Something I like about the REH Conan is that he never tried to 'clean him up' as a character; his Conan's actions were probably a lot closer to a largely amoral adventurer's than we'd care to think. I especially remember how in 'Pool of the Black One' Conan follows the captain of the pirate ship that pulled him out of the sea, saving his life, into the jungle when they land on an island. Why? So Conan can kill him - granted, in a fair fight - and take command of the ship! The heck with gratitude when you're a Cimmerian!
I agree on that need to keep a series 'low key' and dealing with small but real problems without having to delve into every story being 'end of the world'. Then you get what DC Comics has done -- going from saving the world, to saving the universe, to saving the multiverse, to saving the multiverse (the multi-multiverse?), where does it all end?
I especially like Wellman for that in many of his series, as you pointed out with John the Balladeer. John, and John Thunstone, is never in a save-the-world situation in the short stories. Some of the novels do head in that direction, but even they start off small with John or Thunstone trying to help a friend or checking out some local folklore before it all goes wild.
Of course, Robert E. Howard didn't write his Conan stories in order. He picked up Conan in different times of Conan's career.
It's just me, but Howard's Conan is the only Conan. Other authors just named their hero Conan. [Crazy Grin]
Well, Howard always describes them as if Conan were telling them like a barbarian -- no regard for chronology
Something I like about the REH Conan is that he never tried to 'clean him up' as a character; his Conan's actions were probably a lot closer to a largely amoral adventurer's than we'd care to think. I especially remember how in 'Pool of the Black One' Conan follows the captain of the pirate ship that pulled him out of the sea, saving his life, into the jungle when they land on an island. Why? So Conan can kill him - granted, in a fair fight - and take command of the ship! The heck with gratitude when you're a Cimmerian!
I agree on that need to keep a series 'low key' and dealing with small but real problems without having to delve into every story being 'end of the world'. Then you get what DC Comics has done -- going from saving the world, to saving the universe, to saving the multiverse, to saving the multiverse (the multi-multiverse?), where does it all end?
I especially like Wellman for that in many of his series, as you pointed out with John the Balladeer. John, and John Thunstone, is never in a save-the-world situation in the short stories. Some of the novels do head in that direction, but even they start off small with John or Thunstone trying to help a friend or checking out some local folklore before it all goes wild.
Have actually used that exact same picture on my own Substack! https://necessarymonsters.substack.com/p/025-pikachu-part-1
😊