Although best known for Conan the Barbarian, Robert E. Howard’s Brekenridge Elkins’ comedy westerns are my favourites.

The character of Elkins is laughable yet loveable. What he lacks in brains and common sense, he makes up for with heart and size. He’s as big as Conan, if not bigger, and neither man nor beast can equal him.

The general theme of an Elkins’ tale is that the gullible hero is asked to do someone a favour, which turns out to be a wild goose chase, resulting in Elkins causing mayhem at every step. We get a mixture of violence and conflict, all brushed with humour.

Howard isn’t renowned for comedy, yet I’ve not come across another writer who can equal his wit and timing. He beats all the well-known humourists by a long shot, in my opinion. There’re many laugh-out-loud moments, with very few dull ones.

The story “Mountain Man” is my favourite short – period. I did read this plus all but two stories in this collection previously, so I only read the couple that were new to me, namely the first and last ones.

Individually, I’ve rated these stories three, four, or five stars, but felt that collectively they deserve five stars for sure.

An hilarious read by a genius author. ( )