tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post6566766462137618077..comments2024-02-20T10:12:20.623+00:00Comments on The Blog That Time Forgot: On Tributes to HowardTaranaichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-34248203189490030592011-03-07T17:50:48.940+00:002011-03-07T17:50:48.940+00:00I recommend that, if you can, you visit the house ...<i>I recommend that, if you can, you visit the house in Cross Plains, Texas and take the tour.</i><br /><br />I definitely agree, Claude, having done so myself last year. I'll be doing it again. If you only do one thing at Cross Plains, visit The House.<br /><br /><i>i believe the best tribute you can pay is simply by enjoying the work he did leave and recommending it to those interested.</i><br /><br /><i>To me Robert E. Howard's legacy IS his work-that is immortal.</i><br /><br />That's a good way of looking at it.<br /><br /><i>Actually, "Death of a legend" is a quite interesting story. In the other hand, "Storyteller" is really pathetic.</i><br /><br />I dunno, I find both of them a bit squirmy.<br /><br /><i>I don't think there's anything so wrong with the plunkett story, particularly if it is not telegraphed. It does manage to sort of address that common fan's lament of how much good stuff Howard left on the table when he chacked out. </i><br /><br />I didn't realise DoaL wasn't advertised or promoted as "The Death of REH," as such. That does put things in a slightly different perspective.<br /><br /><i>As for storyteller...<br /><br />Sheesh. Okay, bottom line is this--I like Busiek's work. I like it alot, and he did right by Howard in his work on Conan. There, I said it.</i><br /><br />Blasphemer! Heretic! Apostate! Renegade! Schismatist! *does the 1978 Body Snatchers point-and-scream*<br /><br />I jest, of course! To me, the problem with Busiek is that because he gets so much right, the things he gets wrong are telescoped and intensified as a result. Hence how I can love his adaptation "The God in the Bowl" *except* for the damned Tiki-Head, for example. On the whole, I think his desire to be faithful to REH is indeed genuine: I just don't agree on how successful he was at that, from my own point-of-view on the stories and comics.<br /><br />But then, you don't like "Queen of the Black Coast," so your opinion is automatically invalid. Nyeh. *blows raspberry*<br /><br /><i>You have to remember and at least acknowlege that aside from a handful of friends and a small circle of admirers like Jack Scott at the paper, the bulk of the general citizenry of CP didn't know what REH was doing, or they knew and didn't care, or they knew and didn't understand it. And the gossips were quick to call him a "Tristan" and other such terms. I don't think it's disrespectful at all to Howard's own biography. In "Storyteller" the protag dies a hero's death. He gets to save the town, even if they don't know it. </i><br /><br />Oh, I'm well aware of that, and I'm sure that's exactly where Busiek was coming from: my problem is that he pretty much just transplanted an early 20th Century Oil Boom town into the Hyborian Age. The early twentieth century was very different from the Middle Ages/Colonial period of Aquilonia. There are some constants, I agree, and the idea of a sensitive, poetic soul being misunderstood and denigrated by insular townsmen is universal. I just didn't care for the way Busiek went about it.<br /><br />Over on another message board, some idiot claimed to finally understand why Howard's work was "juvenile" to him when he discovered he died at the age of 30. Apparently, no great work of fiction has been written before the age of 35. Kurt was straight in there like a shot, citing a number of classics written before that age. This was after he departed the title. While I still have my problems with his work on Conan, I'll always appreciate that.Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-35389158164502237062011-03-07T13:49:33.366+00:002011-03-07T13:49:33.366+00:00I can only offer my own experiences, here.
When ...I can only offer my own experiences, here. <br /><br />When I first read the Plunkett story, it was not advertised as a tribute to REH. It was just Sandy By-God Plunkett doing what he does best, drawing the crap out of a story. And while there was something naggingly familiar in the tableaus presented as the protag is raising the gun to his head, it wasn't until the last page that I "got it," and let me tell you, it was a gut punch. I suspect it was the same for a lot of fans of REH and Conan who hadn't ever considered Howard's early demise. <br /><br />I don't think there's anything so wrong with the plunkett story, particularly if it is not telegraphed. It does manage to sort of address that common fan's lament of how much good stuff Howard left on the table when he chacked out. <br /><br />As for storyteller...<br /><br />Sheesh. Okay, bottom line is this--I like Busiek's work. I like it alot, and he did right by Howard in his work on Conan. There, I said it. And I would like to think that the above statement includes storyteller. Here's why. You have to remember and at least acknowlege that aside from a handful of friends and a small circle of admirers like Jack Scott at the paper, the bulk of the general citizenry of CP didn't know what REH was doing, or they knew and didn't care, or they knew and didn't understand it. And the gossips were quick to call him a "Tristan" and other such terms. I don't think it's disrespectful at all to Howard's own biography. In "Storyteller" the protag dies a hero's death. He gets to save the town, even if they don't know it. <br /><br />I am confident that if REH had a way to get out of his town and see the world, knowing that his mother would have been cared for, he would have broken his arm trying to pack a suitcase in his haste. But he didn't, because he couldn't. He made the best of his bad situation. I think that's a big part of "Storyteller" too.Mark Finnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02085303208733639998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-72146947774705580242011-03-07T11:54:50.038+00:002011-03-07T11:54:50.038+00:00Actually, "Death of a legend" is a quite...Actually, "Death of a legend" is a quite interesting story. In the other hand, "Storyteller" is really pathetic.Kikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15070254713050025760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-22768214935652007792011-03-07T11:14:07.611+00:002011-03-07T11:14:07.611+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Kikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15070254713050025760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-71968695087159287182011-03-07T11:12:20.053+00:002011-03-07T11:12:20.053+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Kikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15070254713050025760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-43740731052587577742011-03-07T04:39:34.177+00:002011-03-07T04:39:34.177+00:00Right on Mario.
To me Robert E. Howard's lega...Right on Mario.<br /><br />To me Robert E. Howard's legacy IS his work-that is immortal.<br /><br />Focusing on the end of his life itself does seem in bad taste to me-though I won't argue any ones intentions.nephite blood spartan hearthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17092519999184585295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-84672637269226821712011-03-07T03:13:01.133+00:002011-03-07T03:13:01.133+00:00unfortunately , there is no right way to address t...unfortunately , there is no right way to address the issue, especially one that has built so many myths around it that unfortunately certain individuals profited off of. one can only really present the known facts as clearly as possible and i believe the best tribute you can pay is simply by enjoying the work he did leave and recommending it to those interested.=marioAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-3068522269761138102011-03-07T01:30:52.461+00:002011-03-07T01:30:52.461+00:00Two years ago, I took the tour of the Howard house...Two years ago, I took the tour of the Howard house. Roy Thomas had been there previously. So had actor Bruce Boxleitner. There was an autographed photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger on the wall of the small room that served as a gift shop. <br />I recommend that, if you can, you visit the house in Cross Plains, Texas and take the tour. There are a few locals who are imminently better versed in Howard's life and death than many who have written about him. <br />The tour brings flesh to the bones that is the Robert E. Howard (Our guide referred to him as 'Bob') and if you fancy yourself a fan, you will think that the trip,however far off the beaten path, was worth the cost.Claudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05831507399345911439noreply@blogger.com