The Savage Tales Of Solomon Kane!

Relentless! That's the word I associate with Robert E. Howard's first great hero. The dour Puritan, hawk faced with steely blue eyes dressed in black save for a green sash is at once a dashing and gloomy figure. He travels the globe, from England across Europe and into Africa and South America on his seemingly neverending quest to right wrongs and bring vengeance to those folks who are God's helpless many. Kane never stops, ever. Not until he's found the rogue he searches for and not before he brings them to rough justice on the end of his rapier.

The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane from Ballantine brings together all of the Solomon Kane stories from Weird Tales as well as those published later in the 60's, including a number of fragments, when Howard's works were getting some well-deserved attention.

The early tales of Solomon Kane such as "Skull in the Stars" and "Rattle of Bones" are pure weird pulp, solid adventure with scary backdrops. With "Moon of Skulls" and even more in "Red Shadows" we get Kane traveling to Africa where the stalwart Puritan finds his true element. The Kane stories really pick up steam with "The Hills of the Dead" which brings Kane back to Africa and where he "partners" with the witchdoctor N'longa, who gives him an ancient carved staff, which completes Kane's armory of dagger, rapier, musket and pistols. The staff turns out to be far more ancient than Kane imagines and give the warrior a magical character he somewhat lacked before. His journey in Africa which has a real sense of continuity, continues in "Hawk of Basti" (fragment), "Wings in the Night", "The Footfalls Within", and "The Children of Asshur" (another fragment). This quest across Africa is properly weird and Solomon Kane finds himself in a world more complex than his philosophy heretofore contained, a world full of vampires, zombies, harpies, and even some startlingly depraved humans even.

I first read these Solomon Kane stories many years ago in the Bantam paperbacks, where Ramsey Campbell completed several of the stories which REH never finished.

Gary Gianni supplies some outstanding artwork for the Ballantine trade volume. His work is ideally suited to the historical pulp flavor of the stories.

Be sure to check out all three of today's Soloman Kane posts. 

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The Savage Movie Of Solomon Kane!

The Solomon Kane movie was released in 2009, but not in any theater on the North American continent. Now finally we have access to this robust Robert E. Howard adaptation by means of a much belated DVD release. James Purefoy is ideally cast as Howard's dour Puritan reaver. His face, his demeanor, his physical skills all communicate effectively the somber power of one of REH's most ferocious creations. Preceding Conan, Solomon Kane has always been a favorite of mine, mostly because his adventures are set in the "real" world. Admittedly it's a world filled with all manner of dark magic, but it's also a world in which God and Satan and all between are very much a palpable part of the landscape. 

Purefoy says he was convinced to play the part when he saw the production artwork above showing the relentless Solomon Kane battling a bevy of flesh-rending ghouls. It's a wild scene, which is realized in somewhat less blood and thunder fashion in the actual movie.

This movie doesn't adapt any particular Kane story, so don't view expecting to see parts of "Red Shadows", "The Hills of the Dead", or any other lusty Howard story. The director Michael Bassett said his brief from the producers was to create an origin story for Kane which would then lead into a few more movies adapting the actual Howard material. Howard speaks little of Kane's back story, other than to suggest he has lived a most adventurous life across the expanse of the whole world.

This movie shows us Kane as a boy, shows us Kane's father and family, shows us his life before he commits himself to God and becomes the devout red-handed slayer of the Howard stories. Kane was in his own words "an evil evil man" and we see that in the early stages of the story. But the movie then shows us how this man strives for redemption and the tale takes us through his awkward stages to an awakening of his destiny in the world, which is to battle evil, the very evil he once embraced so joyously.

The movie offers up monsters galore in a world bristling with white and black magic. We get a sword-wielding demon from Satan, a haggard witch, a mysterious and mighty rider, blood-thirsty ghouls, a wicked sorcerer, and even a full-blown giant monster. Not all the threats seem as natural to Kane's worlds as they ought, but most do. If the movie has any significant weakness it is the finale which is paced well, but seems somewhat different in tone than what had preceded it.

The late Pete Postlethwaite is typically effective in his brief but significant role, likewise a somber Max Von Sydow. Alice Krige and Jason Fleming are also on hand in a movie which is exceedingly well cast. James Purefoy leads this cast and shows us the misery of Solomon Kane right down to his scarred and battered skin. His voice rolls out in a compelling baritone which demands attention and his ability to glare is most impressive. The movie is very very well acted, the true strength of the effort.

The snow flies and the rain falls almost throughout the movie giving the whole affair a bleak texture which reinforces the themes of general despair which lurks around every corner. But finding that small light of hope in this unusually scarred landscape is what the journey of this movie is all about.

Without spoiling a really good ride, all I can say is that if the Kane we know is not with us at the beginning he most certainly is by the end.

Yet More Kane later today. 

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The Savage Comics Of Solomon Kane!

Aside from the two Kane appearances in Marvel Premiere, the six-issue run of The Saga of Solomon Kane is apparently the only color comic run featuring the Puritan from Mighty Marvel. I've never owned nor read them before getting them along with the aforementioned Marvel Premiere issues in the color trade collection from Dark Horse.

This is an odd set of stories because there's precious few of Howard's Kane stories to adapt and Marvel adapted some of them two separate times. One story is adapted twice in this very volume, a most strange happening, but interesting in that it allows a pretty close comparison of the interpretations.

 

"Red Shadows" is the first Kane story by REH and it was adapted first by Roy Thomas and Howie Chaykin and it's a great rousing version of the story. Chaykin's style is perfect for Kane and he's at his best in this tale. I'd love to see him adapt all of the Solomon Kane canon using his modern style. It would be a masterpiece I suspect. The story is adapted again by Ralph Macchio and Steve Carr and Bret Blevins. This one is more briskly paced, but a pretty good rendering. Macchio really has a solid handle on the Puritan.

There are several other stories here that are originals and I have to say they are quite smashing, especially one titled "The Prophet" which pits the Puritan zealot Kane against a Muslin zealot, both of them men of good intent but blinded by their faiths to some degree. It's got art by Mike Mignola and it's a darn fine story with a very effective ending.

Two other REH stories get adapted, "Hills of the Dead" and "Wings of the Night", both of which had been adapted previously by Marvel in black and white. These are decently done, but I prefer the black and white versions, especially the one by Alan Weiss for "Hills".

There's a neat little subplot that runs through the Macchio stories about Kane and his conflict of faith regarding a fetish staff he carries that clearly seems to contradict his Christian faith. At times he rejects it, but is drawn back to Africa and comes to embrace a larger worldview apparently. This storyline running quietly through the stories gives a neat texture to works.

These color Kanes aren't great, but they are darn good. And they look good in this Dark Horse reprint. 

Next up is the Dark Horse B&W reprint of Solomon Kane's adventures from Savage Sword of Conan and elsewhere. Aside from a few of these very early stories, I'd read almost none of this, so it was all new-old Marvel for me.

The earliest Kane stories with artwork by Alan Weiss are superb. Weiss gave Kane a distinctive flavor, similar but not at all aping what Smith did with Conan. Kane's stories under Weiss's hand were lush and had a crisp modern feel to them, even today. There's another great story by Howie Chaykin. The storytelling is by Roy Thomas and Don Glut. In fact, much to my surprise I learned here that Glut was the primary scribe for Kane's adventures, writing the majority of these stories.

The artwork in the later stuff is by journeymen. David Wenzel still many years from his Hobbit stuff is on board for several stories, but in nearly every case the storytelling seemed to suffer by insufficient page count. I'm not one who usually bickers about this kind of thing, but there was a distinct cramped quality to many of the middle stories, even those which got serialized. Following the action was hard at times, but perhaps that has to do with the reduction of the page for this format.

The latter part of the book reprints stuff from the 90's. At one point there's a jump from the mid-80's to the 90's and the change in styles is remarkable. Many of the later stories are well told with some artwork that grew on me as I read the stories. There's even a crossover with Conan to close out the volume. The pin-ups throughout are nice, especially from solid pros like the late Berni Wrightson. 

I'd give this volume a solid B. It's a decent read, it adapts most of the key Kane stories, but the artwork is suspect at times. The high romance that should permeate a Kane story is often missing in these. The first few stories with Kane encountering Dracula are fantastic, and there's a sequel to this classic clash that I'd never read. All in all, not that bad, it opens and closes very strongly.

More Kane later today. 

Rip Off

The Savage Tales Of Solomon Kane!

Relentless! That's the word I associate with Robert E. Howard's first great hero. The dour Puritan, hawk faced with steely blue eyes dressed in black save for a green sash is at once a dashing and gloomy figure. He travels the globe, from England across Europe and into Africa and South America on his seemingly neverending quest to right wrongs and bring vengeance to those folks who are God's helpless many. Kane never stops, ever. Not until he's found the rogue he searches for and not before he brings them to rough justice on the end of his rapier.

The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane from Ballantine brings together all of the Solomon Kane stories from Weird Tales as well as those published later in the 60's, including a number of fragments, when Howard's works were getting some well-deserved attention.

The early tales of Solomon Kane such as "Skull in the Stars" and "Rattle of Bones" are pure weird pulp, solid adventure with scary backdrops. With "Moon of Skulls" and even more in "Red Shadows" we get Kane traveling to Africa where the stalwart Puritan finds his true element. The Kane stories really pick up steam with "The Hills of the Dead" which brings Kane back to Africa and where he "partners" with the witchdoctor N'longa, who gives him an ancient carved staff, which completes Kane's armory of dagger, rapier, musket and pistols. The staff turns out to be far more ancient than Kane imagines and give the warrior a magical character he somewhat lacked before. His journey in Africa which has a real sense of continuity, continues in "Hawk of Basti" (fragment), "Wings in the Night", "The Footfalls Within", and "The Children of Asshur" (another fragment). This quest across Africa is properly weird and Solomon Kane finds himself in a world more complex than his philosophy heretofore contained, a world full of vampires, zombies, harpies, and even some startlingly depraved humans even.

I first read these Solomon Kane stories many years ago in the Bantam paperbacks, where Ramsey Campbell completed several of the stories which REH never finished.

Gary Gianni supplies some outstanding artwork for the Ballantine trade volume. His work is ideally suited to the historical pulp flavor of the stories.

Rip Off

The Secret Origin Of Solomon Kane!

Finally I got to see Solomon Kane. This movie was released in 2009, but not in any theater on the North American continent. Now finally we have access to this robust Robert E. Howard adaptation by means of a much belated dvd release just this week. Mine came to my door yesterday and I promptly ripped it open and gave it a few viewings.

James Purefoy is ideally cast as Howard's dour Puritan reaver. His face, his demeanor, his physical skills all communicate effectively the somber power of one of REH's most ferocious creations. Preceding Conan, Solomon Kane has always been a favorite of mine, mostly because his adventures are set in the "real" world. Admittedly it's a world filled with all manner of dark magic, but it's also a world in which God and Satan and all between are very much a palpable part of the landscape. 

Purefoy says he was convinced to play the part when he saw the production artwork above showing the relentless Solomon Kane battling a bevy of flesh-rending ghouls. It's a wild scene, which is realized in somewhat less blood and thunder fashion in the actual movie.

This movie doesn't adapt any particular Kane story, so don't view expecting to see parts of "Red Shadows", "The Hills of the Dead", or any other lusty Howard story. The director Michael Bassett said his brief from the producers was to create an origin story for Kane which would then lead into a few more movies adapting the actual Howard material. Howard speaks little of Kane's back story, other than to suggest he has lived a most adventurous life across the expanse of the whole world.

This movie shows us Kane as a boy, shows us Kane's father and family, shows us his life before he commits himself to God and becomes the devout red-handed slayer of the Howard stories. Kane was in his own words "an evil evil man" and we see that in the early stages of the story. But the movie then shows us how this man strives for redemption and the tale takes us through his awkward stages to an awakening of his destiny in the world, which is to battle evil, the very evil he once embraced so joyously.

The movie offers up monsters galore in a world bristling with white and black magic. We get a sword-wielding demon from Satan, a haggard witch, a mysterious and mighty rider, blood-thirsty ghouls, a wicked sorcerer, and even a full-blown giant monster. Not all the threats seem as natural to Kane's worlds as they ought, but most do. If the movie has any significant weakness it is the finale which is paced well, but seems somewhat different in tone than what had preceded it.

The late Pete Postlethwaite is typically effective in his brief but significant role, likewise a somber Max Von Sydow. Alice Krige and Jason Fleming are also on hand in a movie which is exceedingly well cast. James Purefoy leads this cast and shows us the misery of Solomon Kane right down to his scarred and battered skin. His voice rolls out in a compelling baritone which demands attention and his ability to glare is most impressive. The movie is very very well acted, the true strength of the effort.

The snow flies and the rain falls almost throughout the movie giving the whole affair a bleak texture which reinforces the themes of general despair which lurks around every corner. But finding that small light of hope in this unusually scarred landscape is what the journey of this movie is all about.

Without spoiling a really good ride, all I can say is that if the Kane we know is not with us at the beginning he most certainly is by the end.

Rip Off

The Cinema Of Solomon!

I was very pleased to learn that at long last Solomon Kane, the feature-length movie starring James Purefoy as Robert E. Howard's sword-slinging Puritan pulp hero will hit these shores. Anchor Bay will finally make this movie available in these United States, where it has long been available in Europe and other points of the globe.

Why this flick never got a proper release here, the homeland of Howard is mystifying, as I've already seen enough in the trailer to let me know this is at the very minimum a credible adaptation of Howard's dour hero and most likely a very exciting presentation. Anyway, at long last this July I should be able to enjoy this screen version of one of my favorite pulp characters.  To tide us over, here are some of the dandy posters for the flick.

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The Solomon Of Jones!

Jeff Jones in my estimation created the definitive visual Solomon Jones. The portrait above captures the dour dedication to God's justice which defined one of Robert E. Howard's most effective creations.


Jones always seemed to know how to present the Puritan warrior to best effect.


Anyone know where this image was published?


Or this later one by him?

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The Chronicles Of Solomon Kane!

Aside from the two Kane appearances in Marvel Premiere, the six issue run of The Saga of Solomon Kane is apparently the only color comic run featuring the Puritan from Mighty Marvel. I've never owned nor read them before getting them along with the aforementioned Marvel Premiere issues in the color trade collection from Dark Horse.

This is an odd set of stories because there's precious few of Howard's Kane stories to adapt and Marvel adapted some of them two seperate times. One story is adpated twice in this very volume, a most strange happening, but interesting in that it allows a pretty close comparison of the interpretations.

"Red Shadows" is the first Kane story by REH and it was adpated first by Roy Thomas and Howie Chaykin and its a great rousing version of the story. Chaykin's style is perfect for Kane and he's at his best in this tale. I'd love to see him adapt all of the Solomon Kane canon using his modern style. It would be a masterpiece I suspect. The story is adapted again by Ralph Macchio and Steve Carr and Bret Blevins. This one is more briskly paced, but a pretty good rendering. Macchio really has a solid handle on the Puritan.



There are several other stories here that are originals and I have to say they are quite smashing, especially one titled "The Prophet" which pits the Puritan zealot Kane against a Muslin zealot, both of them men of good intent but blinded by their faiths to some degree. It's got art by Mike Mignola and it's a darn fine story with a very effective ending.

Two other REH stories get adapted, "Hills of the Dead" and "Wings of the Night", both of which had been adapted previously by Marvel in black and white. These are decently done, but I prefer the black and white versions, especially the one by Alan Weiss for "Hills".

There's a neat little subplot that runs through the Macchio stories about Kane and his conflict of faith regarding a fetish staff he carries that clearly seems to contradict his Christian faith. At times he rejects it, but is drawn back to Africa and comes to embrace a larger worldview apparently. This storyline running quietly through the stories gives a neat texture to works.

These color Kanes aren't great but they are darn good. And they look good in this Dark Horse reprint. Recommended.

Rip Off

The Saga Of Solomon Kane!

I wrapped up the Dark Horse B&W reprint of Solomon Kane's adventures from Savage Sword of Conan and elsewhere. Aside from a few of these very early stories, I'd read none of this so it was all new-old Marvel for me.

The earliest Kane stories with artwork by Alan Weiss are superb. Weiss gave Kane a distinctive flavor, similar but not at all aping what Smith did with Conan. Kane's stories under Weiss's hand were lush and had a crisp modern feel to them, even today. There's another great story by Howie Chaykin. The storytelling is by Roy Thomas and Don Glut. In fact much to my surprise I learned here that Glut was the primary scribe for Kane's adventures, writing the majority of these stories.

The artwork in the later stuff is by journeymen. David Wenzel still many years from his Hobbit stuff is on board for several stories, but in nearly every case the storytelling seemed to suffer by insufficient page count. I'm not one who usually bickers about this kind of thing, but there was a distinct cramped quality to many of the middle stories, even those which got serialized. Following the action was hard at times, but perhaps that has to do with the reduction of the page for this format.

The latter part of the book reprints stuff from the 90's. At one point there's a jump from the mid-80's to the the 90's and the change in styles is remarkable. Many of the later stories are well told with some artwork that grew on me as I read the stories. There's even a crossover with Conan to close out the volume.

All in all I'd give this volume a B. It's a decent read, it adapts most of the key Kane stories, but the artwork is suspect at times. The high romance that should permeate a Kane story is often missing in these. The first few stories with Kane encountering Dracula are fantastic, and there's a sequel to this classic clash that I'd never read. All in all not that bad, it opens and closes very strongly.

Rip Off