The Art of Red Nails
The novella Red Nails is the last story that Robert E. Howard wrote about his most famous creation, Conan the Barbarian, and it is considered by many to be among his best. It was illustrated when published in 1936 in the magazine Weird Tales by the infamous Margaret Brundage, who painted one of her very sexy-kitschy covers, and by Harold S. De Lay in traditional interior pen-and-ink drawings. Eventually it was collected in book form, beautifully designed and illustrated by George Barr.

Years later, award-winning artist Greg Manchess drew and painted many of its scenes for The Conquering Sword of Conan. With the exception of Brundage, these illustrators faithfully reflected Howard's text, but their images pale next to those that appeared in the comic book adaptation. It was done by the original team that was in charge of the Conan comics: Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. They had already adapted other Howard tales for the comic book Conan the Barbarian. Since this series was presented in chronological order, it featured a young Conan at the beginning of his fictional career. Red Nails takes place much later and presents us with a mature version of the character.. . It also.........................introduces one of Howard's fierce warrior women, Valeria of the .....................Red Brotherhood. This well-matched pair slashes their way across a ...........................story where Howard poured some of his very best ideas when ..........................he was at the height of his powers as an exhilarating storyteller.