Solomon Kane conflicts with "Red Shadows"

IMO I don't think that Kane started out evil, just really really amoral. Which kind of fits with the universe of the stories if you think about it - there are any number of subtle references to how Kane was once a mercenary sailor. There's even one quote from The Blue Flame of Vengeance where after Kane give his usual "I am a landless man out of Devon" spiel (and I personally love how the movie took that one little detail and expanded upon it and made it literal) he adds "I seek...my soul's salvation, perhaps" which certainly fits with this movie.
 - morden1018, over at the IMDB

It occurred to me that though we far more often get people trying to reconcile Conan the Barbarian with Howard's stories, there is a small number of folk who insist that Bassett's Solomon Kane is entirely in keeping with Howard.  This intrigues me, since they even cite stories supporting the idea - though of course, it's only ever those two lines from "The Blue Flame of Vengeance" which Bassett latched onto.

They don't seem to take into account the dozens of lines which are directly contradictory to the film's origin story. Well, since I've been on a roll, I figured I'd do the same as I've been doing with the Filmgoer's Guide, and discuss those Howard stories which have direct conflicts with Bassett's Solomon Kane.

Kapow! Comic Con: Howard Meet-Up?

On 9th and 10th of April, the first ever Kapow! Comic Con will take place at the London Business Design Centre. Details are slim at the moment, but the guest list is inundated with folks from the world of comics, television and film. Further information will be unveiled 14th February, including a "Massive 2011 Movie Preview". Hmm, the Conan trailer was said to be out on April, and Kapow! takes place in April...

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'll be going with my local comic-minded friends, but it occurred to me that this might be a really good opportunity for Howard fans to get together and chat about Howard, the Conan comics and film (which will undoubtedly be discussed in some manner). I know Mark and gang had a good time at the San Diego Comic Con, and even though Howard & Conan aren't as big in Blighty as they are in the US - or even France, for that matter - I think it would be great for UK Howard Fans to stand up and be counted.

Who's with me, sword-brothers and shield-maidens?

The Filmgoer's Guide to Conan the Barbarian (1982): Cimmeria

Milius' conception of Cimmeria is of a great mountainous landscape, with many snow-capped peaks, and even Conan's village is covered in snow. Conan's home village is situated in a dark, boreal forest.  During the summer, wild blueberries are picked, and the leaves are darkly green, indicating the snow of the early scene is only seen in winter.

But how does it compare to Robert E. Howard's descriptions of Conan's homeland?

Where on earth is Don Herron?

Don Herron's The Dark Barbarian was one of the things that truly made an impact on my leap into Howard studies, and I'd wager it did the same for many. Here, finally, was a critical anthology that put forth the idea of Howard's work being more than Puerile Adolescent Wish Fulfillment, that there was more to Conan than Juvenile Gordian-Knot Escapism, and more to the Man from Cross Plains than Maladjusted To The Point of Psychosis (ok, that's enough of those).

One of Herron's other seminal works, "Conan vs Conantics," was one of the first shots fired in the movement against including other authors' work on the same level as Howard's original tales. It's never really been surpassed. There are many other great Herron contributions to Howardom, so much that he can be safely considered one of the Great Howard Scholars. So why haven't we heard from him in such a long time?

Mostly he's occupied with his first, greatest love, Dashiel Hammett, continuing his tours and expanding his horizons on that front. However, just so we can keep up on his adventures, he's started a blog (thanks to James Reasoner for the link.) I'd love to see him return, as well as Leo Grin and other Howardists who've taken leaves of absence from Howardom. I doubt Howard, once experienced, ever truly leaves a reader.

Sauron: A Misunderstood Hero?

What, me evil?

I'm not kidding, this is actually an argument put forward by Cezary Jan Strusiewicz.  One could argue that, since it's on Cracked.com, it shouldn't be taken too seriously - but then, every other "famous movie villain who was right all along" on the list had compelling, reasonable and logical arguments.  So why shouldn't we believe the argument that Sauron was the victim of a terrible smear campaign was similarly made in all honesty? According to Strusiewicz, Sauron, the enemy of freedom, peace, love and anything good, was just misunderstood.

Just so you can understand the immensity of insanity, I'm going to post the segment in its entirety here, and address it.

Clark Ashton Smith: 118 Today

I really should put important dates like this on a calendar.  However, James Maliszewski doesn't let the side down, as he pays tribute to Klarkash-Ton from a gamer's point of view, while Shane Mangus tips his hat.  In lieu of the sort of post Smith deserves, I'll just include a link to a video I greatly enjoyed of the man's work.

A significant milestone will be later this year, as it will be the 50th anniversary of Smith's death: coincidentally, it'll be the 75th of Howard's. While I'll obviously be observing the latter, I'm going to make a special effort to observe the former, too.  Smith's often considered the forgotten third of the Weird Tales Troika, and frankly, it's criminal. Let us not forget Clark Ashton Smith.

Films I saw in 2010, and Films I should probably see in 2011

There are a lot of films I was planning on seeing this year. There were a few I was looking forward to, but for some reason never got around to (Iron Man 2, Tron: Legacy).  Others I may have enjoyed (Shutter Island, Kick-Ass, Splice, Despicable Me, Predators, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Tamara Drewe, Black Swan).  In some cases, I probably dodged a bullet (Daybreakers, The Book of Eli, The Wolfman, Alice in Wonderland, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Jonah Hex). Despite the plaudits and recommendations, I still do not wish to, nor do I ever see myself wishing to, see The Social Network.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to see The Way Back, being as I'm a massive Peter Weir fanboy (who still thinks he's been robbed countless times at the Academy Awards)

Still, I'll give my thoughts on the few 2010 films I saw this year in order from least enjoyed to most enjoyed, and list the films I'm making a point of seeing in 2011.

The Narnia Code

Although C.S. Lewis penned the Narnia Chronicles more than 50 years ago, today they are more popular than ever. Using dramatizations of Lewis' early life and career, this intriguing documentary travels the world, meeting experts, testing evidence, and uncovering surprising questions behind the best-selling series.

I do not understand.



... I still don't understand.

Frodo in The Hobbit - are you really surprised?

Once again, I'm more surprised that people are surprised at the news Elijah Wood will be returning to Jackson's Middle-earth for The Hobbit films.  Seriously, you'd think people would just expect this by now.

Quite how Frodo will fit in this version of The Hobbit is unclear, though at a guess, I'd suppose it would be in the form of a framing device.  Jackson & co aren't thick enough to cast Frodo in the main story, so it must be that way.  Perhaps it'll merely be in the form of a prologue/epilogue, or they'll go with a Princess Bride riff, snapping back to Frodo & Bilbo chatting throughout the two films.

It seems clear that Jackson wants to fit in as many of the characters from The Lord of the Rings as possible, so I fully expect to see lil' Aragorn too.  I wouldn't be surprised if they had a scene with the whole Fellowship at some point, using cut footage of Gimli to stick him in without putting John Rhys-Davies through the makeup process again.  Either that, or they'll give him digital makeup a la Gollum.

Speaking of Gollum, Andy Serkis has also been confirmed.  I don't think there was any jeopardy of him not reprising his role.  It looked troublesome for Ian McKellan, but he's confirmed too, and the fandom rejoiced, since even if you didn't take to his interpretation of Gandalf (though I'm fully aware I'm in the vast minority on that score), it would be ludicrous to follow up with a different actor.  Ian Holm and Christopher Lee are still in talks, and I'd dearly love to see more of Lee's Saruman in The Hobbit, especially since he's playing a hero for once.  Then again, considering how painfully unsubtle Jackson is, we'll probably have "hints" of Saruman's fall from grace with the nuance of a freefalling fire extinguisher sprinkled through the film.

I regret to note that Balin, my favourite Dwarf, has been cast, and it is not Brian Blessed.  Instead, it's Ken Stott - a decision I find highly intriguing, and one I'm actually warming to.  I really like his work on Rebus, Messiah, and his many guest roles, so to see him take the role of Balin is actually a move that I don't mind.  Indeed, of all my problems with The Lord of the Rings adaptations, the casting (outside of Frodo being too young and Aragorn just not being "right") has been pretty solid.  I still don't have any expectations for the films, but I can't deny I like some choices.

Still hate Itaril and her boyfriend.  Dammit, Jackson/Walsh/Boyens, get a hold of yourselves!

A Shadow from the Dark Days of Fantasy "Scholarship"

Michal Wojcik of One Last Sketch and The Lurking Humour, also known as Taran in the blogosphere and beyond, is a very smart chap, and very knowledgeable. A while back, he mentioned a particular essay by Hans Joachim Alpers, which he felt may have been an encapsulation of a great deal of ill will towards fantasy fiction that had been formulating in science fiction circles.*  Rusty Burke, impressed by Taran's studiousness, suggested that he investigate the matter further, and address it.  Well, wait no longer, for "Spacesuit, Blaster, and Science(!)" has arrived, and fired a withering broadside against a hideous little piece of work masquerading as scholarship that has evaded criticism for far too long. I think Taran's done a great job here.

Alpers does not seem to realize that the authors he cites for support were opposed to fascism in their personal lives.  J.R.R. Tolkien, for instance, made his views of Nazism and “that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler,” (Letters no.45) quite obvious.  Michael Moorcock describes himself as “an anarchist and a pragmatist,” (Mythmakers & Lawbreakers: Anarchist Writers on Fiction) who goes out of his way to critique British Imperialism and yes, Nazism in many of his novels.  Robert E. Howard, whose work scholars often mislabel as latently fascistic, held a long correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft decrying fascism and Nazism; the groupthink of Nazism and obeisance to authority did not gel with Howard’s extreme individualism.  We are more likely to find empires fall than get built in Howard’s works.[*] 

Indeed, one need not look far to see what Howard truly thought of the Nazis and fascism in general. I'll have to get a "Robert E. Howard and Fascism" post for the Newcomer's Guide finished, which'll probably just consist of a bunch of quotes from the letters.

[*] Alpers’s belief that heroic fantasy’s barbarians mirror “the barbarism of concentration camps and aggressive war” comes as an unimaginative conflation; the “barbarism” he refers to and the barbarism found in sword & sorcery constitute two completely different terms, one modern, one historical.  Barbarians, in heroic fantasy, would never stoop to the excesses of the Nazis—that only becomes possible with the decadence of civilization.  I believe the Holocaust would have come as no surprise to Howard, had he lived to see it.  It is the ultimate example of modernity gone wrong.

Heh,  this reminded me of a few Howard quotes in regards to the different contexts of "barbarism":

Considering it again, I am not so sure that even cultural and artistic things will not suffer as civilization “advances” along its present lines. You seem to take it for granted that Fascism would guarantee absolute freedom of thought and mental research. I wonder if this faith is justified. I don’t notice any hilarious renaissance emanating from Germany or Italy or Austria resulting from the exhilarating freedom of dictatorship.

I’m not surprized at the massacre of helpless people, the torturing and abuse of women and children. It’s what I expect of cultured Europeans. It’s what I’ll expect of the people of this country when they get sufficiently imbued with European culture and civilization. It didn’t surprize me when Dolfuss [sic] murdered the helpless women and children of his enemies. That’s the “superior European” style. It didn’t surprize me when his enemies assassinated him; that too was in keeping with the best traditions of European culture. Reading in one of the biggest capitalistic dailies of the state - which is above all charges of “radical” - I noted the outrages committed on women by the Fascists of Germany and Austria. That too is characteristic, both of the Fascist movement and of the European character.

- Robert E. Howard, letter to H.P. Lovecraft, December 1934

Well done, Taran!

*And cheers for the clarification.