REHEAPA Vernal Equinox 2011 By Lee A. Breakiron THE SASSER ZINES, PART ONE The first issue of the fanzine REH: Two-Gun Raconteur appeared in the spring of 1976, a typed mimeograph of 44 pages, in an 8½×11-inch, side-stapled format with black-and-white contents, as all the issues would have, with a cover price of $2.50 in a print run of 350. It was published by the Black Coast Press of Houston resident Damon C. Sasser, who had been a fan of Robert E. Howard ever since a bookstore clerk handed him a copy of the Lancer paperback The Hour of the Dragon when Sasser was looking for Tarzan books in the summer of 1971. In his editorial, Sasser says his zine is “aimed at the newcomer to Howard: those of you who have just become aware of REH through Marvel Comics and the Zebra paperbacks. … Hopefully, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur will bring about a better understanding of Robert E. Howard and his writings.” [1] Born in 1955, Sasser would spend by far most of his life in Texas. At the time, he was an electrician by trade whose chief interests were “comic collecting, old movies and serials, pulp reprints, and popular fiction.” After a year and half of college, he went to work in sales, selling everything from insurance to custom clothing to pagers, until 1994. Then he went back to school at night, obtained a Paralegal Certificate, and went to work for the El Paso Corporation, where he has been for the past 15 years. “The role of fandom,” as he saw it, “is primarily entertainment for fans. Of course, some people make their living of it, which is cool. Fandom is also an excellent place for writers and artists to get their start.” He didn’t consider himself in competition with other fanzinists. “Competition is for big business and such. TGR is merely a pastime or hobby for me. Of course, anyone who publishes REH material is [vying] for the fan dollar, but there seems to be enough fans to support us all. ... My main reason for doing TGR is my love for Howard’s fiction. I also felt I could contribute something to REH fandom and wanted to contact other people with an interest in Howard.” [2] Later, he was to say “When I was just starting out 30 years ago, several Howard fanzine editors tried to dissuade [me] from launching a Howard ‘zine, saying that everything about 1 REHEAPA Vernal Equinox 2011 Howard and the topic in general had been exhausted(!). Needless to say, I didn’t agree with that line of reasoning and forged ahead with the publication of TGR. Of course, all those other fanzine editors and publishers (with the exception of McHaney) moved away from Howard and on to other interests.” [3, p. 2] From the start, he regarded appropriate, quality artwork as an essential component of any fanzine, and has regularly commissioned art for that purpose. \ REH: TGR #1 James Bozarth provides the front and back cover art for REH: TGR #1, as well as a five-page portfolio illustrating The Dark Man. Sasser writes the first article, “God’s Angry Man,” on the 2 REHEAPA Vernal Equinox 2011 world’s first Sword & Sorcery hero, Solomon Kane, the only one of REH’s heroes who lived in a real historical era. Sasser lists the books, magazine, and comics that have featured Kane, noting that Kane “has been treated well in the comics” [4, p. 7]. Sasser sketches the Puritan’s brooding personality and peripatetic life, giving detailed summaries of each of the stories and a glossary of their characters. Next, in the first of three articles, Sasser’s aunt and professional astrologer Elaine Kuhns assays REH’s horoscope, looking for heavenly clues about his life and tragic death. Her attempt sheds no more light on the subject than astrology ever has on anything, considering the practice is a pseudoscientific relic of a superstitious past, entailing not only no demonstrated, but no possible, cause and effect on human character or affairs. She concedes “stars impel—they do not compel” [5, p. 26], yet we are supposed to believe that they explain Howard’s creativity, determination, moodiness, and loyalty. Wayne Warfield, editor of the fanzine Cross Plains that had run its course over the previous 2 years, contributes an insightful overview of REH’s life and writings. “Howard was complex,” he says. “An accomplished boxer, hot tempered, with violent likes and dislikes, moody and unconventional. … Howard thought of himself as a failure, as a writer and as a man. It is very possible that he was a victim of society.” As he discussed in his Fantasy Crossroads #4/5 article “REH: Misfit,” “Howard’s various quirks helped to make his work so outstanding.” Warfield thinks REH’s horror stories were superb and greatly underrated. “Everything REH wrote was an extension of his own personal interests and fantasies; all of which he knew well,” unlike many of his imitators. “Above all else, Robert E. Howard is remembered and loved as the man who combined heroic adventure, supernatural horror and the imaginary world fantasies to form a new genre. A genre, I am happy to say, which shows no sign of age or lack of talent. For this we owe ‘Two-Gun Bob’ a great debt.” [6] In the next article, Byron Roark, editor of the fanzine REH: Lone Star Fictioneer, reviews the first collectors editions of REH stories, namely those by Donald M. Grant. He scores them as being grossly overpriced. “WHAT COMES NEXT AFTER FIFTEEN BUCKS?” [7, p. 34] If he only knew … Bill Wallace then submits a commentary on REH’s story “The Horror from the Mound,” praising it for, among other things, its vivid sense of locale. Sasser has the final word in a review of the Marvel Comic adventures of Red Sonja, based on the REH character Red Sonya from “The Shadow of the Vulture.” He criticizes the Marvel stories, after starting well, as being unrealistic, not very Howardian, and increasingly dull. The issue is rounded out, as all succeeding issues would be, by reviews and news about current and forthcoming REH publications. The reviews are of Marvel REH comics and the news is from REH scholar Glenn Lord, as it would be throughout the first four issues. Though flawed by typos and limited by its mimeographic format, REH: TGR #1 was a promising start. Charles Melvin reviews it in his REHupa zine [8]. 3 REHEAPA Vernal Equinox 2011 REH: TGR #2 The second issue, dated summer 1976, is a definite step up in production quality, still typed but offset-printed (as issues #3 and #4 would be) on better paper stock and saddle-stapled (as all the rest of the issues would be). Selling for a cheaper $1.75 a copy in a print run of 500, it runs 36 pages plus covers, the latter by Gene Day (front), Arnie Fenner (back), and David Parsons (both insides). Interior artwork is supplied by John Jamilkowsli and Bozarth. In his editorial, Sasser calls the first issue a “smashing success” and that he was surprised at how well it was received [9]. There appear photos of himself and some of his contributors, as well as the first letters of comment, including ones from Warfield, Cross Plains publisher George Hamilton, and 4 REHEAPA Vernal Equinox 2011 Fantasy Newsletter editor Paul C. Allen. Sentiment in the letters tends to run against Kuhns’s astrological article, Roark’s criticism of Grant, and Bozarth’s art. Following this is a letter from REH to Clark Ashton Smith praising Smith’s book The Double Shadow (Clark Ashton Smith, 1933), contributed by Lord. Then, after some fluff about fandom by Parsons, Warfield weighs in with a knowledgeable article on the historical Celts. He notes that REH’s Celtic history was not entirely factual, but serves as a fascinating backdrop to many of his best tales. Next come a portfolio of art by Ken Raney, illustrating “The Pool of the Black one,” and the second part of Kuhns’s series on REH’s horoscope. Despite the fact that she does not know the time of REH’s birth with any exactness (supposedly an essential datum in such analyses), she claims to be able to infer it from his general appearance and physique, and then uses it to predict that his driving forces were power, creativity, sex, death, retribution, regeneration, obsession, and determination. Can you say “fudge factor”? REHupan Steve Smolins then gives us a glimpse of how REH collecting was carried out in the days long before the Internet. It involved a lot of persistence, letter writing, convention attendance, and trading up. The issue closes with a funny story by Sasser and book and art reviews by Sasser and Parsons. Sasser joined REHupa briefly in September, 1976, producing one zine, Black Lotus #1, in which he states, “About all I get out of this zine game is the knowledge that someone is enjoying what I’m putting out.” [10] As briefly, he also joined The Hyperborian League. But he had to leave both fan organizations because he had “too many irons in the fire.” [11] REH: TGR #3 was published in the winter of 1976, again priced at $1.75 each in a print run of 500. It is a further improvement over the preceding issue in being better typed, having fancy section logos, and utilizing heavier cover stock. Running 40 pages plus covers, it features cover art by Raney (front), Steve Fabian (back), and Don Herron (both insides), and interior art by Parsons, Jamilkowski, Tom Foster, Fenner, and Day, the latter submitting a four-page portfolio illustrating “The Moon of Skulls.” #3 would be the fastest selling of all Sasser’s zines.