Solomon Kane is a hero brought to comics life by the same man who created Conan the Barbarian in the early part of the 20th century. The writer is Robert E. Howard, a genius of the 1920s and 30s who was ahead of his time like H.G. Wells was when it came to fantastic ideas. But while Wells carved a niche in science-fiction, Howard's made a name with fantasy characters that were said to have given birth to the sword and sorcery genre. In fact, he's been compared to J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of the Lord of the Rings stories.Anyway, back to Kane. This pulp-fiction magazine/comic book character is a loner in the 16th century who basically lives to banish and destroy evil wherever he goes - basically Europe and Africa and anywhere in between. You can consider him to be the undertaker of evil. Howard gave him a mentor and friend, an African shaman who gives him a mystical staff that turns out to be the staff of Solomon. He uses this as a weapon along with his two pistols - an unlikely combination of spiritual and modern tools, but Howard made it work in his stories.
Way back in those pre-World War 2 days, Howard gave Kane a dark profile with a look that's mysterious with a black cloak and wide-brimmed hat. The character's depiction in the movie reminds us of Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing (left). Some fans say the Van Helsing look was "inspired" by Howard's idea. It is a fact that the Solomon Kane "look" was envisioned well before the young costume designers of the Van Helsing movie were even born. Nevertheless, Solomon Kane still remainds us of Van Helsing.Solomon Kane is directed by Michael J. Bassett with James Purefoy playing the lead character. It also stars Rachel Hurd-Wood who we've seen in other period films.
Before Solomon Kane was a movie, it was in the Weird Tales magazine. Here is a Dark Horse graphic novel which takes you to the good old days of pulp-fiction. It's got bonus stories of Conan the Barbarian and more! It's definitely a Robert E. Howard collectors' item! Click here or on the image above to place your order now.
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4 comments:
Solomon Kane was originally written in the 1920's and 30's by Robert E. Howard who also wrote Conan. Hugh Jackman's look was ripped off from the original Solomon Kane. Acknowledge and go see the freakin' film when it comes out. I promise you, it's VASTLY different from Van Helsing... a whole different ball of wax!
It's like they made Van Helsing as the follow up to Solomon Kane. The story lines do enter twine with each other. Like maybe after Solomon lived so long as God's servant he changed his name to Van Helsing. I really enjoyed the 2013 version of Solomon Kane the movie.
It's like they made Van Helsinki as the follow up to Solomon Kane. The story lines do enter twine with each other. Like maybe after Solomon lived so long as God's servant he changed his name to Van Helsing. I really enjoyed the 2013 version of Solomon Kane the movie.
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