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Post by dem bones on Apr 17, 2020 17:36:21 GMT
Am sure this will be of great interest to a number of our readers. Out NowRichard Toogood - The Conan Companion: A Publishing History and Collector's Guide (May, 2020)  Blas GallegoWell done, Richard! |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 17, 2020 18:03:57 GMT
I wonder about the thinking behind that cover image. It seems to be supposed to look like a photomosaic, yet it clearly is not.
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Post by andydecker on Apr 17, 2020 18:04:41 GMT
Ordered it at once.
Great work, Richard! Congratulation!
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Post by helrunar on Apr 17, 2020 18:17:24 GMT
Congratulations, Richard! I'm sure there will be great enthusiasm for your book. It looks stunning!
All the best,
Steve
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Post by johnnymains on Apr 17, 2020 19:08:11 GMT
I wonder about the thinking behind that cover image. It seems to be supposed to look like a photomosaic, yet it clearly is not. No need to think too deeply, it's a great cover. Shows the legend and some of the covers that made him into that legend. Going to order my copy as soon as next invoice is cleared. Well done Richard! |
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Post by andydecker on Apr 24, 2020 19:44:23 GMT
Great work, Richard. I read it in one sitting. Was impressed by the passionate writing and the exhaustive documentation of the publishing history. Not to mention all the covers which were new for me. I never have registered the Sanjulian covers before, and the one for "Conan and the Sorcerer" is wonderful.
I am with you on your analysis, different tastes aside  (Personally I don't see much difference between Offutt and Carter. Both are equally tone-deaf when it comes to Howard, the few of Offutt's Cormac novels I read I thought particulary unconvincing.)
Sadly the "new" Conan novels haven't materialized yet - or did I miss them? - which I guess killed the promotional momentum established by Marvel. Or not, considering how poor the material was. It was a said affair. I had the opportunity to read the Belit miniseries. Misguided and a failure in every aspect. You are right, you can't write this kind of S&S with sledge-hammering modern sensibilties into it. Considering how well they did the new Star Wars material, it was baffling how much they dropped the ball here.
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Post by dem bones on May 1, 2020 13:14:26 GMT
Arrived today .... Richard Toogood - The Conan Companion: A Publishing History & Collector's Guide (2020)  Blas Gallego
Introduction
The Path From Pulp To Paperbacks
The Lancer Conan: 1966-1973
The Sphere Conan: 1973-1991
The Berkley Conan: 1977
The Ace Conan: 1977-1989
The Bantam Conan: 1978-1982
The Tor Conan: 1982-2011
the Legend Conan: 1996-1997
The Millennial Conan and Beyond
AfterwordBlurb: The heroes and villains from Conan's long publishing history. This meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated guide to the paperback appearances of Conan the Barbarian is the ultimate companion for his worldwide legion of fans. It chronicles Conan's triumphant rise from humble pulp beginnings to paperback icon. Each of Conan's publishers is subject to a detailed chapter-length examination, including full colour galleries of every official English-language title ever published. An indispensable aid to Conan collectors everywhere. |
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Post by dem bones on May 10, 2020 17:23:31 GMT
Much as it is wonderful to have all the US and GB paperback cover art compiled between covers, it's Mr. T.'s impassioned, sometimes scathing and frequently laugh out loud commentary does it for me. Not being the least knowledgeable about the character's post-Magazine of Horror years - or, indeed, S&S in general - the sins of Sprague de Camp came as news to me, as did those of "militant feminist" infiltrators at Ace books as the 'eighties wound down. That said, I think the author's finest achievement is dismantling de Camp's cruel promotion of Howard as psychotic mothers boy.
Apropos of nothing much, REH is an author whose work I never consciously set out to read but, whenever I hit on him in an anthology or magazine, almost invariably enjoy. Am sure the very posthumously published Vale of Lost Women was my first Conan, but may have given Conan of Cimmeria a go in my early teens as I recognise Frazetta's cover art from copy we had at home. Could be my step-dad was a fan which suggests, that despite being "about as far down the paperback food chain as you could plumb," the Lancer editions made the racks of at least one North London newsagent.
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Post by Shrink Proof on May 11, 2020 12:52:39 GMT
At long last the definitive history of Conan the Barbarian paperbacks that fans have clamoured for. Conan the Librarian? |
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Post by severance on Aug 31, 2020 18:17:06 GMT
Considering the fact that Richard's booklet has Justin's design presence all over it and it, like the various 'House of Fanatic' publications, is available from Amazon print-on-demand, I thought I'd stick this thread in this section of the board. Typically my scanner is being temperamental again so if someone could scan the cover up, I'd be most grateful.
Billed as a publishing history and collector’s guide to all U.K. and U.S. paperback fiction featuring Robert E. Howard’s iconic Cimmerian, whether crafted by Howard himself in the 1930’s or a veritable slew of imitators since, this 11” by 8.5” 107 page booklet is a visual feast – as should be expected given Justin’s design presence – and the writing by our very own Richard Toogood isn’t too shabby either. Broken down into chapters by publisher, starting with Lancer in the 60’s, it attempts to showcase every cover without thankfully getting bogged down with detailing every single edition or printing that each book went through. Some remarks I’ve seen on 'Goodreads' have questioned this methodology, but if “Conan the Adventurer” went through at least 10 editions between 1966 and 1973 with the same Frank Frazetta cover art each time, then who wants or needs to see all 10?
Richard hasn’t shied away from the polarising subject of L. Sprague de Camp throughout the course of the book, if anything he’s maybe mentioned too often, but I’m definitely in Richard’s camp (sic) in regards to de Camp’s ongoing attempts to control the franchise and exaggerate his own importance to it, even to the point of disparaging Robert E. Howard himself. Unlike Richard, who has my admiration for wading through every pastiche, I’ve tried to stay away from them wherever possible. The only de Camp and Lin Carter efforts I’ve read have been in the half a dozen volumes that also include some of Howard’s original tales, and from the Tor years I’ve read a few of the Robert Jordan efforts only because his early “Wheel of Time” novels were impressive. (I gave up on that series when book 4 weighed in at 1,031 pages with little advancement of plotlines)
Richard mentions the essay that Don Herron published in the 1970’s – “Conan vs. Conantics” – in which Herron stated that “... the extra de Camp-Carter wordage added to Robert E. Howard’s own and mixed in with his stories in the Conan paperback books has done more damage to REH’s literary reputation than all the poor tales that Howard wrote himself” – and this view very much echoes my own thoughts on the subject, but that doesn’t mean to say that reading about the books subsequently produced is anything other than an enormous pleasure.
Well done Richard on producing this absorbing, sumptuous booklet detailing the publishing history of one of literature’s greatest creations.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 31, 2020 18:35:06 GMT
Hi Sev. We already have a thread for Richard's book so have shifted your review.
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Post by severance on Aug 31, 2020 18:41:56 GMT
Cheers Dem, I thought a thread existed somewhere here, but just couldn't for the life of me find it anywhere.
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Post by helrunar on Jan 17, 2021 22:11:00 GMT
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Post by andydecker on Jan 18, 2021 22:39:04 GMT
Thanks for the tip. Sounds good.
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(Personally I don't see much difference between Offutt and Carter. Both are equally tone-deaf when it comes to Howard, the few of Offutt's Cormac novels I read I thought particulary unconvincing.) 
