Our Gods Wear Spandex (14 page)

Howard became a successful writer for the pulps, contributing to magazines like
Argosy, Spicy Adventure
, and
Strange Detective
. He invented warrior heroes like Bran Mak Morn, Kull the Conqueror, and Solomon Kane whom he set against the machinations and conjurings of wizards and warlocks, and a host of demons, monsters, and spirits. His signature character, Conan the Cimmerian, appeared in the story “The Phoenix on the Sword” in the December 1932 issue of
Weird Tales
.

It's unclear why Conan became so much more popular than his other characters, who were expressions of the same essentially Nietszchean ethos. Howard explained in a letter to a fan that “Conan simply grew up in my mind …. He simply stalked full grown out of oblivion and set me at work recording the saga of his adventures.” He wrote to Clark Ashton Smith: “I have sometimes wondered if it were possible that unrecognized forces of the past or present—or even the
future—work through the thoughts and actions of living men.” Indeed, writing Conan's adventures became a total preoccupation for Howard. “The character,” he claimed, “took complete possession of my mind.”
⁸²
Conan became a huge success, but Howard did not enjoy the fruits of his labors for long. Distraught over the death of his mother, he committed suicide in 1936.

Conan, however, lives on, and Howard's work has had an incalculable effect on popular culture. The spirit of Conan has informed many other rough-edged superheroes, and even J.R.R. Tolkien acknowledged him as an influence. The sword-and-sorcery genre itself, however, did not play well in comics until the early 1970s. With superheroes slipping in the marketplace, Marvel licensed Howard's characters in hopes of tapping into the fantasy craze of the late 1960s. As before, it was Conan who hit the jackpot. In 1982, the John Milius film
Conan the Barbarian
launched the career of Austrian muscleman Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film was a hit, but its dismal 1984 sequel,
Conan the Destroyer
, killed the franchise in its infancy. Two totally unfaithful cartoon series appeared in the 1990s, followed by a short-lived action series in 1997 that tried to cash in on the success of the campy series,
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
.

British author Dion Fortune provides our strongest link between the occult underground and the pulps. Born Violet Mary Firth in 1890 to a Christian Science family in Wales, Fortune reported mystical visions at an early age. In her teens, she studied occultism under Dr. Theodore Moriarty and developed an interest in psychoanalysis, particularly the occult-tinged teachings of Carl Jung. Said to be a “natural psychic,” she was credited with powers of clairvoyance and astral projection, and the ability to read Edgar Cayce's Akashic Records. She also claimed to be in direct contact with the Ascended Masters, who she said aided her in her writings.

Fortune was initiated into the Golden Dawn in 1919, but later became disenchanted with the “bare bones” approach to occultism taught by McGregor Mathers. In 1922, she formed a new society called The Society of the Inner Light
and later joined the Theosophical Society. She was a prolific writer of what she considered to be practical and accessible works on the occult, among them
The Esoteric Philosophy of Love and Marriage, Sane Occultism, The Training and Work of an Initiate
, and
Practical Occultism in Daily Life
. She befriended Aleister Crowley, corresponded extensively with him, and wrote eloquently of their friendship in
The Mystical Qabalah (
1935
)
, which many consider to be her masterpiece.

Fortune also tried her hand at fiction and created the occult detective Dr. Taverner, who first appeared in the British pulp,
Royal Magazine
, in the early 1920s, basing the detective on her own mentor, Dr. Moriarty. These stories were later reprinted in the collection
The Secrets of Dr. Taverner
. She also wrote a series of occult novels, including
The Demon Lover
, a cautionary tale about the dark side of occultism,
The Sea Priestess, The Winged Bull
, about sex magic and occultism in the British military, and
Moon Magic
, in which she embedded many actual spells and rituals used in the Society of the Inner Light.

As if all this weren't enough, Fortune claimed to have become a kind of real-life superhero with her participation in the “Magical Battle of Britain” during World War II. Fortune gathered a number of witches and occultists from across the United Kingdom in order to cast spells of protection to stave off a German invasion.
⁸³
This effort, which became legendary in occult lore, allegedly left her in a weakened state. She died of leukemia in London in January 1946.

The rise of science fiction and fantasy fandom would play a crucial role in the development of comic book culture. Several clubs would form that would allow fans and creators to meet and exchange ideas, and eventually would lead to creation of the sci-fi and comic book convention circuit. The rise of this network closely mirrored the rise of the neopagan and occult movements of the mid–20th century. In fact, many of the leading figures in fandom were also deeply involved in occult activity. As former Eclipse Comics publisher and occult author Catherine Yronwode, put it, “Neopaganism would never have gotten started without the rise
of Science Fiction and comics fandom.”
⁸⁴
One figure who straddled both worlds would also play a crucial part in development of the real-life “World of Tomorrow.”

Jack Parsons (1914–1952) combined his love of sci-fi with a prodigious knack for chemistry and became one of the founding fathers of the Space Program. Parsons was an avid reader of pulps like
Amazing Stories
and had a particular love for Bur-rough's
John Carter
stories. From an early age, he experimented with explosives, a hobby that eventually led to his invention of solid rocket fuel. He played a major role in the development of the Apollo space program and in the formation of Jet Propulsion Laboratories—indeed, some have joked that the initials JPL actually stand for Jack Parsons' Laboratories.

Jack Parsons was also an avid practitioner of Thelema, and a regular correspondent with Aleister Crowley. Some even claim he recited Crowley's “Hymn to Pan” before every rocket launch. His family estate in Pasadena became the site of the Agape Lodge of the OTO; offerings collected there provided Crowley with one of his few sources of income in his declining days.

In addition to his work with the OTO and his scientific pursuits, Parsons also had contacts with the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, the forerunner of modern fandom. The LASFS grew out of Hugo Gernsback's Science Fiction League and eventually hosted weekly meetings where writers and fans mingled. Parsons gave talks on rocketry at LASFS meetings and befriended several future sci-fi legends, among them Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, German sci-fi pioneer Fritz Lang, and Vril Society theorist Willy Ley.

Parsons' circle of sci-fi writers grew to include L. Ron Hubbard, with whom he undertook the infamous “Babalon Working” in January 1946. This ritual, which earned them both a place in occult conspiracy-theory lore, was inspired by Crowley's writings, particularly his novel
Moonchild
. Hubbard and Parsons sought to summon the Scarlet Woman, whom Parsons saw as an incarnation of the Whore of Babylon. His goal was to mate with her and conceive the Moonchild—the future Antichrist.
⁸⁵
When informed of the working, Crowley himself exclaimed: “I
get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these goats.”
⁸⁶
Not long after the Babalon Working, Parson's friendship with Hubbard faltered and Hubbard went on to found his new occult religion, Scientology, in 1950.
⁸⁷
Parsons later fell on hard times, and his OTO activities earned him some unwelcome attention from the federal government. He developed an addiction to methamphetamines and cocaine, eventually lost his security clearance. Parsons would die in a laboratory accident in 1952 that some claim was murder.

Parsons' favorite novel, Jack Williamson's
Darker Than You Think
, was originally serialized in
Unknown
in 1940. A powerful and chilling work even today, the book tells the story of journalist Will Barbee, who stumbles across a worldwide cult of shape-shifting witches bent on world domination. Barbee's own occult powers are awakened by a seductive redhead named April Bell, and he soon realizes that he himself is the prophesied “Child of Night”—the “Black Messiah” that will lead the witches out of the shadows and into the halls of power. The story ends, not with the obligatory defeat of the forces of darkness, but with their rise to power. Parsons was fascinated by the book's description of a magickal race that doesn't want to coexist with mankind, but wants to dominate it completely and covertly. It's hard not to find echoes of Williamson's theme of an occultic super-race—which is, in itself, an echo of Bulwer's
Vril
—throughout Parsons' Thelemic writings.

By mid-century, the cross-pollination between sci-fi, fantasy, and occultism had flowered and borne fruit, but the pulps were beginning to fade. The emerging superheroes would need a new place to grow and a new, fresh audience as well. The dingy monochromatic pages of
Amazing Stories
and
Weird Takes
would have to give over to a new and colorful format so the new gods could truly come into their own.

Oh, before we go on it's probably important to note that Jack Parsons' birth name was “Marvel.”