Ne Median Chroniclers 7
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By Lee A. Breakiron
THE SASSER ZINES, PART ONE
The first issue of the fanzine REH: Two-Gun Raconteur appeared in the spring of 1976, a typed mimeograph of 44 pages, in an 8½×11-inch, side-stapled format with black-and-white contents, as all the issues would have, with a cover price of $2.50 in a print run of 350. It was published by the Black Coast Press of Houston resident Damon C. Sasser, who had been a fan of Robert E. Howard ever since a bookstore clerk handed him a copy of the Lancer paperback The Hour of the Dragon when Sasser was looking for Tarzan books in the summer of 1971. In his editorial, Sasser says his zine is ―aimed at the newcomer to Howard: those of you who have just become aware of REH through Marvel Comics and the Zebra paperbacks. … Hopefully, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur will bring about a better understanding of Robert E. Howard and his writings.‖ [1] Born in 1955, Sasser would spend by far most of his life in Texas. At the time, he was an electrician by trade whose chief interests were ―comic collecting, old movies and serials, pulp reprints, and popular fiction.‖ After a year and half of college, he went to work in sales, selling everything from insurance to custom clothing to pagers, until 1994. Then he went back to school at night, obtained a Paralegal Certificate, and went to work for the El Paso Corporation, where he has been for the past 15 years. ―The role of fandom,‖ as he saw it, ―is primarily entertainment for fans. Of course, some people make their living of it, which is cool. Fandom is also an excellent place for writers and artists to get their start.‖ He didn‘t consider himself in competition with other fanzinists. ―Competition is for big business and such. TGR is merely a pastime or hobby for me. Of course, anyone who publishes REH material is [vying] for the fan dollar, but there seems to be enough fans to support us all. ... My main reason for doing TGR is my love for Howard‘s fiction. I also felt I could contribute something to REH fandom and wanted to contact other people with an interest in Howard.‖ [2] Later, he was to say ―When I was just starting out 30 years ago, several Howard fanzine editors tried to dissuade [me] from launching a Howard ‗zine, saying that everything about
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Howard and the topic in general had been exhausted(!). Needless to say, I didn‘t agree with that line of reasoning and forged ahead with the publication of TGR. Of course, all those other fanzine editors and publishers (with the exception of McHaney) moved away from Howard and on to other interests.‖ [3, p. 2] From the start, he regarded appropriate, quality artwork as an essential component of any fanzine, and has regularly commissioned art for that purpose.
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REH: TGR #1
James Bozarth provides the front and back cover art for REH: TGR #1, as well as a five-page portfolio illustrating The Dark Man. Sasser writes the first article, ―God‘s Angry Man,‖ on the
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world‘s first Sword & Sorcery hero, Solomon Kane, the only one of REH‘s heroes who lived in a real historical era. Sasser lists the books, magazine, and comics that have featured Kane, noting that Kane ―has been treated well in the comics‖ [4, p. 7]. Sasser sketches the Puritan‘s brooding personality and peripatetic life, giving detailed summaries of each of the stories and a glossary of their characters. Next, in the first of three articles, Sasser‘s aunt and professional astrologer Elaine Kuhns assays REH‘s horoscope, looking for heavenly clues about his life and tragic deat h. Her attempt sheds no more light on the subject than astrology ever has on anything, considering the practice is a pseudoscientific relic of a superstitious past, entailing not only no demonstrated, but no possible, cause and effect on human character or affairs. She concedes ―stars impel—they do not compel‖ [5, p. 26], yet we are supposed to believe that they explain Howard‘s creativity, determination, moodiness, and loyalty. Wayne Warfield, editor of the fanzine Cross Plains that had run its course over the previous 2 years, contributes an insightful overview of REH‘s life and writings. ―Howard was complex,‖ he says. ―An accomplished boxer, hot tempered, with violent likes and dislikes, moody and unconventional. … Howard thought of himself as a failure, as a writer and as a man. It is very possible that he was a victim of society.‖ As he discussed in his Fantasy Crossroads #4/5 article ―REH: Misfit,‖ ―Howard‘s various quirks helped to make his work so outstanding.‖ Warfield thinks REH‘s horror stories were superb and greatly underrated. ―Everything REH wrote was an extension of his own personal interests and fantasies; all of which he knew well,‖ unlike many of his imitators. ―Above all else, Robert E. Howard is remembered and loved as the man who combined heroic adventure, supernatural horror and the imaginary world fantasies to form a new genre. A genre, I am happy to say, which shows no sign of age or lack of talent. For this we owe ‗Two-Gun Bob‘ a great debt.‖ [6] In the next article, Byron Roark, editor of the fanzine REH: Lone Star Fictioneer, reviews the first collectors editions of REH stories, namely those by Donald M. Grant. He scores them as being grossly overpriced. ―WHAT COMES NEXT AFTER FIFTEEN BUCKS?‖ [7, p. 34] If he only knew … Bill Wallace then submits a commentary on REH‘s story ―The Horror from the Mound,‖ praising it for, among other things, its vivid sense of locale. Sasser has the final word in a review of the Marvel Comic adventures of Red Sonja, based on the REH character Red Sonya from ―The Shadow of the Vulture.‖ He criticizes the Marvel stories, after starting well, as being unrealistic, not very Howardian, and increasingly dull. The issue is rounded out, as all succeeding issues would be, by reviews and news about current and forthcoming REH publications. The reviews are of Marvel REH comics and the news is from REH scholar Glenn Lord, as it would be throughout the first four issues. Though flawed by typos and limited by its mimeographic format, REH: TGR #1 was a promising start. Charles Melvin reviews it in his REHupa zine [8].
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REH: TGR #2
The second issue, dated summer 1976, is a definite step up in production quality, still typed but offset-printed (as issues #3 and #4 would be) on better paper stock and saddle-stapled (as all the rest of the issues would be). Selling for a cheaper $1.75 a copy in a print run of 500, it runs 36 pages plus covers, the latter by Gene Day (front), Arnie Fenner (back), and David Parsons (both insides). Interior artwork is supplied by John Jamilkowsli and Bozarth. In his editorial, Sasser calls the first issue a ―smashing success‖ and that he was surprised at how well it was received [9]. There appear photos of himself and some of his contributors, as well as the first letters of comment, including ones from Warfield, Cross Plains publisher George Hamilton, and
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Fantasy Newsletter editor Paul C. Allen. Sentiment in the letters tends to run against Kuhns‘s astrological article, Roark‘s criticism of Grant, and Bozarth‘s art. Following this is a letter from REH to Clark Ashton Smith praising Smith‘s book The Double Shadow (Clark Ashton Smith, 1933), contributed by Lord. Then, after some fluff about fandom by Parsons, Warfield weighs in with a knowledgeable article on the historical Celts. He notes that REH‘s Celtic history was not entirely factual, but serves as a fascinating backdrop to many of his best tales. Next come a portfolio of art by Ken Raney, illustrating ―The Pool of the Black one,‖ and the second part of Kuhns‘s series on REH‘s horoscope. Despite the fact that she does not know the time of REH‘s birth with any exactness (supposedly an essential datum in such analyses), she claims to be able to infer it from his general appearance and physique, and then uses it to predict that his driving forces were power, creativity, sex, death, retribution, regeneration, obsession, and determination. Can you say ―fudge factor‖? REHupan Steve Smolins then gives us a glimpse of how REH collecting was carried out in the days long before the Internet. It involved a lot of persistence, letter writing, convention attendance, and trading up. The issue closes with a funny story by Sasser and book and art reviews by Sasser and Parsons. Sasser joined REHupa briefly in September, 1976, producing one zine, Black Lotus #1, in which he states, ―About all I get out of this zine game is the knowledge that someone is enjoying what I‘m putting out.‖ [10] As briefly, he also joined The Hyperborian League. But he had to leave both fan organizations because he had ―too many irons in the fire.‖ [11] REH: TGR #3 was published in the winter of 1976, again priced at $1.75 each in a print run of 500. It is a further improvement over the preceding issue in being better typed, having fancy section logos, and utilizing heavier cover stock. Running 40 pages plus covers, it features cover art by Raney (front), Steve Fabian (back), and Don Herron (both insides), and interior art by Parsons, Jamilkowski, Tom Foster, Fenner, and Day, the latter submitting a four-page portfolio illustrating ―The Moon of Skulls.‖ #3 would be the fastest selling of all Sasser‘s zines. In his editorial, Sasser takes Gary Hoppenstand to task for calling REH a hack in an article in the magazine Starwind #2 comparing Conan and Karl Edward Wagner‘s character Kane [12]. The letters of comment includes one by Allen. The first REH story to appear in REH: TGR is next, namely the western ―The Devil‘s Joker,‖ furnished, as always, by Lord. Following it is the first of two articles on ―Robert E. Howard and the Ring‖ by Dennis McHaney, editor of the fanzine The Howard Review, though the second installment never appeared. McHaney covers the history of the humorous boxing stories starring Steve Costigan, Dennis Dorgan, and Kid Allison. ―As pure fun,‖ he says, ―they are a joy to
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read.‖ [13, p. 17] He criticizes the FAX hardback The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan (1974) as being overpriced and poorly illustrated (by Tom Foster).
REH: TGR #3
The high point of the issue is ―Conan vs. Conantics,‖ a watershed article in REH literary criticism, by Don Herron, who would go on to edit the milestone publications The Dark
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―Conantics‖ was a term coined by writer and editor Donald Wandrei to describe some of the hi gh jinks surrounding the REH character Conan that involved various parties with vested interests. Herron adopted it to designate imitation Conans by pasticheurs. Roark had condemned L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter for their exploitive Conan pastiches and posthumous collaborations in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #3 the previous year [14], but Herron goes into greater detail substantiating the inconsistencies and substandard writing which the two authors were guilty of as they imitated or rewrote REH stories in order to impose their chronology onto a unified saga that they could then profit from by extending. Herron had the advantage of seeing Roark and Fenner‘s interview of de Camp in the final issue of REH: LSF [15], as well as a letter therein from de Camp [16], and so was able to quote de Camp‘s deprecating and contradictory statements about REH and his fiction. Herron goes on to point out glaring inconsistencies of Carter and de Camp‘s plotting and characterization compared with REH‘s, such as their Conan‘s invocation of his god Crom, whom Conan would have known was oblivious to man‘s prayers, and Conan‘s logical and reserved manner, which stood in stark contrast with his established impulsive instincts and outspokenness. This use of planning and logic may be the way in which they attempt to compensate for their lack of narrative drive, but it simply does not work within the framework of Conan‘s character and it is certainly not an effective substitute for REH‘s greater ability to write gripping tales. … In the considered opinion of this writer, all the extra de Camp-Carter wordage added to Robert E. Howard‘s own and mixed in with his series in the Conan paperback books has done more damage to REH‘s literary reputation than all the poor tales that Howard wrote himself. … The Conantics stories are miserable additions to sword and sorcery fiction by any standard of decent writing and are certainly unworthy to be in the same books with fiction by Robert E. Howard, who is unquestionably one of the very best writers of sword and sorcery [17, pp. 27, 30, & 31]. Next, Charles Melvin discusses the value of out-of-print REH hardbacks and how best to procure them. Then Smolins reviews some REH hardbacks and Mike Resnick‘s Official Guide to the Fantastics (House of Collectibles, 1976). By the fourth issue, Sasser was billing REH: TGR as ―the definitive Howard fanzine,‖ as it was arguably becoming. #4, dated summer 1977, ran 40 pages plus covers and was priced at $2.00 each, in a print run of 650. The front cover (tinted copper) and both inside covers are by Fabian, and the back cover is by Bozarth. Interior art is provided by Herron (a four-page portfolio illustrating ―Kings of the Night.‖), Clyde Caldwell, Marcus Boas, Bozarth, Stephen Riley, and Fenner. In his editorial, Sasser denounces the new Ace editions of Conan paperbacks as quickie rip-offs paying royalties to no one. The first two letterhacks (the second being Allen) generally agree with Herron‘s polemic in the previous issue. The third, however, is none other than de Camp, who responds to Herron by saying that REH must have had a rather complete chronology for the Conan stories in mind, and that REH‘s Conan was as crafty in places as his and Carter‘s was. De Camp contests or
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dismisses all Herron‘s other points. Next up is Herron himself, who, having been allowed to see de Camp‘s response, quotes REH as saying he had no detailed chronology in mind for Conan, and points out that he (Herron) had never said Conan was stupid, but in fact had called Conan crafty. He said he wrote his essay to alert readers to the ―huge gap in style and quality between the work of Howard and his ‗posthumous collaborators.‘‖ [18]
REH: TGR #4
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One humorous bone of contention between the two concerned Herron‘s knocking de Camp for his statement in his pastiche ―The Hall of the Dead‖ that had Conan thinking, ―If he could not outrun the slug, perhaps he could tire it.‖ Herron claims that is ―not logical; Conan cannot outrun the giant slug, but he hopes to tire it being able to outrun it!‖ [17, p. 26] De Camp replies, ―One can indeed outrun an animal whose top speed is greater than one‘s own, if he has enough of a head start and can keep going until the pursuer tires. … Much the same happened to me in Uganda with a hippopotamus.‖ [19] Herron retorts that this could have been clearer with a more logically phrased sentence and closed the letter, in its original form, with ―Yours for faster hippos.‖ Sasser removed this closing in REH: TGR for reasons of space [20], but Herron restored it in a reprint of the article and letter [21]. De Camp indeed felt the article‘s impact; he would later say in letters that Herron‘s essay as written on a typewriter whose ribbon ―was dipped in acid.‖ [22] The next letter is by Loay Hall, who praises Herron‘s article for its ―lack of invectiveness,‖ but defends de Camp and Carter‘s pastiches for filling fans‘ demands for more Conan stories [23]. The last commentator, Kevin Cook, calls the article the best feature Sasser had run yet. ―Carter and de Camp have corrupted what REH was trying to accomplish in his Conan tales. Explaining every little detail and episode in Conan‘s life, especially in a non-Howardian manner, makes the character lose some of his alluring magic and sense of wonder.‖ [24] The main features of the issue were two stories by REH. The first was ―Golden Hope Christmas‖ that had run in the Brownwood High School paper The Tattler when REH had attended there, and had been reprinted in Cross Plains #1. The second was the Turlogh O‘Brien fragment ―The Dane came in …,‖ which Sasser follows with a commentary on the character and summaries of the five stories (one unfinished) starring O‘Brien, whom Sasser declares is a hero equal to Conan, Kull, Kane, and Bran Mak Morn, but little known because no single book had been published containing all his stories. ―In the O‘Brien tales there is a somber mood in which he thrives and he is in his element in these dark, brooding word-pictures Howard has painted so well. Whether Turlogh is in a beserker rage slaying men like a bloody reaper of Death, or if he is waxing philosophically on the fates of man and civilization, he is a powerful character that seems to leap off the page and into full-blown life.‖ [25, p. 14] Kuhns brings her astrological series mercifully to an end with a horoscope that seemingly predicts every aspect of REH‘s life and personality, and makes his suicide virtually inevitable. In fact, she strongly implies that she deduced his form of demise before she knew of it. If so, what else can one do but proclaim her a true prophet? She knows too much about astrology to be a dupe. Next, Bill Wallace fondly reminisces about the story ―Pigeons from Hell,‖ expressing admiration for its horrific atmosphere, but dismay at its weak title and racist language. Aside from a review by Riley, the issue is concluded by Roark, who reviews REH‘s westerns, whose quality made him suspect that, had REH lived, ―he would have made a lasting mark on the literary field writing about the legends and lore of his native southwest.‖ He thinks highly of ―The Horror from the Mound‖ and the humorous yarns, though myopically not of ―Old Garfield‘s Heart‖ or most of REH‘s straight westerns. He says REH seemed to have hit his
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stride in the humorous tales, and ―mined a section of his personality that remains hidden in most of his other work. Howard had a fine sense of the absurd and seemed to externalize his own notions of the comedy of the human condition in these stories.‖ [26, p. 33]
The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1
The next fanzine Sasser did was not REH: TGR #5, but a new one entitled The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1 over a year later in the fall of 1978. In his editorial, he explains that he had
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almost given up his publishing business due to ―hassles, illnesses, family problems, and a host of other things,‖ and was finally only able to cope with life after meeting Alma, the lady who became his wife [27]. Salvaging material from an aborted zine called Skelos #1 and combining it with what had been intended for REH: TGR #5, he put together Chronicler, which he conceived of as being wider in scope that REH: TGR, dealing as it would with REH‘s fellow Weird Tales writers and newer Sword & Sorcery authors. And different it was, with a color cover by Raney, mostly smaller type, 52 offset-printed pages plus covers, and a price of $4.00, in a run of 1000 copies. Fabian drew the back cover and Boas and Fred Bobb did the inside covers. The interior art was by Day, Raney (including all the logos and a four-page portfolio), Fabian, Fenner (a fivepage portfolio), Boas, Rick Corlett, and Greg Vander Leon. The issue features two REH stories, the sailor Steve Costigan yarn ―The Sign of the Snake‖ and the horror story ―Casonetto‘s Last Song.‖ These were followed by Lord‘s ―The Writing Game‖ recapping REH‘s publishing career, reprinted from REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #1. Sword & Soul master Charles R. Saunders appears with an adventure of his African character Imaro, ―Kibanda Ya Kufa,‖ and with an essay comparing Conan and Tarzan. Poems are presented by Robert Fester and Steve Eng (writing as John Bredon), as well as stories by Kenneth Huff and Jeffrey Goddin. Finally, Thomas Reid contributes an essay contrasting REH‘s and H. P. Lovecraft‘s protagonists and their own personal attitudes toward civilization. Reid‘s logic is flawed, though, when he argues that Lovecraft ―was not physically capable of developing‖ his thesis that man as a race is doomed. ―In this aspect he certainly was Howard‘s inferior.‖ [28, p. 47] What does either physicality or philosophy have to do with literary stature? And Reid‘s reflections about the world‘s reaction to Nazism sound pretty cynical. Unbeknown to Sasser, it would be another 25 years before he could do another issue of a zine. What happened? ―Life happened (raising a family, getting the kids through college, etc.),‖ he said, ―but I‘m back on track and here to stay!‖ [29] And indeed he would be, both as a publisher and a participant in fandom, for at least another 7 years (to date). He had vaulted from the first Howard Boom to the second, benefitting from and contributing to both. REH: TGR #5, ―the lost issue,‖ that almost came out in 1984, finally appeared in the winter of 2003, running 32 pages plus covers in a print run of 250 and with a cover price of $9.50. It and all of Sasser‘s later zines were desktop-formatted and then given to a professional printing firm for copying, since the print runs were too small to justify offset-printing. #5 was in black and white with virtually all the content dating from the late 1970s. Fabian does the cover and a 4page Almuric portfolio, Raney the back cover, and Fenner the inside covers. The rest of the art is by Herron, Easley, Fabian, Bobb, Fenner, Day, and Vander Leon. There would be no more letter columns until issue #12 (despite his offer, from #7 on, to give a free issue to any letterhack), doubtless because of the advent of e-mail and message boards. Sasser had one of the latter himself for his Black Coast Press on Yahoo.com. The opening feature is the REH western ―A Horror in the Night,‖ which had first appeared in Cross Plains #3. Next, transsexual Jesse Amos Salmonson, by then known as author Jessica Amanda Salmonson, submits the article ―The Sins of Our Tastes, the Sins of Our Trade,‖ reprinted from a sci-fi magazine, discussing what the objectives of heroic fantasy should be. ―Heroic fantasy is, for me, a celebration of life‘s brief, transient joys and sorrows,‖ she sa ys, and
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advises current writers to pursue their own unique vision of fantasy, rather than slavishly imitate masters of the past like REH [30, p. 10].
REH: TGR #5
Following this is a piece by Sasser on REH‘s unfinished pseudo-historical western ―Nekht Semerkeht,‖ in a version finished by Andrew Offutt. ―It‘s interesting to note,‖ Sasser states, ―that near the end of his life Howard was not writing of some far off land (real or imagined), but of the Southwest—his own backyard.‖ [31, p. 13] He points out a passage that might give some insight into the emotional pain REH was experiencing:
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Oh, of course we are guided solely by reason, even when reason tells us it is better to die than to live! It is not the intellect we boast that bids us to live—and kill to live—but the blind unreasoning beast-instinct. [32, p. 21] When REH was writing about his protagonist de Guzman, Sasser says, ―The monster and demons he created were mere reflections of the ones that lived within his mind. Like de Guzman who won the battle but lost the war, Howard was no match for those horrible devil gods that lived in Tlasceltec and within himself.‖ [31, p. 31] (And I note ―Tlasceltec‖ is a near-anagram of The Last Celt.) Keith Taylor next explains how he and Offutt came to collaborate on their Cormac Mac Art pastiches When Death Birds Fly (Ace, 1980) and The Tower of Death (Ace, 1982). Then, as a homage to REH‘s funny boxing stories, Saunders offers one of his own, ―Fists of Cross Plains.‖ Concluding the issue, Darrell Schweitzer asks ―Was Robert E. Howard a Hack?‖ He answers ―sometimes,‖ pointing to REH‘s mediocre detective stories. He doesn‘t bother to examine how much better by far most of REH‘s other output is, though he finally concedes, ―He had talent. … He clearly did care about his work and put himself into it. … Howard, though he surely would have denied it, was artist [sic].‖ [33, p. 30] I would have liked to hear him debate the point with his 25-year-younger self who, in his Conan’s World and Robert E. Howard (Borgo Press, 1978), said ―His stories contain thrilling action, vivid description, and sometimes first-rate fantastic invention, but not much else.‖ [34] Schweitzer now dismisses this book, which has been generally reviled as the worst work of literary criticism ever penned about REH, as a youthful rush job. However, he‘s shown little sign of a deepened appreciation for REH‘s genius since, so I will just answer the question posed by the title of his article with, ―It takes one to know one.‖ Issue #5 was reviewed by Cavalier, who called it ―a great mix of articles and art, living up to its masthead subtitle: The Definitive Howard Fanzine. ... [Sasser]‘s set the bar for aspiring ziners, for sure!‖ [35] Van Hise indexed the contents of REH: TGR #1-5 [36] and #1-7 [37]. REH: TGR #6 came out in the fall of 2004. It again ran 32 black-and-white pages plus covers in a run of 250 copies, with yellow-tinted covers and a price of $9.95 each. Charles Keegan provided the front cover, Day the back cover, and Fabian the inside covers. The interiors artists were Ramey, Bill Cavalier, Fabian, Bobb, Fenner, and Day, the latter represented by a 5-page portfolio of illustrations of ―Red Nails,‖ reprinted from Fantasy Crossroads #8 and Fantasy Crosswinds #3. The REH story is ―Under the Baobab Tree,‖ reprinted from Cross Plains #5. Sasser is next with an article on REH‘s Gaelic crusader hero, Cormac Fitzgeoffrey. Fantasy author Karl Edward Wagner then submits a strange piece on the various drugs and stimulants that writers have often used to spur or sustain their productivity. He is knowledgeable in them partly because he indulged himself, though it would be alcohol that would fell him in 1994 at age 48.
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REH: TGR #6
The final article in the issue is by Benjamin Szumskyj, a controversial figure in REH studies. A young Australian with limited verbal and research skills, he was a member of REHupa from 2000 to 2002. He was proferred help by some REHupans, but did not accept it gracefully. He went on to edit the REH lit-crit collections Robert E. Howard--Power of the Writing Mind (Mythos Books, 2003) and Two-Gun Bob: A Centennial Study of Robert E. Howard (Hippocampus, 2006), but was eventually forced out of Howardom mainly by Don Herron and The Cimmerian fanzinist Leo Grin, who derided him as the illiterate ―Ben Zoom‖ and pressured
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others not to deal with him. It is doubtless better that he is no longer active in the field, but the same result, I believe, could have been accomplished by simply ignoring his publishing efforts. And it was uncalled for to tar some of his occasional associates with the same brush. The article, bizarrely titled ―Sheathed in a Virgin‘s Skin or the Desires of Man?—Booking Passage on the Mythos Train of Thought,‖ is rife with misused words and infelicitous turns of phrase, which should have been corrected editorially. Szumskyj‘s judgments about which of REH‘s stories properly belong to Lovecraft‘s Cthulhu Mythos are not without merit, but his arguments are painful to read. Issue #6 was reviewed by Van Hise [38]. Sasser himself said it wasn‘t as good as he had hoped because he had been limited in the amount of time he could spend on it between his job and wanting to debut it at the Howard Days literary festival at Cross Plains, Texas, in 2004 [39]. Sasser had started attending Howard Days in 2003, and he and Alma have been fixtures at most of them ever since. At Howard Days 2004, he was on a panel that discussed the Howard Boom of the 1970s. Of Howard Days 2005, he said ―Besides Robert E. Howard, the big attraction for me at Howard Days is the fans. There is also a lot of energy and excitement generated during the various festivities, and I always leave recharged and motivated.‖ [40, p. 5] Sasser joined REHupa in October, 2004 for the second time, this time to stay. Shortly before that, he had erected a Web site for REH: TGR. ―Publishing a fanzine is a labor of love,‖ he said. ―I keep telling myself I‘m breaking even, but even I don‘t believe that whopper. I don‘t have a ton of money to sink into it or a lot of time to spend on it, but I still do it. Hoping to entertain and spread the Howard word are my main goals, I suppose.‖ [41] His REHupa zine The Shadow Kingdom has appeared approximately every other Mailing (every four months) to date, starting with Mailing #189. Ranging from 2 to 22 pages, each contains an account of recent activities in REH fandom, announcements of recent or upcoming REH publications, mailing comments, artwork he has commissioned for his published zines, and occasional reprints of general interest. The seventh issue of REH: TGR was published in the spring of 2005. Coming to 36 pages plus gray covers in a run of 250 copies priced at $10.95 each, it showed the continual improvement the zine would display throughout its run. Keegan again does the front cover, Cavalier the back cover, and Newton Burcham the inside covers. The interior artists are Burcham, Cavalier, Joe Wehrle, Fabian, and David Burton, the latter doing a portfolio of Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, and Turlogh O‘Brien. First up is REH‘s story ―The Haunted Hut‖ (its third appearance), after which Glenn Lord contributes an article in which he traces how the correspondence between REH and Lovecraft led to REH‘s Cthulhu Mythos stories. These stories, excellent though they are, were produced over only a 9-month period. HPL was impressed by them. According to Bob‘s father, in a letter to Bob‘s agent Otis Adelbert Kline, three stories (two of which could be called Cthulhoid), written just before his death, were found in an envelope bearing REH‘s inscription directing him to send them to Weird Tales ―in case of my death.‖ If this were true, it would be further evidence that REH‘s suicide was planned well before his mother‘s death. However, all the stories apparently dated from years earlier, and Dr. Howard not only aggressively marketed what stories had been
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left unpublished [42], but he also was not honest when he stated that REH had purchased his own burial plot. The latter was a fact that Sasser unearthed himself [43].
REH: TGR #7
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Szumskyj appears again with an essay comparing the racism in Shakespeare‘s stories with that in REH‘s. Besides its clumsy phrasings and grammatical errors, its incoherency leaves the reader befuddled as to what Szumskyj‘s point is. It turns out it was to fulfill a university assignment. Next, Linda Melchione (her name typoed) provides a refreshingly different perspective of the Howard Days event, namely that of a wife accompanying her collector husband. ―Little did I know that the trip would truly become a life-changing experience and would leave such a monumental impression.‖ [44] Many others have felt the same. REHupan Danny Street then presents an article, the first of two, collecting all the information REH provided about his fictional land of Cimmeria and its inhabitants. It‘s a textbook example of an interesting question answered by quotes from REH followed by analysis thereof. The issue closes with a review of Del Rey‘s The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane (2004) by Herron, who points out that it‘s the only edition to date containing pure text of all of REH‘s Kane stories, i.e. corrected for publisher Donald M. Grant‘s bowdlerizations. REH: TGR #7 was reviewed by Cavalier [45] and Van Hise [46]. Cavalier says it ―maintains the solid zining we‘ve come to expect from [Sasser]: interesting, diverse articles and essays, a nice mix of artwork, some original Howard, and even an article from Glenn Lord. The overall quality of the layout and graphic design is top-notch: this fanzine is very pleasing to the eye as well as to Howard fandom.‖ However, Cavalier has little regard for either Szumskyj‘s poorly written article or Burton‘s malproportioned art. The second half of the first decade of the 21st century would be notable for the continuing appearance of pure-text REH books, often of unpublished or hard-to-find material; the publication of the first full-length definitive REH biography; research and literary criticism of escalating quality by members of REHupa; the advent of blogs, online fanzines, and Internet postings, sometimes by those with dubious credentials and intentions; and the acquisition of the rights to non-public-domain REH material by a giant media corporation. Would Sasser and his zines be up to the challenge? We shall find out in our concluding installment.
REFERENCES
[1] Sasser, Damon C., Editorial in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 5 (spring, 1976) [2] Fenner, Arnold M., et al., ―REH Editors/Publishers Roundtable Discussion,‖ Part One in Fantasy Crossroads #9 (Stygian Isle Press, Lamoni, Iowa), pp. 31-33 (Aug., 1976) [3] Sasser, Damon C., The Shadow Kingdom #5 in REHupa Mailing #197 (Feb., 2006) [4] Sasser, Damon C., ―God‘s Angry Man‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 7 & 8 (spring, 1976)
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[5] Kuhns, Elaine, ―An Astrological Look at REH‖ [Part One] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol.
1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 25-27 & 43 (spring, 1976)
[6] Warfield, Wayne, ―Robert E. Howard: Retrospectively‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1,
#1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp.29-32 (spring, 1976)
[7] Roark, Byron, ―An Experiment in Exploitation: Donald M. Grant‘s Conan‖ in REH: Two-Gun
Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 33 & 34; see letter by Paul C. Allen in #2, pp. 4 & 5 (spring, 1976)
[8] Melvin, Charles, Fantasy’s Realm #2, pp. 2 &3, in REHupa Mailing #22 (July, 1976) [9] Sasser, Damon C., Editorial in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press,
Houston), p. 3 (summer, 1976)
[10] Sasser, Damon, C., Black Lotus #1, p. 1 in REHupa Mailing #23 (Sept., 1976) [11] Sasser, Damon, C., The Shadow Kingdom #7, p. 2 in REHupa Mailing #199 (June, 2006)
[12] Hoppenstand, Gary, ―Broadswords and Cardboard Barbarians: The Heroic Fantasy of Robert E. Howard‖ in Starwind Science Fiction and Fantasy #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Warren DiLeo, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio), pp. 57-60 (spring, 1976) [13] McHaney, Dennis, ―Robert E. Howard and the Ring, Part One‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 15-17 (winter, 1976) [14] Roark, Byron L., ―Vultures over Cross Plains‖ in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Nemedian Chronicles, Shawnee Mission, Kan.), pp. 40-45 (fall, 1975); see letters by Dirk Mosig, Wayne Warfield, & L. Sprague de Camp in #4, p. 62; ―Vultures‖ & de Camp‘s reply reprinted in The Road to Velitrium #29 (ed. James Van Hise), pp. 15-21 in REHupa Mailing #155 (Feb., 1999) [15] Roark, Byron L., and Fenner, Arnie M. ―Arnie,‖ ―Sons of REH/Interview: L. Sprague de Camp‖ in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles, Shawnee Mission, Kan.), pp. 3639 (spring, 1976); reprinted in The Barbarian Keep #26 (ed. Edward Waterman), pp. 5-9 in REHupa Mailing #178 (Dec., 2002) [16] De Camp, L. Sprague, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles, Shawnee Mission, Kan.), p. 62 (spring, 1976) [17] Herron, Don, ―Conan vs. Conantics‖ in And in His Dream #5, pp. 2-9 in The Hyperborian League Mailing #5 (Oct., 1976); reprinted in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 23-31 (winter, 1976) & in Pusad Regurgitated #1, pp. 2-10 in REHupa Mailing #96 (Mar., 1989); recapped in his ―Thirty Years as a Howard Critic (in Twenty Minutes or Less),‖ in The Cimmerian, Vol. 1, #5 (Leo Grin, Playa del Rey, Cal.), pp. 13-20 (Dec., 2004)
[18] Herron, Don, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles,
Shawnee Mission, Kan.), p. 5 (spring, 1976)
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[19] De Camp, L. Sprague, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian
Chronicles, Shawnee Mission, Kan.), pp. 4 (spring, 1976) [20] Sasser, Damon C., Letter in The Cimmerian, Vol. 2, #1 (Leo Grin, Playa del Rey, Cal.), p. 31 (Feb., 2005)
[21] Herron, Don, ―The Tennessee Kid: Some History‖ in Yours for Faster Hippos: Thirty Years of “Conan vs. Conantics,” The Cimmerian Library, Vol. 4 (The Cimmerian Press, Playa del Rey, Cal., 2007), pp. 18-25
[22] Herron, Don, Letter, in The Cimmerian, Vol. 2, #2 (Leo Grin, Playa del Rey, Cal.), pp. 35-38 (Apr., 2005)
[23] Hall, Loay, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles, Shawnee
Mission, Kan.), pp. 5 & 36 (spring, 1976)
[24] Cook, Kevin, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles,
Shawnee Mission, Kan.), pp. 36 (spring, 1976) [25] Sasser, Damon C., ―Echoes from Bal-Sagoth‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 13-18 (summer, 1977); reprinted in The Man from Cross Plains: A Centennial Celebration of Two-Gun Bob Howard (ed. Dennis McHaney, Lulu.com, 2006), pp. 167-178 [26] Roark, Byron, ―Ridin‘ the Range with Robert E. Howard‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 31-35 (summer, 1977) [27] Sasser, Damon C., Editorial in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 3 (fall, 1978) [28] Reid, Thomas R., ―REH and Cultural Trends in Literature‖ in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 45, 47, & 51 (fall, 1978); reprinted as ―Cultural Trends in Literature‖ in The Dark Man #2, July 1991 (Necronomicon Press, West Warwick, R.I.), pp. 30-32 [29] Sasser, Damon C., Editorial in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 3 (fall, 1978) [30] Salmonson, Jessica Amanda, ―Thoughts on the Enjoyment of Heroic Fantasy‖ in Thrust: Science Fiction and Fantasy Review #34 (Thrust Publications, Gaithersburg, Md.), pp. 15-17 (summer, 1989); reprinted as ―The Sins of Our Tastes, the Sins of Our Trade‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 9-11 (winter, 2003); revision at http://www.violetbooks.com/heroic.html [31] Sasser, Damon C., ―El Dios Diabólico de Tlasceltec‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 13, 14, & 31 (winter, 2003)
[32] Howard, Robert E., and Offutt, Andrew J., ―Nekht Semerkeht‖ in Swords against Darkness (Zebra Books, New York, 1977), pp. 12-48
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[34] Schweitzer, Darrell, Conan’s World and Robert E. Howard (Borgo Press, San Bernardino, Cal., 1978), p. 58 [35] Cavalier, William ―Indy,‖ Cold Steel #106, pp. 3 & 4, in REHupa Mailing #184 (Dec., 2003) [36] Van Hise, James, The Road to Velitrium #51, pp. 2-4 in REHupa Mailing #184 (Dec., 2003) [37] Van Hise, James, ―A Robert E. Howard Fanzine Rises from the Grave,‖ in Sword & Fantasy #1 (James Van Hise, Yucca Valley, Cal.), pp. 28-31 (Jan., 2005) [38] Van Hise, James, The Road to Velitrium #53, p. 54, in REHupa Mailing #188 (Aug., 2004)
[39] Grin, Leo, ―When You Wish upon a (Wandering) Star,‖ in The Cimmerian, Vol. 2, #4 (Leo Grin, Playa del Rey, Cal.), pp. 5-18 (Aug.., 2005)
[40] Sasser, Damon C., The Shadow Kingdom #2, p. 1, in REHupa Mailing #191 (Feb., 2005) [41] Sasser, Damon C., The Shadow Kingdom #1, p. 1, in REHupa Mailing #189 (Oct., 2004) [42] Louinet, Patrice, ―Grief & Greed? Isaac Mordecai Howard and the Robert E. Howard Estate, June 1936-March 1937‖ in Dwelling in Dark Valley #2 (June, 2001) at REHEAPA (http://www.robert-e-howard.org/Dwelling2.html) [43] Sasser, Damon C., ―1st Addition, W Half, Lot 13, Block 25, Spaces 10,‖ in the REH: TwoGun Raconteur Blog, 8 Nov. 2010 (http://rehtwogunraconteur.com/?s=greenleaf)
[44] Melchione, Linda, ―A Woman Looks at Cross Plains‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 21-23 (spring, 2005)
[45] Cavalier, William ―Indy,‖ Cold Steel #113, pp. 4 & 5 in REHupa Mailing #191 (Feb., 2005) [46] Van Hise, James, The Road to Velitrium #55, p. 6 in REHupa Mailing #191 (Feb., 2005)
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THE ROBERT E. HOWARD BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SECONDARY SOURCES, PART VII
The list of articles below is complete insofar as it contains all items relating to Howard, excepting those by Howard himself (being primary references and cataloged elsewhere) and those inspired by Howard, such as poems by others (being primary references by those authors). It is in alphabetical order by author and then by title. The abstract, if any, is in brackets.
The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1 REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1-7 (fanzine series edited and published by Damon C. Sasser)
AUTHOR Herron, Don
REFERENCE ―Conan vs. Conantics‖ [assessment & disapprobation of Conan pastiches written by L. Sprague de Camp & Lin Carter] in And in His Dream #5, pp. 2-9 in The Hyperborian League Mailing #5 (Oct., 1976); reprinted in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 23-31 (winter, 1976) & in Pusad Regurgitated #1, pp. 2-10 in REHupa Mailing #96 (Mar., 1989); see letters by Daniel Gobbett, Paul C. Allen, L. Sprague de Camp, Don Herron, Loay Hall, & Kevin Cook in REH:TGR #4, pp. 4, 5, & 36 Review of The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane (by REH; Del Rey, 2004) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 34 & 35 (spring, 2005) ―An Astrological Look at REH‖ [Part One] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 25-27 & 43 (spring, 1976) ―Scorpio Rising: An Astrological Look at REH‖ [Part Two] in REH: TwoGun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 21 & 22 (summer, 1976) ―The Stars and the Skald‖ [Part Three of REH‘s horoscope] in REH: TwoGun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 23-25 (summer, 1977) ―REH, HPL, and the Cthulhu Mythos‖ [of H. P. Lovecraft] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 8 & 9 (spring, 2005) ―The Writing Game‖ [history of REH‘s jobs & sales of stories & poems to pulp markets, with a photo of REH & David Lee] in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Nemedian Chronicles, Kansas City, Kan.), pp. 9-12 (spring, 1975); reprinted minus photo in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 15-17 (fall, 1978)
Herron, Don
Kuhns, Elaine
Kuhns, Elaine
Kuhns, Elaine
Lord, Glenn
Lord, Glenn
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REHEAPA McHaney, Dennis ―Robert E. Howard and the Ring, Part One‖ [survey of REH‘s boxing stories] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 15-17 (winter, 1976) ―A Woman Looks at Cross Plains‖ [her experiences at Howard Days 2003] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 21-23 (spring, 2005) ―The Rare Ones‖ [REH hardback collecting] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 33-36 (winter, 1976) Review of The Book of Robert E. Howard (ed. Glenn Lord; Zebra, 1976) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 32 & 33 (summer, 1976) ―REH and Cultural Trends in Literature‖ [REH‘s & H.P. Lovecraft‘s antagonists & attitudes toward civilization] in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 45, 47, & 51 (fall, 1978); reprinted as ―Cultural Trends in Literature‖ in The Dark Man #2, July 1991 (Necronomicon Press, West Warwick, R.I.), pp. 30-32 Review of Night Images (by REH; Morning Star, 1977)] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 37 & 38 (summer, 1977) ―An Experiment in Exploitation: Donald M. Grant‘s Conan‖ [review of The People of the Black Circle, A Witch Shall Be Born, & The Tower of the Elephant (by REH; Donald M. Grant)] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 33 & 34; see letter by Paul C. Allen in #2, pp. 4 & 5 (spring, 1976) ―Ridin‘ the Range with Robert E. Howard‖ [on REH‘s western stories] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 31-35 (summer, 1977) ―Thoughts on the Enjoyment of Heroic Fantasy‖ [objectives of heroic fantasy] in Thrust: Science Fiction and Fantasy Review #34 (Thrust Publications, Gaithersburg, Md.), pp. 15-17 (summer, 1989); reprinted as ―The Sins of Our Tastes, the Sins of Our Trade‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 9-11 (winter, 2003); revision at http://www.violetbooks.com/heroic.html ―The Annotated Solomon Kane‖ [synopses of his stories & fragments] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 9-16 (spring, 1976) ―The Complete Kane‖ [list of Solomon Kane stories & fragments with date of first appearance] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 19 (spring, 1976)
Melchione, Linda
Melvin, Charles
Parsons, David
Reid, Thomas R.
Riley, Steven T.
Roark, Byron L.
Roark, Byron L.
Salmonson, Jessica Amanda
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
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REHEAPA Sasser, Damon C. ―Echoes from Bal-Sagoth‖ [on REH‘s hero Turlogh Dubh O‘Brien] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 13-18 (summer, 1977) ―El Dios Diabólico de Tlasceltec‖ [on REH‘s fragment ―Nekht Semerkeht‖] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 13, 14, & 31 (winter, 2003) ―God‘s Angry Man‖ [sketch of Solomon Kane‘s career & the stories & books he appeared in] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 7 & 8 (spring, 1976) ―The Kane Glossary‖ [list & description of characters in Solomon Kane stories] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 17 & 18 (spring, 1976) ―Red Sonya vs. Red Sonja‖ [review of Roy Thomas‘s adaptation of the character for Marvel Comics] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 41 & 42 (spring, 1976) Review of Bloodstar: King of the Northern Abyss (by Richard Corben, REH, & John Jakes; Morning Star, 1976) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 34 (summer, 1976) Review of Graveyard Rats (by REH; Wildside, 2003) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), p. 32 (winter, 2003) Review of The Iron Man (by REH; Zebra, 1976) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 33 (summer, 1976) Review of Robert E. Howard – The Power of the Writing Mind (ed. Benjamin Szumskyj; Mythos, 2003) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #6, Vol. 1, #6 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), p. 32 (fall, 2004) Review of The Ultimate Guide to Howardia (by Wayne Warfield; Hall, 1976) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 33 (summer, 1976) ―The Vengeance Sword of the Norman-Gael‖ [REH‘s Cormac Fitzgeoffrey crusader stories] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #6, Vol. 1, #6 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 11-13 (fall, 2004) ―A Mouthful of Feathers‖ [comparison of Conan & Tarzan] in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 29, 30, & 51 (fall, 1978) ―Was Robert E Howard a Hack?‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 27-30 (winter, 2003)
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Saunders, Charles R.
Schweitzer, Darrell
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REHEAPA Smolins, Steve ―Collecting Howardia‖ [REH book & fanzine collecting] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 23-25 (summer, 1976) Review of Official Guide to the Fantastics (by Michael Resnick; House of Collectibles, 1976) [plus comments on collectible REH books] in REH: TwoGun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 37 & 38 (winter, 1976) ―A Dark Gray Heritage: A Collective Study of Robert E. Howard‘s Cimmerians,‖ Part One in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 25-33 (spring, 2005) ―Brothers of the Night: A Cultural Materialistic Study of Shakespeare‘s ‗Prince of Morocco‘ & Robert E. Howard‘s ‗Jacob‘‖ [in ―Pigeons from Hell‖] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 11-15 & 23 (spring, 2005) ―Sheathed in a Virgin‘s Skin or the Desires of Man? – Booking Passage on the Mythos Train of Thought‖ [REH‘s Cthulhu Mythos stories] in REH: TwoGun Raconteur #6, Vol. 1, #6 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 21-31 (fall, 2004) ―Forgotten Secrets of Bloody Pride‖ [on REH‘s ―Pigeons from Hell‖] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 27-29 (summer, 1977); posted at http://rehtwogunraconteur.com/?page_id=2720 ―The Sense of Hideous Antiquity‖ [analysis of REH‘s ―The Horror from the Mound‖] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp.35-37 (spring, 1976) ―The Legendary Celts: REH and the Celtic Strain‖ [what is known of the historical Celts] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 13-15 (summer, 1976) ―Robert E. Howard: Retrospectively‖ [sketch of REH‘s life, personality, & prowess as an author] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp.29-32 (spring, 1976)
Smolins, Steve
Street, Danny
Szumskyj, Benjamin
Szumskyj, Benjamin
Wallace, Bill
Wallace, Bill
Warfield, Wayne
Warfield, Wayne
© 2010 Lee A. Breakiron
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By Lee A. Breakiron
THE SASSER ZINES, PART ONE
The first issue of the fanzine REH: Two-Gun Raconteur appeared in the spring of 1976, a typed mimeograph of 44 pages, in an 8½×11-inch, side-stapled format with black-and-white contents, as all the issues would have, with a cover price of $2.50 in a print run of 350. It was published by the Black Coast Press of Houston resident Damon C. Sasser, who had been a fan of Robert E. Howard ever since a bookstore clerk handed him a copy of the Lancer paperback The Hour of the Dragon when Sasser was looking for Tarzan books in the summer of 1971. In his editorial, Sasser says his zine is ―aimed at the newcomer to Howard: those of you who have just become aware of REH through Marvel Comics and the Zebra paperbacks. … Hopefully, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur will bring about a better understanding of Robert E. Howard and his writings.‖ [1] Born in 1955, Sasser would spend by far most of his life in Texas. At the time, he was an electrician by trade whose chief interests were ―comic collecting, old movies and serials, pulp reprints, and popular fiction.‖ After a year and half of college, he went to work in sales, selling everything from insurance to custom clothing to pagers, until 1994. Then he went back to school at night, obtained a Paralegal Certificate, and went to work for the El Paso Corporation, where he has been for the past 15 years. ―The role of fandom,‖ as he saw it, ―is primarily entertainment for fans. Of course, some people make their living of it, which is cool. Fandom is also an excellent place for writers and artists to get their start.‖ He didn‘t consider himself in competition with other fanzinists. ―Competition is for big business and such. TGR is merely a pastime or hobby for me. Of course, anyone who publishes REH material is [vying] for the fan dollar, but there seems to be enough fans to support us all. ... My main reason for doing TGR is my love for Howard‘s fiction. I also felt I could contribute something to REH fandom and wanted to contact other people with an interest in Howard.‖ [2] Later, he was to say ―When I was just starting out 30 years ago, several Howard fanzine editors tried to dissuade [me] from launching a Howard ‗zine, saying that everything about
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Howard and the topic in general had been exhausted(!). Needless to say, I didn‘t agree with that line of reasoning and forged ahead with the publication of TGR. Of course, all those other fanzine editors and publishers (with the exception of McHaney) moved away from Howard and on to other interests.‖ [3, p. 2] From the start, he regarded appropriate, quality artwork as an essential component of any fanzine, and has regularly commissioned art for that purpose.
\
REH: TGR #1
James Bozarth provides the front and back cover art for REH: TGR #1, as well as a five-page portfolio illustrating The Dark Man. Sasser writes the first article, ―God‘s Angry Man,‖ on the
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world‘s first Sword & Sorcery hero, Solomon Kane, the only one of REH‘s heroes who lived in a real historical era. Sasser lists the books, magazine, and comics that have featured Kane, noting that Kane ―has been treated well in the comics‖ [4, p. 7]. Sasser sketches the Puritan‘s brooding personality and peripatetic life, giving detailed summaries of each of the stories and a glossary of their characters. Next, in the first of three articles, Sasser‘s aunt and professional astrologer Elaine Kuhns assays REH‘s horoscope, looking for heavenly clues about his life and tragic deat h. Her attempt sheds no more light on the subject than astrology ever has on anything, considering the practice is a pseudoscientific relic of a superstitious past, entailing not only no demonstrated, but no possible, cause and effect on human character or affairs. She concedes ―stars impel—they do not compel‖ [5, p. 26], yet we are supposed to believe that they explain Howard‘s creativity, determination, moodiness, and loyalty. Wayne Warfield, editor of the fanzine Cross Plains that had run its course over the previous 2 years, contributes an insightful overview of REH‘s life and writings. ―Howard was complex,‖ he says. ―An accomplished boxer, hot tempered, with violent likes and dislikes, moody and unconventional. … Howard thought of himself as a failure, as a writer and as a man. It is very possible that he was a victim of society.‖ As he discussed in his Fantasy Crossroads #4/5 article ―REH: Misfit,‖ ―Howard‘s various quirks helped to make his work so outstanding.‖ Warfield thinks REH‘s horror stories were superb and greatly underrated. ―Everything REH wrote was an extension of his own personal interests and fantasies; all of which he knew well,‖ unlike many of his imitators. ―Above all else, Robert E. Howard is remembered and loved as the man who combined heroic adventure, supernatural horror and the imaginary world fantasies to form a new genre. A genre, I am happy to say, which shows no sign of age or lack of talent. For this we owe ‗Two-Gun Bob‘ a great debt.‖ [6] In the next article, Byron Roark, editor of the fanzine REH: Lone Star Fictioneer, reviews the first collectors editions of REH stories, namely those by Donald M. Grant. He scores them as being grossly overpriced. ―WHAT COMES NEXT AFTER FIFTEEN BUCKS?‖ [7, p. 34] If he only knew … Bill Wallace then submits a commentary on REH‘s story ―The Horror from the Mound,‖ praising it for, among other things, its vivid sense of locale. Sasser has the final word in a review of the Marvel Comic adventures of Red Sonja, based on the REH character Red Sonya from ―The Shadow of the Vulture.‖ He criticizes the Marvel stories, after starting well, as being unrealistic, not very Howardian, and increasingly dull. The issue is rounded out, as all succeeding issues would be, by reviews and news about current and forthcoming REH publications. The reviews are of Marvel REH comics and the news is from REH scholar Glenn Lord, as it would be throughout the first four issues. Though flawed by typos and limited by its mimeographic format, REH: TGR #1 was a promising start. Charles Melvin reviews it in his REHupa zine [8].
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REH: TGR #2
The second issue, dated summer 1976, is a definite step up in production quality, still typed but offset-printed (as issues #3 and #4 would be) on better paper stock and saddle-stapled (as all the rest of the issues would be). Selling for a cheaper $1.75 a copy in a print run of 500, it runs 36 pages plus covers, the latter by Gene Day (front), Arnie Fenner (back), and David Parsons (both insides). Interior artwork is supplied by John Jamilkowsli and Bozarth. In his editorial, Sasser calls the first issue a ―smashing success‖ and that he was surprised at how well it was received [9]. There appear photos of himself and some of his contributors, as well as the first letters of comment, including ones from Warfield, Cross Plains publisher George Hamilton, and
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Fantasy Newsletter editor Paul C. Allen. Sentiment in the letters tends to run against Kuhns‘s astrological article, Roark‘s criticism of Grant, and Bozarth‘s art. Following this is a letter from REH to Clark Ashton Smith praising Smith‘s book The Double Shadow (Clark Ashton Smith, 1933), contributed by Lord. Then, after some fluff about fandom by Parsons, Warfield weighs in with a knowledgeable article on the historical Celts. He notes that REH‘s Celtic history was not entirely factual, but serves as a fascinating backdrop to many of his best tales. Next come a portfolio of art by Ken Raney, illustrating ―The Pool of the Black one,‖ and the second part of Kuhns‘s series on REH‘s horoscope. Despite the fact that she does not know the time of REH‘s birth with any exactness (supposedly an essential datum in such analyses), she claims to be able to infer it from his general appearance and physique, and then uses it to predict that his driving forces were power, creativity, sex, death, retribution, regeneration, obsession, and determination. Can you say ―fudge factor‖? REHupan Steve Smolins then gives us a glimpse of how REH collecting was carried out in the days long before the Internet. It involved a lot of persistence, letter writing, convention attendance, and trading up. The issue closes with a funny story by Sasser and book and art reviews by Sasser and Parsons. Sasser joined REHupa briefly in September, 1976, producing one zine, Black Lotus #1, in which he states, ―About all I get out of this zine game is the knowledge that someone is enjoying what I‘m putting out.‖ [10] As briefly, he also joined The Hyperborian League. But he had to leave both fan organizations because he had ―too many irons in the fire.‖ [11] REH: TGR #3 was published in the winter of 1976, again priced at $1.75 each in a print run of 500. It is a further improvement over the preceding issue in being better typed, having fancy section logos, and utilizing heavier cover stock. Running 40 pages plus covers, it features cover art by Raney (front), Steve Fabian (back), and Don Herron (both insides), and interior art by Parsons, Jamilkowski, Tom Foster, Fenner, and Day, the latter submitting a four-page portfolio illustrating ―The Moon of Skulls.‖ #3 would be the fastest selling of all Sasser‘s zines. In his editorial, Sasser takes Gary Hoppenstand to task for calling REH a hack in an article in the magazine Starwind #2 comparing Conan and Karl Edward Wagner‘s character Kane [12]. The letters of comment includes one by Allen. The first REH story to appear in REH: TGR is next, namely the western ―The Devil‘s Joker,‖ furnished, as always, by Lord. Following it is the first of two articles on ―Robert E. Howard and the Ring‖ by Dennis McHaney, editor of the fanzine The Howard Review, though the second installment never appeared. McHaney covers the history of the humorous boxing stories starring Steve Costigan, Dennis Dorgan, and Kid Allison. ―As pure fun,‖ he says, ―they are a joy to
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read.‖ [13, p. 17] He criticizes the FAX hardback The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan (1974) as being overpriced and poorly illustrated (by Tom Foster).
REH: TGR #3
The high point of the issue is ―Conan vs. Conantics,‖ a watershed article in REH literary criticism, by Don Herron, who would go on to edit the milestone publications The Dark
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―Conantics‖ was a term coined by writer and editor Donald Wandrei to describe some of the hi gh jinks surrounding the REH character Conan that involved various parties with vested interests. Herron adopted it to designate imitation Conans by pasticheurs. Roark had condemned L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter for their exploitive Conan pastiches and posthumous collaborations in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #3 the previous year [14], but Herron goes into greater detail substantiating the inconsistencies and substandard writing which the two authors were guilty of as they imitated or rewrote REH stories in order to impose their chronology onto a unified saga that they could then profit from by extending. Herron had the advantage of seeing Roark and Fenner‘s interview of de Camp in the final issue of REH: LSF [15], as well as a letter therein from de Camp [16], and so was able to quote de Camp‘s deprecating and contradictory statements about REH and his fiction. Herron goes on to point out glaring inconsistencies of Carter and de Camp‘s plotting and characterization compared with REH‘s, such as their Conan‘s invocation of his god Crom, whom Conan would have known was oblivious to man‘s prayers, and Conan‘s logical and reserved manner, which stood in stark contrast with his established impulsive instincts and outspokenness. This use of planning and logic may be the way in which they attempt to compensate for their lack of narrative drive, but it simply does not work within the framework of Conan‘s character and it is certainly not an effective substitute for REH‘s greater ability to write gripping tales. … In the considered opinion of this writer, all the extra de Camp-Carter wordage added to Robert E. Howard‘s own and mixed in with his series in the Conan paperback books has done more damage to REH‘s literary reputation than all the poor tales that Howard wrote himself. … The Conantics stories are miserable additions to sword and sorcery fiction by any standard of decent writing and are certainly unworthy to be in the same books with fiction by Robert E. Howard, who is unquestionably one of the very best writers of sword and sorcery [17, pp. 27, 30, & 31]. Next, Charles Melvin discusses the value of out-of-print REH hardbacks and how best to procure them. Then Smolins reviews some REH hardbacks and Mike Resnick‘s Official Guide to the Fantastics (House of Collectibles, 1976). By the fourth issue, Sasser was billing REH: TGR as ―the definitive Howard fanzine,‖ as it was arguably becoming. #4, dated summer 1977, ran 40 pages plus covers and was priced at $2.00 each, in a print run of 650. The front cover (tinted copper) and both inside covers are by Fabian, and the back cover is by Bozarth. Interior art is provided by Herron (a four-page portfolio illustrating ―Kings of the Night.‖), Clyde Caldwell, Marcus Boas, Bozarth, Stephen Riley, and Fenner. In his editorial, Sasser denounces the new Ace editions of Conan paperbacks as quickie rip-offs paying royalties to no one. The first two letterhacks (the second being Allen) generally agree with Herron‘s polemic in the previous issue. The third, however, is none other than de Camp, who responds to Herron by saying that REH must have had a rather complete chronology for the Conan stories in mind, and that REH‘s Conan was as crafty in places as his and Carter‘s was. De Camp contests or
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dismisses all Herron‘s other points. Next up is Herron himself, who, having been allowed to see de Camp‘s response, quotes REH as saying he had no detailed chronology in mind for Conan, and points out that he (Herron) had never said Conan was stupid, but in fact had called Conan crafty. He said he wrote his essay to alert readers to the ―huge gap in style and quality between the work of Howard and his ‗posthumous collaborators.‘‖ [18]
REH: TGR #4
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One humorous bone of contention between the two concerned Herron‘s knocking de Camp for his statement in his pastiche ―The Hall of the Dead‖ that had Conan thinking, ―If he could not outrun the slug, perhaps he could tire it.‖ Herron claims that is ―not logical; Conan cannot outrun the giant slug, but he hopes to tire it being able to outrun it!‖ [17, p. 26] De Camp replies, ―One can indeed outrun an animal whose top speed is greater than one‘s own, if he has enough of a head start and can keep going until the pursuer tires. … Much the same happened to me in Uganda with a hippopotamus.‖ [19] Herron retorts that this could have been clearer with a more logically phrased sentence and closed the letter, in its original form, with ―Yours for faster hippos.‖ Sasser removed this closing in REH: TGR for reasons of space [20], but Herron restored it in a reprint of the article and letter [21]. De Camp indeed felt the article‘s impact; he would later say in letters that Herron‘s essay as written on a typewriter whose ribbon ―was dipped in acid.‖ [22] The next letter is by Loay Hall, who praises Herron‘s article for its ―lack of invectiveness,‖ but defends de Camp and Carter‘s pastiches for filling fans‘ demands for more Conan stories [23]. The last commentator, Kevin Cook, calls the article the best feature Sasser had run yet. ―Carter and de Camp have corrupted what REH was trying to accomplish in his Conan tales. Explaining every little detail and episode in Conan‘s life, especially in a non-Howardian manner, makes the character lose some of his alluring magic and sense of wonder.‖ [24] The main features of the issue were two stories by REH. The first was ―Golden Hope Christmas‖ that had run in the Brownwood High School paper The Tattler when REH had attended there, and had been reprinted in Cross Plains #1. The second was the Turlogh O‘Brien fragment ―The Dane came in …,‖ which Sasser follows with a commentary on the character and summaries of the five stories (one unfinished) starring O‘Brien, whom Sasser declares is a hero equal to Conan, Kull, Kane, and Bran Mak Morn, but little known because no single book had been published containing all his stories. ―In the O‘Brien tales there is a somber mood in which he thrives and he is in his element in these dark, brooding word-pictures Howard has painted so well. Whether Turlogh is in a beserker rage slaying men like a bloody reaper of Death, or if he is waxing philosophically on the fates of man and civilization, he is a powerful character that seems to leap off the page and into full-blown life.‖ [25, p. 14] Kuhns brings her astrological series mercifully to an end with a horoscope that seemingly predicts every aspect of REH‘s life and personality, and makes his suicide virtually inevitable. In fact, she strongly implies that she deduced his form of demise before she knew of it. If so, what else can one do but proclaim her a true prophet? She knows too much about astrology to be a dupe. Next, Bill Wallace fondly reminisces about the story ―Pigeons from Hell,‖ expressing admiration for its horrific atmosphere, but dismay at its weak title and racist language. Aside from a review by Riley, the issue is concluded by Roark, who reviews REH‘s westerns, whose quality made him suspect that, had REH lived, ―he would have made a lasting mark on the literary field writing about the legends and lore of his native southwest.‖ He thinks highly of ―The Horror from the Mound‖ and the humorous yarns, though myopically not of ―Old Garfield‘s Heart‖ or most of REH‘s straight westerns. He says REH seemed to have hit his
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stride in the humorous tales, and ―mined a section of his personality that remains hidden in most of his other work. Howard had a fine sense of the absurd and seemed to externalize his own notions of the comedy of the human condition in these stories.‖ [26, p. 33]
The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1
The next fanzine Sasser did was not REH: TGR #5, but a new one entitled The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1 over a year later in the fall of 1978. In his editorial, he explains that he had
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almost given up his publishing business due to ―hassles, illnesses, family problems, and a host of other things,‖ and was finally only able to cope with life after meeting Alma, the lady who became his wife [27]. Salvaging material from an aborted zine called Skelos #1 and combining it with what had been intended for REH: TGR #5, he put together Chronicler, which he conceived of as being wider in scope that REH: TGR, dealing as it would with REH‘s fellow Weird Tales writers and newer Sword & Sorcery authors. And different it was, with a color cover by Raney, mostly smaller type, 52 offset-printed pages plus covers, and a price of $4.00, in a run of 1000 copies. Fabian drew the back cover and Boas and Fred Bobb did the inside covers. The interior art was by Day, Raney (including all the logos and a four-page portfolio), Fabian, Fenner (a fivepage portfolio), Boas, Rick Corlett, and Greg Vander Leon. The issue features two REH stories, the sailor Steve Costigan yarn ―The Sign of the Snake‖ and the horror story ―Casonetto‘s Last Song.‖ These were followed by Lord‘s ―The Writing Game‖ recapping REH‘s publishing career, reprinted from REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #1. Sword & Soul master Charles R. Saunders appears with an adventure of his African character Imaro, ―Kibanda Ya Kufa,‖ and with an essay comparing Conan and Tarzan. Poems are presented by Robert Fester and Steve Eng (writing as John Bredon), as well as stories by Kenneth Huff and Jeffrey Goddin. Finally, Thomas Reid contributes an essay contrasting REH‘s and H. P. Lovecraft‘s protagonists and their own personal attitudes toward civilization. Reid‘s logic is flawed, though, when he argues that Lovecraft ―was not physically capable of developing‖ his thesis that man as a race is doomed. ―In this aspect he certainly was Howard‘s inferior.‖ [28, p. 47] What does either physicality or philosophy have to do with literary stature? And Reid‘s reflections about the world‘s reaction to Nazism sound pretty cynical. Unbeknown to Sasser, it would be another 25 years before he could do another issue of a zine. What happened? ―Life happened (raising a family, getting the kids through college, etc.),‖ he said, ―but I‘m back on track and here to stay!‖ [29] And indeed he would be, both as a publisher and a participant in fandom, for at least another 7 years (to date). He had vaulted from the first Howard Boom to the second, benefitting from and contributing to both. REH: TGR #5, ―the lost issue,‖ that almost came out in 1984, finally appeared in the winter of 2003, running 32 pages plus covers in a print run of 250 and with a cover price of $9.50. It and all of Sasser‘s later zines were desktop-formatted and then given to a professional printing firm for copying, since the print runs were too small to justify offset-printing. #5 was in black and white with virtually all the content dating from the late 1970s. Fabian does the cover and a 4page Almuric portfolio, Raney the back cover, and Fenner the inside covers. The rest of the art is by Herron, Easley, Fabian, Bobb, Fenner, Day, and Vander Leon. There would be no more letter columns until issue #12 (despite his offer, from #7 on, to give a free issue to any letterhack), doubtless because of the advent of e-mail and message boards. Sasser had one of the latter himself for his Black Coast Press on Yahoo.com. The opening feature is the REH western ―A Horror in the Night,‖ which had first appeared in Cross Plains #3. Next, transsexual Jesse Amos Salmonson, by then known as author Jessica Amanda Salmonson, submits the article ―The Sins of Our Tastes, the Sins of Our Trade,‖ reprinted from a sci-fi magazine, discussing what the objectives of heroic fantasy should be. ―Heroic fantasy is, for me, a celebration of life‘s brief, transient joys and sorrows,‖ she sa ys, and
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advises current writers to pursue their own unique vision of fantasy, rather than slavishly imitate masters of the past like REH [30, p. 10].
REH: TGR #5
Following this is a piece by Sasser on REH‘s unfinished pseudo-historical western ―Nekht Semerkeht,‖ in a version finished by Andrew Offutt. ―It‘s interesting to note,‖ Sasser states, ―that near the end of his life Howard was not writing of some far off land (real or imagined), but of the Southwest—his own backyard.‖ [31, p. 13] He points out a passage that might give some insight into the emotional pain REH was experiencing:
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Oh, of course we are guided solely by reason, even when reason tells us it is better to die than to live! It is not the intellect we boast that bids us to live—and kill to live—but the blind unreasoning beast-instinct. [32, p. 21] When REH was writing about his protagonist de Guzman, Sasser says, ―The monster and demons he created were mere reflections of the ones that lived within his mind. Like de Guzman who won the battle but lost the war, Howard was no match for those horrible devil gods that lived in Tlasceltec and within himself.‖ [31, p. 31] (And I note ―Tlasceltec‖ is a near-anagram of The Last Celt.) Keith Taylor next explains how he and Offutt came to collaborate on their Cormac Mac Art pastiches When Death Birds Fly (Ace, 1980) and The Tower of Death (Ace, 1982). Then, as a homage to REH‘s funny boxing stories, Saunders offers one of his own, ―Fists of Cross Plains.‖ Concluding the issue, Darrell Schweitzer asks ―Was Robert E. Howard a Hack?‖ He answers ―sometimes,‖ pointing to REH‘s mediocre detective stories. He doesn‘t bother to examine how much better by far most of REH‘s other output is, though he finally concedes, ―He had talent. … He clearly did care about his work and put himself into it. … Howard, though he surely would have denied it, was artist [sic].‖ [33, p. 30] I would have liked to hear him debate the point with his 25-year-younger self who, in his Conan’s World and Robert E. Howard (Borgo Press, 1978), said ―His stories contain thrilling action, vivid description, and sometimes first-rate fantastic invention, but not much else.‖ [34] Schweitzer now dismisses this book, which has been generally reviled as the worst work of literary criticism ever penned about REH, as a youthful rush job. However, he‘s shown little sign of a deepened appreciation for REH‘s genius since, so I will just answer the question posed by the title of his article with, ―It takes one to know one.‖ Issue #5 was reviewed by Cavalier, who called it ―a great mix of articles and art, living up to its masthead subtitle: The Definitive Howard Fanzine. ... [Sasser]‘s set the bar for aspiring ziners, for sure!‖ [35] Van Hise indexed the contents of REH: TGR #1-5 [36] and #1-7 [37]. REH: TGR #6 came out in the fall of 2004. It again ran 32 black-and-white pages plus covers in a run of 250 copies, with yellow-tinted covers and a price of $9.95 each. Charles Keegan provided the front cover, Day the back cover, and Fabian the inside covers. The interiors artists were Ramey, Bill Cavalier, Fabian, Bobb, Fenner, and Day, the latter represented by a 5-page portfolio of illustrations of ―Red Nails,‖ reprinted from Fantasy Crossroads #8 and Fantasy Crosswinds #3. The REH story is ―Under the Baobab Tree,‖ reprinted from Cross Plains #5. Sasser is next with an article on REH‘s Gaelic crusader hero, Cormac Fitzgeoffrey. Fantasy author Karl Edward Wagner then submits a strange piece on the various drugs and stimulants that writers have often used to spur or sustain their productivity. He is knowledgeable in them partly because he indulged himself, though it would be alcohol that would fell him in 1994 at age 48.
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REH: TGR #6
The final article in the issue is by Benjamin Szumskyj, a controversial figure in REH studies. A young Australian with limited verbal and research skills, he was a member of REHupa from 2000 to 2002. He was proferred help by some REHupans, but did not accept it gracefully. He went on to edit the REH lit-crit collections Robert E. Howard--Power of the Writing Mind (Mythos Books, 2003) and Two-Gun Bob: A Centennial Study of Robert E. Howard (Hippocampus, 2006), but was eventually forced out of Howardom mainly by Don Herron and The Cimmerian fanzinist Leo Grin, who derided him as the illiterate ―Ben Zoom‖ and pressured
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others not to deal with him. It is doubtless better that he is no longer active in the field, but the same result, I believe, could have been accomplished by simply ignoring his publishing efforts. And it was uncalled for to tar some of his occasional associates with the same brush. The article, bizarrely titled ―Sheathed in a Virgin‘s Skin or the Desires of Man?—Booking Passage on the Mythos Train of Thought,‖ is rife with misused words and infelicitous turns of phrase, which should have been corrected editorially. Szumskyj‘s judgments about which of REH‘s stories properly belong to Lovecraft‘s Cthulhu Mythos are not without merit, but his arguments are painful to read. Issue #6 was reviewed by Van Hise [38]. Sasser himself said it wasn‘t as good as he had hoped because he had been limited in the amount of time he could spend on it between his job and wanting to debut it at the Howard Days literary festival at Cross Plains, Texas, in 2004 [39]. Sasser had started attending Howard Days in 2003, and he and Alma have been fixtures at most of them ever since. At Howard Days 2004, he was on a panel that discussed the Howard Boom of the 1970s. Of Howard Days 2005, he said ―Besides Robert E. Howard, the big attraction for me at Howard Days is the fans. There is also a lot of energy and excitement generated during the various festivities, and I always leave recharged and motivated.‖ [40, p. 5] Sasser joined REHupa in October, 2004 for the second time, this time to stay. Shortly before that, he had erected a Web site for REH: TGR. ―Publishing a fanzine is a labor of love,‖ he said. ―I keep telling myself I‘m breaking even, but even I don‘t believe that whopper. I don‘t have a ton of money to sink into it or a lot of time to spend on it, but I still do it. Hoping to entertain and spread the Howard word are my main goals, I suppose.‖ [41] His REHupa zine The Shadow Kingdom has appeared approximately every other Mailing (every four months) to date, starting with Mailing #189. Ranging from 2 to 22 pages, each contains an account of recent activities in REH fandom, announcements of recent or upcoming REH publications, mailing comments, artwork he has commissioned for his published zines, and occasional reprints of general interest. The seventh issue of REH: TGR was published in the spring of 2005. Coming to 36 pages plus gray covers in a run of 250 copies priced at $10.95 each, it showed the continual improvement the zine would display throughout its run. Keegan again does the front cover, Cavalier the back cover, and Newton Burcham the inside covers. The interior artists are Burcham, Cavalier, Joe Wehrle, Fabian, and David Burton, the latter doing a portfolio of Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, and Turlogh O‘Brien. First up is REH‘s story ―The Haunted Hut‖ (its third appearance), after which Glenn Lord contributes an article in which he traces how the correspondence between REH and Lovecraft led to REH‘s Cthulhu Mythos stories. These stories, excellent though they are, were produced over only a 9-month period. HPL was impressed by them. According to Bob‘s father, in a letter to Bob‘s agent Otis Adelbert Kline, three stories (two of which could be called Cthulhoid), written just before his death, were found in an envelope bearing REH‘s inscription directing him to send them to Weird Tales ―in case of my death.‖ If this were true, it would be further evidence that REH‘s suicide was planned well before his mother‘s death. However, all the stories apparently dated from years earlier, and Dr. Howard not only aggressively marketed what stories had been
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left unpublished [42], but he also was not honest when he stated that REH had purchased his own burial plot. The latter was a fact that Sasser unearthed himself [43].
REH: TGR #7
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Szumskyj appears again with an essay comparing the racism in Shakespeare‘s stories with that in REH‘s. Besides its clumsy phrasings and grammatical errors, its incoherency leaves the reader befuddled as to what Szumskyj‘s point is. It turns out it was to fulfill a university assignment. Next, Linda Melchione (her name typoed) provides a refreshingly different perspective of the Howard Days event, namely that of a wife accompanying her collector husband. ―Little did I know that the trip would truly become a life-changing experience and would leave such a monumental impression.‖ [44] Many others have felt the same. REHupan Danny Street then presents an article, the first of two, collecting all the information REH provided about his fictional land of Cimmeria and its inhabitants. It‘s a textbook example of an interesting question answered by quotes from REH followed by analysis thereof. The issue closes with a review of Del Rey‘s The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane (2004) by Herron, who points out that it‘s the only edition to date containing pure text of all of REH‘s Kane stories, i.e. corrected for publisher Donald M. Grant‘s bowdlerizations. REH: TGR #7 was reviewed by Cavalier [45] and Van Hise [46]. Cavalier says it ―maintains the solid zining we‘ve come to expect from [Sasser]: interesting, diverse articles and essays, a nice mix of artwork, some original Howard, and even an article from Glenn Lord. The overall quality of the layout and graphic design is top-notch: this fanzine is very pleasing to the eye as well as to Howard fandom.‖ However, Cavalier has little regard for either Szumskyj‘s poorly written article or Burton‘s malproportioned art. The second half of the first decade of the 21st century would be notable for the continuing appearance of pure-text REH books, often of unpublished or hard-to-find material; the publication of the first full-length definitive REH biography; research and literary criticism of escalating quality by members of REHupa; the advent of blogs, online fanzines, and Internet postings, sometimes by those with dubious credentials and intentions; and the acquisition of the rights to non-public-domain REH material by a giant media corporation. Would Sasser and his zines be up to the challenge? We shall find out in our concluding installment.
REFERENCES
[1] Sasser, Damon C., Editorial in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 5 (spring, 1976) [2] Fenner, Arnold M., et al., ―REH Editors/Publishers Roundtable Discussion,‖ Part One in Fantasy Crossroads #9 (Stygian Isle Press, Lamoni, Iowa), pp. 31-33 (Aug., 1976) [3] Sasser, Damon C., The Shadow Kingdom #5 in REHupa Mailing #197 (Feb., 2006) [4] Sasser, Damon C., ―God‘s Angry Man‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 7 & 8 (spring, 1976)
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[5] Kuhns, Elaine, ―An Astrological Look at REH‖ [Part One] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol.
1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 25-27 & 43 (spring, 1976)
[6] Warfield, Wayne, ―Robert E. Howard: Retrospectively‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1,
#1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp.29-32 (spring, 1976)
[7] Roark, Byron, ―An Experiment in Exploitation: Donald M. Grant‘s Conan‖ in REH: Two-Gun
Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 33 & 34; see letter by Paul C. Allen in #2, pp. 4 & 5 (spring, 1976)
[8] Melvin, Charles, Fantasy’s Realm #2, pp. 2 &3, in REHupa Mailing #22 (July, 1976) [9] Sasser, Damon C., Editorial in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press,
Houston), p. 3 (summer, 1976)
[10] Sasser, Damon, C., Black Lotus #1, p. 1 in REHupa Mailing #23 (Sept., 1976) [11] Sasser, Damon, C., The Shadow Kingdom #7, p. 2 in REHupa Mailing #199 (June, 2006)
[12] Hoppenstand, Gary, ―Broadswords and Cardboard Barbarians: The Heroic Fantasy of Robert E. Howard‖ in Starwind Science Fiction and Fantasy #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Warren DiLeo, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio), pp. 57-60 (spring, 1976) [13] McHaney, Dennis, ―Robert E. Howard and the Ring, Part One‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 15-17 (winter, 1976) [14] Roark, Byron L., ―Vultures over Cross Plains‖ in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Nemedian Chronicles, Shawnee Mission, Kan.), pp. 40-45 (fall, 1975); see letters by Dirk Mosig, Wayne Warfield, & L. Sprague de Camp in #4, p. 62; ―Vultures‖ & de Camp‘s reply reprinted in The Road to Velitrium #29 (ed. James Van Hise), pp. 15-21 in REHupa Mailing #155 (Feb., 1999) [15] Roark, Byron L., and Fenner, Arnie M. ―Arnie,‖ ―Sons of REH/Interview: L. Sprague de Camp‖ in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles, Shawnee Mission, Kan.), pp. 3639 (spring, 1976); reprinted in The Barbarian Keep #26 (ed. Edward Waterman), pp. 5-9 in REHupa Mailing #178 (Dec., 2002) [16] De Camp, L. Sprague, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles, Shawnee Mission, Kan.), p. 62 (spring, 1976) [17] Herron, Don, ―Conan vs. Conantics‖ in And in His Dream #5, pp. 2-9 in The Hyperborian League Mailing #5 (Oct., 1976); reprinted in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 23-31 (winter, 1976) & in Pusad Regurgitated #1, pp. 2-10 in REHupa Mailing #96 (Mar., 1989); recapped in his ―Thirty Years as a Howard Critic (in Twenty Minutes or Less),‖ in The Cimmerian, Vol. 1, #5 (Leo Grin, Playa del Rey, Cal.), pp. 13-20 (Dec., 2004)
[18] Herron, Don, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles,
Shawnee Mission, Kan.), p. 5 (spring, 1976)
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REHEAPA
[19] De Camp, L. Sprague, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian
Chronicles, Shawnee Mission, Kan.), pp. 4 (spring, 1976) [20] Sasser, Damon C., Letter in The Cimmerian, Vol. 2, #1 (Leo Grin, Playa del Rey, Cal.), p. 31 (Feb., 2005)
[21] Herron, Don, ―The Tennessee Kid: Some History‖ in Yours for Faster Hippos: Thirty Years of “Conan vs. Conantics,” The Cimmerian Library, Vol. 4 (The Cimmerian Press, Playa del Rey, Cal., 2007), pp. 18-25
[22] Herron, Don, Letter, in The Cimmerian, Vol. 2, #2 (Leo Grin, Playa del Rey, Cal.), pp. 35-38 (Apr., 2005)
[23] Hall, Loay, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles, Shawnee
Mission, Kan.), pp. 5 & 36 (spring, 1976)
[24] Cook, Kevin, Letter in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Nemedian Chronicles,
Shawnee Mission, Kan.), pp. 36 (spring, 1976) [25] Sasser, Damon C., ―Echoes from Bal-Sagoth‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 13-18 (summer, 1977); reprinted in The Man from Cross Plains: A Centennial Celebration of Two-Gun Bob Howard (ed. Dennis McHaney, Lulu.com, 2006), pp. 167-178 [26] Roark, Byron, ―Ridin‘ the Range with Robert E. Howard‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 31-35 (summer, 1977) [27] Sasser, Damon C., Editorial in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 3 (fall, 1978) [28] Reid, Thomas R., ―REH and Cultural Trends in Literature‖ in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 45, 47, & 51 (fall, 1978); reprinted as ―Cultural Trends in Literature‖ in The Dark Man #2, July 1991 (Necronomicon Press, West Warwick, R.I.), pp. 30-32 [29] Sasser, Damon C., Editorial in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 3 (fall, 1978) [30] Salmonson, Jessica Amanda, ―Thoughts on the Enjoyment of Heroic Fantasy‖ in Thrust: Science Fiction and Fantasy Review #34 (Thrust Publications, Gaithersburg, Md.), pp. 15-17 (summer, 1989); reprinted as ―The Sins of Our Tastes, the Sins of Our Trade‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 9-11 (winter, 2003); revision at http://www.violetbooks.com/heroic.html [31] Sasser, Damon C., ―El Dios Diabólico de Tlasceltec‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 13, 14, & 31 (winter, 2003)
[32] Howard, Robert E., and Offutt, Andrew J., ―Nekht Semerkeht‖ in Swords against Darkness (Zebra Books, New York, 1977), pp. 12-48
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REHEAPA [33] Schweitzer, Darrell, ―Was Robert E Howard a Hack?‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 27-30 (winter, 2003)
[34] Schweitzer, Darrell, Conan’s World and Robert E. Howard (Borgo Press, San Bernardino, Cal., 1978), p. 58 [35] Cavalier, William ―Indy,‖ Cold Steel #106, pp. 3 & 4, in REHupa Mailing #184 (Dec., 2003) [36] Van Hise, James, The Road to Velitrium #51, pp. 2-4 in REHupa Mailing #184 (Dec., 2003) [37] Van Hise, James, ―A Robert E. Howard Fanzine Rises from the Grave,‖ in Sword & Fantasy #1 (James Van Hise, Yucca Valley, Cal.), pp. 28-31 (Jan., 2005) [38] Van Hise, James, The Road to Velitrium #53, p. 54, in REHupa Mailing #188 (Aug., 2004)
[39] Grin, Leo, ―When You Wish upon a (Wandering) Star,‖ in The Cimmerian, Vol. 2, #4 (Leo Grin, Playa del Rey, Cal.), pp. 5-18 (Aug.., 2005)
[40] Sasser, Damon C., The Shadow Kingdom #2, p. 1, in REHupa Mailing #191 (Feb., 2005) [41] Sasser, Damon C., The Shadow Kingdom #1, p. 1, in REHupa Mailing #189 (Oct., 2004) [42] Louinet, Patrice, ―Grief & Greed? Isaac Mordecai Howard and the Robert E. Howard Estate, June 1936-March 1937‖ in Dwelling in Dark Valley #2 (June, 2001) at REHEAPA (http://www.robert-e-howard.org/Dwelling2.html) [43] Sasser, Damon C., ―1st Addition, W Half, Lot 13, Block 25, Spaces 10,‖ in the REH: TwoGun Raconteur Blog, 8 Nov. 2010 (http://rehtwogunraconteur.com/?s=greenleaf)
[44] Melchione, Linda, ―A Woman Looks at Cross Plains‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 21-23 (spring, 2005)
[45] Cavalier, William ―Indy,‖ Cold Steel #113, pp. 4 & 5 in REHupa Mailing #191 (Feb., 2005) [46] Van Hise, James, The Road to Velitrium #55, p. 6 in REHupa Mailing #191 (Feb., 2005)
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REHEAPA
THE ROBERT E. HOWARD BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SECONDARY SOURCES, PART VII
The list of articles below is complete insofar as it contains all items relating to Howard, excepting those by Howard himself (being primary references and cataloged elsewhere) and those inspired by Howard, such as poems by others (being primary references by those authors). It is in alphabetical order by author and then by title. The abstract, if any, is in brackets.
The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1 REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1-7 (fanzine series edited and published by Damon C. Sasser)
AUTHOR Herron, Don
REFERENCE ―Conan vs. Conantics‖ [assessment & disapprobation of Conan pastiches written by L. Sprague de Camp & Lin Carter] in And in His Dream #5, pp. 2-9 in The Hyperborian League Mailing #5 (Oct., 1976); reprinted in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 23-31 (winter, 1976) & in Pusad Regurgitated #1, pp. 2-10 in REHupa Mailing #96 (Mar., 1989); see letters by Daniel Gobbett, Paul C. Allen, L. Sprague de Camp, Don Herron, Loay Hall, & Kevin Cook in REH:TGR #4, pp. 4, 5, & 36 Review of The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane (by REH; Del Rey, 2004) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 34 & 35 (spring, 2005) ―An Astrological Look at REH‖ [Part One] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 25-27 & 43 (spring, 1976) ―Scorpio Rising: An Astrological Look at REH‖ [Part Two] in REH: TwoGun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 21 & 22 (summer, 1976) ―The Stars and the Skald‖ [Part Three of REH‘s horoscope] in REH: TwoGun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 23-25 (summer, 1977) ―REH, HPL, and the Cthulhu Mythos‖ [of H. P. Lovecraft] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 8 & 9 (spring, 2005) ―The Writing Game‖ [history of REH‘s jobs & sales of stories & poems to pulp markets, with a photo of REH & David Lee] in REH: Lone Star Fictioneer #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Nemedian Chronicles, Kansas City, Kan.), pp. 9-12 (spring, 1975); reprinted minus photo in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 15-17 (fall, 1978)
Herron, Don
Kuhns, Elaine
Kuhns, Elaine
Kuhns, Elaine
Lord, Glenn
Lord, Glenn
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REHEAPA McHaney, Dennis ―Robert E. Howard and the Ring, Part One‖ [survey of REH‘s boxing stories] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 15-17 (winter, 1976) ―A Woman Looks at Cross Plains‖ [her experiences at Howard Days 2003] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 21-23 (spring, 2005) ―The Rare Ones‖ [REH hardback collecting] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 33-36 (winter, 1976) Review of The Book of Robert E. Howard (ed. Glenn Lord; Zebra, 1976) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 32 & 33 (summer, 1976) ―REH and Cultural Trends in Literature‖ [REH‘s & H.P. Lovecraft‘s antagonists & attitudes toward civilization] in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 45, 47, & 51 (fall, 1978); reprinted as ―Cultural Trends in Literature‖ in The Dark Man #2, July 1991 (Necronomicon Press, West Warwick, R.I.), pp. 30-32 Review of Night Images (by REH; Morning Star, 1977)] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 37 & 38 (summer, 1977) ―An Experiment in Exploitation: Donald M. Grant‘s Conan‖ [review of The People of the Black Circle, A Witch Shall Be Born, & The Tower of the Elephant (by REH; Donald M. Grant)] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 33 & 34; see letter by Paul C. Allen in #2, pp. 4 & 5 (spring, 1976) ―Ridin‘ the Range with Robert E. Howard‖ [on REH‘s western stories] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 31-35 (summer, 1977) ―Thoughts on the Enjoyment of Heroic Fantasy‖ [objectives of heroic fantasy] in Thrust: Science Fiction and Fantasy Review #34 (Thrust Publications, Gaithersburg, Md.), pp. 15-17 (summer, 1989); reprinted as ―The Sins of Our Tastes, the Sins of Our Trade‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 9-11 (winter, 2003); revision at http://www.violetbooks.com/heroic.html ―The Annotated Solomon Kane‖ [synopses of his stories & fragments] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 9-16 (spring, 1976) ―The Complete Kane‖ [list of Solomon Kane stories & fragments with date of first appearance] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 19 (spring, 1976)
Melchione, Linda
Melvin, Charles
Parsons, David
Reid, Thomas R.
Riley, Steven T.
Roark, Byron L.
Roark, Byron L.
Salmonson, Jessica Amanda
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
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REHEAPA Sasser, Damon C. ―Echoes from Bal-Sagoth‖ [on REH‘s hero Turlogh Dubh O‘Brien] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 13-18 (summer, 1977) ―El Dios Diabólico de Tlasceltec‖ [on REH‘s fragment ―Nekht Semerkeht‖] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 13, 14, & 31 (winter, 2003) ―God‘s Angry Man‖ [sketch of Solomon Kane‘s career & the stories & books he appeared in] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 7 & 8 (spring, 1976) ―The Kane Glossary‖ [list & description of characters in Solomon Kane stories] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 17 & 18 (spring, 1976) ―Red Sonya vs. Red Sonja‖ [review of Roy Thomas‘s adaptation of the character for Marvel Comics] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 41 & 42 (spring, 1976) Review of Bloodstar: King of the Northern Abyss (by Richard Corben, REH, & John Jakes; Morning Star, 1976) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 34 (summer, 1976) Review of Graveyard Rats (by REH; Wildside, 2003) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), p. 32 (winter, 2003) Review of The Iron Man (by REH; Zebra, 1976) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 33 (summer, 1976) Review of Robert E. Howard – The Power of the Writing Mind (ed. Benjamin Szumskyj; Mythos, 2003) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #6, Vol. 1, #6 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), p. 32 (fall, 2004) Review of The Ultimate Guide to Howardia (by Wayne Warfield; Hall, 1976) in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), p. 33 (summer, 1976) ―The Vengeance Sword of the Norman-Gael‖ [REH‘s Cormac Fitzgeoffrey crusader stories] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #6, Vol. 1, #6 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 11-13 (fall, 2004) ―A Mouthful of Feathers‖ [comparison of Conan & Tarzan] in The Chronicler of Cross Plains #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 29, 30, & 51 (fall, 1978) ―Was Robert E Howard a Hack?‖ in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #5, Vol. 1, #5 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 27-30 (winter, 2003)
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Sasser, Damon C.
Saunders, Charles R.
Schweitzer, Darrell
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REHEAPA Smolins, Steve ―Collecting Howardia‖ [REH book & fanzine collecting] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 23-25 (summer, 1976) Review of Official Guide to the Fantastics (by Michael Resnick; House of Collectibles, 1976) [plus comments on collectible REH books] in REH: TwoGun Raconteur #3, Vol. 1, #3 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 37 & 38 (winter, 1976) ―A Dark Gray Heritage: A Collective Study of Robert E. Howard‘s Cimmerians,‖ Part One in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 25-33 (spring, 2005) ―Brothers of the Night: A Cultural Materialistic Study of Shakespeare‘s ‗Prince of Morocco‘ & Robert E. Howard‘s ‗Jacob‘‖ [in ―Pigeons from Hell‖] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #7, Vol. 1, #7 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 11-15 & 23 (spring, 2005) ―Sheathed in a Virgin‘s Skin or the Desires of Man? – Booking Passage on the Mythos Train of Thought‖ [REH‘s Cthulhu Mythos stories] in REH: TwoGun Raconteur #6, Vol. 1, #6 (Black Coast Press, Channelview, Tex.), pp. 21-31 (fall, 2004) ―Forgotten Secrets of Bloody Pride‖ [on REH‘s ―Pigeons from Hell‖] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #4, Vol. 1, #4 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 27-29 (summer, 1977); posted at http://rehtwogunraconteur.com/?page_id=2720 ―The Sense of Hideous Antiquity‖ [analysis of REH‘s ―The Horror from the Mound‖] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp.35-37 (spring, 1976) ―The Legendary Celts: REH and the Celtic Strain‖ [what is known of the historical Celts] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #2, Vol. 1, #2 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp. 13-15 (summer, 1976) ―Robert E. Howard: Retrospectively‖ [sketch of REH‘s life, personality, & prowess as an author] in REH: Two-Gun Raconteur #1, Vol. 1, #1 (Black Coast Press, Houston), pp.29-32 (spring, 1976)
Smolins, Steve
Street, Danny
Szumskyj, Benjamin
Szumskyj, Benjamin
Wallace, Bill
Wallace, Bill
Warfield, Wayne
Warfield, Wayne
© 2010 Lee A. Breakiron
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