Episode 07 - Rogues in the House (Or, Conan finds the missing link and helps us learn about evolution!)

Journey back with us to an age undreamed of, when the Red Priest Nabonidus and the aristocratic Murillo waged a back and forth power struggle for control of a city, the name of which is lost in the murky eddies of time. Hither came Conan during his youth, and the shocking events of that fateful night caused dramatic and violent changes within the local political landscape...

Rogues in the House (Weird Tales, January 1934) is the seventh published Conan the Cimmerian story by author Robert E. Howard. This week, we are joined by our pal Steve as we cuss, discuss, and dissect this fan-favorite Conan story. Download the episode to hear our take on it! And let us know what you think of the story!

We begin this week with a discussion of Voyager I - all out there alone in the dark places between the stars. Pertinent links here and here!

In two weeks, join us for another exciting adventure as our hero Conan journeys to the northern tundra, battles some Vikings, and meets The Frost Giant's Daughter! (Read it on Wikisource!)

Beginning theme: "Sudden Defeat" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Ending theme: "Anvil of Crom - Conan the Barbarian Meets Metal" arranged by YouTube user 331Erock. Found at http://youtu.be/gg-dJQhnCPc. Arrangement of  "Anvil of Crom" by Basil Poledouris, from the Conan the Barbarian: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Original Score: (c) 1982 Basil Poledouris; Original Album: (c) 2010 Prometheus Records. Used without permission.

Thanks for listening!

Questions? Comments? Curses? Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

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Episode 06 - The Pool of the Black One (Or, When Figurine Collecting Goes Too Far...)

It's story time! They say that there is an island far to the west, an island written of in the Book of Skelos, where foul horrors lurk, but priceless treasures lie forgotten, waiting for an adventurer willing to risk it all... Hither came Conan, freebooter and rogue. Let us tell you of the days of high adventure!

This week we're discussing the sixth story in the Robert E. Howard Conan canon, The Pool of the Black one (download MP3 here). The above art, by Mark Schultz, provides an indication of what you can expect! Another excellent entry in the series, we believe, with a dash of the Lovecraftian "unknown". What did you think of the story? Let us know in the comments!

Some links worth mentioning...

1. The interview between Charles Hoffman and Marc Cerasini available at "The Cimmerian" is found here.

2. The "Cosmic Filth" essay we (in part) discuss originally appeared in the third issue of "The Dark Man: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies," April 1993. It can be found here.

In two weeks, we return with the next story, Rogues in the House! (Read it on Wikisource!)

Beginning theme: "Sudden Defeat" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Ending theme: "Anvil of Crom - Piano Cover" arranged by YouTube user Yann Torn. Found at http://youtu.be/JaCQd5F_qDg. Arrangement of  "Anvil of Crom" by Basil Poledouris, from the Conan the Barbarian: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Original Score: (c) 1982 Basil Poledouris; Original Album: (c) 2010 Prometheus Records. Used without permission.

Thanks for listening!

Questions? Comments? Curses? Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

Follow us on Twitter!

Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner! Or, check us out on iTunes!

Notes From the Road... Cincy Comic Con 2013!

The Cromcast recently took a trip to the Cincinnati Comic Con...

And what a day! I think it's safe to say that we "pulped it out" as much as possible. Some great buys were found, some great discussions were had, and we made some new friends of the show!!! 

What kinds of finds did we run across? Who did we meet? Well, a string of images and notes follow... If you're interested, then please read on! However, if this seems like a bit of over-indulgence, then just sit tight... Episode #6 will be coming your way lickety-split!!!

The first image here is a great commission from Alejandro Bruzzese. I asked for a Red Sonya, specifically one that was "a bit more foreboding, and a bit less cheesecake..." Needless to say, you can see that Alejandro flat-out nailed it. It's already on display in Cromcast Central. 

Besides the sketch we were able to talk a bit with Alejandro about some of his ongoing work. His webcomic, Proxy, is AMAZING! Seriously, there's not much else out there that I think does such a good job of blending the weird with the psychedelic. And then, for good measure, add just a touch of horror. JUST LOOK AT THAT ALIEN! 

The next on our list is a sketch from John Sebastian...

John is a multi-faceted guy. First, as you can tell from the above work, he is one hell of a visual artist. Lots of heavy metal linework, lots of love for the genre, lots of horror. Some serious weirdifiied and pulpified goodness there. John told me he thought this could be best described as "some sort of eldrtich sorceror trying his hand at summoning an Old One..." Or something along those lines. Regardless, it is truly horrific. And excellent!

But beyond these sketches, John is also part of the Cincinnati-based band, Grey Host! Check out their Bandcamp page and you can stream their full album, Dawn for Vultures, and buy it for a mere $6. If you're into any sort of doom / sludge metal, this is some great stuff. It's been on heavy rotation for me since we left the convention. Here's the opening track from the album... Queue it up and get yer metal on! 

From our talks with John it looks like Grey Host is in the studio prepping some new material, and at least one song has some serious Conan connections! These guys have agreed to let us feature this new song in the upcoming music episode of the podcast, so be looking for a premiere release of that song right here on THE CROMCAST!

And finally...

These images are some of the books we picked up. Some great finds, both comics and prose!

Whewww, I think that about wraps it all up. What a weekend! 

See ya on the next podcast!

How Cool was John Buscema?

Rhetorical question... 'Cause if you've read any classic comics, then you know that he was one talented fellow. Yeah, I know, I know, we're flogging a dead horse here, but he absolutely tore it up on Savage Sword of Conan! Here's a bit from issue #22 with inks by Sonny Trinidad...

And, if you have the time, check this out!

It's a great interview piece presented in Savage Sword of Conan #15.
(Thanks to Diversions of the Groovy Kind for initially posting this)

Have you read "The Pool of the Black One" yet? You best be getting on that!