As best as I can remember, my first exposure to Robert E. Howard was in the fourth grade, and I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since. Howard committed suicide in 1936 at the age of 30 and is best remembered as the creator of Conan the Barbarian. Often called the “Father of Sword and Sorcery” fiction, Howard also created the characters of Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn and Kull of Atlantis.
Those of you familiar with the fictional Kull character will know that he was born in Atlantis around 100,000 B.C. His family was wiped out when he was a small boy, and another tribe adopted him. Later, he was exiled by that tribe and became a slave aboard a galley ship.
He turned pirate after a mutiny and went on to become a pirate captain. He became a common criminal when he lost his ship in a battle on the high seas and was later forced to fight as a gladiator. He gained his freedom because of his skills in the arena and became a mercenary. He eventually became a general and went on to become king during a revolt.
Many of you will be familiar with the Kull character due to his appearances in comic books and on the big screen. In addition to numerous comic book appearances elsewhere, Marvel Comics published several Kull series of comics from 1971 to 1985. I actually had some of these at one time, but they’re long gone now, unfortunately.
Some of you also probably remember watching “Kull the Conqueror,” which hit theatres in 1997 and starred Kevin Sorbo as Kull. As best as I can remember, I have not seen this movie, so I probably need to break down and watch it.
“Kull: Exile of Atlantis,” which was published in 2006, contains all of Howard’s Kull stories as well as a number of story fragments, story drafts, notes on Howard’s original versions and appendices. Stories in this 317-page book include “Exile of Atlantis,” “The Shadow Kingdom,” “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune,” “The Cat and the Skull,” “The Screaming Skull of Silence,” “The Striking of the Gong,” “The Altar and the Scorpion,” “The Curse of the Golden Skull,” “The Black City,” “By This Axe I Rule!,” “Swords of the Purple Kingdom” and “Kings of the Night” as well as “The King and the Oak,” which is actually a poem.
Howard’s Kull character made his first appearance in the August 1929 edition of Weird Tales magazine in the story, “The Shadow Kingdom.” Interestingly too, only two other Kull stories appeared in print before Howard’s death – “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune” (1929) and “Kings of the Night” (1930).
Conan fans will also probably find “By This Axe I Rule!” to be of special interest. Conan’s first appearance was in a Howard story called “The Phoenix on the Sword,” which was actually a rewrite of “By This Axe I Rule!” Some passages in both stories match word for word.
In the end, how many of you have read “Kull: Exile of Atlantis”? What did you think about it? Which of the stories was your personal favorite? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.
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