This is your life
This is your time
What if the flame won’t last forever
This is your here
This is your now
Let it be magical

Who cares what came before
We’re only starlight

Once upon the time
All the world was blind
Like we are

This is your life
This is your time
Look at your world
This is your life

–”This is Your Life,” Ronnie James Dio

In my opinion the late Ronnie James Dio was none other than the grandfather of heavy metal. Many if not most metal fans would probably cry blasphemy and choose to bestow that honor upon Ozzy Osbourne; not me. I like Ozzy, but Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were the true creative forces behind the classic Black Sabbath albums (In fact, I’d be more willing to listen to a case for Iommi, whom Judas Priest frontman/Metal God Rob Halford credits as having invented the heavy metal riff).

Metal’s grandfather? It could be Ozzy. It could be Iommi. It may even be Halford. Judas Priest has been around nearly as long as Black Sabbath and arguably have enjoyed a more successful and consistent career. But I will make the case for Dio.

Dio’s death this past Sunday from stomach cancer was a huge loss for metal. It might be the genre’s biggest loss ever. The death of Randy Rhoads and AC/DC’s Bon Scott were tragic, but at 25 the former’s career was only beginning, and the latter was a singer in a band I consider rock, not metal. Your mileage may vary, of course, but off-hand, I can’t think of anything even close to the loss of Dio.

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A while back, I noted on the rights dispute between Paradox Entertainment and Orion over a number of books which seemed to run afoul of the current rights-holders to certain Robert E. Howard stories, as well as the Conan trademark. Happily, this has been resolved, and the two companies are working together to keep things going.

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In the wake of Miguel’s amazing scoop on the new pictures of Jason Momoa as “Conan,” Lionsgate really have to up their game before even more blurry photographs from camera phones and film festivals predicate official releases. In the meantime, Stephen Lang spoke to MTV about the film.*

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“For every being there is an appointed time, and even the gods must die….”

 – Robert E. Howard, “The Grey God Passes“

To his thousands of fans — to the many artists who grew up in his shadow — to me personally, Frank Frazetta was a god. In this media-driven age when pop idols are deified on an almost daily basis, it does not seem so ludicrous to make such a statement about an individual whose work, whose creations redefined how entire genres would be represented in countless minds’ eyes. At every stage of his career he stood out from his peers as something special, someone to be emulated, a man ahead of his time. As he eschewed his mortal coil last week, moving on to whatever lies beyond, it seemed at first to me that world had changed. That something great and vital was lost. But in seeing so much of his work being displayed in forums, on blogs; in reading so many wonderful tributes about what Frank and his work meant to so many individuals, I realized that in fact he left the world a much richer place than it was when he entered it.

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Just one month until Howard Days 2010, REH fans. REHupa and the REH Foundation are working with Project Pride to prepare for the most important annual gathering of REH fans in Cross Plains, Texas. Since 1986, people have come from all around the world on the second weekend in June to render homage to the life and writings of Texan author Robert E. Howard.

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Courtesy of the ever redoubtable Bill Thom of Howard Works and Coming Attractions, it appears that the collection previously known as Dark Agnes and Other Historical Adventures has received a subtle, but potent, name change: it is now The Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures. In addition to the name change, we have an illustrator — and a sneak preview.

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The upcoming DragonCon has become a lot more interesting for Robert E. Howard and Conan fans:

New guests have been added to DragonCon’s guest list, and another has been hinted at, but not yet confirmed. First up is one of my favorites, Jason Momoa, who played the character Ronan Dex in the SyFy series Stargate: Atlantis. He has also been chosen to play the title character in the reboot of Conan the Barbarian.

Anyone eager to meet The Man Who Would Be Conan can do so this September in Atlanta:

Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe!

This year, Dragon*Con will be held Labor Day weekend (September 3–6, 2010) in Atlanta, GA.

Man, if only I could be there to pose questions to Jason: what was his favourite Conan story, his favourite quotation or moment from the tales, his favourite non-Conan Howard story, what he thought of the poems, things like that. By September, it’s likely the first production pictures of Momoa as “Conan” will have surfaced, leading to much renewed interest in the project. I foresee that interviews from most outlets would be more interested in making moronic Arnold comparisons and asking what it’s like working with the bad guy from Avatar than getting an insight into how Momoa approached the world’s most famous Cimmerian. It’s largely up to Howard fans to get in there with questions that we want answers for, instead of hoping TMZ or MTV ask Momoa what he thought of Conan’s relationship with Bêlit, or his views regarding ”The Phoenix on the Sword” and “The Tower of the Elephant.”

Hopefully any Howard fans going to Dragon*Con will be able to chat to Jason, and report their experiences to Howard fandom at large, maybe even capture it on video if possible. It would be nice to get some further confirmation that the cast are reading REH’s tales in Bulgaria, however little it might help the story. It’d certainly cheer my heart to hear Momoa quoting a real Conan yarn.

Writer Adam Christopher has embarked on a very ambitious project—reading and reviewing all of Stephen King’s books in the order in which they were published. He started a Web site dedicated to the task a couple weeks ago entitled Stephen’s Lot.

Christopher certainly has a massive task ahead of him. According to his Web site, King has written 56 books, including 46 novels, seven short story collections, and three works of non-fiction. Christopher also plans to intersperse his entries with reviews of film and television adaptations of King’s works and other King esoterica. To date he’s completed reviews of Under the Dome (which he’s calling Book #0—it’s King’s latest and out of order, hence the “zero” appellation), and has since reviewed Book #1, Carrie. Next up is ‘Salem’s Lot.

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A previously unknown copy of the exceedingly rare 1937 Herbert Jenkins first edition of A Gent from Bear Creek has been just been discovered by noted Robert E. Howard scholar Patrice Louinet. This is only the thirteenth known copy of Howard’s first published book to be located and it could very likely be one of the nicest copies in existence. Judging from the photos, it appears to be in better condition than the Darrell Richardson copy, which sold at auction last month for over $12,000. Louinet found the book last week with an automated online search and quickly purchased it from the UK bookseller that had listed it. The exact events are best described by Louinet himself (as posted at TGR):

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William Stout's concept art for the dreaded Wheel of Pain

I’m sure some might be enjoying the break I’ve taken from reporting on the upcoming “Conan” film–Crom knows it’s done wonders for my blood pressure–but the most recent news is worth reporting, seeing as Howard heavyweight Patrice Louinet has more to say.

While Patrice cannot divulge much in the way of specifics, what he can reveal is nonetheless very interesting. First, though, let’s get up to date.

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