Large Fierce Mammal

Robert E. Howard
1906-1936

Most people are familiar with the character Conan the Barbarian, created in literature for the pulp fiction market by Robert E. Howard, and later popularized by the films of varying quality starring the current Governor of California. Howard was a prolific writer who delved heavily into a number of genres including westerns, boxing, and what has come to be known, mostly due to his efforts, as sword and sorcery fantasy fiction. To this day Howard is still one of the most read authors in fantasy, and his work is never hard to find as it continues to be reprinted.

Howard was a brooding soul who balanced a brilliant talent with suicidal tendencies that, along with untreated bouts of chronic depression, had haunted him from an early age. His light was snuffed out when he took his own life on the morning of 11 June 1936, but ironically and sadly, it is this dark side that gives his work an allure shared by few others.

My personal favourite among Howard’s characters is Solomon Kane, a fanatical puritan driven to travel to the most vile shitholes of the 17th century world, snuffing out evil wherever he finds it. A fundamentalist of the most radical sort, Kane is compelled by a head splitting combination of righteous spite and self-loathing, and now he’s coming to a movie theatre near you in a film adaptation directed by Michael J. Bassett starring British actor James Purefoy Purefoy is an excellent choice for the role of Kane, having more than amply exhibited his ability to project all the required traits playing Mark Antony in twenty-two episodes of the late HBO miniseries “Rome“.

The film has long since gone from rumour to announced reality. Little snippets of information, from spoiler alerts, to concept art, to previews of promotional posters, are appearing all over the internet like crocus blossoms peeking through the snow. I’m hoping for a good treatment of the work here so the crystal ball is staying warmed up. I’ll leave you with an early release poster that’s making the rounds. As usual, click on the picture for a better view.

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