Zub Tales

This week is a bit of a sprint. Stacy and I have a manuscript due for the next D&D Young Adventurer’s Guide (yes, more are in development, but titles haven’t been announced yet – The book market works really far in advance) and other comic writing deadlines loom in the foreground of my To-Do List. The month leading up to San Diego Comic Con is usually a rush and this year is no exception.

In stores on Wednesday is CONAN THE BARBARIAN #32, a done-in-one story I’m really proud of, built to feel like a classic Weird Tales-era Conan story. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, these kind of self-contained adventures were the norm on a book like Conan, which also meant it was easy to bring new readers on board, giving them a complete reading experience for the cover price of a single issue.

So, if you follow this newsletter and haven’t had the chance to read the series yet, do me a favor and check this one out. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, and Doug Braithwaite‘s line art mixed with Diego Rodriguez‘s colors is always a winner.

A mysterious woman with an even more mysterious mission hires Conan to be her bodyguard on a sacred task across forbidden lands. Is any reward worth the risk? The Cimmerian is about to find out…

This Interview is Truly Disturbing

I spoke to Sam at Truly Disturbing all about my ongoing commitment to Conan the Barbarian – Discovering Conan, misconceptions people have about the character, writing sword & sorcery stories, and more!

Using AI

The discourse about AI use in creative projects is a steady thrum now. Is it “inevitable”, as the AI companies want people to believe, or will it pop like NFTs and other tech trends that had limited useage but weren’t as transformative as the market assumed? Only time will tell, but in the here and now I know how it affects my current workflow – not much at all.

When Midjourney first launched free online, I typed in a half-dozen image prompts and thought the output looked creepy. That’s the only time I sought it out.

I’ve never used AI to make text for my writing or correspondence. I don’t have any Ai-dedicated programs installed and turn off AI features I find in tools I use.

Once I found out that AI was predictive text not actual knowledge and that platforms were being trained on material without permission or compensation, I knew that using it for writing would both be a copyright minefield and morally bankrupt.

Because AI systems are being injected into so many programs and platforms, I’m sure it’s a background presence as I work (AI summaries on research that I don’t trust until I dig deeper, AI generated captions on audio, etc.) but I do not want generated material in my plots, descriptions or dialogue.

I know large language models and neural networks can be useful at sifting through data and have powerful applications in science and medicine, but think that its use in creative art and writing robs creators of personal analysis and growth.

Storytelling and making art is more than just output, even when it’s a commercial endeavor. They’re time capsules of who you are at that moment – Your skill and development. Your priorities and influences.

Offloading that to the randomness of those systems closes you off from that growth.

I want a glimpse at the people who made that story/art, I want to see their specific choices and collaborations, not a random homogenized product they pasted together and put their name on.

Less ‘perfect’, possibly, but far more insightful and tactile.

Building a Beautiful Brick

Speaking of self-contained time capsules, late last week I finished laying out and uploading print files for the upcoming WAYWARD COMPENDIUM, the 904-page softcover compilation of the creator-owned series Steven Cummings and I published at Image from 2015 to 2018. Going back through all 30 issues brought on a rush of great memories and reminded me of how proud I am of what our team put together.

This Compendium arrives in September and will give readers who never had the chance to discover the series when it first came out an easy way to read it all, and retailers an even easier way to keep it in stock since this book will be one beautiful value-priced brick instead of six separate trade paperbacks.

Buy one for yourself, got another as a gift for someone you know. It’s gonna be a beauty.

Current + Upcoming Releases

• MAD About DC – 2nd printing – released June 3.
• Conan the Barbarian #32 – releases June 24.
• Conan the Barbarian #33 – releases July 29.
• Conan the Barbarian #34 – releases August 26.
• Journey to the West: The Beginning – releases September 15.
• Savage Sword of Conan #16 – releases September 16.
• Conan the Barbarian vol. 4-6 Slipcase Set – releases September 16.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King #1 – releases September 23.
• Savage Sword of Conan vol. 1-3 Slipcase Set – releases September 23.
• Wayward Compendium – releases September 29.
• Conan the Barbarian #35 – releases September 30.

Upcoming Appearances

Apologies for the last minute change, but I’m unable to attend Fan Expo: Anaheim this week. Personal stuff has come up and I need to be here at home. Thanks for your understanding.

Other Links

• My friend David Pepose has a new crowdfund campaign for his creator-owned comic series The O.Z., an alternate world survivalist take on The Wizard of Oz.

• The Dark Man Journal is moving online, and the first two videos on their new YouTube channel are interviews with Arlene Stephenson and Jacque Chidress from the Robert E. Howard Museum and Rusty Burke, who started Howard Days 40 years ago.

Jim

It’s a bit of a mad sprint of productivity and packing today as I wrap up a script and then finish getting ready for my flight tomorrow morning to Texas for the Howard Days 40th anniversary, two days of discussion and celebration of the father of sword & sorcery’s legacy in the exact place where Conan the Barbarian‘s tales were first written. I attended the festival for the first time back in 2024 and you can read how that went HERE.

As with any convention or signing, I’m a mix of nervous and excited. Last time I attended it had been less than a year since our big relaunch at Titan and now it’s the third year of big swings and stories I’m really proud of, so I’m curious how all that’s been received by the intensely passionate fanbase who attend this event. I guess I’m about to find out.

I’ll arrive in Cross Plains late afternoon Thursday and be there through Saturday night. Looking forward to seeing friends and meeting new people coming in for the big anniversary gathering.

I’ll also be signing throughout the event. No charge, but donations encouraged, with all proceeds going to the Howard House fund underway to help with repairs. Same goes for items I’ll be donating to the silent auction.

No ticket is required to attend the festivities, so if you’re in Texas and able to make the trek, consider coming out to Cross Plains to celebrate with us or, if you’re closer to Dallas, come to my signing at Madness Games & Comics happening this Sunday from 11:30am-3pm.

Laudator Temporis Acti

Reading online posts that go on about how “my generation is the best because we persevered through [moment in time], had [pop culture things], didn’t fall for [current trendy pitfall] and life was better because [random item] only cost [cheap compared to now]!” always makes my eyes roll, especially when it’s about my generation.

Even more painful are the “my generation learned how to work hard because we didn’t have [current technology] or parents who [do current parental thing] and weren’t coddled with [respectful current social norm]!” posts.

Congrats, you’ve discovered nostalgia.

It doesn’t make you unique or your cohort some awe-inspiring generation better than all others.

Truly, the time you grew up in was the most special, you main character of your own story you. What an incredible coincidence.

Notice that every generation before or after you posts the exact same shit.

Nostalgia and remarking on how things have changed is fine (and can even be useful and important), just have enough clarity to realize it’s rooted in your personal experience, not a universal truth.

The big reason life felt simpler or more difficult is because you were a kid. You probably had more free time and less responsibilities. You were starting to self actualize and went through puberty.

It’s your story and it matters deeply to you, so you want it to matter to everyone else too.

As immensely fucked up right now is for adults, kids growing up in the midst of this will tell future generations it was the best time because now (the future) sucks compared to their youth.

I am thankful I grew up pre-social media and didn’t have to start my career in this current market, but that’s fortunate timing not generational superiority.

Script to Page

I’ve added even more FREE material to my Patreon page, including scripts for all the Conan Free Comic Book Day issues so you can see what I wrote and how that was interpreted by artists Jonas Scharf, Ivan Gil, and Jesus Merino over the past three years.

If you want access to well over 300 story pitches, scripts, and other resources in my Patreon archive, you can join for less than the price of a fancy coffee.

Survival in the Exiled Lands

My fourth liveplay session of Conan Exiles Enhanced was a relatively relaxed affair, rebuilding my resources and equipment after getting my butt kicked the week before. I answered some questions about writing and bantered with people who watched live.

Current + Upcoming Releases

• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King Prelude – released May 2.
• Manga Classics: Journey to the West Prelude – released May 2.
• Savage Sword of Conan #14 – released May 6.
• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 7: The Conquering Crown TPB – releases May 20.
• Conan the Barbarian #31 – released May 27.
• Conan: Scourge of the Serpent TPB – released May 27.
• Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 4 TPB – released May 27.
• Stranger Things VS Dungeons & Dragons HC – released May 27.
• MAD About DC – 2nd printing – released June 3.
• Conan the Barbarian #32 – releases June 24.
• Conan the Barbarian #33 – releases July 29.

Upcoming Appearances

The D&D Weekend I’m Dungeon Mastering on November 12-15 in Georgia was sold out, but one of the players had to drop, so a single ticket is now available. If you want to play in a whirlwind 24-hour campaign over 3-days, get on board!

Other Links

• David Brothers‘ short video essay about growing up playing video games and what he learned about defeat and persistence playing Sekiro really struck a chord with me. David’s a skilled comic writer and always brings thought and care into his observations about pop culture.

• Baffler has posted a series of essays from professional writers who have struggled to make a living through their writing, even after finding some success. The messy and awkward highs and lows of a creative career are on full display here and worth reading, even when they make you wince.

• Rabbit Hole has a surprisingly deep dive into where Lorem Ipsum came from, the ‘nonsense’ latin that designers use to drop temporary text into place before they have actual text ready for a page. It’s far more interesting than you might expect.

I hope my friends and fans in the LGBTQ+ community had a great start to Pride Month!
Jim

May was a busy month with my big birthday and deadlines aplenty. I prepped for a bustling summer by getting a lot of writing done. From January to May this year I’ve already written more than I did for all of 2025, which is pretty wild. It feels good crossing off each deadline and building momentum, week after week.

Now that Conan the Barbarian #31 is in stores and we’ve wrapped up our Son of the Tooth 3-parter, the focus of course now turns to issue #32, which I’m incredibly excited about.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #32 is a done-in-one sword & sorcery spectacle called “A Sacred Task”, built in the style of the original Robert E. Howard Conan stories from Weird Tales magazine. Our Cimmerian is hired as a bodyguard for a beautiful and mysterious woman on an important quest and their journey together will be memorable, to say the least.

I’m so proud that we’ve built enough trust with readers and retailers over the past 31 issues that we can do this kind of self-contained story as a breather between larger plot developments.

A classic adventure. An easy jumping on point.

In the current North American market, many series get cancelled outright or rebooted every 10-12 issues. I know how special this kind of extended run is, especially outside of DC or Marvel.

Great word of mouth got us this far and it’ll keep the adventure going, on and on, with reader support.

Where Should You Start Reading?

With all the excitement around Conan the Barbarian – movie rumors, the enhanced Exiles video game, new action figures, and publishing projects aplenty – it can be a lot to take in, especially if you want to jump into this world of High Adventure for the very first time.

Thankfully, Titan has officially released their Free Comic Book Day Conan promo issues online, no charge, so make sure you check them out and please share these links far and wide:

CONAN THE BARBARIAN Free Comic Book Day 2023:
https://titan-comics.com/news/download-the-conan-the-barbarian-fcbd-comic/

CONAN THE BARBARIAN Free Comic Book Day 2026:
https://titan-comics.com/news/read-the-2026-conan-fcbd-issue-here/

Hubris By Name, Hubris By Nature

Last week’s livestream of Conan Exiles Enhanced was not what I expected, but apparently much closer to what the experienced Exiles audience thought would happen back on session 1.

Hubris lived up to his name and I spent 90% of the stream trying to retrieve my corpse and/or running from enemies. It was a rough ride in the ol’ Hyborian Age:

Trying to be entertaining on a livestream (banter, answering questions, keeping things moving) and being careful/methodical about playing a game do not go hand in hand. Especially on a game I’ve never played before and purposefully did no prep for in advance.

Glancing down at the chat and keeping that conversation going means I keep missing brain damagingly obvious stuff in-game. People watching must have thought I was incompetent, and I was, because it’s like trying to learn to drive with 50 people in the car with you giving directions and changing the radio station.

I definitely have a much different perspective on livestreamers who do this well. Playing a game you know and are good at would certainly make a huge difference. The learning curve and distraction is wild. At some point I may have to stream a game I know so viewers don’t think I’m absolute trash at video games in general. I’ve platinumed Souls games. I don’t mind a challenge.

Stacy: “How’d your game go?”
Zub: “Hyenas chewed on my gnards and I lost all my equipment.”
Stacy: “Did you have fun?”
Zub: “Sort of.”

Hubris was brought low and lost all of his spiffy equipment. I learned some of the game’s systems despite my foolishness and will return to lick my wounds and rebuild, more carefully this time.

Current + Upcoming Releases

• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King Prelude – released May 2.
• Manga Classics: Journey to the West Prelude – released May 2.
• Savage Sword of Conan #14 – released May 6.
• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 7: The Conquering Crown TPB – releases May 20.
• Conan the Barbarian #31 – released May 27.
• Conan: Scourge of the Serpent TPB – released May 27.
• Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 4 TPB – released May 27.
• Stranger Things VS Dungeons & Dragons HC – released May 27.
• MAD About DC – 2nd printing – releases June 3.
• Conan the Barbarian #32 – releases June 24.
• Conan the Barbarian #33 – releases July 29.

Upcoming Appearances

The D&D Weekend I’m Dungeon Mastering on November 12-15 in Georgia was sold out, but one of the players had to drop, so a single ticket is now available. If you want to play in a whirlwind 24-hour campaign over 3-days, get on board!

Other Links

• My dear friend and collaborator Troy Little has a new crowdfunding campaign underway for Levada, a graphic novel inspired by his trip to Portugal. I think Troy is one of the most amazing cartoonists in the industry and know that this introspective story is going to be special. If you enjoyed his work on Rick and Morty VS Dungeons & Dragons or Rick and Morty VS Cthulhu, make sure you check this out.

• Marcia Lucas, the Oscar-winning film editor on American Grafitti, Taxi Driver, and Star Wars, passed away last week. The work she did on Star Wars, in particular, is an absolute master class in refocusing and enhancing a production. RocketJump‘s video essay on How Star Wars Was Saved in the Edit is an amazing overview of how much editing changed pacing and intent to create a classic. Did you know that originally the Death Star was not going to destroy the Rebel Base at all? Watch this video and you’ll be impressed!

• David Finch‘s YouTube channel is packed with incredible drawing advice and examples from his own work and other top notch artists. His latest, all about drawing background tech, covers a lot of valuable techniques, plus you get to watch him draw in real time.

I hope you’re enjoying the Spring weather,
Jim

Huge thanks to everyone who reached out with birthday well wishes after last week’s newsletter. It’s a weird feeling hitting one of those milestone numbers that society perceives as getting old and still just feeling like me, but I guess that’s the trick of it all. It was nice hearing from so many old friends and fans.

This week finally sees the release of CONAN THE BARBARIAN #31, the climax of our 3-part story centered on the new assassin called ‘The Son of the Tooth’. When I came up with the concept for this confrontation, I pitched it to editor Chris Butera in pretty simple terms-

“If manga can have fight scenes that stretch on for 100+ pages, we should be able to do a 22-page wall-to-wall fight issue of Conan.”

And he excitedly agreed, so get ready for a knockdown, drag-out, mano a mano battle of brutality between our supernaturally-charged killer and the world’s most famous sword & sorcery hero. Artist Doug Braithwaite and colorist Diego Rodriguez delivered another stunner that is viscerally violent right up to the finish line.

You obviously want to see how this sequence plays out, don’t you?

Head to your favorite comic shop this week and find out!

Catching Up in Collection

As if that wasn’t enough excitement, this week also sees the release of our CONAN: SCOURGE OF THE SERPENT and SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN vol. 4 trade paperbacks. Couple that with last week’s release of CONAN THE BARBARIAN vol. 7: THE CONQUERING CROWN and you are set for sword & sorcery in the month of May, my friends.

Fun fact: This is my first volume 7 of any series I’ve written. Previous runs have all capped out at volume 6 or less.

Feels good, and there’s a lot more to come in the Hyborian Age. Huge thanks to the whole creative team and the crews at Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics. It’s an honor to be part of this team.

Conan is Running Out of Time

I had an amazing time chatting with Shawn Curley over on the official Conan the Barbarian YouTube channel all about the past, present, and future of our Conan publishing plans. Lots of anecdotes that cover planning and production, working with our team, and how exciting it is to have all this momentum while our third year of publishing roars onward.

I also put together a 1-minute sneak peek from the interview you can check out HERE.

Talk, Talk, Talk!

Lots of interviews popping up online last week.

Draw Your Weapons at Gen Con!

Last week also saw the announcement that I’ll be one of the special guest stars for DRAW YOUR WEAPONS Live at Gen Con in August, alongside wonderful gamer nerdlebrities Alicia Marie, Anjali Bhimani, and Jason Charles Miller with Game Master Josh Knapp! Want to get a feel for what it’s all about? Watch the trailer for the series HERE.

Current + Upcoming Releases

• MAD About DC – released Apr 1.
• Skullkickers: Compact Attack Edition Vol. 3 – released Apr 21.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King Prelude – released May 2.
• Manga Classics: Journey to the West Prelude – released May 2.
• Savage Sword of Conan #14 – released May 6.
• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 7: The Conquering Crown TPB – releases May 20.
• Conan the Barbarian #31 – releases May 27.
• Conan: Scourge of the Serpent TPB – released May 27.
• Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 4 TPB – releases May 27.
• Stranger Things VS Dungeons & Dragons HC – releases May 27.
• MAD About DC – 2nd printing – releases June 2.
• Conan the Barbarian #32 – releases June 17.
• Conan the Barbarian #33 – releases July 29.

Upcoming Appearances

Other Links

• Stacy and I have been thoroughly enjoying watching the new Witch Hat Atelier anime based on the incredible manga by Kamome Shirahama (who some of my longtime fans may remember from the incredible variant cover she illustrated for Wayward way back when). Bug Films have posted by a behind the scenes piece on their animation production for the series and it’s well worth checking out.

• Artist Hardy Fowler‘s rundown on memorable landmarks for drawing the face is both focused and helpful. I like the way he goes through the process with easy to remember visual examples to make sure they stick in your mind for future use.

• Want to save money on buying chicken at the grocery store? Learn how to break down the whole bird quick and easy with this process video from TriggTube. It’s a skill I learned when I worked as an assistant butcher at a grocery story back in college and I’m glad I did. The technique is easier than you think and really useful.

Have a great week!

Jim

Robert E. Howard re-used names he liked in different stories, sometimes different genres entirely. I’m using as many cool pieces as possible in our Howardverse events, but it can require some extra problem solving. Last year when I wrote Sailor Steve Costigan in Savage Sword of Conan #10 I dropped a key bit about a similarily-named Stephen Costigan, who now appears in the Tides of the Tyrant-King event mini-series.

I keep telling you guys, it’s all planned out!

In SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #14, released last week, I had a ton of fun building an epic sword & sorcery tale with artist Ivan Gil.

Was this line an indulgent Easter Egg solely included for my own amusement?

Damn right. That’s the magic of comics, baby.

Author VS The Hyborian Age

On Friday night, I played CONAN EXILES for the first time, discovering the new enhanced game on a livestream (my first time ever doing my own gaming livestream) and everyone got to follow along. It was a bit nervewracking but also a lot of fun, bantering about how bad I would be at wilderness survival, dropping bits of Robert E. Howard lore, and answering viewer questions while stumbling my way into a Hyborian Age desert and the dangerous lands beyond on the game’s standard difficulty.

Also, no spoilers, before you watch the stream take a guess how many times my character named “Hubris” dies within those first 2 hours – I bet you’ll guess wrong!

I don’t know how often I’ll be able to do this kind of livestream, but I will try to make it semi-regular if I’m not traveling as a way to chat about Conan with fans and be a dancing video game monkey for your amusement.

Speaking of livestreams, this Wednesday, May 13th at 8pm EDT I’ll be on a livestream interview chatting with Evan from Stygian Dogs, Dan from the Conan Chronology, and Lion from the Sword and Sorcery Book Club.

Pint O’ Comics

Last month I was on Jon Johnson‘s long-running radio show Pint O’ Comics and the full episode is now available on his website.

We had a really good time talking all about working on Conan, the character’s legacy and future plans. I highly recommend you check it out!

Cooking Zen

Also on Friday at Chez Zub’s, I went all fancy by hand-making Ricotta-Filled Ravioli pasta. I made enough for four people, so I froze half to use as another meal for Stacy and I.

I’ve mentioned before how much I’ve come to enjoy cooking as a hobby and de-stress from writing and other things happening in the world. While I cook I can usually just concentrate on that task, a focus on making something as tasty as possible with the immediate reward of a job well done at the end of it. Very satisfying, and it can save us quite a bit of money compared to going out to restauarants as often as we used to.

If you want wholesome content that inspires me to cook, I highly recommend the Pasta Grannies YouTube channel. Watching little old Italian ladies bust out their favorite recipes in their own homes is good stuff.

When I try preparing a dish I’ve never made before, I usually watch 3-4 different videos to see similarities and differences in technique. One video becomes the main one I follow, but seeing multiple ways of approaching the dish gives me confidence I can change it up and still get great results. With something like Pasta Grannies the range is vast. Different ingredients, different approaches, but all of it homemade and inspiring.

Seeing a 104-year old woman laughing as she kneads and rolls dough is amazing. Having an archive of these people and their personal recipes is a gift, the kind of thing we need more of, especially now.

If my retirement is writing stories, playing games, and cooking delicious food for loved ones I will have won the entire Game of Life.

Current + Upcoming Releases

• MAD About DC – released Apr 1.
• Skullkickers: Compact Attack Edition Vol. 3 – released Apr 21.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King Prelude – released May 2.
• Manga Classics: Journey to the West Prelude – released May 2.
• Savage Sword of Conan #14 – released May 6.
• Conan: Scourge of the Serpent TPB – released May 6.
• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 7: The Conquering Crown TPB – releases May 20.
• Conan the Barbarian #31 – releases May 27.
• Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 4 TPB – releases May 27.
• Stranger Things VS Dungeons & Dragons HC – releases May 27.
• MAD About DC – 2nd printing – releases June 2.
• Conan the Barbarian #32 – releases June 17.
• Conan the Barbarian #33 – releases July 29.

Upcoming Appearances

Other Links

• Omar at Near Mint Condition does a nice rundown of the newly released SKULLKICKERS COMPACT ATTACK EDITION Slipcase set. I am so happy to have the series back in print for new readers to discover:

• My friend Jesse Scoble has a new crowdfund campaign going to continue funding on his supernatural western comic series DEAD MONEY! Make sure you check it out and, if you missed issue #1, there are reward tiers where you can get all caught up with the digital or physical printed comics.

• Atomic Robo is the latest Bundle of Holding, so you can snag digital comics and TTRPG material for a deeply discounted price. It’s one of my favorite action-adventure comics and well worth every penny at full price, let alone this crazy good deal.

• Did you know Google Chrome secretly dumped over 4 gigs of AI model crapola on your hard drive? Yeah, it was news to me too as I followed the procedures here and ripped it all out by the roots. Bad enough that this stuff steals content, but now they’re back door dropping it onto our systems without even letting us know.

Jim