The copyright situation regarding Howard’s works is, not to put too fine a point on it, complicated. Many of the Conan stories are in the public domain in the United Kingdom, which led to a number of people assuming that it would be perfectly reasonable to use the Weird Tales texts in their own books. Not so, it seems, since the Conan trademark is alive and well, hence the continued existence of CPI.

This has brought HarperCollins and Orion Books into a bit of hot water with the current rights holders, as fellow Brit Terry Allen over at conan.com discovered…

LOS ANGELES (CN) – The owner and publisher of “Conan the Barbarian” books says HarperCollins and Orion Books horned in on the rights to the famous caveman character created by Robert Howard. Conan Properties sued the two publishers and affiliates in separate federal complaint.

Conan Properties International says it licensed Orion Books to publish two volumes of “The Chronicles of Conan” all over the world, except for the United States and the Philippines. It claims that in 2006 Orion offered to sell rights to the books to a U.S. publisher, on the “erroneous belief” that the books would enter the public domain that year.

Conan Properties says it told Orion that it still owned the books, but Orion distributed them in the United States anyway.

In the second lawsuit, Conan Properties sued Prion Books, Carlton Publishing Group, Carlton Books and HarperCollins UK, claiming the companies published and distributed “Conan the Barbarian” in the United Kingdom and in the United States without permission.

In each case, Conan Properties wants damages and a cease and desist order. It is represented in both lawsuits by Karin Pagnanelli with Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp.

The “caveman” gaffe notwithstanding, this is interesting news, not least because Carlton Publishing is a subsidiary of Carlton, who are allegedly working on Conan: The Devil in Iron despite not appearing to have CPI’s explicit approval. The outcome of this legal wrangle could have dire ramifications for the only genuine Robert E. Howard theatrical adaptation we’ve ever had, if indeed the mysterious TortolaBVI isn’t pulling our legs.

One of the books pertinent to the case was a curious little volume called, simply, Conan the Barbarian. I bought it a while back for a mere £3:99, rather nonplussed that I didn’t hear any information about it on the Conan website, a sentiment ably illustrated in the above photograph. It’s what you’d typically expect from a public domain raid, but there are some pleasant surprises.

The blurb on the back is rather quirky:

Conan the Barbarian is a name known throughout Cimmeria, Brythunia, Turan and all the territories bordering the Vilayet Sea–as well as most countries more familiar to us in the real world.

Cimmeria, Turan and the countries around the Vilayet I get, they’re reasonable choices. But why Brythunia? Conan experienced its “civilized wonders,” sure, but no story is set in or about the place. Are Aquilonia, Nemedia, Koth and the like really more familiar to the target audience (in this case, Brits) than Brythunia, surely a name that conjures up Arthurian and Celtic legend if ever there was one? It could even be argued that, being a mere thief at the time, the average folk of Brythunia might not even have heard of Conan until his kingship, as opposed to his time in the other countries. A very eccentric choice altogether.

Following that is a short history of Conan, or at least, Conan the Phenomenon: mentioning the plethora of board games, RPGs of pen-and-paper and keyboard, video games, films and television programmes that followed in the wake of the first Howard Boom. It promotes itself as a “powerful collection” of the original tales, and adds mention of “The Hyborian Age” to emphasize Howard’s world-building pedigree for those naysayers who claim Howard merely made it up as he went along. After some more bizarre assertions (would Conan really be more famous now than in his own realm, of which he was King?) it ends on a much needed positive note:

Although many have taken up the challenge to extend Conan’s adventures over the years, Howard was a master of his craft, lovingly creating a mythical world in which his original masterpieces reign supreme.

If only all Howard blurbs ended so…

The text appears to be the same as used in Weird Tales, and so is the next best thing to Howard when it comes to reading the stories. Unfortunately, this means that Farnsworth’s horrible titles like “The Slithering Shadow,” “Jewels of Gwahlur” and “Shadows in Zamboula” are used instead of Howard’s poetic, evocative ones, and a few key stories are absent, leaving Frost Giant-sized holes and Black Stranger-shaped gaps.

I’d like to digress a little about the illustrations, being something of an illustrator myself. The artist credited is John Ridway, who I’m assuming is the same artist that’s worked on many comics in the UK: Judge Dredd, Hellblazer, Prince Valiant, and my own beloved series, The Transformers. If it is indeed he, it’s a most pleasing coincidence for me. Ridgway utilizes a somewhat delicate cross-hatching style with scribbled lines: it’s not a style I would immediately associate with Conan, but it’s competently and effectively drawn. There’s an excellent sketch of Conan discovering the Black One’s macabre action figure collection, and a strong scene of the blood-mad Picts surrounding Velitrium, whooping and whirling their axes. My favorite is a depiction of Thak brooding grimly on Nabonidus’ chair, a delightful homage to the famous closing shot from Conan the Barbarian. However, there are a few clunkers too. Ridgway’s Satha is by far the wimpiest depiction of Satha I’ve ever seen, with a head closer to the size of a dog’s than that of a horse. Conan grapples with a Grey Ape that actually looks like a man in a suit, causing unwelcome Conan the Destroyer flashbacks. The worst is probably the “Red Nails” dragon: while Valeria, Conan and the rock they’re sequestered upon are all fine, I’m confident my six-year-old niece could match the actual dragon in quality. All in all, though, the illustrations are adequate enough, and with the added boon that the majority apply the details from the text: Conan is in “Kozak” attire when he assaults Khosatral Khel, while he’s clad in Afghuli gear during the kidnap of the Devi. Much preferable to having Conan run about in a fur nappy no matter the climate, even if the cover illustration succumbs to that particular temptation.

Apart from Ridgway’s hit-and-miss (mostly hit, I must say) illustrations, a variation on the famous Miller-Clarke map (which surely must be in the public domain itself by now) makes a double-page spread, though it has some very bizarre typos: “Belvertis,” “Ashrapur,” “Khawariem,” “Xuchol,” “Alkmeenan,” the “Valayet” Sea, the “Barach” Isles, the “Rhoratos” River, and most amusingly, “Darear.” That’ll learn those cannibals to eat exotic foreigners. Most shocking of all, however, is the unexplained presence of Turan… in Aquilonia! Between the Shirki and Thunder Rivers, the word “Turan” appears, despite also being in the correct location. I can’t imagine what this means for Aquilonian politics, though it allows for some interesting “Deadliest Hyborian Warrior” fun as the keen Turanians match bows against the stalwart Bossonians.

With all the gaffes and misfires in the illustrations and the map, one could expect Rod Green’s introduction to be filled with the same. Yet remarkably, his forward is pretty damn solid. Right off the bat, he compares Howard to Tolkien and Lewis, considering them of equal standing both as authors and inspirations to the genre. He notes differences in style between Howard and the Inklings, but makes no allusions of one style’s superiority over another. Green also discusses Kull, who’s one of the spiritual ancestors of Conan in Howard’s writing, and while I disagree with some of his sentiments about Kull being a “prototype” for his Hyborian brother, it’s still a fair overview of Conan’s origins.

What of Howard himself? Green, unlike so many editors I’ve seen, does not make the usual mistake of “starting with the end”: he commendably waits until the final paragraph to discuss Howard’s death, and there he is impressively sensitive, noting Howard battled with depression nearly his whole life, and the role his parents took in encouraging him not to take his own life. Green also manages to avoid or outright refute the more common myths, leading me to suspect he took his biographical information from either a reading of Rusty Burke’s Short Bio or Mark Finn’s Blood & Thunder, rather than Dark Valley Destiny or Two-Gun Bob. No lazy armchair psychoanalysis of Howard’s motivations or behaviour here, no apologies for perceived “failings” in his writing, and the comparisons to Tolkien & Lewis are respectful to all parties. He’s also appreciably reverent to Mr & Mrs Howard, especially the latter’s selflessness in treating the sick.

It’s far better than I could ever have hoped for in a third-party publication, all the more surprising given its brevity, under 800 words or so. For this reason, it’s a shame that this book is likely to become rare, for even with the curate’s egg illustrations & useless map, it gets everything important right. Howard & his family are treated with utmost respect, the stories are pretty much as Howard wrote them bar one or two Farnsworth alterations, and the text is a manageable size to read. Illustrative style is subjective, and this book is far from alone when it comes to cartographic errors. I’d be far happier giving a new Howard fan a copy of this book than, say, “…And Their Memory Was A Bitter Tree.” The fact that this is probably going to become a rare item due to the court case is a tad unfortunate as a result, since there are other Howard collections I’d rather see pulped into oblivion than this one.

The results of CPI vs Orion have far-reaching ramifications. The comparisons are obvious, though not exact. I cannot fault CPI and Paradox on the Del Reys, which are the most important Howard volumes to be released in recent memory, and the gold standard for all future Howard collections. However, it’s possible to make a link in other ways. “Bitter Tree” was a book fully licensed by CPI and Paradox, with a fair budget going into it, and many notable contributors. Yet the result was a mess: the Frazetta illustrations were cropped, and incompetently matched to the wrong Howard stories; the beautiful Brom illustration obscured by a needlessly florid title design; the introduction is an utter disaster. “Conan the Barbarian,” in contrast, is a book with a quite obviously small budget, which was willing to defy the big corporation by use of local Public Domain rights, endeavored to produce original illustrations, and included a fine introductory piece.

Now look at the two Conan film productions. One is an officially licensed and funded film costing nearly a hundred million dollars, yet is blighted with a hackneyed, cliche, derivative wreck of a script, with a competent but uninspired filmmaker directing, and a truly wretched pair of screenwriters. The other is a film walking the legal tightrope, who are so eager and determined to make an adaptation of one of Howard’s stories–one which they are apparently forced to adhere to, allowing for only 10% deviation–that they’re willing to fight for it in the courtrooms. Given the choice, I know which I’d rather be backing right now.

This is not to say I condone any act of copyright infringement on the part of Orion or Prion: if indeed the courts find in favor of Paradox/CPI, then their decision should stand. However, I find it deeply unfortunate that this minor collection, for all its faults, was still more respectful and appreciative of Howard’s talents than the officially endorsed “Bitter Tree.” It’s something that seems to be a trend with CPI/Paradox’s dealings with third parties. When they’re in control, the result is exceptional and beyond reproach, as seen with the Del Reys and others. When they hire out the license, however, the result is either a ham-fisted melange of good and bad parts (the computer games, the Age of Conan novels) or outright detrimental to Howard’s memory (“Bitter Tree” indeed). I hope CPI/Paradox can learn from this, and that they’ll be more discerning for future instances.

*Illustrations by John Ridgway.