Modern Robert E. Howard fandom is on the rise and I decided to add my own contribution in the form of the 80 page, 8 1/2 x 11 (side-stapled) fanzine SWORD & FANTASY. The last time I used this title was on a collection of fantasy art published with G.B. Love in the early 1970s, but I think it suits this publication as I explore the worlds of Robert E. Howard and his works, as well as similar realms by other authors.

SWORD & FANTASY #1 (2005): The front and back cover is the Roy Krenkel art shown below, which was made available to me last year by a collector. It has not been confirmed that Krenkel actually did this art and Frazetta then based his CONAN THE WARRIOR painting on it, or whether Krenkel was inspired to do his own unique interpretation of the image. The back cover image of the art is slightly larger than the front cover version shown below. There is some dispute about this art since it is unsigned.

Features include a 2 page 1994 letter from Donald M. Grant explaining why he censored all of the Solomon Kane stories in the 1968 book RED SHADOWS (more than 100 changes), and then didn't tell anybody. 25 years later Steve Trout discovered the censorship and wrote about it at length in an article I published in my book THE FANTASTIC WORLDS OF ROBERT E. HOWARD.

Other articles include detailed guides to several classic Robert E. Howard fanzines (CROSS PLAINS, LONE STAR FICTIONEER, etc). I also have a detailed look at the Robert E. Howard story "Valley of the Worm." There is also the transcript to the Wandering Star Robert E. Howard panel (which I was on) from the 2002 San Diego Comicon. Plus I'm featuring my 7,000 word article on Karl Edward Wagner's KANE series wherein I review and examine every published Kane story Wagner wrote. I also take a detailed look at Gil Kane's classic sword & sorcery comic BLACKMARK.

This issue also features artwork by Mike Zeck (a vintage Conan illustration he did in the 1970s, which is a real knockout), art by Steve Fabian, Rick McCollum and others. Plus some surprises, like a nice repro of an illo from the WEIRD TALES appearance of "Kings of the Night".

SWORD & FANTASY #1-20 are available, and are listed in my Ebay Store.

Buyer pays for shipping priority mail or media mail (mailed in a box). Outside the US use the Ebay Global Shipping Program.