Twice a year, Character Design instructor Jim Graves organizes a drawing meet-up he calls Sketch Jam. Instructors and students from Seneca’s art programs hang out, draw for fun, and socialize. It started in late 2004 with a couple instructors and approximately a dozen students and has continued ever since. No marks, no assignments, just making art for fun.

We haven’t had a big Sketch Jam meet-up since Covid and I could tell Jim was worried it was going to fade away so I beat the drum hard last week, encouraging current students, especially our new first years, to make an appearance and be part of the tradition.

On Saturday, the students came out in force and it was amazing.

At least 40 students and alumni showed up at St. Lawrence Market for afternoon sketching and more than double that met up with us at the pub after for After-Jam drinks and celebration.

I enjoyed college and made a lot of friends while busting away on my drawing and storytelling skills, but there aren’t many of my profs I would have wanted to spend time with outside of their required lectures. The fact that so many of these students and grads come out in droves to hang out with us, year after year, kind of blows my mind.

They tell us about their work and creative projects, they regale us with their victories and setbacks, they wax nostalgic about their time in Seneca’s Animation program and how much they miss being on campus.

I joke that they’re our “kids”, even though they’re adults, but it’s even more surreal when they bring their own kids to celebrate with us-

It’s my 19th year teaching at Seneca, so there are 16 years worth of grads out in the industry, creating art and telling stories. When I have a moment to think about that, and when I see first hand how excited they are to reconnect – it fills my heart right up.

Killer Comics

Speaking of former students, David Yu is one of them and he has a new comic coming from Scout called TOTAL PARTY KILLER arriving in comic shops late December.

I’ve read the full story and it’s a ton of fun, especially if you play tabletop or video game RPGs.

Killer Art

Speaking of former students, Jorge Molina is one of them and he has a new Patreon where he shows off the illustration and design techniques that have made him a top notch artist for Marvel and DC.

Bound in Black Stone – The Conclusion!

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #4 arrives in comic shops tomorrow, on Wednesday, October 25th, wrapping up the first story arc of this bold new era. I’m nervous and excited to hear what people think.

Once issue 4 arrives, readers will have a complete ‘mission statement’ for the new Conan series and Heroic Signatures imprint and can let us know via social media or by emailing chainmail@conan.com if we delivered the goods:

• Grand mythmaking
• Visceral storytelling
• New stories with respect for the past

Links and Other Things

• Marvel Editor In Chief C.B. Cebulski talks about comic art samples for portfolios for people trying to break into the business and inker Mark Morales covers some important inking techniques using traditional pen on paper as some free teasers from the Proko-Marvel Art of Storytelling program I helped design.
• Legendary letterer Richard Starkings talks about his career and comic lettering trends with Adam Chapman on the newest episode of the Comic Shenanigans podcast. The last 12 minutes includes some insight from Richard about lettering the new Conan the Barbarian comic series for Heroic Signatures and Titan.
• Sean “Wordburglar” Jordan has a new music video called 1980 Force that plays off of the ridiculous names and endless waves of G.I.Joe figures from the 80’s.
• Dean Kotz‘s Inktober sketches this year are all Conan themed!
  

I hope your week is going well!
Jim

New York Comic Con was a whirling dervish and the Conan fandom came out in force. It was a thrill hearing their excitement for the new series and signing a storm of issues, including a pair of exclusive variant covers put together for the show. My voice is shot and I’m pretty exhausted here on the Monday post-con, but also really happy with how it all went.

Beyond that, there were a couple really nice Conan-centric moments with other professionals-

While chatting with friends at a party on Thursday night, we realized there were four recent Hyborian Age creators in the mix, so we grabbed a quick photo-

On Friday at the show, legendary Savage Sword of Conan cover artist Joe Jusko stopped by my table. He told me we were doing right by our favorite Cimmerian and that he was excited for the Savage Sword relaunch coming in February. Such an honor-

Savage Scripts

Speaking of Savage Sword of Conan, I received permission from Heroic Signatures to post older Conan scripts on my Patreon. I’m starting with an extra-special story, Conan the Gambler, from the 2019 Savage Sword relaunch.

At the time, I thought this tale would be my last chance to write Conan, so I tried to pour everything I love about classic Robert E. Howard writing into it – danger, betrayal, mystery, magic, and a corrupt civilization in need of a barbarian’s brutal judgement. Instead, beyond my wildest dreams, the Gambler became an audition to take over the flagship Conan series!

When this newsletter goes out, I’ve posted the scripts for Savage Sword of Conan #7 and #8 and will have the final part up on Friday, with more issues from my pre-Titan run to come in the weeks ahead.

If you’ve never seen my Patreon before, it’s an archive of my comic writing, with almost 300 scripts currently available. You can see how comics are written through scripts and pitches and find other information about working in the industry for the price of a fancy coffee.

Proper Portals

Random House and Ten Speed Press hosted a signing on the show floor of New York Comic Con and gave away over 100 copies of the latest Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guide, Places & Portals. It was wonderful meeting D&D fans, librarians, and other people curious about how to get into this fun fantasy game they keep hearing about.

Making Magic

Speaking of Young Adventurer’s, Artificers & Alchemy (the eighth book in the series), has just been announced! Arriving in April, our newest volume is all about magic items and the artificers who create them.

(If you haven’t seen the D&D YAGs before, check out this Frequently Asked Questions article I put together for more information on the series and how they’re tailor-made to bring new people into the hobby.)

Food

A couple weeks ago I put together something different for lunch – I followed Adam Ragusea’s recipe for a Savory Dutch Baby with egg, green onion, pepperoni, and cheese. It turned out far better than expected, especially for my first try.

(Quick note: I halved his recipe since mine was personal size in a small cast iron pan.)

Links and Other Things

• QRBits has a neat video comparing confident handwriting to confident drawing techniques:

• Jetpack7 is a successful indie TTRPG publisher with a slew of great 5th edition supplements under their belt. One of the reasons why their books look so great is because they’re the same art studio supplying new illustrations for the D&D Young Adventurer’s Guides. Their latest Kickstarter campaign is for Legendary Undead, and it’s looking sharp, as expected.
• A couple years ago my good friend Tory Woollcott took a break from comic-making to put together a divination set called the Tessera Oracle and it did so well that she pivoted toward that as her new business! Her newest release is called the Trine Oracle and the crowdfunding campaign ends early November.

That should cover it for this time. Have a great week!
Jim

This weekend it’s Canadian Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be thankful for, as you’ll see below. Thank you for checking out my newsletter and sharing it with others!

Social media is more mercurial and annoying than ever, so being able to reach fine people like yourself directly is really nice. If you don’t want to read the whole thing, that’s fine, but at least you get to choose instead of algorithms choosing for you.

It’s delightful/surreal to see Soul Coins in Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons canon as a whole.

I came up with the concept of Soul Coins, souls minted in infernal metal, during a brainstorming session for Descent Into Avernus at the Wizards of the Coast office way back in 2017.

We were talking about Hell in D&D and the discussion turned to what kind of stuff happens there beyond the Blood War. There’s obviously wheeling and dealing going on, but how does that work?

Is there an economy? Yes, and souls are the most valuable currency.

Okay, cool. If that’s the case, then how do you trade souls? What’s that look like? Are they in jars, trapped in the parchment of a contract, or spun like cotton candy? All doable, but also finicky.

What if an archdevil has hundreds or thousands of souls to move or spend?

I said “Soul Coin” and it immediately clicked for Adam Lee (head of narrative on the project) and I:

• Devilishly simple and appropriate. Souls get trapped, minted, and are used for payment, fuel, and sometimes even ammunition.
• A mortal carrying a Soul Coin feels the “moral weight” of its infernal metal pulling them down.
• You have currency. You have an economy. It’s a twisted take on commerce worthy of Lawful Evil devils.
• Their value is based on the quality or power of the soul, which leads to hording, coveting, stealing, and piracy.

It solved a lot of problems and created all kinds of story potential.

While playing BG3 (it’s been tough to find time to play lately, but I am sloo~oowly making my way through it in between project deadlines) I heard eerie whispers in game, tracked the sound to its source, my character picked up a Soul Coin…and I smiled. 🙂

“Strange, incomprehensible whispers emanate from this coin, pervading your mind with rage and despair.”

So awesome.

Attack of the Relentless Readers!

I was going to post about the fourth printing of Conan the Barbarian #1, a limited edition release with full body character cover artwork by Dan Panosian arriving on October 25th, but then Titan Comics received a surge of reorders on every issue released so far!

New readers have heard such great things about the series and they want to catch up on the story, so I’m genuinely astonished to announce three more reprints your favorite local comic shop can order–

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1- 5th print (Colleen Doran cover) in stores Nov 8.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN #2- 3rd print (Alan Quah cover) in stores Nov 8.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN #3- 3rd print (Doug Braithwaite cover) in stores Nov 15.

I felt we were making something special, but never could have imagined this kind of response. All I can say is a heartfelt THANK YOU.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for buying.
Thank you for sharing with other people you know.
Thank you for the kind words and high praise.

This Conan relaunch has been a career milestone in so many ways and our team is working hard to keep the momentum going for years to come.

Back In The Spotlight

Stone Star Vol. 2: In the Spotlight is finally available in trade paperback thanks to comiXology and Dark Horse Comics. The original digital-first release was in 2020-2021 so it’s wonderful finally getting a printed version in my hands.

Max Dunbar is a dream collaborator who designs, tells a great visual story, and brings enthusiasm and energy to every part of the process. Espen Grundetjern is genuinely one of the best colorists in the business. Marshall Dillon is my ride-or-die letterer and friend who always goes above and beyond the call of duty. We put a lot of heart into this space-fantasy series and I’m hopeful for its future.

(and seeing these pages again definitely gives me the itch to launch some new creator-owned comics in 2024…)

Big Apple Barrage – Here Comes NYCC!

Next week is New York Comic Con, Fall’s pop culture extravaganza. I’ll be there thanks to Comic Sketch Art, at Artist Alley Table F37, and will also be signing at Insight Editions and Random House.

On Friday, Oct 13th at 1pm EST/10am PST, artist Jay Anacleto and I will be doing a livestream signing at Unknown Comics (Booth #3753) with the special first print Conan #1 variant Jay illustrated of Brissa, the valiant Pict warrior-scout introduced in the new series. It’s a beauty! Here is the WhatNot livestream link.

On Friday, Oct 13th at 4:30pm I’ll be on stage with the Glass Cannon Network playing the new Marvel Multiverse Tabletop Role-Playing Game along with narrator Troy Lavallee and players Sydney Amanuel, Matthew Capodicasa, Nick Lowe, Skid Maher, and Joe O’Brien!

Which Marvel characters are we playing? What is the Friday the 13th-worthy spooky adventure we’ll be going on? Be there and find out!

Sequential Thoughts

I spoke to Brendan Montgomery at Sequential Magazine about my career and recent thoughts on creator-owned comics. Lots of good material and an archive of older issues you should also explore.

Links and Other Things

• My friend Richard Pace’s COVEN: A Book of 100 Witches artbook is currently funding on Zoop and it’s an impressive gallery of witchful things for mature readers.
• I stumbled across Campbell Walker’s YouTube channel where he talks about art and motivation. Three of the videos he has sum up some fantastic thoughts on habits, procrastination, and focus. They’re well worth watching and internalizing.
• Fred Kennedy’s Dead Romans arrives in hardcover mid-November. It’s gooood stuff.

Canadian or not, I hope your weekend is filled with family, friends, and good food.
Jim

I received a copy of LORE & LEGENDS, the history and art of D&D 5th edition by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer, arriving in stores on Oct 2nd.

It’s an incredible tour filled with great anecdotes and illustrations. Surreal to see my books and face in the mix, a tiny piece of Dungeons & Dragons’ illustrious history.

There are a lot of memories wrapped up in the pages of this book. A decade of development with many colleagues who have since become friends.

And, a silly point of pride, I’m the only “Z” listing in the index. 🙂

Win the Battle, Lose the War

After several friends recommended it, I recently watched Jurassic Punk, a documentary about Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams, the Canadian animator who pioneered a ton of 3D animation and special effects technology that changed the face of moviemaking for better and for worse.

The story of Steve’s innovation, rebellion and self destruction is compelling stuff, but also quite sad. The same qualities that caused him to buck the system and develop groundbreaking visual effects also put him at odds with the corporate hierarchies and social relationships that run Hollywood. He proved his technical skills in the battle on a few key creative projects (The Abyss, Terminator 2, and Jurassic Park) but couldn’t win the war when it came to handling people – colleagues, friends, or his family.

When I was at Sheridan for Classical Animation we heard a lot about Spaz – the rockstar party hard computer animator blowing up the way things used to be done who could not be stopped. Almost thirty years later, he absolutely made his mark but it cost him almost everything. The recent scenes of Steve bitter about his place in film history battling severe alcoholism are a far cry from the confident take-no-shit genius of his youth.

As I watched it all play out in the documentary, my opinion toggled back and forth (and I’m sure that was by design). I could see Steve’s impressive ambition and tenacity, but it also seems he would’ve been an unbearable bastard to work with.

Creative industries are about results, but your ability to stay relevant and keep creating in a corporate environment also requires you to be a good communicator and collaborator.

Internet Dead Zone

Going through my ‘Art Tutorials’ bookmarks to find a few gems to post here and I realize many of the hundreds of helpful art links I’ve saved over the years are now defunct – dead URLs or empty images.

The internet giveth and it also taketh away.

It’s a good reminder of why I encourage my students to gather their own digital ‘scrap file’ of tutorials they find that are helpful to them.

I have thousands of art tutorial images saved and organized into folders curated to my needs and taste, the digital equivalent of old school filing cabinets of reference images in an art studio.

Assume stuff online is transitory and back-up ref material, just in case.
You won’t always have access to the things you want to keep.
Future proof it for yourself.

Links Aplenty

You’re reading this newsletter because you want to keep up on what I’m up to but I also want to direct your attention to people I think are creating great work or generating interesting discussion. Here’s a round-up of some good stuff from collaborators, friends, and other folks who have recently caught my attention:

• Jamie McKelvie’s rundown of North American comic art template specs is right on point and worth adding to your reference pool.
• Rachel Stott’s artwork is an absolute knockout. If you’re not following her on your social media of choice, you’re missing out!
• Ed Brubaker’s newsletter is well worth following, and his latest thoughts on the terms “IP” and “content” are deeply in line with my own.
• Matt Rosenberg’s ‘Ideas Don’t Bleed’ podcast has a great series of interviews that cover a cross section of comic creators and other creative people.
• Speaking of interviews, John Siuntres’ Word Balloon podcast is still great and there’s a deep archive of interview material from some of the biggest names in comics.
• Howard Tayler is running a Kickstarter campaign for Schlock Mercenary Vol. 18: Mandatory Failure. Howard’s brilliance and consistency has made him a mainstay of sci-fi and webcomics culture for good reason. The entire archive is well worth checking out.
• Steve Tassie is bringing back Grave Robbers From Outer Space, a fun B-Movie-themed card game that originally launched back in 2001. My friends and I played the hell out of it when it first came out and I’m excited to snag the updated version. Make sure you jump in before the campaign ends.
  

That’ll cover it for this week.
Jim

Cascading deadlines, teaching, and conventions. It’s a whole lot right now. Stacy warned me I shouldn’t “fill every box on the calendar like Tetris” and, surprising no one, she was right.

I got back from Edmonton after midnight on Sunday and I’m feeling pretty tired after a day of email catch-up and administrative everything. The To-Do List will get done bit by bit, just like it always does, but this current pace, as fun as it can be at times, is also not sustainable. I definitely need to calm things down a bit in the months ahead.

How About a Turtle?

Kind little old lady at the Edmonton Expo –

“I don’t read any of these action books, but I do collect things with turtles on them. Will you draw a turtle for me?”

Absolutely.

Steel Souls

Major Spoilers has preview pages up for CONAN THE BARBARIAN #3, in stores Wednesday, September 27th.

I received my print comps late last week and it’s another stunner. The team is absolutely roaring at this point. No other way to put it. In this issue – Our big villain is revealed and souls are stirred. Can’t wait for all of you to see it.

The Conan fandom has been coming out in force to my convention appearances since the launch and it’s been incredible to meet them in person and talk about how much these stories and this world means to them. Their excitement reminds me why we’re working so hard.

The solicits and covers for CONAN THE BARBARIAN #6 were also released last week. Jaw dropping cover art from Jae Lee, Pat Zircher, Dan Panosian, and Joey Spiotto.

Doug Braithwaite is drawing our second story arc, a tragic and brutal caper that takes place after the classic Robert E. Howard tale Queen of the Black Coast, and he’s delivering career-defining pages of stirring emotion and gut-wrenching violence. The 4-part story is called Thrice Marked For Death and, if I may be so bold, you are not prepared for what gets unleashed here.

Rob De La Torre has already begun work on pages for our third story arc (title still under wraps for now), so my inbox is an endless parade of the best damn sword & sorcery art I could imagine. It’s humbling to have these two titans drawing stories I’ve written and then have colorists like José Villarrubia, Dean White, and Diego Rodriguez enhance every panel before the legendary Richard Starkings pulls it all together with the best lettering in the business. What a dream.

What Was I Made For?

I finally had a chance to watch Barbie. Stacy saw it in theaters, but with my crazy summer schedule I missed out until the recent digital release.

I was impressed. Every time I thought the film was going to tip into being too much – too corny, too preachy, too self congratulatory – it managed keep things moving instead of getting bogged down. It’s peppy and ridiculous right up until it’s not and the ending was more poignant than I expected.

I can see why Barbie conquered the box office this summer, but it’s also mind-boggling to me that Mattel or WB think they’re going to franchise build from here. If they think they can reproduce that success with sequels or other toy brands in their empire, I think they’ll be sorely disappointed. It feels like a film that should just be, not the beginning of a Mattel-verse of films or whatever.

Or maybe I’m wrong and the Hot Wheels movie will deftly critique car pollution and racing culture while Polly Pocket encourages us to embrace a future of tiny houses off the grid. 😉

Links and Other Things

• Joe Murray, the creator of Rocko’s Modern Life, is giving away digital copies of his book all about developing and producing animated series. A heck of a great resource, absolutely free!
• I played Thunder Road: Vendetta a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the Mad Max-esque chaos it brings to the tabletop.
• Ryan Benjamin talks about drawing core shapes as part of the Marvel – The Art of Storytelling course over on Proko-

Okay, that should cover it this time. Have a great week!
Jim