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For fictional versions of Robert E. Howard as a character within comic books or other media,
visit this disambiguation page.

Personal History

Quote1 He lived in a world that was at least quasi-make-believe. Quote2
August Derleth[src]

Robert E. Howard was born and spent most of his life in Texas, particularly his hometown of Cross Plains and nearby Brownwood.

He wrote for the pulp magazine Weird Tales.

Howard committed suicide on the morning of June 11, 1936,[3] at the age of 30.

Professional History

Robert E. Howard was an American pulp writer most widely known for his pioneering work in the realm of swords and sorcery. He created the adventure hero Conan the Barbarian, as well as his Atlantean contemporary King Kull, the Puritan hero Solomon Kane and the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn.

Along with his correspondents H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith (among others), Howard developed the basis of what would become known as the Cthulhu Mythos, which was intertwined in some of his heroes' stories, such as Bran Mak Morn's Worms of the Earth" (Weird Tales; November, 1932), adapted in Marvel Comics in Savage Sword of Conan #16 (December, 1976) and 17 (February, 1977), where the Black Gods of R'lyeh (R'lyeh being the city created by H.P. Lovecraft as the dwelling place of Cthulhu) are mentioned.

Legacy in Marvel Comics[]

In 1970, Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith brought Howard's work to the Marvel Universe with Conan the Barbarian #1 (after a "trial run" by creating Starr the Slayer and publishing it in The Sword and the Sorcerers, Chamber of Darkness #4). Thomas added to Howard's universe by introducing the She-Devil, Red Sonja.

Please find more details on the (WIP) article "Marvel and Robert E. Howard".

Appearances in the Marvel Universe[]

Robert E. Howard has appeared himself in Marvel Comics:

  • "Death of a Legend" (Epic Illustrated #34; February, 1986) depicts the end of Robert E. Howard as his mother lays on her dying bed.
  • In "Barbarians of the Border" (Savage Sword of Conan #200; August, 1992), low-success writer Robert "Bob" Howard dreams of being involved adventure on his own, then envisions Conan, and soon begins to write his adventures.

Other characters are more or less closely stand-ins for Howard:

Work History

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. Handbook of the Conan Universe #1 ; Robert Ervin Howard
  2. Conan the Barbarian #85 : The Hyborian Page
  3. 3.0 3.1 Savage Sword of Conan #200 ; The Father of Conan, by Glenn Lord
  4. Conan the Adventurer #1 ; The Second Coming of Conan
  5. Conan: Serpent War #1 ; Director's Cut
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