Although it goes without saying that Robert E. Howard could tell a great story, it was the paperback covers of Frank Frazetta and the comic book art of Barry Windsor-Smith — not to mention Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian film — that made Howard’s Conan an American pop culture icon. But the early visualization of Conan didn’t get off to a flying start.
Of the seventeen Conan stories that Howard sold to Weird Tales, nine of them garnered the magazine’s cover spot. All nine of these covers were composed by Margaret Brundage.
Several of Brundage’s covers for the Conan series can be considered masterpieces of pulp art. Others, particularly the three in which Brundage actually depicts Conan, are some of her weakest cover work. Her Conan has been described as everything from a “Hollywood movie actor” to a “librarian” to a “sickly-looking weakling.”
Even Ed Emschwiller’s and Wally Wood’s interpretations of Conan for Gnome Press were overshadowed by what was to come.
It really wasn’t until Frank Frazetta’s covers for the Lancer Press editions that we got a Conan that could sell books.
And sell they did! Soon, Frank Frazetta was working for Ballantine, Dell, Fawcett, Midwood, Paperback Library, Signet, Warner, and many other paperback publishers.
We hope you’ll join PulpFest 2023 on Friday, August 4, at 8:05 pm for “Illustrating Conan for the Commercial Market.” Part of our celebration of the 90th anniversary of the great pulp heroes, our presentation will feature artists Mark Schultz and Mark Wheatley, with Don Simpson moderating.
Author and illustrator Mark Schultz, best known for his award-winning comic book series Xenozoic Tales, first became interested in the work of Robert E. Howard through the Lancer paperbacks of the late sixties. His professional involvement with Howard’s fiction began when Wandering Star asked if he would be interested in illustrating a Howard book. The result, Conan of Cimmeria, Vol. One (1932-1933), was published in the United Kingdom in 2003. The first US edition, also illustrated by Schultz, was published by Del Rey later the same year. The winner of five Harvey Awards, two Eisners, an Inkpot, a Spectrum Award, and three Haxturs for comics published in Spain, Mark, along with Jim and Ruth Keegan, previously appeared at PulpFest 2012.
Since his teens, Mark Wheatley has been a fan of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Leigh Brackett, Edmond Hamilton and other pulp authors. His career as an illustrator, TV development artist, and graphic novelist has earned him many awards including the Eisner, Inkpot, Mucker, Gem, Speakeasy, Golden Lion, and the Robert E. Howard Foundation Outstanding Achievement as well as nominations for the Harvey and the Ignatz. He is also an inductee to the Overstreet Hall of Fame. His work has often been included in the annual Spectrum selection of fantastic art and has appeared in private gallery shows, as well as numerous museums. To learn more about Mark, you’ll find his official website at markwheatleygallery.com.
Pittsburgh’s Donald E. Simpson is the cartoonist/creator of the comic books Megaton Man, Border Worlds, and Bizarre Heroes. He’s also the creator of several international underground comix sensations, published under the pseudonym Anton Drek, and the author of the young adult maxi-series, Ms. Megaton Man. Don’s newest work is X-Amount of Comics: 1963 (WhenElse?!) Annual! debuting this summer, and collections of Megaton Man, both from Fantagraphics. He has been coming to PulpFest since it moved to Pittsburgh in 2017.
The general public is welcome to attend our evening programming events free of charge. To learn more about our programming, please click the Schedule button at the top of this page.
For those who also want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the Registration button at the top of this page. And don’t forget to book a room at the DoubleTree. They’re going fast!
Our featured image was excerpted from Mark Schultz’s original art for Robert E. Howard’s The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian” first published in 2003 by Ballantine/Del Rey.
Our lead image was adapted by PulpFest advertising director William Lampkin from Mark Wheatley’s dust jacket art for The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard, Volume 3, published in 2022 by The Robert E. Howard Foundation Press.
Margaret Brundage’s Conan featured on the artist’s cover for the December 1935 issue of Weird Tales has been described as the “worst depiction of The Cimmerian ever officially published.”
Lancer Books began reprinting the Conan stories in paperback in 1966, starting with the volume Conan the Adventurer. Featuring cover art by Frank Frazetta, Conan the Conqueror was originally the third volume in the series. Originally serialized by Weird Tales in 1935 – 36 as “The Hour of the Dragon,” Conan the Conqueror was later shifted to the ninth book in the series.
The unidentified artist who depicted Conan on the cover of Avon Fantasy Reader #10, published in 1949, painted him as a clueless actor playing a well-groomed Roman centurion. Methinks Conan and the unconscious damsel are about to be mangled.
For more on Robert E. Howard and Conan, please visit our YouTube Channel to view “90 Years of the Great Pulp Heroes #6” — Conan — created by PulpFest‘s Craig McDonald. You’ll also find our video Weird Tales Celebrates 100 Years and a dozen videos about the great pulp heroes. While you’re there, please be sure to subscribe to the PulpFest Channel.
