I truly wish the new year had a better start than this.

Dan Goudey was a Robert E. Howard fan. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he posted at the Official Robert E. Howard Forum under the magnificent handle “PainBrush.” Since his inaugural post, his inimitable writing style and blunt forthrightness solidified his position as a fixture of the community. 4,355 posts over five years, each one full of comedy, passion, fire and insight. You never knew what you were going to get with a PainBrush post, but you knew it’d be something deliriously fun. Like a box of chocolates, only with the guide sheet lost, and with fillings like “marmite,” “absinthe,” “bullet ants,” “nitroglycerin,” and “Corbomite.”

Dan was unpredictable in many ways, but there were certain aspects that were solid as a rock. He was never afraid to be forthright and blunt in debates, and never backed down. He would take the fight to Howard critics, Arnold fanatics, DeCampistas, and anyone else who rubbed him up the wrong way. What’s more, his impressive physique and reputation as a bouncer and amateur boxer (24-0 undefeated) makes it clear he’d certainly stand up to any physical challenge, but like a true Howard fan, he was barbarically courteous enough to not stoop to such civilized impoliteness. Well, most of the time: he got into his fair share of scraps on and off the ‘Net.

Off the internet, Dan was an artist, mostly linked to surly southern rock and aggressive punk. He did a bit of uncredited cover art for two singles by The Trash Bratz, but his proudest achievement was the logo for Southern Rock Allstars, an amalgam of the brightest stars of that particular blend of petros australis. Members include alumni of Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, Lynyrd Skynrd, Rossington Collins, the Leslie West Band, and many more. Dan was personally acquainted with them, and was a gregarious figure of fun and excitement for the Detroit rock scene he loved.

Dan’s artistic talents were also used for somewhat more anarchic matters: his Photoshop work often brought a wicked grin to this old purist’s face. Posting even a sample of his many rascally images would be beyond the bounds of his memorial, so I’ll just post a few in link format: the real King of Aquilonia, his interpretation of Milius’ pot-bellied Conan (as seen in the King Conan: Crown of Iron script), a Frazetta Christmas card, and exactly what he thinks about a certain footballer being cast for Conan. In addition, he did some more serious work, such as his modification to the cover illustration of Conan the Swordsman to fit his conception of our Cimmerian icon.

His latest (and last) piece of digital deviousness was a trophy design for Mark Singleton’s DeCampista Awards, permeated with his mischievous wit and relentless cheek. I like to imagine after he finished, he leaned back, and “surveyed his work with childish pride,” as Conan did with his cartographic comedy in the first draft of “The Phoenix on the Sword.” I was deliberating on whether to put it on my Cimmerian post on the awards, but initially thought it a bit too burlesque, and decided against it. I wish I hadn’t.

His creative skills were not restricted to the medium of two dimensions. One of the longest threads on the forums is “Cold Hyrkanian Steel,” dedicated to members’ weapons and started by Dan. His posts introduced us to the other lady in his life, her forging inspired by the stories he read of mercenary doppelsoldners and landesknechts: his five-foot zweihander. It’s a wonderfully forged blade, with gold detailing, delicate engravings, along with the ring guards and lugs that mark it as being from the tradition of those fatalistic warriors.

Yet despite his self-deprecating persona of a bull-headed neanderthal who somehow commandeered a keyboard with internet access, Dan was more than capable of keen intellectual insights, be it on Howard, history, boxing, herpetology, southern rock or just about anything close to his heart. Some of his theories were wacky and bizarre–and who doesn’t have a few off-the-wall ideas of their own?–but others were as sharp and perceptive as any to grace the forums. He and our own Deuce had some real donnybrooks in the past on Hyborian Age scholarship, which just goes to show his intense fascination with the subject. In particular, his summary of the mythic elements in “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter” is one of the best I’ve read. I never would’ve pegged him for a Dunsany fan,  but he surely was, as his posts on the lord reveal.

On 1st January, Dan’s wife Sheila announced that on New Year’s Eve, Dan suffered a stroke, and passed away on New Year’s Day. The community was stunned: only a few days ago he was posting as vigorously and cheerfully as he ever had. It truly came from nowhere. Less than a year after The Cimmerian lost Steve Tompkins, the REH Forum lost one of its most stalwart members. The forum was unanimous in expressing its grief and sorrow, offering nothing but the deepest condolences to Sheila and the rest of Dan’s friends & family. The viewing will held this Friday, the funeral on Saturday, at Hamtramack, Michigan: I hope anyone in the area will make the effort to bid farewell to the unique, unpredictable, but above all, passionate heart of Dan “PainBrush” Goudey.

Crom, I can’t express how depressing it is to know that I’m never going to shake his hand. One year, I was going to finally meet the man behind the chaotic yet methodical messages that made me laugh until my face was sore. I would finally hear his voice, so I could imagine him belting out his words as he assaulted his poor keyboard, like a certain other student of history, boxing and general masculine activities. I would finally see him in person, to assess whether he would, in fact, make a decent enough Conan himself. I can certainly think of no other possible Conan who would be as well-read in all things Howard, with as great a handle on what makes Conan the icon he is, than Dan Goudey.

Similar “finallies” scattered to the wind when I heard of Steve’s death. Now another Howard fan is on his way to the afterlife far too soon. Another irresistible, irrepressible, irreplaceable voice silenced forever. Yet I am thankful for having known him, even only via his barbaric yawps over the aether: some of my fondest memories of the many fond memories on the forums involved the name PainBrush. It’s only now that I know his name, and the enormity of his loss not just to the forum, but to Howard fandom at large.

Dan was one hell of a Robert E. Howard fan, and I hope all Howard fans will join me in drinking to his shade.

DEUCE ADDS: Great post, Al. As you noted, Dan and I had our share of disagreements. Those debates definitely made me sharpen my own game. Still, the majority of time we got along just fine. Once, he was looking for an obscure S&S novel about Attila. I knew I had it stashed somewhere. I found the book  for Dan, only to learn that Sheila had just bought it for him on Amazon. He and I also exchanged several emails over the last couple of years simply for the purpose of discussing common interests. He was always funny and very cool; some of my best memories of PB.

Dan Goudey was the unnamed source for the anecdote in my eulogy for Ellie Frazetta. He got a kick out of that, being a Howard and Frazetta fan.

Besides being a Frazetta fan, Dan was an accomplished artist himself. I’ve seen a couple pages of his sequential art adaptation of Dunsany’s “The Hoard of the Gibbelins” (see right). That needs published somewhere. In addition, I have yet to see a better contender for the “DeCampista” trophy than the concept Dan came up with. He often said he thought “in pictures.” I think works of his like the SRA logo, his hand-forged zweihander, the Dunsany adaptation and his trophy design amply demonstrate that the “pictures” in Dan’s rock-hard noggin were pretty cool indeed.

I’m not aware of any donations in Mr. Goudey’s name, but knowing what a supporter he was of not just REH’s works, but the author himself, I can’t see the man having a problem with donations made out to Project Pride in the name of Daniel Goudey. That would be one way to extend Dan’s legacy into the future. According to Sheila, such donations would be deeply appreciated by the family.

I’m gonna miss that ol’ boy and I drink to his shade.