A review by sfian
Conan the Phenomenon: The Legacy of Robert E. Howard's Fantasy Icon by Paul M. Sammon, Frank Frazetta
4.0
I have been a fan of Conan for a very long time, I suspect through comics first (although I don't actually remember buying any of Marvel's original series myself), then the odd paperback and then the films, but I can't be 100% sure of that order.
It turns out, though, that I'm not a "true" fan because, until recently, I had been reading, book-wise, pastiche versions by the likes of L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Andrew J. Offutt and it is only relatively recently that I read the original stories, in the Fantasy Masterworks version. That's the overriding feeling that I get from this book - that if it's not written by Robert E Howard, or the writers/publishers don't feel an affinity with the origjnal author, it's a little bit second-class and a bit looked down on, especially if it's associated with de Camp.
As a history of the character, it's a good read, not scholarly by any means, but as in-depth as I wanted it to be. There are biographies of the major players, some shorter than others, all nowhere near as detailed as Howard's (rightly so) along with details of all the media Conan has appeared in, from the pulp magazines, right through to the Dark Horse comics. A bonus is the lavish collection of art and photos from the character's history, all brilliantly reproduced.
I bought this book when it was first published , back in 2007. In the subsequent thirteen years, Conan's history has, inevitably, moved on still more and so there is no coverage of the latest film, whatever books have since been published and the comics move from Dark Horse to Dynamite and, eventually, back to Marvel. But that's not the author's fault, it's mine for not reading it sooner. I'm not sure if there is s revised, updated version but, given this was published by Dark Horse, who were publishing the comics at the time, I doubt it.
It turns out, though, that I'm not a "true" fan because, until recently, I had been reading, book-wise, pastiche versions by the likes of L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Andrew J. Offutt and it is only relatively recently that I read the original stories, in the Fantasy Masterworks version. That's the overriding feeling that I get from this book - that if it's not written by Robert E Howard, or the writers/publishers don't feel an affinity with the origjnal author, it's a little bit second-class and a bit looked down on, especially if it's associated with de Camp.
As a history of the character, it's a good read, not scholarly by any means, but as in-depth as I wanted it to be. There are biographies of the major players, some shorter than others, all nowhere near as detailed as Howard's (rightly so) along with details of all the media Conan has appeared in, from the pulp magazines, right through to the Dark Horse comics. A bonus is the lavish collection of art and photos from the character's history, all brilliantly reproduced.
I bought this book when it was first published , back in 2007. In the subsequent thirteen years, Conan's history has, inevitably, moved on still more and so there is no coverage of the latest film, whatever books have since been published and the comics move from Dark Horse to Dynamite and, eventually, back to Marvel. But that's not the author's fault, it's mine for not reading it sooner. I'm not sure if there is s revised, updated version but, given this was published by Dark Horse, who were publishing the comics at the time, I doubt it.