Episode 17: A Witch Shall Be Born

Our story this week is A Witch Shall Be Born. Originally published in Weird Tales in December of 1934, you can check it out on Project Gutenberg here. Also, you can download our episode here. 

By the side of the caravan road a heavy cross had been planted, and on this grim tree a man hung, nailed there by iron spikes through his hands and feet. Naked but for a loin-cloth, the man was almost a giant in stature, and his muscles stood out in thick corded ridges on limbs and body, which the sun had long ago burned brown. The perspiration of agony beaded his face and his mighty breast, but from under the tangled black mane that fell over his low, broad forehead, his blue eyes blazed with an unquenched fire. Blood oozed sluggishly from the lacerations in his hands and feet.

What's that you say? This is the crazy story where Conan is crucified? Yup. This is one grisly tale. But surprisingly, Conan takes the backseat for much of the action. 

Our next story will be Jewels of Gwalhur, also known as The Servants of Bit-Yakin. We've heard it's kind of a stinker, but we don't care... We're gonna read it anyway! If you're inclined, you can access it in a number of formats here!

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

Don't like email? Leave a voicemail! We can be reached at (859) 429-CROM! (that's 2766).
Leave a short question / comment and we'll play it on the show.

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

Bonus Episode: The Violet Crown Radio Players' "Waterfront Fists!"

Hey all, we're back with a special episode! You can download it directly here.

We are happy to present a Howard story adapted by Austin's Violet Crown Radio Players!

By way of an explanation, we were approached with this opportunity by Mark Finn, a friend of the show with whom we had a chance to interview back in December regarding his Howard biography, Blood and Thunder. Didn't we mention on that episode that Mark is a multi-faceted fellow? 

Besides his scholarship, Mark served as the creative director of the Violet Crown Radio Players from 2002-07. Unfortunately this group is defunct, but if you want to read more about them, check out their blog here. During the group's hey-day, however, Mark adapted Howard's classic "Sailor Steve Costigan" story, Waterfront Fists. Mark approached us about sharing the troupe's recording of that adaptation here on the Cromcast, and of course we jumped at the chance to showcase the performance!

Waterfront Fists was first published by Howard back in September of 1930 in Fight Stories (cover below). This story happens to be in the public domain like the Conan stories we've been reading and discussing, so if you're looking to read the original text, check it out here on Project Gutenberg!

Hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!

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

Other stuff...

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The beginning tune is Moon Mullican's "Pipeliner Blues." Used without permission. The audio drama is Robert E. Howard's Waterfront Fists, as adapted by Mark Finn and performed by the Violet Crown Radio Players. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode 16: The People of the Black Circle (or, Conan Heads East!)

Conan had witnessed hundreds of battles in his wild life, but never one like this, wherein four diabolical wills sought to beat down one lesser but equally devilish will that opposed them. But he only faintly sensed the monstrous quality of that hideous struggle. With his back to the wall, driven to bay by his former masters, Khemsa was fighting for his life with all the dark power, all the frightful knowledge they had taught him through long, grim years of neophytism and vassalage.

Time for a new episode! This time around we tackle Howard's The People of the Black Circle. Published in Weird Tales from September through November of 1934, you can now read the story on Project Gutenberg! 

Download the episode directly here. And while you're waiting for that, check out Dan Adkins' pulptastic cover for Savage Sword of Conan #18. Oh yeah, and SPOILERS... Conan fights wizards!

Our next story will be A Witch Shall Be Born; read it on Project Gutenberg!

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

Don't like email? Leave a voicemail! We can be reached at (859) 429-CROM! (that's 2766).
Leave a short question / comment and we'll play it on the show.

Follow us on Twitter!

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

Beginning theme: "Sudden Defeat" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Special Edition of Art Party Friday

Hey everyone, Jon here. Today's art party will be a little different. Usually we highlight a variety of artists and their pieces dedicated to characters created by Robert E. Howard. Today though I would like to throw the spotlight on another creative individual I admire, Jack "The King" Kirby. Kirby was a comic book artist by trade but a hurricane of creativity by nature. He worked in comics for a long time and many would argue he is he is the greatest artist the medium has ever known. He died twenty years ago this week and the world is still poorer for it. Today we will be showcasing some inspired work by The King.

The Man himself. 

Conan the Barbarian, pencils by Jack Kirby inked by Bill Reinhold.

An visual interpretation of "Musings," by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer in Ariel, the Book of Fantasy.

Odin, the All-Father, by Jack Kirby.

God or Yaweh by Jack Kirby.

Battle scene from Devil Dinosaur by Jack Kirby.

Balduur of Norse Myth by Jack Kirby.

Page one of The New Gods by Jack Kirby.

Jack had a profound impact on the foundation of the comic book industry and continues to inspire and challenge creators today. If you are interested in learning more about the man you can check out the Kirby Museum's website (be sure to leave a donation so they can actually build a museum!) or check out this AV Club article from earlier this year. 

That's all for this week! We are hard at work behind the scenes here at Cromcast HQ! 

Keep your eyes peeled for our newest episode: 

Episode 15: Savage Sword of Comics! (Or, Conan vs. Sequential Art)

This week we take a look at the history of Conan comics, in particular The Savage Sword of Conan from Marvel Comics. With some help from our good friend Justin Stewart we discuss Roy Thomas as an adapter and as a creator, the artistic differences between Barry Windsor-Smith and John Buscema, and finally talk about comic book inking and comparing Alfredo Alcala and Tony Dezuniga!

The stories for the week are...

The Frost Giants Daughter, The Citadel at the Center of Time, and The Flame Knife!



Here is some original art by Buscema and Alcala from The Citadel at the Center of Time:

If you are interested in reading any of the articles we discuss, check out the following links:

Tom Scioli article on Barry Windsor Smith

Roy Thomas interviews John Buscema

Great moments in Savage Sword of Conan!

If you want some digital Conan goodness, here is the Dark Horse Comics digital app!

Thanks again to Justin for agreeing to do a show with us!

Pretty great sketch, huh? That's from his "Inktober" Project that we discuss on the episode. Check out this project and his larger body of work at his website. Or just pester him on the Twitter (@justin3000). He'd love that.

Our next story is The People of the Black Circle (read it on Project Gutenberg Australia).

Beginning theme: "Sudden Defeat" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
The ending theme was pulled from the Youtube and 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!

Comic Episode Primer

Hey everyone! This is Jon. Up next on the show will be our episode dedicated to the Savage Sword of Conan, a comic series published by Marvel for over twenty years. Now, we understand that not everyone is as into comics as we are. Due to that I am hoping that by providing this primer on the cast of creators involved everyone can listen to and enjoy episode fifteen!

The Company

Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman (more on him in a bit) as Timely Publications. The company first found success in WWII by publishing comics with heroes like Namor the Submariner, The Human Torch, and Captain America. After the war the company became more widely known as Atlas Comics and produced a wide variety of knock off horror, western, crime, and romance comics. The comic book industry as a whole slumped with the introduction of The Comics Code Authority, a government sponsored program to ensure comics didn't corrupt children. By the 60's superhero comics were coming back into the style and Goodman told his nephew and editor in chief, Stan Lee, to create him a super hero line. Lee along with Jack Kirby introduced the Fantastic Four in November 1961. Of course today they publish the world's most famous comics and are a multimedia presence with TV shows, cartoons, and obviously movies. At the time we meet them in our story about Conan comics, the company has recently overtaken DC as the top selling company.