Conan in the Czech Republic and Slovakia! Part 3!
This post is going to be a bit of a mixed bag of publishers, with a few music CD's thown in for good measure...there are a couple of common threads though, namely that these all feature stories written by none other than Robert E. Howard, and the artwork (with the exception of the CD covers) is all that of Czech comic book artist Kája Saudek!
FYI: All of the book titles in this post are hyperlinks to one of the sources of this info, although many of them obviously aren't in English so you might want to brush up on your Czech (or familiarize yourself with Google translate)...
FYI: All of the book titles in this post are hyperlinks to one of the sources of this info, although many of them obviously aren't in English so you might want to brush up on your Czech (or familiarize yourself with Google translate)...
These first few REH Conan novels were published by SFclub J.Vernea in conjunction with SFclub Time Machine under sign "Ceská speleologická spolecnost" (Czech speleologic society)...no translation required on my part, since these beauties all have the English titles right there on the front cover, and are featured over on the Howard Works website (here!).
(click to enlarge)
Rudé Hřeby (Red Nails), 1988
Vĕž Slona (Tower of the Elephant), 1989
Contents: "Tower of Elephant", "The Frost Giant's Daughter", "The God In The Bowl", "Rogues In The House", "Queen of the Black Coast"
A Zrodíse Čarodĕjka (A Witch Shall Be Born), 1989
Contents: "A Witch Shall Be Born", "Shadows in Zamboula", "Beyond The Black River"
Very unique but incredibly awesome artwork! Ok, from here on out, all the pictures are all as big as they get, so no need to be clickin' on any of them.
Next up is another novel from SFclub J.Vernea, although this time it looks like Poutník was also involved in the publishing...
Conan barbar a jiné povídky (Conan the Barbarian and Other Stories)
Date Published: Unknown
Contents: "The Slithering Shadow" (Conan), "The Vale of Lost Women" (Conan), "By This Axe I Rule!" (Kull), "The Dark Man" (Turlogh Dubh O'Brien)
Date Published: Unknown
Contents: "The Slithering Shadow" (Conan), "The Vale of Lost Women" (Conan), "By This Axe I Rule!" (Kull), "The Dark Man" (Turlogh Dubh O'Brien)
Then there's this compilation of REH stories, but I'm unclear of the publisher. Here's what it says over at AntKom (where I discovered this book): "4004/405. ZO Svazarmu"...
Muž z Cimmerie (The Man from Cimmeria), 1989
Contents: "Rogues in the House", "The Frost Giant's Daughter", "Queen of the Black Coast", "A Witch Shell Be Born", "Shadows in Zamboula", "Beyond the Black River"
Contents: "Rogues in the House", "The Frost Giant's Daughter", "Queen of the Black Coast", "A Witch Shell Be Born", "Shadows in Zamboula", "Beyond the Black River"
Here's another SFclub J.Vernea/Poutnik effort and another REH Conan story which is making it's first appearance around here...
Conan - lidé černého kruhu (The People of the Black Circle), 1991
And look below, it's the order form for the novel! Not only do we get a better look at the cover art, but the form hasn't been filled in yet, so we can print it out and order all the damn copies that we want!
Yes, this is turning out to be another one of those really long, dry posts. Sorry! Personally I find this stuff intriguing, and I can't seem to get enough of Kája's Conan artwork!
Alright, this next book doesn't feature any Howard stories, but instead is a compilation by one Nalim Lidochaz, containing theoretical works, essays, and the like...the theme being Conan of course!
The title, "Gulistánský samizdat" just won't translate for me...it's a pretty safe bet though that it was published in 2000 and is yet another SFclub J.Vernea/Poutnik effort. Also of interest is this here CD, an audio supplement that was included with the book...
Much like this post, the music on this album is also a real mixed bag (i.e. polka, funeral march, folklore fantasy, anthemic, marching, folk, rock)...easy listening while you learn more about all things Conan!
On the topic of audio CD’s, I also came across this little gem in my travels, again courtesy of Nalim…
A Czech music CD dedicated to Conan, but this time it's primarily opera! It’s the 2006 release of Conan - Fantom Opery (Conan - Phantom of the Opera), from the Conan Society...and look, it’s Arnold Pavarotti on the cover! But wait! There’s even more songs about Conan – check out these two CD covers, also from the Conan Society...
The one on the left, “Conan v Nipon Koku” from 2005 translates to something along the lines of "Conan and the Nipon Koku" or "Conan and the Country of Japan"…traditional Japanese music perhaps? On the right, it’s 2008’s “Těžkej ConDr.: Zahrajte mi psychúčko". I have no idea what that means, but some of the songs on this CD translate to the likes of “Hello, Cimmerian Adventurers”, “Conan and the Wolf”, “Hey, Conan!”, and “Conan and the Three Sisters”. Ha!
Alright, back to the books. Looks like the three SFclub J.Vernea/SFclub Time Machine novels were republished by BB Art some years later (reusing the same covers), but this time round one addition was included, Howard's only full length novel about Conan the Cimmerian, The Hour of the Dragon!
Hodina draka (The Hour of the Dragon), 2001
OK, that's it for the Conan! Now for a little more about the artist, Kája Saudek...
Born: Karel Saudek
May 13, 1935Prague, Czechoslovakia
According to Lambiek, Kaja Saudek is the most important and famous Czechian comic artist. You can also learn more about him on Wikipedia (here). Kaja’s certainly got a very distinctive style, but it's really working for me! Unfortunately I couldn’t find any other Conan artwork of his, but I did find this Almuric cover!
Kája’s created a whole bunch of other comics, some samples below. These characters and stories look most interesting…Jeskyně Saturn (The Saturn Cave)! Modrá rokle (The Blue Ravine)! Lips Tullian, the Most Redoubtable Leader of Bandits! Arnal and Two Dragon Teeth!
Well, off to bed. I'll be back to proofread this monster tomorrow.
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