably a classic issue, it begins with the cover story, “Black Destroyer,” the first published work of A. E. van Vogt and also features “Trends” by Isaac Asimov, his first sale to Astounding. Significant as these debuts are, it is the overall strength of the issue that finally impresses. These are stories by some of the best-known writers in the field: Nat Schachner, “City of the Cosmic Rays”; Nelson S. Bond, “Lightship Ho!”; Ross Rocklynne, “The Moth”; C. L. Moore (one of the first women to achieve prominence in writing science fiction), “Greater than Gods”; as well as thought-provoking articles on nuclear energy, computers, and hemispheric migration." I read through it tonight, and the issue is truly fascinating (guess if I was going to pick one issue to own 20 years ago, this was a good one)... but who is this illustrator Orban? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 from pulpartists.com (image too- scans tough from my bound vols) PAUL ORBAN (1896-1974) Paul Orban was born June 23, 1896 in Budapest, Hungary. Both of his parents were also Hungarian. He had an older sister, Margaret. His father was a blacksmith also named Paul Orban. His mother's name is unknown. She died around the time of his birth. His father married a second wife in 1900, Paulina Orban, who was his stepmother. A step-sister was born in 1901. That same year his father emigrated to the U.S. to escape poverty in Hungary. In 1902 he brought his son and daughter to live with him in Chicago, Illinois, and by 1904 he could afford to bring his second wife and step-daughter. They all lived at 2440 Clybourn Avenue. In 1910, at the age of fourteen, he happened to sell a watercolor for five dollars, which convinced him to concentrate on a career as a artist. According to a friend of the artist, "he decided such "easy" money was for him!" From 1913 to 1917 he studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. His first published assignments were pen and ink drawings for The Chicago Sunday Tribune in 1915, where he worked as a staff artist. In 1917 he married Dorothy Orban, whose family was from Chicago. They moved to 4620 North Sheridan Road. In 1918 he became a naturalized citizen and reported for draft registration. He was recorded to be of medium build, slender, with brown eyes and dark brown hair, with no disqualifiying disabilities. After the war he became art director at a Chicago advertising agency, where he worked for most of the 1920s. In 1921 they had a son named Paul John Orban. His wife died around the time of their son's birth. In 1929 he married his second wife, Karin Anna Orban, who was a swedish immigrant. They moved to New York in order to pursue a freelance art career. They lived at 303 Sheridan Boulevard in Mount Vernon, NY, where they rented the apartment for $65 a month. After 1930 he began to sell freelance interior story illustrations to pulp magazines, such as Golden Book and Clues. He was soon very busy doing interiors for Astounding, The Avenger, Detective Novels, Doc Savage, Exciting Western, Giant Detective, Horror Stories, Popular Detective, Popular Baseball, Popular Western, Rodeo Romances, The Shadow, Texas Rangers, Thrilling Mystery, Thrilling Ranch Stories, Thrilling Sports, Top-Notch, Triple Western, Unknown, and Western Story. In 1952 he illustrated several hardcover books for the John C. Winston Publishing Company of Philadelphia. In the 1960s he worked for the science fiction digest magazine, Analog. He moved to Mount Kisco, New York, in Westchester County. According to an editor of the Winston Science Fiction series, "Paul Orban is a pleasant, soft-spoken man with a deep enthusiasm for the difficult job of visualizing the vague descriptions of writers." Paul Orban died at age seventy-seven in April of 1974. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theagenes Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 This is one of my favorite Bok illustrations. Skull-Face and Others by Robert E. Howard (Arkham House, 1946) Theagenes has a magnificent copy. It looks like it's fresh off the presses. One of my most prized possessions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theagenes Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Or, J. Allen St. John... Weird Tales (November 1932) Weird Tales (December 1932) Weird Tales (January 1933) Incredible trio of St. John's, BZ!! The condition of those is just Does anyone have the St. John book "Grand master of Fantasy"? Waiting for it to arrive from Amazon. St. John is a god. Talk about fresh off the presses! I never get tired of seeing these stunning copies. Ryan, I have the St. John book and it's outstanding. It has an honored place on my coffee table alongside the Frank R. Paul book and Frazetta Icon. Unfortunately my wife keeps putting gardening books on top of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theagenes Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 #1 February 1953 Bok outside Conan inside... Conan That's a great issue, but that story is a real sore spot among modern-day REH purists as it was the Conan story most butchered by de Camp. The ending was completely changed to fit in with what LSdC thought Conan's career should look like. The deCampinated version was published in one of the Gnome collections shortly after as "The Treasure of Tranicos" and that's the only version anyone would see for the next three decades. It was version that ended up in the Lancers and the version Roy Thomas adapted in SSOC. It wasn't until the late 80's that it was finally published in it's original form. When REH failed to sell the original Conan version, he himself had rewritten the story as a pirate yarn, "Black Vulmea's Vengeance," and sold it to Golden Fleece. It was published posthumously in the November 1938 issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annihilus Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 One of my most prized possessions. Wow, that's nice. It's making me re-think the copy I passed up at the VCC last weekend (obviously not as nice as yours). What a great cover. How are the stories? I'm ashamed to say I've never read any of Howard's stuff (I'm not a big barbarian guy). I know he wrote stuff besides Conan, I've just never gotten around to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theagenes Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Wow, that's nice. It's making me re-think the copy I passed up at the VCC last weekend (obviously not as nice as yours). What a great cover. How are the stories? I'm ashamed to say I've never read any of Howard's stuff (I'm not a big barbarian guy). I know he wrote stuff besides Conan, I've just never gotten around to it. That was actually my undercopy in the VCC. As for Howard's work, I'm obviously biased, but I certainly recommend checking it out - especially his often over-looked non-Conan stuff, some of which is really very good. Delrey has been publishing a great series of collections of Howard's stories edited by two of the top REH scholars Rusty Burke and Patrice Louinet. These are considered to be the most authoritative versions of Howard's work and are beautifully illustrated. The latest volume with his Crusades stories was just released a few weeks ago. REH Del Rey editions on Amazon He wrote in an amazing number of genres other than sword-and-sorcery: horror, historical adventure, oriental adventures, weird menace, hard-boiled detective, western (serious and humorous), boxing (again serious and humorous), sword-and planet, etc. He often mixed genres and in doing so created new ones - S&S (which he is often credited with inventing) is basically historical medieval adventure with a horror or supernatural element thrown in. It's less well-known but he was probably the father of the weird western genre as well. For you or anyone that is curious about checking out Howard's work beyond just Conan I would suggest picking the two Del Rey "Best of REH" volumes for sampling of a stories from a number of different genres. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annihilus Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 That was actually my undercopy in the VCC. that's what I get for not looking again As for Howard's work, I'm obviously biased, but I certainly recommend checking it out - especially his often over-looked non-Conan stuff, some of which is really very good. Delrey has been publishing a great series of collections of Howard's stories edited by two of the top REH scholars Rusty Burke and Patrice Louinet. These are considered to be the most authoritative versions of Howard's work and are beautifully illustrated. The latest volume with his Crusades stories was just released a few weeks ago. REH Del Rey editions on Amazon He wrote in an amazing number of genres other than sword-and-sorcery: horror, historical adventure, oriental adventures, weird menace, hard-boiled detective, western (serious and humorous), boxing (again serious and humorous), sword-and planet, etc. He often mixed genres and in doing so created new ones - S&S (which he is often credited with inventing) is basically historical medieval adventure with a horror or supernatural element thrown in. It's less well-known but he was probably the father of the weird western genre as well. For you or anyone that is curious about checking out Howard's work beyond just Conan I would suggest picking the two Del Rey "Best of REH" volumes for sampling of a stories from a number of different genres. Hope that helps. Oh excellent, thanks for the link and synopsis! I've already added the Horror Stories book to my cart. If I like it well enough, maybe I'll hail you down about Skull Face later if you still have it Are you (or anyone else here) interested in Howard's letters? Hippocampus Press is releasing a paperback version of A Means To Freedom collecting all of the existing Howard/Lovecraft correspondence in 2 volumes for $55 (the hardback was limited to a couple hundred copies and sold out almost instantly a couple of years ago). I'm fascinated by the letters of the Lovecraft circle and judging from the reviews, these would be of much interest to fans of both Lovecraft and Howard. Between this thread and attending MythosCon in Phoenix (an HPL based con held in January) filling me with ideas of things to read, it's going to take me all year to get out from under the books piled on my table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
