Sword-and-sorcery and heavy metal are among a small handful of my great passions. I write about these and other related topics on my blog, The Silver Key (https://thesilverkey.blogspot.com/). Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery (2020, Pulp Hero Press) is my first book. I'm working on a second book, a heavy metal memoir.
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Arcane Arts: Dispatches From The Silver Key
Published about 5 hours ago • 4 min read
Dispatches from the silver key
Arcane Arts
I recently published my 1000th (!) post on The Silver Key, a short essay entitled “The Super, Super-Secret History of Sword-and-Sorcery.” Not a whole lot of new ground covered there, except for one thing: I acknowledge that I have underestimated the impact of visuals on S&S, which have come to define the subgenre as much as its literary conventions. From that essay:
More than any other genre of which I’m aware, sword-and-sorcery is defined by a visual aesthetic as much as literary. Art, particularly the work of Frank Frazetta, helped to define what we think of it today. In fact, if you want the easiest way to define S&S to someone brand-new to the genre, your best bet might be showing them a picture of Death Dealer or Conan the Adventurer. Its fans love the comics for a reason. The art of sword-and-sorcery takes a backseat to no other genre, save perhaps horror.
This issue of Arcane Arts offers more proof. Pinball machines, beer can art, and 70s fanzines are further evidence of the ubiquity of the sacred genre. S&S is all around us, if your eyes are open.
I hope you enjoy the sights of this issue.
Sea-Witches everywhere…
Last month I got to see and play a couple sword-and-sorcery pinball machines over a guys’ weekend in Southington, CT. Gamecraft Arcade had the mighty Gorgar, which I’ve written about before on the blog. Alas, Seawitch was not in operation, its playfield lights dark. But it seemed in good shape and the artwork was cool. I examined it, admired its S&S aesthetic, and moved on.
A few days ago in an instance of internet serendipity I happened across the cover of Conan the Barbarian #98.
Crom! Another Seawitch?
Could a comic book and pinball machine of the same name be mere coincidence? Witchcraft was afoot, a mystery fathoms deep.
That started a merry search. I took a look at the online description of issue #98:
Belit guest stars in Sea-Woman! Script by Roy Thomas, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Ernie Chan; setting: Tigress; A blue-skinned sea-woman is brought on board the Tigress-she lures 2 men to their death; Conan is saved from her by Belit's love.
Published May 1979. Cover by John Buscema, inks by Bob McLeod.
The Seawitch pinball machine debuted May 1980 from Stern manufacturing. Game design by Mike Kubin with artwork by Bob Timm.
Huh.
Was Timm influenced by big John? He wouldn’t be the first artist to fall under Buscema’s spell. The facial structure of Kubin’s Seawitch has those same pronounced cheekbones and overall structure.
I say … yes.
But I actually don’t know. Just that it appears that way and the dates work out.
This is the type of big-time scholarship you’ll find in Arcane Arts, and nowhere else.
Widowmaker Brewing in Boston puts out some damned good beer. Their flagship Blue Comet, a 7.1% hazy IPA, won a hotly-contested blinded taste test I was a part of (and vaguely remember). I’ve also had and greatly enjoy their Green Wizard, 6.66% ABV West Coast IPA, Devil’s Staircase, Hopsmoker, and Ecstasy of Gold.
They go heavy on the IPAs. But they also lean heavily into sword-and-sorcery and heavy metal on their can art.
After I shared a recent example in the Sword-and-Sorcery Discord group someone tracked down the name of the artist for at least some of their cans. His name is Arik Roper, and he rocks. Looks like he's done work for many heavy metal bands and authors I recognize.
Manowar was an important band for me back in the day—and still is. I got into them during Fighting the World (1987) and bought Kings of Metal (1988) as it came out in the record store, on tape.
Little did I know that the latter album would be guitarist Ross the Boss’ last with the band. Infighting and creative control led to his departure. Manowar was never the same, though Triumph of Steel is pretty good.
But those first six albums? Immortal. As is the soul of Ross, who entered the mountainside on March 26 following a short battle with ALS.
My recent review of To Leave a Warrior Behind got me interested in the semi-obscure 1970s Canadian S&S fanzine Dark Fantasy, which holds the distinction of printing the first appearance of Charles Saunders Ilyssai outcast hero Imaro. So when I saw Dark Fantasy #3 pop up in an online bookseller I knew I had to have it.
It’s a great little publication that had a surprisingly decent run, 23 issues published between 1973-80. Magazine editor Gene Day supplied the heart of the zine and much of its art. Day was a talented artist who also did the cover of the first edition of the famous horror RPG Call of Cthulhu (1981) and other Chaosium products, and the interiors of several Savage Sword of Conan magazines, as nicely covered in this article by Deuce Richardson for DMR Books. He has that gloomy and weird 70s style I admire.
Day was a huge talent and died far too young, just 31 years old. And with him went Dark Fantasy. You can find a back issue here.
I will go through Dark Fantasy #3 and its contents in more detail. I’m just happy to own this physical relic of the 1970s.
Sword-and-sorcery and heavy metal are among a small handful of my great passions. I write about these and other related topics on my blog, The Silver Key (https://thesilverkey.blogspot.com/). Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery (2020, Pulp Hero Press) is my first book. I'm working on a second book, a heavy metal memoir.
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts As I pressed publish on my latest blog post, a review of the new Deathstalker film that wound up being a disappointing “meh,” I happened to notice the post count at the top of the blogger platform. All (999). 999 posts. The next will be my 1000th. A big round number, worth pausing on. I’ve been blogging for a long time. Since 2007, with a large gap (circa 2013-2019) that can be partially explained by Flame and Crimson, partially for reasons that...
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts This past week I finished To Leave a Warrior Behind, a biography of the late Charles Saunders, author of Imaro and other heroic fantasy stories. Saunders lived a solitary existence, choosing to connect through voluminous letter-writing with dozens of correspondents. Divorced and without family he died alone in May 2020, surrounded by piles of books and very little else to his name. His body was ultimately buried in an unmarked grave. In short, not...
Dispatches from the silver key Arcane Arts Although you wouldn’t know it from the sparse Silver Key updates it’s been a productive last couple weeks on the writing front. I completed two articles and both are in the hands of editors of sword-and-sorcery magazines. Let’s start with “The small press origins of Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane,” which, appropriately enough, will be appearing in a new little fanzine entitled Night Winds. I was just young enough to largely miss the golden age of the...
