Conan the Adventurer by Robert E. Howard

The covers on this series share a common motif, with a map of the Hyborean world in the background. The second series, which consists of seven books, was published by the Sōgen Suiri Bunko imprint of Tokyo Sogensha Co., Ltd. All cover and interior artwork for this series is by Takebe Motoichiro, but the translators vary from book to book.

The first series, consisting of eight books, was published by the Hayakawa Bunko imprint of Hayakawa Shobo between 19. These were published in two distinct series. They also generally featured world maps as well as diagrams of places from the stories or blown up map details. Inside, each had a full color illustration as a double-page spread, as well as numerous black and white illustrations. Although they were in paperback format, they all had dustjackets – the actual book cover was a plain paper with just text. In looking through them, I was struck by how profusely illustrated they were. Title page for Conan the Wanderer, 1972 (note the misprinted title) I’m one of the folks that runs that convention, and I was in charge of preparing that auction. For decades, Lord had been the literary executor of the Howard estate, and some of his collection was going to be auctioned at the 2018 Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention. I’d been unaware of these until late 2017, when I received a set of them from the estate of Glenn Lord.

However, this didn’t stop Japanese editions of the Conan stories from appearing in the early 1970’s. I’m not versed enough regarding every pastiche or comic adaptation to know if he might have ventured there in one of those.

Or at least he never did so in the tales penned by Robert E. Cover by Takebe MotoichiroĪlthough everyone’s favorite Cimmerian trod a wide path in his adventures, Conan never sailed to the shores of the ancient equivalent of Japan. The Coming of Conan (SF 14), Japanese edition (1971).

Conan the Adventurer by Robert E. Howard