u/No_Prior5108

REH was a pulp writer and a world-class pro at selling to that market.

His stories are perfect for the pulp format.

But in adapting his material to any other medium, I think that being faithful to the concept and the spirit of the original work is more important than a slavish, note-for-note transcription.

When I started adapting “Jewels of Gwalhur” as a series of storyboards, I quickly found out that complete adherence to the text was just not going to work for the audio-visual medium of live-action streaming.

In the sample I've shared here, art by Miguel Guzman, you might spot that even this early in the adaptation, I've made a change.

Can you see in this shot how I've already deviated from Howard's story?

Purists might bristle at any change in the master's canon, but purism can hog-tie an adaptation.

If you want a deeper look at my adaptation of "Jewels," and my view on comics in general, it'll be here:

https://charlessantino.substack.com/

Treatment by Charles Santino, storyboards and color concept frames by Miguel Guzman. I'll be posting the entire adaption on Substack: https://substack.com/@csantino

My post about the plotting errors that I found in a recent Conan comic book story, a post in which I also promoted my alternative approach to emulating the work of Robert E. Howard, proved to be an experiment with mixed results.

Some liked what I was saying, some didn’t.

It’s not an experiment likely to be repeated.

I’ll admit I was baffled by some of the feedback.

Many repliers felt that Conan surely could have slept through the theft of his pack horses from his campsite.

How did Robert E. Howard characterize Conan’s superior alertness, even when Conan is seemingly asleep?

Right from Howard’s typewriter, here’s what Conan says when his female companion balks at them both falling asleep when danger seems to lurk nearby:

"My slumber is light as a wolf's. Nothing can enter this hall without awaking me."

--from "Iron Shadows in the Moon" a Conan novelette by Robert E. Howard first published in the April 1934 issue of Weird Tales as "Shadows in the Moonlight.”

Again—nobody writes like Robert E. Howard.

When we write pastiches about his characters, we do our best to honor him.

Conan is better than that.

I would never have written a story like “The Blue Orchid,” in which we see Conan act well below his mettle.

The story, published in Savage Sword of Conan #13 (Titan) was plotted by the artist, Roberto de la Torre, with “text” by Roy Thomas.

The art is very nice, with wonderful visual storytelling.

But the plotting is another matter.

In the story, Conan and his companion-in-crime, Atta, sleep peacefully while Zaria, a woman they have just shared, walks off with their horses. Presumably, the horses were packed with Conan’s and Atta’s provisions, equipment, and water.

Now Conan and Atta are stranded in the middle of nowhere.

In what universe does Conan sleep through the theft of two horses from his camp?

Not in Robert E. Howard’s universe, for sure. And not in any pastiche written in the spirit of REH.

Howard’s Conan would snap awake the second Zaria touched a horse.

But not the Conan of “The Blue Orchid.”

In the story, Conan blames Atta, who was supposed to be awake and on watch.

What does Conan do about this?

He punches Atta.

The real Conan would have killed Atta, of course.

But then the real Conan would not have slept through Zaria’s theft of most of his worldly possessions.

Later in the story we find out that Zaria is some sort of witchy woman.

Maybe she cast a spell on Conan to keep him asleep?

If so, Conan would figure this out this when woke up. He knows that, under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t sleep through the theft of his horses.

And if she did put a spell on Conan, he would now understand that she’s supernatural, a fact he doesn’t find out until much later in the story.

So, this incident is a real problem and certainly not a scene that Robert E. Howard would ever dream of writing.

Nobody wrote like Robert E. Howard or has written like him since.

No point in even trying.

But when pastiche writers understand the character of Conan, they can avoid violating the simple elements that make up a Conan story. They can write good Conan stories—not the way Howard would have written them, but at least they can depict a Conan that is recognizable as the same character that Howard created and chronicled.

In the issues of Conan the Barbarian that I wrote for Marvel (#214-#220), I stuck to Howard’s portrayal of Conan. It wasn’t difficult; I always asked myself, would Robert E. Howard have Conan do this? If the answer was “yes,” it was full speed ahead. If not, I went back to my keyboard.

In my upcoming Substack, I’m adapting “The Jewels of Gwahlur” as a Storyboard Project.

I’m presenting the story as it might look if “Big Streaming” were filming a 45-minute, live action, self-contained episode.

As faithful as possible to Howard’s vision, in storyboard format.

https://substack.com/@csantino

#AmratheLion #Amra #ConanTheBarbarian #SwordAndSorcery #HyborianAge #RobertEHoward #KingConan #savageswordofconan

Conan is better than that.

I would never have written a story like “The Blue Orchid,” in which we see Conan act well below his mettle.

The story, published in Savage Sword of Conan #13 (Titan) was plotted by the artist, Roberto de la Torre, with “text” by Roy Thomas.

The art is very nice, with wonderful visual storytelling.

But the plotting is another matter.

In the story, Conan and his companion-in-crime, Atta, sleep peacefully while Zaria, a woman they have just shared, walks off with their horses. Presumably, the horses were packed with Conan’s and Atta’s provisions, equipment, and water.

Now Conan and Atta are stranded in the middle of nowhere.

In what universe does Conan sleep through the theft of two horses from his camp?

Not in Robert E. Howard’s universe, for sure. And not in any pastiche written in the spirit of REH.

Howard’s Conan would snap awake the second Zaria touched a horse.

But not the Conan of “The Blue Orchid.”

In the story, Conan blames Atta, who was supposed to be awake and on watch.

What does Conan do about this?

He punches Atta.

The real Conan would have killed Atta, of course.

But then the real Conan would not have slept through Zaria’s theft of most of his worldly possessions.

Later in the story we find out that Zaria is some sort of witchy woman.

Maybe she cast a spell on Conan to keep him asleep?

If so, Conan would figure this out this when woke up. He knows that, under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t sleep through the theft of his horses.

And if she did put a spell on Conan, he would now understand that she’s supernatural, a fact he doesn’t find out until much later in the story.

So, this incident is a real problem and certainly not a scene that Robert E. Howard would ever dream of writing.

Nobody wrote like Robert E. Howard or has written like him since.

No point in even trying.

But when pastiche writers understand the character of Conan, they can avoid violating the simple elements that make up a Conan story. They can write good Conan stories—not the way Howard would have written them, but at least they can depict a Conan that is recognizable as the same character that Howard created and chronicled.

In the issues of Conan the Barbarian that I wrote for Marvel (#214-#220), I stuck to Howard’s portrayal of Conan. It wasn’t difficult; I always asked myself, would Robert E. Howard have Conan do this? If the answer was “yes,” it was full speed ahead. If not, I went back to my keyboard.

In my upcoming Substack, I’m adapting “The Jewels of Gwahlur” as a Storyboard Project.

I’m presenting the story as it might look if “Big Streaming” were filming a 45-minute, live action, self-contained episode.

As faithful as possible to Howard’s vision, in storyboard format.

Rule #5: Honesty and Transparency in Promotion.

https://substack.com/@csantino

#AmratheLion #Amra #ConanTheBarbarian #SwordAndSorcery #HyborianAge #RobertEHoward #KingConan #savageswordofconan

Conan is better than that.

I would never have written a story like “The Blue Orchid,” in which we see Conan act well below his mettle.

The story, published in Savage Sword of Conan #13 (Titan) was plotted by the artist, Roberto de la Torre, with “text” by Roy Thomas.

The art is very nice, with wonderful visual storytelling.

But the plotting is another matter.

In the story, Conan and his companion-in-crime, Atta, sleep peacefully while Zaria, a woman they have just shared, walks off with their horses. Presumably, the horses were packed with Conan’s and Atta’s provisions, equipment, and water.

Now Conan and Atta are stranded in the middle of nowhere.

In what universe does Conan sleep through the theft of two horses from his camp?

Not in Robert E. Howard’s universe, for sure. And not in any pastiche written in the spirit of REH.

Howard’s Conan would snap awake the second Zaria touched a horse.

But not the Conan of “The Blue Orchid.”

In the story, Conan blames Atta, who was supposed to be awake and on watch.

What does Conan do about this?

He punches Atta.

The real Conan would have killed Atta, of course.

But then the real Conan would not have slept through Zaria’s theft of most of his worldly possessions.

Later in the story we find out that Zaria is some sort of witchy woman.

Maybe she cast a spell on Conan to keep him asleep?

If so, Conan would figure this out this when woke up. He knows that, under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t sleep through the theft of his horses.

And if she did put a spell on Conan, he would now understand that she’s supernatural, a fact he doesn’t find out until much later in the story.

So, this incident is a real problem and certainly not a scene that Robert E. Howard would ever dream of writing.

Nobody wrote like Robert E. Howard or has written like him since.

No point in even trying.

But when pastiche writers understand the character of Conan, they can avoid violating the simple elements that make up a Conan story. They can write good Conan stories—not the way Howard would have written them, but at least they can depict a Conan that is recognizable as the same character that Howard created and chronicled.

In the issues of Conan the Barbarian that I wrote for Marvel (#214-#220), I stuck to Howard’s portrayal of Conan. It wasn’t difficult; I always asked myself, would Robert E. Howard have Conan do this? If the answer was “yes,” it was full speed ahead. If not, I went back to my keyboard.

In my upcoming Substack, I’m adapting “The Jewels of Gwahlur” as a Storyboard Project.

https://substack.com/@csantino

I’m presenting the story as it might look if “Big Streaming” were filming a 45-minute, live action, self-contained episode.

As faithful as possible to Howard’s vision, in storyboard format.

#AmratheLion #Amra #ConanTheBarbarian #SwordAndSorcery #HyborianAge #RobertEHoward #KingConan #savageswordofconan

Last week on Facebook and elsewhere I shared a sample of The Storyboard Project, one of several rotating features slated for my upcoming Substack newsletter. https://www.facebook.com/charles.santino.77/

The first project is “Amra the Lion / The Jewels of Gwahlur.”

It’s an adaptation of the Robert E. Howard story originally titled “The Servants of Bit-Yakin," written in 1934.

The purpose of the “Amra “project is to demonstrate, in cinematic storyboard format, step-by-step, how REH’s work can be faithfully transposed to a live-action film.

In this case, my treatment is intended for an imagined “Big Streaming” live-action standalone episode of 45 minutes.

Here’s the freshly minted title card.

Art by Miguel Guzman.

(Special thanks to James Whiting and Whiting Studio for the typography.)

More samples to follow.

Love to know your thoughts on this; what are your thoughts?

Would you be interested in seeing a storyboard treatment for an REH story that does justice to the source material?

I welcome discussion, real dialogue, and an appreciation for the world of Conan, don't you?

#AmratheLion #Amra #ConanTheBarbarian #SwordAndSorcery #HyborianAge #RobertEHoward #KingConan