"The Black Stranger" is one of the stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian, it was produced in the 1930s but not published in his lifetime. “The Black Stranger” was rewritten by Howard as a piratical Terence Vulmea story. Later on L. Sprague deCamp rewrote “The Black Stranger” as “The Treasure of Tranicos” for a 1950’s digest magazine and again for the Lancer Conan collections in the late 1960’s. Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland, Cimmeria) is a literary character created by Robert E. Howard in a series of fantasy pulp stories published in Weird Tales in the 1930s. ... Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936)[1] was a classic American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. ... This article is about the fictional character. ...

The Treasure of Tranicos (aka "The Black Stranger") by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp, Ace Books, 1980

The story was later rewritten by L. Sprague de Camp (which is evident) and published in Fantasy Magazine for February 1953. It was retitled "The Treasure of Tranicos" for book publication later the same year. Its first hardbound publication was in King Conan, published by Gnome Press, and its first paperback publication was in Conan the Usurper, published by Lancer Books in 1967. It was republished together with an introduction and two non-fiction pieces on the story and on Howard by de Camp and illustrations by Esteban Maroto as The Treasure of Tranicos by Ace Books in 1980. Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936)[1] was a classic American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. ... Lyon Sprague de Camp, (November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. ... Ace Books is the oldest continuing publisher of science fiction & fantasy novels, founded in 1953 by magazine publisher A. A. Wyn. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Lyon Sprague de Camp, (November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. ... King Conan by Robert E. Howard, Gnome Press, 1953 King Conan is a collection of fivefantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard featuring his seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, first published in hardcover by Gnome Press in 1953. ... Gnome Press was a US small-press publishing company primarily known for being the first to publish Isaac Asimovs Foundation Trilogy, and for bringing Robert E. Howards Conan the Barbarian stories back from pulp obscurity. ... Conan the Usurper by Robert E. Howard, Lancer Books, 1967 Conan the Warrior is a 1967 collection of four fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp featuring Howards seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. ... Lancer Books was an American publisher of paperback books, most noted for its fantasy titles published in the 1960s, particularly its Conan the Barbarian series, which marked the first appearance of all Robert E. Howards stories about his sword and sorcery hero in paperback. ... Esteban Maroto (1942- ) was a Spanish comic book artist. ... The Treasure of Tranicos by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp, Ace Books, 1980 The Treasure of Tranicos is a 1980 collection of one fantasy short story written by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp featuring Howards seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian... Ace Books is the oldest continuing publisher of science fiction & fantasy novels, founded in 1953 by magazine publisher A. A. Wyn. ...

Howard's original version of the story was first published in 1987 in Echoes of Valor and more recently in the collections The Conan Chronicles Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon (Gollancz, 2001) and Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935-1936) (Del Rey Books, 2005). Gollancz is a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House. ...

Plot summary

The story finds Conan in the Pictish Wilderness fleeing native warriors who are hunting him. Finally he turns at bay before a hill, whereupon he sees them inexplicably abandon the chase and turn back. He realizes the spot must be a taboo place to the Picts. The hill turns out to hold a treasure cave, along with the preserved bodies of the pirate Tranicos and his men. Moreover, the treasure draws others to the forbidden cave in quest for it — one Count Valenso, and both Zingaran and Barachan sea reavers. But the bane of Tranicos is quite ready to take new victims, and Conan must outmaneuver all of them if he is to claim the riches.

Howard's version of the story pointed toward a new piratical career for Conan; one of de Camp's major changes was to make it lead instead into the revolution that would bring the Cimmerian to the throne of Aquilonia.

Adaptation

The story was adapted by Roy Thomas and John Buscema in Savage Sword of Conan #47-48. Roy Thomas (born November 22, 1940, Missouri, United States) is a comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lees first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. ... John Buscema, true name Giovanni Natale Buscema (December 11, 1927–January 10, 2002) was an American comic book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics in its 1960s and 1970s heyday. ...

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Black Stranger

• Conan wiki • The Black Stranger • Synopsis, characters, locations, and publishing history
• Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion.com
• Conan.com: The Official Website