It's been over four years since I was kindly provided contact information for Mark Schultz by one of his publishers, responding to my efforts to learn if any of the larger Conan pieces that Mark illustrated for Wandering Star/Del Rey's definitive collection of Robert E. Howard's stories might be available for sale. Imagine my chagrin, then, when I finally touched base with Mark, and learned to my frustration that each and every one of the choicest illustrations had long been scattered to the wind.

All but one, that is. "Surely," pondered I, "the Art Gods must be smiling down at me with this serendipitous stroke of good fortune!" As always, though, there was a catch. The price Mark quoted was unsurprisingly daunting, at least vis-à-vis my meager checking account. To compound the problem, I was sorely in need of a new roof on my house at the time, which certainly had to take precedence. "Rats!," thought I. And there, for a time seemingly immemorial, while I painstakingly paid off the home repair, the matter had to lie tabled for several years.

They say, however, that good things come eventually to those who wait. I asked Mark again, when the the time seemed right and the moon was full, if he still had the art. And lo and behold, wonder of wonders, he replied in the affirmative!

There are lots of things I like about this wonderful drawing. Firstly, it illustrates one of my favorite Conan yarns, the very first one that Howard penned, a rewrite of a King Kull story called By This Axe I Rule!, for submission to Weird Tales. (The Conan version is by far superior.)

Secondly, this is actually a scene from a King Conan story, from later in the Cimmerian's life after he's usurped the throne of the the greatest kingdom of The Hyborian Age and made it his own, but finds it harder to hold onto than to attain, as assassins plot and wait to take it away from him.

Thirdly, this is a startling depiction of the character that flies in the face of Frank Frazetta's definitive portrayal, indelibly stamped in the collective consciousness of fantasy art fans now for nearly five decades. But this is a visibly more mature Conan - one who's learned to read and write and even to appreciate poetry (!) - but still has the indomitable strength and formidability of the lean, green barbarian who ventured among the Hyborian kingdoms in his youth, through one fantastic adventure after another.

Fourthly, and probably most compelling of all to me, the carefully planned composition and the way the eye is led throughout this powerful image by a master illustrator are fascinating, and a pleasure to ogle. It's a nice, large size, too...14 x 20, with an image area of 11 x 16. The whole is evocative of vintage fantasy/adventure interpretation at its finest.

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