Robert E. (Ervin) Howard was born January 22 - 1906 and committed suicide on June 11 - 1936. Howard was born in Texas to Isaac and Hester Howard. His ansestors had a owned planatations in the South and fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Robert spent most of his early life living in many booming Texas communities. During this time he met many people including former slaves, war veterns, pioneers and saw many historical sites, like forts and settlements, he learned many stories including ghost stories, tall tales, and folk stories, which helped inspire him to write. His early stories were about such things as life in Texas and the West and sports, like boxing and wrestling. Later on he would learn about people like the Picts of Scotland, the Vikings, and the Arabs, as well as the history of early warfare. The works of authors like Kipling and London influenced him furter. Despite dying at the early age of 30 he created some of the most iconic sword-and-sorcery characters such as Conan, Kull and Red Sonja, and basically created the sword-and-sorcery genre himself, which can be seen as a predeccessor to the Fantasy genre.

Partial list of comic characters created by Robert E. Howard:

Conan, Kull, Red Sonja, Solomon Kane, Thulsa Doom, Belit, Almuric, Cormac Mac Art