2000 Howard News
12-20-2000
Great new CPI Diary Online.
12-19-2000
NASDAQ halts trading of Stan Lee Media.
12-17-2000
New Essays Online.
12-16-2000
Major REHupa site update.
12-15-2000
Stan Lee Media Going Under?
11-06-2000
L. SPRAGUE de CAMP dead at 92.
11-01-2000
CPC/WANDERING STAR's Worms of the Earth released.
10-28-2000
Glenn Lord's ULTIMA THULE released.
09-16-2000
THE DARK MAN: The Journal of Howard Studies is returning.
09-12-2000
STAN LEE MEDIA has purchased Conan Properties, Inc.
08-02-2000
THE CONAN CHRONICLES Vol. 1 has been released.
07-29-2000
WANDERING STAR has acquired the US rights to CONAN.
Great new CPI Diary Online
Over at Ståle Gismervik's Savage World of Conan website, an anonymous user has posted a growing series of diary-like articles which recount his dealings with the notoriously inept Conan Properties, Inc. circa 1997. These articles are very entertaining, and give one a keen insight into the kinds of personalities that have been mishandling Howard's characters for the last twenty years. There isn't much here that we haven't already divined ourselves, but it is interesting to see it laid out in such detail.
So enjoy reading the articles, and drop Ståle a line and tell him to keep up the good work.
Meeting
With CPI
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NASDAQ halts trading of Stan Lee Media
This story just came in. The future of the Conan property is as uncertain as ever. Thanks to Jim Keegan for hunting this down:
Nasdaq Halts Trading of Stan Lee Media, Inc. and Requests Additional Information From Company
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ --
The Nasdaq Stock Market (SM) announced that trading was halted in Stan Lee Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLEE - news), today at 12:40 p.m., Eastern Time, for ``additional information requested'' from the company at a last price of 1/8. Trading will remain halted until Stan Lee Media, Inc. has fully satisfied Nasdaq's request for additional information.
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New Essays Online
There are two great new essays available to you. Both originally appeared in the pages of REHupa.
First, REHupan Gary Romeo presents The Tower of the Elephant, a very perceptive essay that discusses one of Howard's least known traits: his great love and sympathy for animals. The Tower of the Elephant is one of the more unique Conan stories that Howard wrote, and Gary's essay provides some interesting theories for why this is so. Conan as a PETA spokesperson? You never would have guessed it until Gary makes his case.
Second, REHupan Dale Rippke presents the next in his fine series "Mysteries of the Hyborian Age". Dale has been writing a series of papers for REHupa in which he uses minute clues present in Howard's fiction to piece together the "pseudo-history" Howard never laid out in a complete form (the way Tolkien did with his LOTR Appendices, for example). Dale proves that the small nuggets of information Howard dropped into his stories were not arbitrary but were instead part of an overall scheme that Howard had firmly in mind when writing. This new essay is titled The Coming of the Hyborians, and shows us the genesis and pre-history of the people who would eventually inhabit Conan's Age.
So enjoy the essays, and drop Gary and Dale a line at the REH Inner Circle mailing list to tell them what you thought.
The Tower of the Elephant
Mysteries of the Hyborian Age
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Major REHupa site update
As you can see, the REHupa site has undergone some changes....
Many new features have also been implemented to make the site more useful to the Howard scholar.
Some of the more important additions:
The Robert E. Howard Bookshelf: Rusty Burke's magnum opus on what Howard may have read is finally available. Furthermore, it has been meticulously formatted and hyper linked to maximize its usefulness to you. It is great reading and likely will prove invaluable to the Howard researcher.
In addition, several of Rusty's other gargantuan contributions have also been fully hyper linked: Howard at the Movies and the Howard Fiction and Verse Timeline. The idea was to make any one entry available to you within a few clicks. These documents are now much easier to read and search as a result of these improvements.
There is now a news section which is accessible from the front page to keep everyone up to date on what is happening in Howardia. Everyone is encouraged to submit whatever news they think is relevant, including advertising for whatever fanzines or projects they are working on. REHupans with personal non-Howard things to announce (new book coming out, new baby or married, etc.) are also encouraged to submit an update if they wish.
I have scoured the Internet for interesting Howard material, and the links to this material have been posted under the appropriate sections. This allows one to access virtually everything on the Internet concerning Howard from one master menu here on the REHupa site, with all of the broken links and pastiche fan sites filtered out for you.
More articles and essays have been added, and many more have been linked to from other places. Right now I find the way I arranged these to be a little haphazard, so as things develop I intend to categorize these into more specific groups. But the information is there.
A complete REHupa FAQ has been written, replacing all other scattered sources of information and allowing prospective members to fully acclimate themselves with REHupa on one convenient page fit for printing. This is a great place to direct prospective members who want more information about REHupa.
On the multimedia front, many more Howard pictures have been added. Also, some "Last Celt" wallpaper is also available for your desktop.
This initial transformation is only the first stage. As more content is added, I expect the site will grow incrementally until it becomes quite a clearinghouse for everything Howard.
During the creation of these pages, mistakes in typing, punctuation, or factual information may have (certainly have!) crept in undetected by me. If you find any, I would appreciate being notified so that I can correct them.
Enjoy the new site.
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Stan Lee Media Going Under?
The following news was released today:
Stan Lee Media Announces Suspension of Its Production Operations
Business Editors
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 2000--Stan Lee Media, Inc. (Nasdaq:SLEE) announced today that, based upon the continued volatility of its stock and the drop of its stock price to below $1, it is unable to complete the balance of its recently announced bridge financing. In light of this fact, Stan Lee Media has suspended its production operations and laid off substantially all of its staff. Key executives will remain at the company to explore new financing options. "We still believe in the fundamentals of our business plan and are proud of the work we have accomplished to date," stated Ken Williams, President and CEO. "In the coming weeks, we will be focusing on exploring the full range of strategic alternatives available to us in order to maximize shareholder value."
CONTACT: Stan Lee Media, Inc., Rick Madden, 818/461-4157
The effect of this on Conan (the rights of which Stan Lee Media now owns) is uncertain. Thanks to Terry Allen for digging this up.
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L. SPRAGUE de CAMP dead at 92
L. Sprague de Camp, one of the most controversial personalities in Howard studies, has died at the age of 92.
Mr. deCamp had suffered a stroke in Plano, TX (where he has lived for many years), and had been in the hospital for several days before his death. His wife Catherine preceded him in death last April.
There is more information about Mr. deCamp and his passing at his website.
A website called SPACELIGHT also has an updated page of information about de Camp and his wife.
Following are some obituaries from the papers. Thanks goes to REHupan Larry Richter for hunting these down:
The Washington Post | The New York Times |
The Dallas Morning News
- Leo Grin -
The Washington Post
L. Sprague de Camp, Science Fiction Author
L. Sprague de Camp, 92, who penned more than 100 science fiction and fantasy books and contributed to stories about the fictional character "Conan the Barbarian," died Nov. 6 in Plano, Tex., after a stroke.
His work involving the Conan character continued well after the character's creator, Robert E. Howard, died in 1936.
Mr. De Camp's books also include historical novels and nonfiction works such as the biography of H.P. Lovecraft and the "Evolution of Naval Weapons," a textbook published by the U.S. government.
The New York Times
L. S. de Camp, Author of Over 100 Fantasy Novels, Dies at 92
By ERIC PACE
Sprague de Camp, who wrote over 100 science-fiction and fantasy novels and numerous short stories, died on Monday in Plano, Tex., where he lived. He was 92.
Mr. de Camp was widely regarded as an imaginative and innovative writer and was an important figure in the heyday of science fiction, from the late 1930's through the late 1940's.
In those years, John W. Campbell Jr. was the editor in chief of Astounding Science Fiction magazine and the dominant magazine editor in the science-fiction world. It has been said that Mr. Campbell pointed to Mr. de Camp's stories as the paradigm of the new kind of fiction he wished to publish in those early years.
That new kind of fiction, said David G. Hartwell, a senior editor at Tor/Forge Books who specializes in science fiction, "was fiction that took place in seemingly ordinary settings except that they were completely imagined by scientific extrapolation."
"In other words, there was some radical difference from the present world caused by some idea based on a careful and reasonable extrapolation from contemporary science," he added.
As The Independent stated this year, Mr. de Camp was one of a half- dozen "young, or youngish" writers who in the late 1930's transformed science fiction from tales of whiz- bang galactic pyrotechnics and `crashing suns' into a genre of mood, character, subtlety, psychological development and reasonably sure- footed plotting."
"In short, the literature of ideas," it said.
Looking back on that era, Frederick Pohl, a science-fiction writer and a friend of Mr. de Camp for more than 50 years as well as a former president of the Science Fiction Writers of America, said: "One of the things that most pleased me about Sprague's writing in the 1930's and 40's was that his heroes were always people I could recognize as humans and neighbors. They weren't superheroes; they were the boy next door."
Mr. de Camp also edited and contributed to a variety of fantasy stories about a swashbuckling fictional figure, Conan, sometimes known as Conan the Barbarian, whose creator, Robert E. Howard died in 1936.
Fantasy writing by Mr. de Camp was applauded for its grace and insight when it was included in "Modern Classics of Fantasy" (1997), a collection of fantasy stories.
He also wrote under the pseudonyms Lyman R. Lyon and J. Wellington Wells.
He was one of the first writers to receive the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He also won a World Fantasy Convention Award in 1984 for his achievements.
Mr. de Camp also wrote historical novels and a variety of nonfiction books. For "Great Cities of the Ancient World" (1972), he traveled thousands of miles in more than two years to familiarize himself with 13 ancient sites.
His historical novel "The Bronze God of Rhodes" (1960) put the Colossus of Rhodes in the title role. "On a clear day," Mr. de Camp wrote, "he could be seen from elevated points on the Asian coast, and mariners a hundred furlongs at sea caught the golden blink of the sun on his gilded crown."
Besides working as a writer, he was also a surveyor, engineer and patent expert.
A native of New York City, Lyon Sprague de Camp received a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1930 from the California Institute of Technology and received a master's degree in 1933 from Stevens Institute of Technology.
He served in the Navy in World War II and became a lieutenant commander.
His wife, Catherine Crook de Camp, who edited and was co-author of many of his writings, died in April.
He is survived by two sons, Lyman Sprague de Camp of Garland, Tex., and Gerard Beekman de Camp of Dallas; three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a brother, Lyman Lyon de Camp.
The Dallas Morning News
Services scheduled for science-fiction and fantasy writer L. Sprague de Camp
11/12/2000
By Michael Johnson / The Dallas Morning News
L. Sprague de Camp, the author of more than 100 science-fiction and fantasy novels, died Nov. 6 at Medical Center of Plano from complications of a stroke he suffered two weeks earlier.
Mr. de Camp has been called a legend of the "Golden Age" of science fiction. He is known for books such as The Ancient Engineers, The Day of the Dinosaur, Great Cities of the Ancient World and The Great Monkey Trial.
He was also widely recognized for his work on the "Conan" series of fantasy stories about a fictional swashbuckler that were later made into movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Conan was the brainchild of Robert E. Howard, who died in 1936, but Mr. de Camp saw that a loyal following of the series would welcome new additions, said his eldest son, Lyman Sprague de Camp of Garland.
"Well, it was a property that was allowed to die a natural death when Mr. Howard removed himself from the scene," Mr. de Camp's son said. "Sprague came across it in the mid-1950s and saw there was enough interest for it to be revived."
Mr. de Camp's son said he became aware of his father's standing as an "important science-fiction writer of the time" when he began attending world science-fiction conventions with him in the mid-'60s.
He said his father's books appealed to readers because they incorporated humor that other works at the time didn't.
Mr. de Camp was born Nov. 27, 1907, in New York City. He earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in 1930 and a master's degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., in 1933. He served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve in World War II.
Mr. de Camp's early works appeared in science-fiction magazines in the late 1930s.
Mr. de Camp was one of the first writers to receive the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He also won a World Fantasy Convention Award in 1984 for his work.
After spending more than 40 years in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Mr. de Camp and his wife, Catherine Crook de Camp, moved to Plano in 1989 to be closer to their two sons. They were married 60 years before she died in April.
Services for Mr. de Camp, 92, are set for 2 p.m. Dec. 2 at Wildwood Chapel at Restland Cemetery in Dallas. His remains have been cremated and will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with his wife's.
In addition to son Lyman Sprague de Camp, Mr. de Camp is survived by son Gerard Beekman de Camp of Dallas; three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a brother, Lyman Lyon de Camp of Indian Harbor Beach, Fla.
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CPC / WANDERING
STAR's Worms of the Earth released
A great new publication has been released called WORMS OF THE EARTH, featuring a comic book adaptation of one of Howard's most famous stories, and containing many other items of interest to the Howard scholar. This book was a joint effort of Cross Plains Comics and Wandering Star. Cross Plains Comics has earned a bad reputation for producing inferior books and turning into a Marvel reprint house, but the influence of Wandering Star can be felt here, and this book is excellent as a result.
Several REHupans were involved with this book, the most notable of which is Jim Keegan, who was Art Director and put together a beautiful publication filled with nice touches and extras. A breakdown of the contents follows:
WORMS OF THE EARTH
The COVER ILLUSTRATION is by Mark Schultz, the artist chosen by Wandering Star to illustrate their first deluxe Conan volume.
The first half of the book presents a classic 1976 comic adaptation of the famous Howard story WORMS OF THE EARTH, featuring Howard's pulp hero Bran Mak Morn. This is appearing here for the first time in full color. The art is by Tim Conrad and Barry Windsor-Smith, the story is by Robert E. Howard, adapted by Roy Thomas, and the colors are by George Freeman and Laurie E. Smith.
Next there is an INTERVIEW WITH TIM CONRAD, conducted by author Steve Ringgenberg. Conrad was the primary artist on Worms of the Earth.
BRAN MAK MORN...DESTROYER is an essay by Howard scholar Fred Blosser, and takes a retrospective look at the process of adapting Howard’s pulp hero for the comics. THE ADVENTURES OF TWO-GUN BOB is an ongoing series of biographical sketches from the life of Robert E. Howard. Jim and Ruth Keegan take excerpts from Howard's own letters and bring them to life in brilliant comic form, showing how different the real Howard is from the stereotypes that have been thrusted upon him by his erstwhile biographers (such as de Camp). This book presents three all new, full-color installments of this wonderful and enlightening series.
Next is an INTERVIEW WITH GARY GIANNI, the acclaimed Howard artist behind the Wandering Star titles The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane and the forthcoming Bran Mak Morn: The Last King. Jim Keegan sat down with Gary and conducted a deep, wide-ranging interview that covers a lot of ground. Many incredible reproductions of Gianni's sketches and finished artwork are presented here, and they alone are worth the price of the book.
ROBERT E. HOWARD AND THE PICTS is a scholarly article written by REHupan Rusty Burke. It explores in detail Howard's fascination with the legendary lost race.
Rusty also presents here a look at PROJECT PRIDE, a Cross Plains booster organization who has restored the home where Robert E. Howard lived, and turned it into the Robert E. Howard Home and Museum in Cross Plains, Texas.
Finally, Jim Keegan has professionally scanned all of the extant PICTURES OF HOWARD using the original sources, and this publication includes several examples of the stunning quality and clarity of these new scans. If you are used to seeing only shadowy, blurry reproductions of Howard pictures, you will be amazed at these new reproductions.
All in all, this book is a real treat, offering far more than a mere comic adaptation. The design is impeccable, from the cover to the comic to the many other pieces of artwork reproduced within. Worms of the Earth is highly recommended, and anyone wishing to buy it should do so quickly before the limited printing sells out.
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Glenn Lord's ULTIMA THULE released
Joe Marek has released another in a long line of excellent Howard fanzines. Ultima Thule is a collection of very rare material by famed Howard scholar Glenn Lord. Joe's website gives the following details:
Glenn Lord's Ultima Thule
Color Cover by Rafael Kayanan
52 Pages - Facsimile Reproduction
The Hyperborian League was an Amateur Press Association dedicated to serious discussion of the authors Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. At the time of its existence The Hyperborian League was deemed much more serious and scholarly than its rival, The Robert E. Howard United Press Association (REHupa). However, these two apas did merge in the late 1970s and REHupa is still going strong today.
Ultima Thule was Glenn Lord's apa zine in the short-lived The Hyperborian League. In the pages of Ultima Thule, many facts concerning Robert E. Howard's life and work first came to light.
This volume, Glenn Lord's Ultima Thule, gathers together all Mr. Lord's contributions to The Hyperborian League, even including one that did not include the Ultima Thule masthead.
Contents
Ultima Thule #1, October 1975
An Unborn First Edition: This issue recounts Robert E. Howard's original efforts to market The Hour of the Dragon to British publisher, Denis Archer. (That Conan novel is the inspiration for this volume's cover illustration by the extremely talented Mr. Rafael Kayanan.)
Ultima Thule #2, April 1976
Many editors used printed rejection slips, but occasionally the editor would write a personal letter instead. Here are examples of some of these letters.
Ultima Thule #3, July 1976
In the normal exchange of correspondence that naturally occurs between agent and client, in this case Oscar J. Friend and Dr. P.M. Kuykendall, Dr. Kuykendall nearly sells all rights to Robert E. Howard's work to Mr. Friend.
Ultima Thule #4, October 1976
This is a listing of the actual sales that Howard made in his lifetime, with the amounts that he and his agent earned on those sales.
Ultima Thule #5, July 1977
Not only did this issue, from The Hyperborian League 8, feature more personal rejection letters (and requests for rewrites) from Howard's files, but also contains the first attempt by Mr. Lord to update the "Translations" section of The Last Celt past its original December 1973 cut-off date.
Ultima Thule #6, January 1978
From The Hyperborian League 10, we have further updates of the "Translations" section of The Last Celt, some publishing news, and the last of the personal rejection letters that were to run in this fine apa zine.
Robert E. Howard's Library
Rather than a final issue of Ultima Thule, The Hyperborian League 12 ran the first attempt by one in the Modern era (that is, since the original librarian's list) to try to catalogue the Howard Library that had been donated to the Memorial Collection at Howard Payne College.
Joe Marek's fanzines tend to sell out fast and become collectors items, so if you don't want to have to pay double or triple for this on E-Bay a year from now, you should order right away. Ordering information is as follows:
$12.00 in North America; $14.00 if you live anywhere else.
(If you've ordered from Joe twice before, you can send a personal check, otherwise he prefers money orders. Also, a 15% royalty from each copy is going to Mr. Lord)
Joe Marek
542 S 30 Street
Omaha, NE 68105-2701
U. S.A.
Joe
Marek's Robert E. Howard Website
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THE DARK MAN: The Journal of Howard Studies is returning
It has been announced that The Dark Man: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies is finally going to become a regular publication, with REHupan Frank Coffman as the new editor
REHupan Rusty Burke started this journal in the early nineties and put out four excellent issues, but due to Rusty's hectic Howard schedule, the journal was never able to be published regularly. So for the last several years there has been no fifth edition of The Dark Man. Until now.
Rusty Burke released the following announcement:
I am pleased to announce that The Dark Man: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies has a new editor, Frank Coffman.
As most of you know, I have had a great deal of difficulty in turning the journal into a regular publication. (Haven't lost my talent for understatement, have I?) I believe that, for it to flourish, it absolutely must be issued on a regular basis. I have been inspired by the recent online discussions of a Robert E. Howard journal to an honest appraisal of my limitations as an editor, and I felt that Frank would be an excellent choice to take over the editorial duties. I offered, and he has accepted. Marc Michaud has indicated an interest in continuing to publish the journal, so we will remain with Necronomicon Press.
Frank has a number of interesting ideas for the journal, which I will leave for him to discuss. I plan to continue working with him in some capacity, certainly as one of the editorial board and as a contributor. I simply do not have the time to do the production work, and the work of promoting the journal, and am very glad indeed that Frank has agreed to take this on.
Rusty
So there you have it. New The Dark Man editor Frank Coffman is now accepting submissions for the Winter 2001 issue of The Dark Man, with the promise of a regular release schedule to follow. Frank has also setup a web page to give more information and to archive old issues of the journal online. All Howard fans interested in scholarly study of Robert E. Howard are encouraged to contribute to this journal, and to buy it when it becomes available.
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STAN LEE MEDIA has purchased Conan Properties, Inc.
In a surprise move, Stan Lee Media has purchased Conan Properties, Inc. in a stock-swap worth about four million dollars.
In recent years the owners of Conan Properties, Inc. (the de Camps and Arthur Lieberman) have been poor custodians of the Conan franchise, doing everything possible to keep Howard's original stories out of print while simultaneously foisting a series of incredibly bad products onto the market. The cartoon show, the TV show, the pastiche books, the comic books...all have been utter failures and have done much to paint out Conan to be a fur-diapered dolt who bears no resemblance to the crafty, brutal anti-hero Howard originally wrought in the pages of Weird Tales.
The effects of this purchase on the future of Conan is uncertain, but at least Stan Lee seems to be preparing to market Conan vigorously and try to breathe some life back into the product. In any case, publisher Wandering Star already has the rights to print the original Conan stories, so no longer can they be kept from the public as they have been for the past thirty years.
Stan Lee Media has a website you can visit for more information.
Some article excerpts regarding the deal are printed below, along with some commentary which appeared on the various Howard email lists:
- Leo Grin -
CROM MEETS EXCELSIOR!
September 12: Stan Lee Media has purchased the rights to CONAN THE BARBARIAN in a stock swap worth $4.3 million.
DOW JONES is reporting "Under the agreement, Stan Lee purchased Conan Properties Inc. in exchange for 409,037 common shares (in Stan Lee Media). The number of shares equals $4.3 million divided by the average closing price of Stan Lee Media for the 30 days preceding Aug. 30."
Dow Jones reported "there are certain price and volume protection rights for the shareholders of Conan Properties Inc. for the first 21 months following the acquisition. Developing.
Fandom Shop - Daily Buzz of 9/12/00 from Fandom.Com
Stan the Barbarian! Stan Lee Media bought the rights to Conan the Barbarian in a $4.3 million stock swap.
"Under the agreement, Stan Lee purchased Conan Properties Inc. in exchange for 409,037 common shares (in Stan Lee Media). The number of shares equals $4.3 million divided by the average closing price of Stan Lee Media for the 30 days preceding Aug. 30," according to Dow Jones. However, "there are certain price and volume protection rights for the shareholders of Conan Properties Inc. for the first 21 months following the acquisition," Dow Jones said.
A opinion of the legal ramifications of the deal, presented by lawyer and Howard fan Paul Herman:
"SLM acquired CPI by trading them some of SLM's company's stock for all of the shares in CPI. The CPI shares were all held by the principals, last I heard, so that would be the Baums, LSDC, Arthur Lieberman, and maybe an agent or some other little 5% share floating somewhere. The little math has to do with deciding first a price, then deciding how many shares to kick in to hit that price, based on a 30 day average of the SLM stock's price.
"SLM is likely pretty volatile stock, lots of possible up and downing, so that would be the basis for the "price" protection, set some kind of minimum price, so that if the stock goes below that, SLM will buy their shares back at the price minimum agreed to in the deal.
"Stan can also likely issue lots of new shares if he wants, just as he likely did for this purchase. The ex-CPIers don't want their stock getting diluted in value by Stan issuing millions of other shares, so that would be the reason for the "volume" protection, if I was to guess.
"Course, all of this presumes that they are going to want to keep those shares, I can't imagine why they would, lots of better places to put money, SLM has been sucking. Two thoughts come to mind. One is that they don't want to have to pay capital gains taxes on that big of a load at once in this tax year, so they want to hold it and sell it off a little at a time, to minimize the tax consequences. And I ain't a tax lawyer, but know a little about these kind of deals, seen such a thing before. The other thought would be that they are retaining some kind of interest above and beyond the stock, maybe some voting rights or some such, and want to keep their hand in. But the tax thang sounds more likely to me."
Some additional Stan Lee Media information by REHupan Rusty Burke:
"Well, even though I don't know beans about business, I thought I'd do a quick check for info on Stan Lee Media. My ISP uses Snap.com for searches, I just typed in "Stan Lee Media," and one of the things I got back had stock quotes and such, so I figured what the hey, check it out. Looks like SLM had a brief spike back in Feb/Mar of this year when its stock went up to about $31.00/share but by April that had fallen below $15.00 and for the past month or so it's been trading at about $10.00 (today's quote was 10.50). Doubt the news that they have acquired CPI will send their stock price skyward. (Kinda reminds me of Howard the Duck. Started at 35 cents, spiked to $10 within a few months, crashed back down to about a buck or two a year later, if I remember right.)
"I clicked on "SEC filings" and got directed to something called "Edgar Online" which allowed me to view the company's SEC filings. SLM sometime last year swapped stock with a publicly traded company called "Boulder Capital Opportunities Inc." which was apparently sitting around inactive waiting for someone to buy it. I don't even try to understand this crap. Anyway, some of the earliest filings in the SEC filings history are for BCOI. The swap seems to have occurred about November of last year and after that the filings are SLM.
"But when I finally located a SLM annual report I took a look through it. Interesting. The most interesting part, *to me*, is that SLM clearly states, several times, that their target audience is "tweens," ages 6 to 20, along with the "generations" of Stan Lee fans. So basically this company aims to become a major web portal for 6-20 year olds and comic book fans, and to provide them with the sort of content they will like and that will draw them to the portal. For instance, they apparently have a deal with the Backstreet Boys to develop those heartthrobs into superheroes or some similar nonsense. Anyway, you can read it yourself, it's in SLM's Form 10-KSB filing with the SEC, March 20, 2000, should be able to find it through whatever stock quote service you prefer. There's a downloadable RTF version of the report but I don't feel like signing up for a 2-week free subscription to Edgar Online to get it. I already get daily mail from two subscription deals that keep showing up even after I tried to cancel them."
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THE CONAN CHRONICLES Vol. 1 has been released
The first volume in a two volume set containing all of Howard's original Conan stories has been released in the UK. A company called Orion Press in England purchased the UK paperback rights to the complete Conan stories, and they are releasing them under their Millennium imprint, as part of an ongoing series of paperbacks they call the Fantasy Masterworks series. This series reprints classic fantasy and science fiction in large, cheap, easy-to-afford paperback editions.
Well-known anthologist Steven Jones has collected the stories and edited the book, also writing an Afterward for each volume. He has aspired to present Conan in his original form, devoid of any rewriting, editing, or pastiche, and this effort is well appreciated. The only problem with this book is that it is so full of typos and misprints that it is completely useless to the scholar, and more than a little annoying for the casual reader. Still, for the reader who doesn't mind reading a seriously misspelled word every other sentence, it is a great way to have all of the Conan stories on your shelf and conveniently accessible.
The book will not be available in the USA, because Orion Press did not buy the rights to publish them here. Those rights have recently been acquired by Wandering Star press, a great publisher in England known for their faithful, meticulously proofed, and lavishly illustrated Howard books. But US fans can still buy this book by ordering it through places like Amazon UK.
Wandering Star is now preparing a series of high-end hardcovers of all of the Conan stories, as well as many other related articles. It will likely be a few years before all of these are printed, however, and a few more before any paperback versions come out in the states. So until then, buying the Orion Press versions is a viable, cheap, and convenient alternative.
- Leo Grin -
Following is Howard fan Terry Allen's initial review, originally posted on the Howard email lists:
"Well , not really a review but a few comments on the look, feel and who it's aimed for. It's part of the Fantasy Masterworks series, volume 8 in fact, but surprisingly these no mention of what the other, or any upcoming volumes consist of. There is an e-mail for info. so I will drop them a line and post their reply.
"The design of the covers is nice, but the illustration of Conan to me is disappointing. The artist , Richard Carr, is no Frazetta or Smith. His Conan looks more like Buscema's on a bad day.
"Intro blurb on the back and inside is from King , Feist , LSDC , HPL and Wagner. There is a 2 page listing of "books also by REH" which just lists title and date, presumably publication but UK or US, something you scholars can check on. 2 pages of acknowledgements. It's dedicated to Karl Edward Wagner.
"The Map is based on REH's by, I presume from the acknowledgement, Dave Senior. It looks nice , how accurate I'll leave to the experts.
"Whose it aimed for? The series I believe is to produce a cheap reprint of classic fantasy work and in this it succeeds. For the newcomer it is an ideal way to get to know Conan, chronologically. I know this has its critics, but for a newbie I suppose it makes sense. It would have been useful though for the introductory passages before each story to be included as they were in the Lancer/Sphere editions.
"For the normal fan, like me, an opportunity to read and savor the first true, or near enough, Howard text. For the scholars, most of you lot, while you are waiting for the real thing from Wandering Star, an appetizer and also the opportunity to get out your
'fine tooth combs' and see how true the text is."
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WANDERING STAR has acquired the US rights to CONAN
WANDERING STAR, a British publisher well known for their stunning, fully-illustrated Robert E. Howard Library of Classics, has announced that they have (finally) acquired the rights to print Robert E. Howard's original CONAN stories in the United States.
This is a very welcome development, as it comes after years of negotiations, and decades in which Howard's original Conan stories have been deliberately kept off of the shelves in favor of cheap, poorly-written pastiches.
The last attempt by someone to put REH's original Conan stories into print (the aborted Berkeley series edited by Karl Edward Wagner in the late seventies) ended with litigation and bad feelings, as the majority owners of Conan Properties, Inc. (led by L. Sprague de Camp) realized that they would receive less money from original Howard than they would from the badly written "add-on" stories which they helped to propagate.
So CPI decided that Howard's stories would remain sequestered from the public, and Mr. Wagner died never seeing his dream of a complete, unedited Conan series reach the public. For twenty years CPI has used lawyers and threats to keep original Howard off of bookshelves, except for occasional, isolated reprints in anthologies or fanzines (such as the Conan tales The Black Stranger and The Frost Giant's Daughter appearing in the Echoes of Valor anthologies edited by Karl Edward Wagner).
In later years, CPI has watched on the sidelines as Wandering Star garnered excellent reviews and much praise for their first two Robert E. Howard publications (The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, and the Frazetta-illustrated The Ultimate Triumph). Meanwhile CPI's own Conan pastiches have been vilified and have gone out of print, and their other efforts to Disney-ize Howard's character (an awful Saturday morning cartoon, a terrible short-lived TV series) have all met with failure.
No longer able to fool the public with cheap imitations, and with Mr. de Camp's influence waning with old age, last year CPI sold the Conan UK paperback rights to Orion House of England, a small fantasy publisher in the UK noted for their mass market Fantasy Masterworks series. Orion's first paperback of original Conan stories (The Conan Chronicles Vol. 1.: The People of the Black Circle) is already available in the UK. Volume 2 is due to hit UK store shelves early in 2001. But unfortunately these paperbacks will not be available in the USA, and to get them one must order them from places like Amazon UK.
But now, finally, CPI has relented and given Wandering Star the chance to bring Conan back. For the first time ever, Howard's complete, unedited, fully-restored tales of Conan the Cimmerian will be available in the United States, in lavish fully-illustrated editions that harken back to the classic days of publishing.
This is perhaps the best news to ever hit Howard fandom, and everyone is waiting with baited breath to see how the project comes out. Wandering Star reports that the tales of Conan will be released in three volumes. Famed illustrator Mark Schultz will be illustrating Volume 1, and well known Howard illustrator Gary Gianni (The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn: The Last King) will be illustrating Volume 2. Volume 1 should be available in the fall of 2001, and the other two volumes will follow at yearly intervals.
An advertisement for these books can already be found in the comic book adoption of CPC\Wandering Star's Worms of the Earth (available as of November 1, 2000). There is also an in-depth interview with artist Gary Gianni in the same book.
Wandering Star has a website that has more information about their current publications.
Wandering
Star Publishing
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