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Category: Robert E. Howard

David C. Smith & Robert E. Howard, Part Two: Red Sonja

David C. Smith & Robert E. Howard, Part Two: Red Sonja

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Red Sonja by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney (Ace Books, December 1981 – May 1983). Covers by Boris Vallejo

In addition to his Black Vulmea and Bran Mak Morn stories, David C. Smith collaborated with Richard L. Tierney (1936 –2022) on six novels in a series about Red Sonja. Though often described as Robert E. Howard pastiches, that label is not completely accurate. Red Sonja (spelled with a J), is not a Howard character, although she is based on a couple of female swordslingers Howard did create, particularly — it seems to me — on Valeria, from the Conan story “Red Nails.” (A very similar character named Valeria appeared in the first Conan movie — Conan the Barbarian.)

Howard did create a character named Red Sonya (spelled with a “y”), who appeared as a secondary character in one historical tale — “The Shadow of the Vulture,” from the collection Sowers of the Thunder. She had red hair instead of blonde like Valeria, but otherwise is less reminiscent of Red Sonja than is Valeria.

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David C. Smith & Robert E. Howard, Part One

David C. Smith & Robert E. Howard, Part One

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For the Witch of the Mists by David C. Smith & Richard Tierney (Zebra, January 1978) and The Witch of the Indies by David C. Smith (Zebra, June 1977). Covers by Doug Beekman and Stephen Fabian

I consider David C. Smith (1952) a friend. We’ve never met face to face but we’ve corresponded and have spoken on the phone. As with writers such as Karl Edward Wagner and Andy Offutt, I first became aware of David as an author through a connection to Robert E. Howard.

While in REHupa, the Robert E. Howard United Press Association, I routinely did reviews of Howard pastiches. And so I came upon The Witch of the Indies (Zebra, 1977, cover by Stephen Fabian). Shortly after I picked up For the Witch of the Mists by Smith & Richard Tierney (Zebra, 1978, Cover by Doug Beekman).

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The Purple Prose of Robert E. Howard

The Purple Prose of Robert E. Howard

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The Sowers of the Thunder, a collection by Robert E. Howard (Zebra Books,
March 1975, and Ace Books, July 1979). Covers by Jeff Jones and Esteban Maroto

A personal rant this morning on the issue of: Purple Prose.

A criticism often leveled at Heroic Fantasy, particularly sword & sorcery and sword & planet, is that it’s full of purple prose. Purple prose is flowery and ornate, overloaded with metaphor and melodrama, and full of cliché.

We’ve all seen examples, but bad writing can be found anywhere, in any genre. It irritates me to see all writers in a genre lumped together. For example, I’ve heard Robert E. Howard called a purple prose writer. I probably turned purple in anger in response. Most of REH’s mature writing is remarkably lean, with seldom more than one, and often no qualifying adjectives for his nouns.

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The Heroes of Fantasy Quiz

The Heroes of Fantasy Quiz

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Art for Carson of Venus by Frank Frazetta

They slice. They dice. They bash their way through hordes of foes. They are the heroes of fantasy and just below is a list of some of the greatest. Can you pick out the hero on the right who goes with the author on the left?

Twelve to fifteen correct means you know your bloodthirsty authors like Conan knows ale. Eight to eleven correct is pretty good but you’re not as bloodthirsty as you might like others to believe. Four to seven correct definitely means you’re squeamish at the sight of crimson gore. Below four correct? I’m afraid you’re just not an “army of one.”

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Richard Stark’s Parker, Part 2: Parker the Barbarian!

Richard Stark’s Parker, Part 2: Parker the Barbarian!

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Richard Stark’s Parker by Darwyn Cooke

Last time we discussed the character of Parker, Donald E. Westlake’s master thief and heist planner.

This time, we’ll look at why we’re talking about Parker at all, here in the hallowed spaces of this fine magazine.

Parker might seem like an odd fit. Allow me, however, to draw some parallels that will help to illustrate how and why the master criminal Parker fits in with classic sword and sorcery characters like Conan the Barbarian. For these two gentlemen have far more in common than one might guess.

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Another Classic Sword & Sorcery Anthology: The Barbarian Swordsmen, edited by Sean Richards (AKA Peter Haining)

Another Classic Sword & Sorcery Anthology: The Barbarian Swordsmen, edited by Sean Richards (AKA Peter Haining)

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The Barbarian Swordsmen (Star, 1981). Cover by Gino D’Achille

The Barbarian Swordsmen, edited by Sean Richards, Star publishers, a British press, 1981, cool cover by Gino D’Achille. A collection of Sword & Sorcery (S&S) tales that likely wouldn’t exist except for Robert E. Howard.

I couldn’t find out much about Mr. Richards but Toby Hooper revealed to me that Richards has been reported as a pseudonym for Peter Haining and that appears to be true. His intro here doesn’t reveal anything.

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Marvel’s Conan The Barbarian

Marvel’s Conan The Barbarian

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Conan the Barbarian #4 & 5, by Roy Thomas and Barry Barry Windsor-Smith
(Marvel Comics, April and May 1971). Covers by Barry Windsor-Smith

I don’t systematically collect comic book materials but I pick up Edgar Rice Burroughs or Robert E. Howard related stuff when I see it. Found all three of the Marvel paperbacks above at various book sales.

Conan the Barbarian: The Official Marvel Comics Adaptation of the Movie stayed true to the movie plot. Being a Howard purist, I wasn’t a big fan of the movie when it came out, but it’s grown on me over time. I just don’t really think of it as a Howard Conan movie. Earl Norem did the cover for this one, based on movie images.

The Stan Lee Presents Conan volumes are in color. I don’t have Volume 1 and likely won’t be getting it since it lists at 250 bucks on Amazon, but here are 2 and 3, which I bought for a buck or so. Both were written by Roy Thomas (1940 – ) and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith (1949 – ).

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Classics of Sword & Sorcery: Echoes of Valor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner

Classics of Sword & Sorcery: Echoes of Valor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner

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Paperback editions of all three volumes of Echoes of Valor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner (Tor Books, February 1987, February 1991, and September 1991). Covers by Ken Kelly, Rick Berry, and Rick Berry

The three book Echoes of Valor anthology series from TOR was edited by Karl Edward Wagner, who wrote excellent Sword & Sorcery tales himself, and could recognize good ones when he saw them. These were not anthologies of new stories, but reprints. Each contained a Robert E. Howard tale. Here are some capsule reviews.

Echoes of Valor (1987, Cover Ken Kelly)

Contains one story each by Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, and Henry Kuttner. Howard’s story is “The Black Stranger.” It’s a Conan tale but wasn’t published in REH’s lifetime. He rewrote it as a pirate tale featuring Black Vulmea called “Swords of the Red Brotherhood.” It still didn’t sell. Long after Howard’s death, L. Sprague de Camp rewrote it as “The Treasure of Tranicos” and it was published. It didn’t really need the rewrite in my opinion, so who knows why it wasn’t published initially.

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Heroic Historicals: Robert E. Howard, Harold Lamb, Poul Anderson and James Clavell

Heroic Historicals: Robert E. Howard, Harold Lamb, Poul Anderson and James Clavell

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Robert E. Howard’s The Sowers of the Thunder (Ace Books, July 1979 and Zebra Books, March 1975) . Covers by Esteban Maroto and Jeff Jones

I define Heroic Fantasy (HF) as a type of fiction in which a heroic (bigger than life) figure uses a combination of physical strength and edged weapons (swords, axes, spears) to face bigger than life foes. The hero may be either male or female, but the focus is primarily on personal conflict between the hero and various villains.

I divide Heroic Fantasy into four categories: Sword and Sorcery, Sword and Planet, High Fantasy, and Heroic Historical. I’ve already discussed/defined S&S and S&P earlier here at Black Gate, so today I’m looking at Heroic Historical.

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The Best of Bob: 2025

The Best of Bob: 2025

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Happy 2026! Let’s kick butt for another year. Or at least, limp to the finish in 52 weeks. I really enjoy ‘meeting’ with my friends – and some strangers – here at Black Gate every Monday morning. Keep checking in, and let’s keep the discourse going on things we love. Or at least that catches our eye. Black Gate really is a family. My time writing here has almost been longer than my marriage was!

I continued to evade the Firewall at Black Gate (no, I do not earn a cent a word every time I mention ‘Black Gate.’ like some kind of blogging Pulpster), so I showed up every Monday morning. I had a much harder time conning other folks into writing my column for me – they’re catching on. Drat! So, I had to do my own work this past year.

Here are what I thought were ten of my better efforts in 2025. Hopefully you saw them back when I first posted them. But if not, maybe you’ll check out a few now. Ranking them seemed a bit egotistical, so they’re in chronological order. Let’s go!

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