Fabian's Queen Of The Black Coast!

"Whenever I was obliged to draw a violent scene, I had to decide how far to go. Today, violence on film, on television, and in comic books sometimes reaches a level of grossness I find hard to stomach. When this drawing was in the preliminary pencil stage, I had Conan's sword swinging down just above the native warrior's head, I would not go so far as to show the head being lopped off, that would be too gross. But when I was in the inking stage and got to that area, without thinking about it I erased the pencilwork and redrew the sword lopping off the head! It was a mistake, I should have left that part up to the viewer's imagination. There is no excuse for being gross. I made the same mistake when I painted a poster showing Conan cutting a giant ape in half with his sword, which also happens to be based on the same story, "Queen of the Black Coast". I guess I got caught up in the violent nature of Conan and lost control of myself!" - Stephen Fabian

"One of the early decisions an illustrator has to make when composing a picture is where to put the horizon line, or the viewpoint. In this case I placed it at the lower part of the picture so that both Conan and the viewer have to look up at Belit, who is basically performing, 'on stage'." - Stephen Fabian

"It was but a ghost of a city on which they looked when they cleared a jutting jungle-clad point and swung in toward the in-curving shore. Weeds and ran river grass grew between stones of broken piers and shattered paves that had once been streets and spacious plazas of broad courts. From all sides the except the river, the jungle crept in, masking columns and crumbling mounds with poisonous green. Here and there buckling towers reeled drunkenly against the morning sky, and broken pillars jutted up among the decaying walls." - Queen of the Black Coast

The cold light struck icy fire from the jewels in Belit's clustered black locks as she stretched her lithe figure on a leopard skin thrown on the deck. - Queen of the Black Coast

Then the rest were on him, in a nightmare rush of blazing eyes and dripping fangs. His fiercely driven sword shore the first asunder: then the desperate impact of the others bore him down. - Queen of the Black Coast 

In one mad instant she was there- a tense white shape, vibrant with love fierce as a she-panthers. The dazed Cimmerian saw between him and the onrushing death, her lithe figure, shimmering like ivory beneath the moon: he saw the blaze in her dark eyes, the thick cluster of her burnished hair: her bosom heaved, her red lips were parted, she cried out sharp and ringing as the ring of steel as she thrust at the winged monster's breast. - Queen of the Black Coast

So passed the Queen of the Black Coast, and leaning on his red-stained sword, Conan stood silently until the red glow had faded far out in the blue hazes and dawn splashed its rose and gold over the ocean. - Queen of the Black Coast

Here's a link to the complete REH story "Queen of the Black Coast".

These are some of the most beautiful images I've ever seen from Fabian. He's a master. 

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Fabian's The Tower Of The Elephant!

Robert E. Howard's "The Tower of the Elephant" first published in Weird Tales in 1933 is often pointed to as possibly the single finest Conan story that REH ever composed. It's certainly high on the list if not at the top, a beautifully rendered tale of Conan's youthful days as a raw barbarian fresh to civilization and trying his hand at burglary to both find booty and prove his mettle among men. The magic and treachery he finds atop the jeweled tower evoke so many of the core notions that Howard seemed to want to suggest about the corrupt nature of society. Conan's response to that treachery suggests what Howard seemed to think man was capable of instead. Also, this is one of REH's weirdest stories, straddling the genres of action, horror and science fiction, it oozes mood and atmosphere.

Stephen Fabian illustrated the story in 1977 in this House of Fantasy folio of typically lush and beautiful images. Here are those exotic and vivid pictures matched with the passages from Howard's story which inspired them. To read the complete Robert E. Howard story "The Tower of the Elephant" check out this link

"The shimmering shaft of the tower rose frostily in the stars. In the sunlight it shone so dazzlingly that few could bear its glare, and men said it was built of silver. It was round, a slim perfect cylinder, a hundred and fifty feet in height, and its rim glittered in the starlight with the great jewels which crusted it. The tower stood among the waving exotic trees of a garden raised high above the general level of the city. A high wall enclosed this garden, and outside the wall was a lower level, likewise enclosed by a wall. No lights shone forth; there seemed to be no windows in the tower--at least not above the level of the inner wall. Only the gems high above sparkled frostily in the starlight."

 "Steel flashed and the throng surged wildly back out of the way. In their flight they knocked over the single candle and the den was plunged in darkness, broken by the crash of upset benches, drum of flying feet, shouts, oaths of people tumbling over one another, and a single strident yell of agony that cut the din like a knife. When a candle was relighted, most of the guests had gone out by doors and broken windows, and the rest huddled behind stacks of wine kegs and under tables. The barbarian was gone; the center of the room was deserted except for the gashed body of the Kothian. The Cimmerian, with the unerring instinct of the barbarian, had killed his man in the darkness and confusion."

"It was Conan's savage instinct which made him wheel suddenly; for the death that was upon them made no sound. A fleeting glimpse showed the Cimmerian the giant tawny shape, rearing upright against the stars, towering over him for the death-stroke. No civilized man could have moved half so quickly as the barbarian moved. His sword flashed frostily in the starlight with every ounce of desperate nerve and thew behind it, and man and beast went down together."

"Up and up they went, silently, the lights of the city spreading out further and further to their sight as they climbed, the stars above them more and more dimmed by the glitter of the jewels along the rim. Now Taurus reached up a hand and gripped the rim itself, pulling himself up and over. Conan paused a moment on the very edge, fascinated by the great frosty jewels whose gleams dazzled his eyes--diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, turquoises, moonstones, set thick as stars in the shimmering silver. At a distance their different gleams had seemed to merge into a pulsing white glare; but now, at close range, they shimmered with a million rainbow tints and lights, hypnotizing him with their scintillations."

"He was in the center of the room now, going stooped forward, head thrust out warily, sword advanced, when again death struck at him soundlessly. A flying shadow that swept across the gleaming floor was his only warning, and his instinctive sidelong leap all that saved his life. He had a flashing glimpse of a hairy black horror that swung past him with a clashing of frothing fangs, and something splashed on his bare shoulder that burned like drops of liquid hellfire. Springing back, sword high, he saw the horror strike the floor, wheel and scuttle toward him with appalling speed--a gigantic black spider, such as men see only in nightmare dreams."

"This then, was the reason for the name, the Tower of the Elephant, for the head of the thing was much like that of the beasts described by the Shemitish wanderer. This was Yara's god; where then should the gem be, but concealed in the idol, since the stone was called the Elephant's Heart? As Conan came forward, his eyes fixed on the motionless idol, the eyes of the thing opened suddenly! The Cimmerian froze in his tracks. It was no image--it was a living thing, and he was trapped in its chamber!"

"Uncertainly Conan approached, and Yag-kosha, or Yogah, as if sensing his uncertainty, indicated where he should strike. Conan set his teeth and drove the sword deep. Blood streamed over the blade and his hand, and the monster started convulsively, then lay back quite still. Sure that life had fled, at least life as he understood it, Conan set to work on his grisly task and quickly brought forth something that he felt must be the strange being's heart, though it differed curiously from any he had ever seen. Holding the pulsing organ over the blazing jewel, he pressed it with both hands, and a rain of blood fell on the stone. To his surprise, it did not run off, but soaked into the gem, as water is absorbed by a sponge."

"Into the waving green gardens came the Cimmerian, and as the dawn wind blew upon him with the cool fragrance of luxuriant growths, he started like a man waking from a dream. He turned back uncertainly, to stare at the cryptic tower he had just left. Was he bewitched and enchanted? Had he dreamed all that had seemed to have passed? As he looked he saw the gleaming tower sway against the crimson dawn, its jewel-crusted rim sparkling in the growing light, and crash into shining shards."

Beautiful stuff from two masters!

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Moon-Eyed!

"Moon-Eyed" means to have one's eyes wide open. I sometimes look at the full Moon and ponder how many more will I be lucky to see. The truth of mortality opens all eyes.  We never know how many any of us have really. 

Six years have passed since I lost my Lizzie -- my wife, the woman I've spent most of my lifetime with, and the woman who was the mother of our two delightful, lovely and admirable daughters. I lost her sooner than I expected, quicker than seemed possible. But now six years after, the wounds have begun to close over slightly. Nonetheless I will never betray the memory of the woman I loved, and the woman I still love. 

My wife is no longer here for me to talk to and to laugh with and to take care of. And she's no longer here to help take care of me as I become more and more an old man. I step into the unknown without her wisdom and guidance and support. 

She had a little dog named "Bo" and just a few weeks ago I had to put him down, the years having robbed him of his sight and health. He was a connection to my beloved, and while he wasn't a lovable dog necessarily, I will miss him for what he meant to her. 

The Dojo has taken a brief hiatus around this time in years past, and so too this year in loving memory of my beloved Lizzie. Normal activity (more or less) will resume in a fortnight or thereabouts. 

Be well my friends and cherish the ones you have -- they are not yours to keep for all time.

Dean

Whispers Of Lankhmar!

Stephen Fabian is a great artist and one who found a wonderful sweet spot when producing fantasy art. His stuff has a tenderness and sweetness to it, but not so much as to undermine the muscular nature of the violent material. Here are a number of images by Fabian illustrating various episodes from the long careers of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

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The Case Of The C'Thulhu Creator!

I stumbled across this peculiar piece of fan fiction as part of a slightly larger volume called The Lovecraft Papers which includes Pulptime, a novel featuring Sherlock Holmes teaming up with H.P.Lovecraft as told by Frank Belknap Long Jr. as well as some shorter tales of P.G.Wodehouse's Jeeves if the latter were involved in some of Lovecraft's more famous mysteries.

So far I've only read Pulptime and sadly I must report it was a bit of a trudge to finish. The central conceit is an attractive one as it seemingly involves the great Detective in the cosmic horror of Lovecraft in a most direct way, save that the author here, P.H. Cannon, doesn't decide to do any of that. We are instead presented with a very old Sherlock Holmes acting sometimes wildly out of character visiting New York City to pursue a case of smuggling and ends up down the hall from Lovecraft and his visiting friend Long. They get meshed up into a slight mystery which leads to encounters with Houdini and assorted other small celebrities of the time which seem of interest to Cannon.

All things considered it's a pretty slow boil as the mystery really doesn't come to much and most of the time  Long, who functions as something of a Watson narrator type for the tale, talks about the relationship between Lovecraft and Holmes and what everyone is wearing at that moment. For diehard fans immersed in the tiny details of Lovecraft's career, there are bon mots here and there, but rarely does the story really get up any steam.

One thing that hurts is that Sherlock Holmes is almost unrecognizable, rarely indulging in his classic deductions and spending most of his time commenting on his two young friends. And that's the heart of why I don't think this story works, and that's I cannot imagine Sherlock Holmes ever finding H.P.Lovecraft a bosom buddy, in fact the opposite would seem indicated to me. Cannon seems to think since they were both eccentric that proves sufficient, but Holmes to my mind would find Lovecraft's stuffy manner and high minded opinions nauseating, and likewise I suspect Lovecraft would find Holmes a tradesman type, beneath him despite his intellect. I don't see the two working together at all.

The core problem is Cannon allows himself to indulge his fanboy interests and becomes mired in insignificant details at the cost of his larger narrative, a fatal mistake which fails to serve any of the characters real and fictional at all well.

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The Tower Of The Elephant!

"The shimmering shaft of the tower rose frostily in the stars. In the sunlight it shone so dazzlingly that few could bear its glare, and men said it was built of silver. It was round, a slim perfect cylinder, a hundred and fifty feet in height, and its rim glittered in the starlight with the great jewels which crusted it. The tower stood among the waving exotic trees of a garden raised high above the general level of the city. A high wall enclosed this garden, and outside the wall was a lower level, likewise enclosed by a wall. No lights shone forth; there seemed to be no windows in the tower--at least not above the level of the inner wall. Only the gems high above sparkled frostily in the starlight."

Robert E. Howard's "The Tower of the Elephant" first published in Weird Tales in 1933 is often pointed to as possibly the single finest Conan story that REH ever composed. It's certainly high on the list if not at the top, a beautifully rendered tale of Conan's youthful days as a raw barbarian fresh to civilization and trying his hand at burglary to both find booty and prove his mettle among men. The magic and treachery he finds atop the jeweled tower evoke so many of the core notions that Howard seemed to want to suggest about the corrupt nature of society. Conan's response to that treachery suggests what Howard seemed to think man was capable of instead. Also this is one of REH's weirdest stories, straddling the genres of action, horror and science fiction, it oozes mood and atmosphere.

Stephen Fabian illustrated the story in 1977 in this House of Fantasy folio of typically lush and beautiful images. Here are those exotic and vivid pictures matched with the passages from Howard's story which inspired them. To read the complete Robert E. Howard story "The Tower of the Elephant" check out this link.

 "Steel flashed and the throng surged wildly back out of the way. In their flight they knocked over the single candle and the den was plunged in darkness, broken by the crash of upset benches, drum of flying feet, shouts, oaths of people tumbling over one another, and a single strident yell of agony that cut the din like a knife. When a candle was relighted, most of the guests had gone out by doors and broken windows, and the rest huddled behind stacks of wine kegs and under tables. The barbarian was gone; the center of the room was deserted except for the gashed body of the Kothian. The Cimmerian, with the unerring instinct of the barbarian, had killed his man in the darkness and confusion."

"It was Conan's savage instinct which made him wheel suddenly; for the death that was upon them made no sound. A fleeting glimpse showed the Cimmerian the giant tawny shape, rearing upright against the stars, towering over him for the death-stroke. No civilized man could have moved half so quickly as the barbarian moved. His sword flashed frostily in the starlight with every ounce of desperate nerve and thew behind it, and man and beast went down together."

"Up and up they went, silently, the lights of the city spreading out further and further to their sight as they climbed, the stars above them more and more dimmed by the glitter of the jewels along the rim. Now Taurus reached up a hand and gripped the rim itself, pulling himself up and over. Conan paused a moment on the very edge, fascinated by the great frosty jewels whose gleams dazzled his eyes--diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, turquoises, moonstones, set thick as stars in the shimmering silver. At a distance their different gleams had seemed to merge into a pulsing white glare; but now, at close range, they shimmered with a million rainbow tints and lights, hypnotizing him with their scintillations."

"He was in the center of the room now, going stooped forward, head thrust out warily, sword advanced, when again death struck at him soundlessly. A flying shadow that swept across the gleaming floor was his only warning, and his instinctive sidelong leap all that saved his life. He had a flashing glimpse of a hairy black horror that swung past him with a clashing of frothing fangs, and something splashed on his bare shoulder that burned like drops of liquid hellfire. Springing back, sword high, he saw the horror strike the floor, wheel and scuttle toward him with appalling speed--a gigantic black spider, such as men see only in nightmare dreams."

"This then, was the reason for the name, the Tower of the Elephant, for the head of the thing was much like that of the beasts described by the Shemitish wanderer. This was Yara's god; where then should the gem be, but concealed in the idol, since the stone was called the Elephant's Heart? As Conan came forward, his eyes fixed on the motionless idol, the eyes of the thing opened suddenly! The Cimmerian froze in his tracks. It was no image--it was a living thing, and he was trapped in its chamber!"

"Uncertainly Conan approached, and Yag-kosha, or Yogah, as if sensing his uncertainty, indicated where he should strike. Conan set his teeth and drove the sword deep. Blood streamed over the blade and his hand, and the monster started convulsively, then lay back quite still. Sure that life had fled, at least life as he understood it, Conan set to work on his grisly task and quickly brought forth something that he felt must be the strange being's heart, though it differed curiously from any he had ever seen. Holding the pulsing organ over the blazing jewel, he pressed it with both hands, and a rain of blood fell on the stone. To his surprise, it did not run off, but soaked into the gem, as water is absorbed by a sponge."

"Into the waving green gardens came the Cimmerian, and as the dawn wind blew upon him with the cool fragrance of luxuriant growths, he started like a man waking from a dream. He turned back uncertainly, to stare at the cryptic tower he had just left. Was he bewitched and enchanted? Had he dreamed all that had seemed to have passed? As he looked he saw the gleaming tower sway against the crimson dawn, its jewel-crusted rim sparkling in the growing light, and crash into shining shards."

Beautiful stuff from two masters!

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Frazetta's Tarzan!

This is my favorite image of Tarzan of the Apes and maybe my favorite Frazetta painting (ask me again tomorrow). Not only is it a fantastic painting of ERB's famous Ape Man, but this paperback was one of my first literary experiences with the character.


I explored the details of this image in this post from a few years ago.



Here is a beautiful insight into Frazetta's creative process on this piece. This preliminary artwork (which I found here) shows the master at work creating this evocative look at the King of the Jungle. Note how N'Kima seems less dynamic and how the balance seems less precarious and consequently less dramatic.


Some say the pose is derived from this panel from Hal Foster's venerable comic strip featuring Tarzan. It does seem similar in many respects, but clearly Frazetta (if he was inspired by this pose) takes it to new places in character and atmosphere. Here's a more detailed analysis.


Stephen Fabian must have liked this pose too, as he swipes it here adding in a very Frazetta-esque young lady to slither alongside the noble savage.

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Ka-zar The Savage Gallery!

Jack Kirby & Chic Stone
Ka-zar the Savage debuted in X-Men #10.


This was perhaps Marvel's stealthiest revival.


It's hardly ever mentioned in connection with the revivals of the Torch, Cap, Subby, and other Golden Age greats, but it was a Marvel Age revision of a classic Timely character, shifted from deepest darkest Africa to the underworld Savage Land.


This was itself an adaptation of the pulp character also published under the Marvel auspices. For more see this link.

Jack Kirby & Chic Stone
Kirby had a few goes at the cover for the debut of Ka-zar, and this un-used classic image finally was published over a decade ago. Beautiful!


Jack Kirby & John Romita
Ka-zar then began a long period of guest-starring in various titles, notably alongside Daredevil for a few years.

Gene Colan & Frank Giacoia
John Romita
Then he tangled with Spidey.


Herb Trimpe & John Severin
And ran up against the Hulk.

Barry Smith & Herb Trimpe
Marvel tried him out in a one-shot story in Marvel Super-Heroes.

Neal Adams & Tom Palmer

Gil Kane & Frank Giacoia
After which he continued to show up here and there. Marvel even tried to promote Ka-zar with a unique trio of reprints of his early adventures.


Check out the infamous curse word on Zabu's back in the first Marie Severin cover.


Compare this revised reprint cover by Marie to the DD original. It has Zabu and lots more action.

Marie Severin
This was published intermittently while his first ongoing series was debuted in Astonishing Tales, which he shared with Doc Doom.

Marie Severin & Bill Everett
John Buscema
Marie Severin & Friends


John Buscema
Herb Trimpe
Marie Severin
Eventually Ka-zar took over the whole of Astonishing Tales and ran there successfully for a few years.



Gil Kane
Rich Buckler

Gil Kane
Jim Starlin
John Buscema
Dan Adkins


John Romita
At about this same time, Ka-zar was also starring in Savage Tales, after Conan shifted into his own black and white title. It was a proper shift because Ka-zar was in the very first issue of Savage Tales.


Neal Adams
Boris Vallejo
Gil Kane & Stephen Fabian
Mike Kaluta & John Romita
Boris Vallejo
Michael Whelan
Ken Barr
Finally though the powers that be gave Ka-zar his own on-going title, and it performed reasonably well for the time.

John Buscema
Later still he was given a direct-sales only title which got some distinctive critical attention, and off and on over the years we've seen several Ka-zar comics and series.

Brent Anderson
He's proven to be one of Marvel's most durable heroes.

Andy Kubert
There is no doubt that Ka-zar's early adventures from the broad landscape of the Marvel Universe are the ones most in dire need of a good Essentials volume, to gather them all under one or two covers for the first time.

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