Gardner F. Fox (1911-1986) was a writer whose history that went back to the pulp magazines in the 1940s. He started in comic books in 1937, had his first pulp magazine story in Weird Tales in 1944. He had three stories in Weird Tales, ten in Planet Stories, one in Amazing Stories. Some of his stories in Planet show the influence of Edmond Hamilton and Robert E. Howard. Fox had mentioned in an interview on reading Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith in Weird Tales in the 1930s.

He also had a good number of stories in the sports fiction pulp magazines and western fiction pulp magazines.

He was the first to create a sword & sorcery character for the comic books – Crom the Barbarian in 1950. Fox transitioned to writing paperback novels in the 1950s. He wrote mostly historicals, often set in the Italian Reniassance but also Roman and Old Testament eras. The novels as by “Jefferson Cooper” were the longer, more serious novels. The historicals under his own name, especially for Avon Books were shorter and more pulpy in execution.

The historical novels died out in popularity in the middle 1960s ending a source of income for Gardner Fox. Then D.C. Comics fired Fox, Otto Binder (my choice as the one who finished Robert E. Howard’s Almuric), and Bill Finger for asking for health insurance in 1968. Then Fox had a stroke. He was out of work at the same time of a major health event.

Belmont Books and the Signet imprint of New American Library got into publishing sword & sorcery following Lancer and Paperback Library in the late 1960s in the wake of the success of the Conan reprints.

Fox had already dabbled in sword & sorcery in The Druid Stone as by Simon Majors in 1967. That was a novel packaged as a Gothic but had scenes of sword & sorcery interspersed within the book.

Conan of Cimmeria was big in paperback. The other publishers wanted a piece of the action. Fox went to work for Belmont Books with the Kothar books. There were three Kothar books in 1969. The world of Kothar is the far future in the world Yarth which is our own.

Kothar is a pastiche of Conan. Kothar is a northern barbarian from Cumberia. He obtains the sword Frostfire with the caveat that he will not have any treasure or fortune while he wields the sword.

Kothar – Barbarian Swordsman (Belmont, April 1969) was a whole 153 pages with a Jeff Jones cover. It is made up of three novelettes: “The Sword of the Sorcerer,” “The Treasure in the Labryinth,” and “The Woman in the Witch-Wood.”

Kothar of the Magic Sword (Belmont, September 1969) was 154 pages again with a Jeff Jones cover. It is made up to two short novels: “The Helix From Beyond,” “A Plague of Demons.”

Kothar and the Demon Queen (Tower Books, 1969) was 155 pages, cover by Jeff Jones. This is a full novel.

Kothar and the Conjurer’s Curse (Belmont Books, September 1970) was 156 pages, cover by Jeff Jones.

Kothar and the Wizard Slayer (Belmont Books, December 1970) was 156 pages, cover by Jeff Jones.

Kothar must have been popular enough in that were were some reprints. I don’t know all the details on the publisher Belmont-Tower-Leisure Books. Kothar—Barbarian Swordsman was reprinted in October 1973 with a Jeff Jones cover that had originally been used for Dave van Arnam’s Wizard of Storms. Kothar and the Demon Queen was reprinted in 1973 with a different cover. Kothar and the Wizard Slayer was reprinted in 1974 under the Unibook imprint.

Gardner Fox would return to sword & sorcery in 1975 when he wrote four novels about Kyrik for Leisure Books.

The character of Kothar can get varied responses. Kothar is derivative. Don’t look for any innovation. Fox uses names from history, Clark Ashton Smith, and H. P. Lovecraft with a few letters changed. The stories can border on burlesque of Robert E. Howard. Kothar is more Conanic than L. Sprague de Camp’s Conan.

Fox did a lot of research on ancient and medieval warfare for his historical novels. This shows up in the Kothar books. He will throw out armor terms like haqueton for example. Fox could write a good action scene and my opinion did the supernatural element better than Lin Carter or John Jakes.

L.Sprague de Camp reviewed the first three Kothar books in Amra #52 (1970) where he rated the first three Kothar books as “pretty good.” He also looked at two of John Jakes’ Brak book in the same issue.

Roy Thomas adapted Kothar and the Conjurer’s Curse for the Conan the Barbarian Marvel comic-book.

I have to be in the right mood to read Kothar. Generally, a Saturday afternoon in the summer on the front porch hanging swing. The writing does come off as a first draft. The writing can be sloppy. Darrell Schweitzer reminded me of this bit of prose from Conjurer’s Curse. Kothar comes across a village about to burn a girl at the stake with “Burn the witch.”

“His quick wits saw these men plotted to burn the girl alive for what reason he knew not.”

Less would have been more, an editor should have caught it. I will say that Fox had a stroke not more than a year earlier. Belmont Books was not known for paying much. I notice Fox is called “Gardener F. Fox” on the cover for Conjurer’s Curse.

Fox could write better than this. Check out his fantasy “The Holding of Kolymar” (Fantastic, Oct. 1972) or “Shadow of a Demon” (Dragon Magazine #2, August 1976 and The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 3, D.A.W 1977).

You used to find the Kothar paperbacks easily in used bookstores. If you strike out, you can order e-text or a physical book from the Gardner Fox Library online.