The Mars and Tarzan centennials are not the only events that will make 2012 significant for PulpFest attendees: This year we also celebrate the 80th birthday of Conan the Cimmerian, the lusty barbarian who debuted in the December 1932 issue of the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales. Created by Robert E. Howard, Conan became a reader favorite and appeared in many stories over the next four years. 

Although Howard died a suicide in 1936, his most famous creation was later revived in hardcover collections published by Arkham House and Gnome Press. But it was the mid-Sixties Lancer paperbacks, with their striking Frank Frazetta covers, that enthralled baby-boom readers, led to Conan movies and comic books, and gave rise to a new generation of Howard scholars who have worked tirelessly to keep all their favorite author’s works in print. 

PulpFest will celebrate the Cimmerian’s eightieth birthday and honor Howard’s career with two very special programs. First, Rusty Burke will moderate a panel of REH experts who will discuss Conan, Howard’s other characters, and the author’s influence on the sword-and-sorcery genre. Rusty needs no introduction to devotees of “Two-Gun Bob.” He is the editor of the highly acclaimed Howard reprint series published in the US by Del Rey Books, the president of the Robert E. Howard Foundation, and a long-time participant in REHupa (The Robert E. Howard United Press Association). We will provide the names of other panelists as soon as they are confirmed. 

The second Conan-themed presentation will be made by another well-known Howard aficionado, Jim Keegan, who with his wife Ruth produces “The Adventures of Two-Gun Bob,” which appears in every issue of Conan, Kull, and Solomon Kane published by Dark Horse Comics. The Keegans have also illustrated several of the Del Rey volumes (including Crimson Shadows and Grim Land: The Best of Robert E. Howard, Volumes One & Two) and are the proprietors of Jim & Ruth’s Two-Gun Blog. Jim will offer a look at the Cimmerian as depicted by various illustrators over the last eight decades. 

Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard remain two of the most avidly collected pulp fictioneers, and we’re certain that this year’s PulpFest programs will win new fans for each. And that’s just the beginning. We’re already brainstorming ideas for other panels and presentations, so you can expect the same diverse mix of programming for which our convention has become famous. Check back often for additional news!