42 replies to this topic

[godzilladude]

Needless to say, I came to this thread/topic as my very first stop on the REH forum. I've not looked at the posting dates (got caught up in the discussion) but I wanted to note: the Zebra version of Lost Valley of Iskander's illustrations were all "enhanced" versions of the ones that appeared in the FAX hardback edition: every one had more drawing added, sometimes quite a bit.

The FAX printing deadline caught me off guard so the work in the hardback, though fun, wasn't quite "Howard" enough for me.

When I found out Zebra was publishing the paperback (without compensation to the artist, btw) I sort of visited their offices a few blocks South of my studio and let them know the art was mine and they needed to clear permission for use through me. They immediately got onboard with that, and I told them they could have "better" art, in that I'd been finishing all the work that wasn't done for the FAX edition.

SO: if you have that Zebra paperback and not the FAX hardback, you have more and better art, with the loss of 3 fairly "thin" color plates, two fairly forgettable end papers and my less than powerful FAX dust jacket painting. You also have one b/w full-page illustration that FAX didn't include in their book: "Dogs! Jackals! Noseless Abominations!" It is tapped in as the last page of the paperback.

(I see this thread is very much alive and recent! great!)

Very cool info! You ever feel the need to illo some REH, I always got a book in the works somewhere that could use a jacket or interior work, and we'd love to have an artist of your fine caliber work on one of them, anytime

[deuce]

Needless to say, I came to this thread/topic as my very first stop on the REH forum.

Michael W. Kaluta!!?!! All I can say is ,"Welcome to the REH Forum, Mr. Kaluta!"
I've been a fan of your work ever since I saw your art for the comics adaptation of ERB's Pirates of Venus, WAY back when I was eight years old. You'll see there are plenty of MWK fans here.

I've not looked at the posting dates (got caught up in the discussion) but I wanted to note: the Zebra version of Lost Valley of Iskander's illustrations were all "enhanced" versions of the ones that appeared in the FAX hardback edition: every one had more drawing added, sometimes quite a bit.

The FAX printing deadline caught me off guard so the work in the hardback, though fun, wasn't quite "Howard" enough for me.

When I found out Zebra was publishing the paperback (without compensation to the artist, btw) I sort of visited their offices a few blocks South of my studio and let them know the art was mine and they needed to clear permission for use through me. They immediately got onboard with that, and I told them they could have "better" art, in that I'd been finishing all the work that wasn't done for the FAX edition.

SO: if you have that Zebra paperback and not the FAX hardback, you have more and better art, with the loss of 3 fairly "thin" color plates, two fairly forgettable end papers and my less than powerful FAX dust jacket painting. You also have one b/w full-page illustration that FAX didn't include in their book: "Dogs! Jackals! Noseless Abominations!" It is tapped in as the last page of the paperback.

I just went back and looked through the Zebra edition of The Lost Valley of Iskander again. Simply great artwork. I don't own the FAX edition of "Iskander", but I got the FAX edition of Swords of Shahrazar for Christmas a few years back. I'd love to see that artwork put out again for others to enjoy.

(I see this thread is very much alive and recent! great!)

I'm SO glad I finally got around to getting this thread started (with PainBrush's help, of course). I also hope that you'll take Paul "godzilladude" Herman up on his offer and craft something for the Robert E. Howard Foundation's books.

*For those of you who still haven't heard of Mr. Kaluta, here are a couple links:
http://www.kaluta.com/
http://en.wikipedia....iki/Mike_Kaluta

[crossplain pilgrim]

I have a 1969 Ace paperback edition of "Worm of the Earth." The cover art is credited to Sanjulian. Did not see his name listed above, but I might have missed it.

[deuce]

I have a 1969 Ace paperback edition of "Worm of the Earth." The cover art is credited to Sanjulian. Did not see his name listed above, but I might have missed it.

Hey Pilgrim! That cover is mentioned in Post#1. Sanjulian, a Spanish painter, did several Conan novel covers for ACE, notably The Treasure of Tranicos and The Flame Knife (personally, I would've preferred it if Ace had replaced all their Boris covers with Sanjulians). Unfortunately, he never did any work for Zebra, AFAIK.
BTW, I assume you mean a "1979" edition?

[crossplain pilgrim]

Yes, 1979. 1969 was the Glen Lord copyright. My mistake.

[deuce]

Yes, 1979. 1969 was the Glen Lord copyright. My mistake.

Hey, no sweat, Pilgrim! Keeping all the REH copyright info straight can be a mother-bear sometimes. I believe that 1969 copyright would be when Glenn Lord did so for the publication of the Dell edition (with that great, but kind of inaccurate, Frazetta cover).

[PainBrush]

(I see this thread is very much alive and recent! great!)

Hey Mr. K. welcome to the forums ( & your new addiction ! - This forum site is one of the best things on the web nowadays , just wait until you start checking out some of the myriad topics & conversations - you're in a bunch of 'em ) not to mention there's all kinds of other R.E.H. related 'kind-of-celebrities' , a bunch of artists , actors , authors , bloggers , assorted billigans and psuedo-scientists , and your general run-of-the-mill rogues , barbarians , sorceresses , wine-bibbers , poets , & ne'er-do-wells . It's kind of a neat coincidence that you signed up & posted today . Thanks to this topic & your name popping up from the Zebra books , I went downstairs earlier today & dug through a couple drawers of my flatfile cabinets & pulled out the decent-sized stack of posters I still have from WAAAAYYYYY back in the '70's , ( around the time you all did "The Studio" book ) - from Zavisa's 'Christopher Enterprises' printing company , the posters you , Berni Wrightson , Windsor-Smith , & J. Jones did . C.E. was based here in the Detroit area back then I believe , probably how I got all those posters way back when . I have a lot of the regular posters and the better versions signed & numbered & printed on much better , thicker paper stock that I've kept for all these years . I don't have all of them , but some I have a half-dozen copies of , some a dozen , some only '1' copy ( like that gruesome one by Wrightson called 'Mementos' , with the heads on the fence ) I'm not sure I'll remember all of the titles of your posters that I have offhand ( without taking a trip down to my dongeon ) I don't think ( I wasn't expecting that you'd join up on this forum , or I'd have made a point of remembering all the titles ) I know I have "Icarus Had a Sister" , "
"Behind Neptunes Throne"
"Why he Doesn't Sleep at Night"
"WHat do YOU Want to Do" w. Beauty/beast ?
an untitled ancient Cityscape/hillside
and of course , a healthy sized stack of your Conan poster "The Sacrifice"

I also have all of Wrightsons posters , a handful of the WIndsor-Smiths , no Jeff Jones though
and a bunch of Alex Ninos posters incl. an Elric of Melnibone poster & a Conan I believe .
And a bunch of Stephen Hickmans Tolkien/L.O.T.R./Hobbit posters .
I've hoarded all those posters away for all these years . Kind of cool to get the opportunity to tell you what kind of a fan I am Mr. K. ( that is if you do come back to the forums ? ) -hopefully you will since you're a newb , so we haven't even had the chance to razz you & be rude to you yet .

*For those of you who still haven't heard of Mr. Kaluta, here are a couple links:
http://www.kaluta.com/
http://en.wikipedia....iki/Mike_Kaluta

Are you kidding D. ? I'd wager just about everyone who's a regular knows who M.K. is . If not by his book & magazine illos , then surely by his name being linked to that long-lamented , dissapeared "Red Nails" movie aye ? Hey how about that Mr. K. - do you have any insider knowledge that you can scoop us on what heppened to "Red Nails" ????

[MwKaluta]

"...some I have a half-dozen copies of , some a dozen , some only '1' copy ( like that gruesome one by Wrightson called 'Mementos' , with the heads on the fence )"

Berni(e) always referred to that one as "funny"... he said if he wanted to have made it a "creepy" picture, it'd been severed feet on the fence.

Hey PainBrush (and all!) Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm delighted with my timing!

That Ancient Cityscape/Hillside print must be "Low Tide", I think it is untitled on the poster itself (but my memory is dim...) It was the fist thing of mine Chris Zavisa and Chris Hoth published. You were right on the scene. The proof is in you having that Beauty and the Beast poster: It was the final Christopher Enterprises piece and didn't see much distribution.

There's a lot I like about it, but it was "just" a drawing and never should have been a Poster (artists are funny people, eh?)... It feels more like a Playboy Cartoon: my heart was in the right place, I did think I was doing a picture about boredom in Fantasy Land while drawing it. In retrospect, well, it's sort of a picture for maybe a book of drawings. It's printed in a book/pamphlet somewhere else, fairly recently: I photoshopped the breasts so the picture more accurately reflects my original thought (I'd done the piece because I couldn't, at the time, think up anything to draw!) Maybe that was part of those Card Sets: finding 180 images to slap on cards meant a LOT of digging through portfolios for me!

"do you have any insider knowledge that you can scoop us on what heppened to 'Red Nails' "

Nothing at length (if I did, it'd probably have to be posted in the huge Conan section above "Other Literary Creations". My active involvement ended quite a few years ago, just as they were lining up the Voice Talent. Who knows if it'll ever see daylight: the rare times I've heard from Steve Gold, Producer, he's still "up" about getting it done and out!

"I got the FAX edition of Swords of Shahrazar for Christmas a few years back. I'd love to see that artwork put out again for others to enjoy. "

Hey Duece: I'd always hoped Zebra continued with duping the FAX editions, and I'm certain there were murmurs in that direction. I received an Email/Phone Call flurry some few months ago from Conan Properties (their Lawyers), asking to have access to the Lost Valley of Iskander and Swords of Shahrazar images for a Giant Collection of REH's Arabian heroes. They had a similar mind set that Zebra started out with: Let's Have Them, Thank You! Seems they wanted to reprint them AND own the copyright there-to... dang: I don't understand those folks! Unlike the Zebra crew, the Conan Properties folks puffed out their chests and I had to pay MY lawyer to send them a note regarding the ownership and use of that work. Heck, if they'd just wanted to USE it and not OWN it, the book would be out by now

So, Hats Off to Zebra!

Godzilladude, I'm always ready to put my hand to REH's work, thank you! A funny thing RE the FAX editions... I passed on the third book in their series of Howard's desert stories, more for the reason of not getting paid than anything else (though I remained friendly with Ted Dikty, the Publisher). But at Comic Conventions, it's bad form to crab about The Continuing Dilemma of having to make a living, so when asked about that third book and my not illustrating it, I said: "Oh, I scanned the stories: No Lost Cities, No Veiled, Mysterious Women, No Lost Treasures... just Sand... lots of Sand..." Unbeknownst to me, Stan Mack, the cartoonist of Real Life Funnies for The Village Voice, was cruising around the room and picked up my blather. He included it with a cute drawing of my bearded self in the next Real Life (or Real Time) Funnies. Now THAT is Glory!!!

[MwKaluta]

Sowers of the Thunder is jam-packed with great drawings by the great Roy Krenkel . The loose , dynamic style of Kaluta as great as it is - can't even compare to this masters drawing . His art looks even more spontaneous & action packed .

I'm in complete agreement: it was Krenkel's ERB covers and illos for ACE that got me started in illustrating fantasy/sf, and his work constantly inspires and refreshes my work.

It's with a slight blush that I get to say I "helped" on some of the Sowers of the Thunder illustrations: Roy asked that I "drop shadows" on the figures and elements of about 5 pieces (not that they needed dropped shadow, esp by me). I said "Roy, I learned about dropping shadows from studying your work!" "Then you've learned all my mistakes" was his reply. Great, Fun guy.

I didn't draw on the originals, of course: Roy put tracing paper over the pieces and I got busy with a pencil. I was in a fugue state, needless to add: sitting in my own studio in New York City, drawing on top of Roy Krenkel Originals for a Robert E Howard illustrated Book.

There are moments one savors for the rest of one's life!

[Sermon Bath]

wow, thanks for posting Mike!!

[miketerminus]

Great collection! Even has an introduction and story notes by Glen Lord. I have my old 1976 Zebra edition. Well, the thing starts out with "Pigeons From Hell." What else can be said about that masterpiece? "Red Blades of Black Cathay" is a terrific historical yarn with the formidable Norman knight Godric de Villehard thrust into intrigue and battlefield slaughter of the Far East. Howard wrote excellent history-based yarns. Wish he could have found a market for more. "The Voice of El-lil" is an excellent adventure tale that reminds you of H. Rider Haggard. "The Pit and the Serpent," despite its lurid title, is a great, rollicking Steve Costigan boxing yarn. Speaking of which, I just finished the Wildside "Waterfront Fists" and it was pure pleasure from beginning to end. I plan to post more on that later.

I do need to get my hands on Waterfront Fists! crossplain pilgrim! I have just not been able to get around to that one as well. aghhhh,so many books so little time..

[crossplain pilgrim]

I know what you mean, miketerminus. I am constantly amazed at the number of books many of the members of this forum are able to routinely consume. I have to squeeze in the minutes when no one else in my life is looking. Everytime I skip through the posts around here I am reminded that there's such a lot of reading left to do(sung off-key to the tune of "I've got a Lot of Living Left to Do").

[PainBrush]

It's with a slight blush that I get to say I "helped" on some of the Sowers of the Thunder illustrations: Roy asked that I "drop shadows" on the figures and elements of about 5 pieces (not that they needed dropped shadow, esp by me). I said "Roy, I learned about dropping shadows from studying your work!" "Then you've learned all my mistakes" was his reply. Great, Fun guy.

I didn't draw on the originals, of course: Roy put tracing paper over the pieces and I got busy with a pencil. I was in a fugue state, needless to add: sitting in my own studio in New York City, drawing on top of Roy Krenkel Originals for a Robert E Howard illustrated Book.

There are moments one savors for the rest of one's life!

Wow , that is too cool ! The only thing that 'might' top that would be to collaborate with Frazetta on REH . ( or maybe to share a studio with Wrightson,Jones,& Smith !?!! ) I'd gladly trade my lifelong aspiration as a starving artist for your worst days M. , or the best of my meager talent for your most bored doodles .

[crossplain pilgrim]

I can see how an artist would feel that way, PB. I own a somewhat yellowed copy of "The Sowers of Thunder" that I bought back in '79. Favorite story, "Shadow of the Vulture," of course. Gottfried von Kalmbach and Red Sonya! What a pair (I'm talking about the two of them, not just Sonya)! One of so many of Howard's stories that would make a marvelous film. I'll take the genuine Sonya over the Hyborian wench in the chain-mail bikini. By the way, noticed Mr. Kaluta was one of the commenters in the Frazetta documentary. It's an honor to have him post on the forum.

[deuce]

Michael (upon discovering that there is a topic devoted to his art on the Forum), asked me to move his latest post to the "Michael Wm. Kaluta" thread. Since the posts by Pilgrim, Carcosa and myself were basically more related to MWK than the Robert E. Howard books put out by Zebra, I also moved those.

Here's a link to the Kaluta thread: http://www.conan.com...?showtopic=6765



Onward!

[deuce]

Back on track, does anyone else dig the Jones cover for The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan? It has very little to do with the stories within (the covers to The Vultures of Whapeton and Pigeons From Hell also spring to mind), but DAMN it looks cool. Sure beats the hell out of the cover for the FAX edition (IMO). I know Rusty Burke likes the Jones cover as well.

[Carcosa]

Back on track, does anyone else dig the Jones cover for The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan? It has very little to do with the stories within (the covers to The Vultures of Whapeton and Pigeons From Hell also spring to mind), but DAMN it looks cool. Sure beats the hell out of the cover for the FAX edition (IMO). I know Rusty Burke likes the Jones cover as well.

I wasn't a big fan of the Jones Zebra covers myself, not sure why. I liked his original illos for the Grant 1st edition of RED SHADOWS but his style evolved drastically between that volume and the second revised edition 10 years later. My favorites will always be the Berkley covers by Ken Kelly. I'm gonna step out on a limb and say I actually like the Dennis Dorgan FAX cover and interior art.

[crossplain pilgrim]

Allow me to show my ignorance and sincere curiosity. You gentlemen keep referring to the FAX covers. To what does FAX refer?

[godzilladude]

Allow me to show my ignorance and sincere curiosity. You gentlemen keep referring to the FAX covers. To what does FAX refer?

FAX was a specialty sorta semi-pro hardback book publisher of the 70s, Darrell Richardson being the main editor. He was in Memphis, along with Dennis McHaney and Tom Foster. The REH titles that debuted with them were:

The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan - cover and illos by Tom Foster, used as the basis for all later editions

The Lost Valley of Iskander - cover and illos by Mike Kaluta, basis for all later editions

The Swords of Shahrazar - cover and illos by Mike Kaluta, the title is an error, should be no "The", AND, it got held up, and the Futura edition using the same text actually came out first

Son of the White Wolf - cover and illos by Marcus Boas, basis for all later editions

The Return of Skull-Face - completed by Richard Lupoff, cover and illos by Stephan E. Leialoha, including a limited edition with special binding

The Howard Collector Anthology - announced, but never happened, so Ace did it as a paperback instead

[Freebooter]

Hello all,
Anyone familiar with this one: A friend gave me a book he ordered off ebay or amazon or something called "The Book of Robt. E. Howard", Vol. I, Copyright 1976, edited and with notes by Glenn Lord. I am well familiar with all the main writings of REH; Conan and other charactors. But was not familiar with this one. I was expecting more S & S stories, but the first one, "Pigeons from Hell", turned out to be like in the 1930s South, a haunted mansion, not by a ghost but by a zombie like thing. Man, I read it last night at home alone and befrore I knew it I had the weebie jeebies! Time I was done I had all my lights on and had to go outside a while to get my mind back to reality. Scary was what it was. REH at his best as usual! Looking forward to reading the rest of the stories and "novelettes" in it!
Just wanted to share this with y'all.
Freebooter!

Edited by Freebooter, 28 December 2011 - 03:19 PM.