Review: The Conan Companion edited by Wayne Warfield

by Gary Romeo

The Conan Companion, Hall Publications, is a 24-page booklet published in 1976. It consists of articles by Michael Resnick, David and Susannah Bates, John Meyer, L. Sprague de Camp, and Bill Crlikov and artwork by Gene Day, Richard L. Farley, Ken Raney, Bot Roda, and Wayne Warfield.

Originally sold for $2.75, it now commands a selling price of (usually) $25. It is a piece of REH/Conan history, I’m glad I own a copy, but you’ll have to decide for yourself whether you want to spend that much on a slim booklet.

Editor, Wayne Warfield, gets the ball rolling with a brief introduction. “While editing a fanzine sometime ago, I became enthused with the idea of doing an all-Conan issue! I was convinced that new material pertaining to Conan could be obtained, and be directly related to the subject matter. Well, the fanzine went off to fanzine heaven, but the inspiration did not die with it.”

“Conan – The Hairy Hero” by Michael Resnick comes next. Mr. Resnick was a primarily a science fiction writer and editor until his death in 2020. During his writing career he won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award. He first ventured into REH territory with a novel, Redbeard, published by Lancer Books in 1969. This article was originally written for a men’s magazine called Rascal. Resnick was writing for his audience and some of what he says might anger fans today. “Conan is an ignorant barbarian, who happens to be pretty good with a sword. During the course of his literary evolution, he is at various times a thief, a murderer, a mercenary, and a sailor – nothing you’d ever want to put on a job application form.” Resnick was mainly trying to draw a distinction between Tarzan and Conan. Resnick repeats the wholly wrong statement that REH drove out into the desert to commit suicide. Resnick, although not always accurate, is very enthusiastic in promoting Conan as exciting literature.

“The First Conan Comic?” by David and Susannah Bates suggests that Gardner Fox’s Crom the Barbarian “was the first (although pirate) attempt to produce the Conan character as a comic book feature.” The authors conclude. “The point to remember is, that if this can not be considered as the first attempt at a true Conan comic book, it is certainly the prototype. Perhaps more research is needed. But even Overstreet, as of 1973, had missed the First comic. An earlier attempt does not detract from Marvel’s fine accomplishment, but the antecedent should be noted.” Of course, nowadays, the Mexican based comic, “La Reina de la Costa Negra” is considered to be the first Conan comic book.

“Conan the Degraded” by John Meyer is a tirade against pastiche. “In recent times Fantastic has printed All-New Conan stories by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter and editor Ted White reports that sales have mushroomed with each of these issues. This success surely indicates the broad appeal of Howard’s vital and self-sufficient hero rather than the skill of the authors’ who have usurped Howard’s place.” Later the author grants that de Camp has “some native talent” and goes on to criticize Lin Carter. Conan pastiche is still being produced today, of course, but back then (and even now) certain REH fans feel the need to shout in the wind.

“The Barbarian” by L. Sprague de Camp is a somewhat humorous poem. De Camp states “here is one of my jingles, which pokes a little affectionate fun at a couple of our mutual heroes.” Basically, the idea is that a modern civilized man (REH) would find barbaric life to be more boring than adventurous, yet he’d still cling to the idea that he’d be happier in another age.

And lastly, “Conan Unarmed” examines how Conan would triumph over foes without the use of a weapon. “One with training has a better chance [unarmed] depending upon his or her skill level. Conan may not have followed actual [martial arts] training methods. More likely his skill came from a life of battle. Somewhere in there he found that a punch delivered straight from the shoulder with a twist of the hips was more effective than a John Wayne haymaker. One can’t judge of how much skill Conan possessed, but there was doubtless some.”

Rereading an older fan publication like this makes one realize how much Conan scholarship has grown in the following years. We now know so much more about Robert E. Howard’s life and things like Conan’s skill level have been quantified in game books and video games. Although this publication is dated and since replaced with better knowledge it is a worthy purchase for those interested in the evolution of REH scholarship and fandom in general.