Monthly Archives: May 2023

Zubby Newsletter #12: Art and Inspiration

Posted by on May 24, 2023 No comments

Our trip to the UK was a ton of fun, but it’s time to get back to business as summer projects and convention season ramps up in a big way-

Marvel’s Art of Storytelling


After San Diego Comic Con last year, I spent two days at the Proko art studio recording material for a secret project with Stan Prokopenko and his amazing team. This week that project was finally announced – Marvel The Art of Storytelling! This digital course goes through how comics are made, from story concept and writing through to design, finished line art, colors, lettering, and cover illustration.

Even before that video shoot, we built an extensive curriculum, structuring a workflow and series of assignments to give both newcomers and skilled artists lessons and clear objectives to improve their comic storytelling skills and broaden their understanding of the production pipeline.


Here’s a rundown of the major sections and which comic pros are involved:

Jim Zub – Storytelling and Story Structure
Ryan Benjamin – Penciling
Mark Morales – Inking
Mike Hawthorne – Basics of Cinematography and Perspective
Aaron Conley – Page and Panel composition
Alitha Martinez – Poses, Acting, and Performance
Sanford Greene – Character Design, Team Design, and Action
Daniel Warren Johnson – Environments
Matt Wilson – Coloring for Comics
Erik Gist – Comic Covers

I’m excited to see a new generation of comic creators dive into the program and learn from our experience. The first lesson drops July 12th, and if pre-order you save 20%.

Check out the trailer below-

My Fantasy Influences


People on social media have been sharing “Four fantasy books or series that had the biggest influence on you” and it’s been good fodder for discussion.

There are others, of course, but the four listed below are a bi~ig part of my fantasy DNA. When I write sword & sorcery I lean into the feeling these series evoked in me as a young reader-

• The CONAN series by Robert E. Howard showed me “low fantasy” – grit and violence in a world full of unknowable and dangerous magic with gods and devils who use mankind as tools in their cosmic machinations or ignore them altogether as kingdoms rise and fall.

With each new story I get to write in the Hyborian Age, I dig back into the source material trying to capture that same excitement and intensity.

• The FAFHRD AND THE GREY MOUSER series by Fritz Leiber delivered a similar “magic beyond understanding” bent, but the warrior and thief duo had their own flair for troublemaking and problem solving that stuck with me.

Skullkickers, the sword & sorcery series that helped propel my writing career, plays with the same kind of adventuring duo who somehow triumph against foes way beyond them in scope and power and that’s definitely by design.

• The DRAGONLANCE series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is high fantasy in the Tolkien/Lord of the Rings vein, but it arrived at the perfect time for me when I was young – a new epic trilogy that made Dungeons & Dragons ‘real’ – bringing the abstraction of game rules and encounters to life with memorable characters and lots of heart.

Although my Legends of Baldur’s Gate heroes aren’t involved in the same kind of world-shattering threats as the Heroes of the Lance, I’m always looking to channel the warmth and comradery Tracy and Margaret brought to their adventuring party.

• The FIGHTING FANTASY series by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone clicked for me, with its choose-your-own-adventure structure and TTRPG-centric combat, but DEATHTRAP DUNGEON towers above the rest. A labyrinth full of ingenious traps and its competitive gladiatorial spectacle drove my imagination into overdrive.

My first Conan the Barbarian story arc, called “Into the Crucible”, is an homage to Deathtrap, plunging our favorite Cimmerian into a similar lethal tournament with the added challenge that he’s also in a foreign country where he doesn’t speak the local language.

A Freakish Discussion

I spoke to Jed Keith at Freaksugar in-depth about my work on the Conan the Barbarian relaunch, over 2000 words covering my previous Hyborian Age writing, how the new series came about, and more. Check it out.

Links and Other Things

  • I’ve been checking out episodes of the Cromcast, a podcast dedicated to Conan and other pulp adventure stories and in a few weeks I’ll be a guest on the show. It’s fascinating listening to early episodes where the hosts are just starting to dig into the original Conan prose stories with very little knowledge of the lore and compare that to more current ones after 18 seasons worth of episodes analyzing these classic tales and joking around with each other.
  • Last week I made Pasta alla Zozzona, an obscure pasta sauce that combines elements and flavors from 4 different classic pasta dishes, and it turned out great!

    • Okay, that should cover it this time.
    Jim

Conan the Barbarian #2 Arrives in August

Posted by on May 20, 2023 No comments


CONAN THE BARBARIAN #2
Writer: Jim Zub
Artists: Roberto De La Torre, Dean White
Publishers: Heroic Signatures & Titan Comics
FC, 32pp, $3.99, August 23, 2023

CONAN and his new ally, BRISSA – a deadly Pictish scout, fight back-to-back against a savage horde…only to discover that each success creates a new obstacle to victory over the “ARMY OF THE LOST.”

COVER A: ALAN QUAH
COVER B: ROBERTO DE LA TORRE
COVER C: GERARDO ZAFFINO
COVER D: E.M GIST RETRO THEME
COVER E: DAN PARENT
COVER F: FOIL ROBERTO DE LA TORRE VIRGIN

Zubby Newsletter #11: Forty-Seven

Posted by on May 18, 2023 No comments

Today’s my birthday. 47.

Things are good.

Stacy and I are still in the UK, spending a few days sightseeing in London after a fun trek to Wales for the Swansea Comic and Gaming Convention. It’s our first overseas trip since October 2019 and feels both familiar and strange getting back to it.

I relish these times where we get to wander and explore, chat and laugh, prioritizing just the two of us for a little while. I want to carve out more time for that in the days ahead.

• Moon Knight: Black, White, and Blood #3 was nominated for an Eisner Award. That was an unexpected little birthday present. If you’re qualified to vote and willing to send one our way for ‘Best Single Issue/One Shot’, our whole team would appreciate it.

• IGN has lettered preview pages for Conan the Barbarian #1. So damn proud of this book. If you haven’t pre-ordered yet, remember to pop the series on your pull list at your favorite local comic shop or online retailer. These Days of High Adventure are going to be something special.

Short and simple this time.

Be good to each other.

Jim

Zubby Newsletter #10: Hither Came Comics

Posted by on May 11, 2023 No comments

BLUESKY: Thanks to a kind reader, I’m now set-up on Bluesky social. If you’re on the new platform, you can find me there at: jimzub.bsky.social

Free Comic Book Day at Third Eye Comics was bonkers, easily one of the most amazing comic events I’ve ever been a part of. From 8:30am to 12:30pm I signed over 1200 copies of Conan the Barbarian #0 and a couple hundred other books (my creator-owned series, super hero stories, and D&D aplenty) bought or brought by readers. At the same time, my social media was blowing up with excited messages from readers at other locations who picked up the prequel issue and enjoyed it as well. What a rush!

Here’s the last sprint of signatures I did before wrapping the signing up-

With all the hard work our team has been putting into the series, getting this kind of enthusiastic response really makes it all worthwhile. Thank you for reading and spreading the word about Conan’s return. I’m even more excited for our issue #1 launch coming in July.

If you want to get a signed Conan #0 and won’t be seeing me at an upcoming convention, Third Eye still has some copies available for mail order.

CONAN #0 online for FREE

If you missed your chance to grab a physical copy of Conan the Barbarian #0 from your favorite local comic shop, fear not, adventurers – you can enjoy the digital version absolutely FREE right here:

Kindle/comiXology – CONAN THE BARBARIAN #0

or here:

TITAN Comics – CONAN # 0 PDF Download

Please share those links everywhere you can!

Now that our zero issue has been released, there’s a fan mail address listed in the back for the upcoming letters page. If you read our pulp-infused prequel, please send a message to Heroic Signatures via chainmail@conan.com to let them know what you think of it!

Chaos Machine

Last week saw the release of D20 or Die!: Memories of Old School Role-Playing Games From Today’s Grown Up Kids, a book of essays about discovering tabletop role-playing games in the 70’s and 80’s. I wrote the Foreword and it’s a tale in which my first D&D character, a little dwarf with grand ambition, learned a grim lesson about paying attention…er, I mean, I learned the lesson, he just paid the price for it.

I have so many great memories and ridiculous stories thanks to TTRPGs and it was fun waxing nostalgic here.

Appreciation and Insight

I recently did an interview with Tess Curious from the Curiosity Project and was really impressed with the engaging variety of questions we covered. Even though I’ve done a couple hundred podcast interviews over the years and thought I was ready for just about any kind of question I might get, this interview includes some unexpected and genuinely thought provoking ones that will stick with me:

• What are the three things you value most in life?
• Tell me a memory that shaped you.
• Tell me about something that once existed, but now does not.
• What, if anything, is perfect?
• What do you suck at?
• What are you great at?
• Do you say “I love you” too much or too little?
• If you could name a hot sauce, what would you call it and why?
• What are you most proud of?
• How do you deal with failure?
• If you were on a starship, what position would you hold?
• If you could give just one piece of advice, what would that be?

Give it a listen.

The Wordysmiths Panel from TCAF 2023


Jamie Colville recorded the panel at TCAF that Ryan North (Fantastic Four), J. Torres (Teen Titans Go!), and I were on where we spoke to moderator Mark Askwith (Space Channel) all about our comic writer careers – How we got our start, the many ways the industry has changed, indie projects VS commercial ones, quitting the day job, failed pitches, and more. Give is a listen.

Links and Other Stuff

Eike Exner has some fascinating insights about the origin of manga, demystifying a few historical assumptions that have been erroneously repeated many times over the years.

Kenzo and Mayko at Love Life Drawing have an archive of great tutorials focused on their namesake on their YouTube channel and website. With my current crazy schedule I haven’t had time to do any life drawing for several years, but I want to dive back into it, so the material here will be really helpful.

Until next time-

Jim

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #0 Reviews

Posted by on May 9, 2023 No comments

The new Conan comic series launched on Free Comic Book Day and there’s a lot of excitement.
What did reviewers think?

• Comic Book Club: “A classic Conan tale and Jim Zub seems the perfect fit for it…The nostalgia factor was a 10.”

• Comic Lounge: “This is the book I knew I would like but didn’t know I would like as much as I did. What a great Conan comic…This is going on the pull.”

• Comicon: 10/10 “…a masterpiece in the making, judging from this issue alone. A promising primer that is both honourably homaging the past greats who have worked on Conan in comics, while forging a new path too.”

• Cuantica Grafica (Spanish): “Zub, De la Torre and Villarrubia emerge victorious. What’s here is not only sensational, but a precious work that, if it continues like this, could be a new milestone in Cimmerian adventure.”

• Gary B, The Casual Comic Book Guy: “I felt like I was reading a 1970’s Marvel Conan the Barbarian comic and man, did this ever capture my interest…I was completely blown away by this preview…an amazing time to be a Conan fan.”

• Graphic Policy: “I think this is fantastic! It’s a solid read, it’s entertaining, the art is amazing. It’s got me pumped for what’s to come. It is exactly what Free Comic Book Day should be all about…This really stood out from the pack. Head’s above everything else.”

• Grimdark Magazine: “De La Torre’s artwork is gorgeous and dynamic, and it hearkens back to some of the most beloved depictions of the character. Jim Zub has been vocal about his enthusiasm for Conan for many years, and there’s no other active comic writer I trust more to do the barbarian justice.”

• Hero Press: “I was left with a palpable sense of excitement and optimism for the character’s (hopefully very long-running) tenure at Titan Comics.”

• Horror Mike: “Titan Comics has done Robert E. Howard proud…This really delivers. No bait and switch. You’ve got the great writing of Zub and excellent art of De La Torre inside. I love it.”

• Is This Just Fantasy?: “It’s really nice art, good body language…They’re taking Conan back to his roots.”

• Kabooooom: 10/10 “The Conan comics franchise is in good hands based on this first outing. I’ll be looking forward to the first official issue come July and I doubt I’ll be alone in that.”

• League of Comic Geeks: 10/10 “Every aspect of this book was on point! The Buscema-inspired artwork from De La Torre couldn’t be more perfect. Jim Zub’s writing would make REH proud.”

• Pop Culture Maven: “If you’re a Conan fan, this was definitely worth checking out. I was really surprised by this.”

• Ron Reviews: “The bottom line is that this is very promising and they’re definitely on the right track with this material…I think Conan is in great hands and I’m excited about this series!”

• Stygian Dogs: “As expected, De La Torre’s work is exceptional. It’s said online that his work feels historical, almost biblical. It’s like he is and always has been the default illustrator bringing our histories, myths, and legends to life.”

• Tennessee Fats: “They chose an art style that specifically speaks to Conan…That style of art speaks to you as a reader. It speaks to me as a reader. It speaks to people who are going to be picking this up from scratch…I think they really knocked it out of the park for issue zero.”

• Todd Luck: “This looks like something that just leaped out of Savage Sword. I was so floored when I saw this…this reads like a great Conan comic. The text in here could have been written by Roy Thomas or Robert E. Howard. It perfectly captures the character, especially the wanderlust.”

Appreciation and Discussion With The Curiosity Project

Posted by on May 5, 2023 1 comment

Big questions about creative work, relationships, and appreciation in an interview I did with Tess Curious at The Curiosity Project podcast:

• What are the three things you value most in life?
• Tell me a memory that shaped you.
• Tell me in as much detail as you can about something that once existed, but now does not.
• What, if anything, is perfect?
• What do you suck at?
• What are you great at?
• Do you say “I love you” too much or too little?
• If you could name a hot sauce, what would you call it and why?
• What are you most proud of?
• How do you deal with failure?
• If you were on a starship, what position would you hold?
• If you could give just one piece of advice, what would that be?

The Writing Marathon – Ten Years Later

Posted by on May 3, 2023 No comments

In late 2013 I put together a blogpost discussing productivity that included a dorky bar chart showcasing how many comic pages I wrote each year from 2009-2013. That period was explosive for me in terms of career growth and visibility. It was exciting to launch my new creator-owned series and slowly use the momentum that came with it to get work for hire projects at some of the largest comic publishers in North America.

It’s strange looking back on that chart and realizing that some of my highest profile projects, ones I’m now closely associated with, had not happened at all yet – In 2013 I hadn’t written anything for Marvel, Dungeons & Dragons, or Conan the Barbarian.

So, almost a decade later, what has changed?

As you can see, the year-over-year wild increase that happened between 2009-2013 leveled out and then decreased. I mentioned in that original post that juggling 1000 comic pages a year alongside a full-time teaching job played havoc with my personal life and that was certainly true. I look at the most productive years on this chart (2013, 2014, 2018, 2019) and remember the intense stress they brought to my personal relationships and physical health. I also remember the pressure I felt from 2015 to 2017 to ramp things back up and maintain a crazy output level, to make sure I wasn’t squandering the higher profile projects I was a part of.

I’m still extremely proud of the books I’ve written, but also know that by the time 2019 wrapped up I was on the cusp of burning out. That’s one of several reasons why I planned to take a teaching sabbatical in 2020 so I could focus more on writing and travel. After the pandemic flared up, those ambitious tour plans came to a grinding halt, but so did a bunch of the writing…

…And that was, surprisingly, a good thing.

Being forced to slow down, write less, and not travel finally showed me a better work-life balance, one where I could still be creative, but also enjoy more personal time. I went for long walks with my wife, exploring our neighborhood in Toronto with the same sense of relaxed curiosity we previously only reserved for trips abroad. I learned how to cook dozens of new dishes, unlocking a satisfying hobby I never would have imagined for myself when I first moved away from home and could barely operate a stove. I jumped into tabletop RPGs on Zoom and, once in-person activities resumed, board game nights at home, strengthening social bonds with industry peers and other friends. I signed on with a company to handle convention appearances so Stacy and I didn’t have to spend crazy amounts of time and effort figuring out the logistics behind each trip.

I also took on writing projects outside of comics – consulting work, a bit of prose, scripting for an unreleased video game, and continuing the D&D Young Adventurer’s series. It was a period of trying different things and realizing that the skills I’d been honing in the comic industry could be leveraged in other places.

Bringing things back to productivity, what have I learned so far?

I don’t think quantity is the only measuring stick when it comes to writing, art, or any other creative pursuit, but it’s still a valid metric. How much you create does not equate to its quality, but there is natural skill growth that comes from regularly finishing projects and releasing them out into the world. I am a much better writer now than I was ten years ago, and a large part of that came from the volume and variety of projects I worked on.

Having a schedule you stick to or a deadline imposed by a client can help push past the natural creative resistance we all feel, the “imposter syndrome” that halts us in our tracks or other self doubts that keep us from achieving our goals. The early years of ramped up productivity helped train me to get into “writing mode” more easily.

And yet, productivity can also overwhelm a lot of other things and blind us in terms of how we value our time and why we create in the first place. I’m trying to be more vigilant about my time and where I put it, while also planning for a future creative semi-retirement down the road where I get to create stuff I’m passionate about on a more relaxed schedule.

The page count represents a concrete measurement of work completed, but those numbers also have meaning to me as an ebb and flow of my career. High output years are not necessarily ‘good’ and lower output years are not necessarily ‘bad’, they’re all part of the journey I’m on. The most important thing is that I still have a ton of passion for telling stories and, if I’m careful and cognizant, that gets to continue long into the future with many more bar charts to come. 🙂

If you found the above thoughts helpful on your own creative journey, feel free to let me know here (or on Twitter), share the post with others, and consider buying some of my comics to show your support.

Zubby Newsletter #9: It’s Gonna Be Maaay

Posted by on May 1, 2023 No comments

May 1st, already?! My god, this year is an absolute rocket…

This Saturday – Free Comic Book Day!


Saturday, May 6th is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY and that means CONAN THE BARBARIAN #0 is finally unleashed at your favorite local comic shop! This free prequel issue has an all-new 12-page story (that will not be in issue #1) that acts as both a prequel and mission statement for a new era of Hyborian adventure.

Our entire creative team is pouring blood, sweat, and soul into this new series, so make sure you pick up a copy of #0 for FREE, let us know what you think of it, and then put in your pre-order for Conan the Barbarian #1 charging forth in July.

The response we’ve been getting from readers and retailers even before the launch has been incredible. I can’t wait for everyone to check this out.

Also arriving in July – the trade paperbacks for RICK AND MORTY VS CTHULHU and UNBREAKABLE RED SONJA. If you missed those mini-series in single issues, it’s the perfect time to snap up the softcovers.


I spoke to George and Reilly from the Hypothetical Island podcast all about strange scenarios involving lycanthropic ewoks and gnashing teeth, and then after that we chatted all about Conan the Barbarian.

For the Hyborian fandom, if you want to skip the preamble and get right into the Conan stuff, fast forward to the 19 minute mark of the episode.

Adventures Overseas

Next week, Stacy and I head to Wales for the Swansea Comic & Gaming Convention happening May 13-14. It’s our first overseas trip since Fall 2019, so we’re excited to be heading somewhere new and have built in a bit of extra time for exploration and relaxation, especially with my birthday coming up on May 18th.

It feels a bit surreal getting back on the convention circuit in a big way, but it’s exciting too. You can keep track of signings and conventions I have confirmed on my website right here.

Seneca 2D Grad Films

In addition to comic writing and other creative projects, some of you may not know that I’ve been teaching drawing and storytelling courses at Seneca College (now Seneca Polytechnic) since 2004.

Each year, the 2D Animation stream splits into production teams and puts together a series of original animated short films, giving our soon-to-be grads solid production experience before they head out into the industry. Every aspect of these films, from initial concept to design, direction, animation and post-production, is handled by the students with staff mentors like me providing feedback along the way.

Here are the Seneca 2D Animation grad films for 2023. I’m really proud of these crews and all the hard work they put into each production:

HOMEGROWN

END OF THE LINE

CLOUDED

On Tuesday, May 2nd at 6pm is the Seneca Creative Arts and Animation grad show called Coalesce. If you’re in the Toronto area and work in film, animation, art, theatre, or music and want to see what our grads are capable of, feel free to register for a free ticket and stop by.

Chicken Karaage – You Will Crave It

During the height of the pandemic I craved the fried chicken Stacy and I had when we traveled across Japan. Chicken Karaage isn’t heavy or greasy like a lot of deep-fried food – the batter is thin and crispy while the meat inside stays tender and incredibly flavorful.

It took me several tries to find the right recipe and get that ideal savory crunch, but once I finally got it, I was thrilled. It’s a dish I love having as part of my cooking skillset.

There’s a tweet thread from last year where I went through the karaage cooking process complete with photos of each step. Here’s a text summary:

  • Use deboned chicken thighs (leaving the skin on for extra flavor and crunch), cut them into two-bite size pieces and marinade them in a mix of sake, soy sauce, a sprinkle of sugar and some squeezed juice from fresh cut ginger. If you’re short on time you can marinade the chicken pieces for 15-20 min and it’ll work fine, but 4-5 hours in the fridge or even overnight is better.
  • The dry dredge is super important. You’ll probably have to shop at an Asian grocery store to find potato starch, but it’s worth the search. Some online recipes say you can substitute corn starch and, yes, it will still make tasty chicken with some crunch, but it won’t taste quite like real-deal chicken karaage.

    Even when I found potato starch and followed recipes I found online, it wasn’t quite as flavorful as the karaage I had in Japan. Zack Davisson solved the missing piece of the puzzle for me – He suggested I add a a bit of powdered chicken stock to the potato starch and it worked wonderfully! I haven’t seen any recipes that include this crucial step but, trust me, it brings out a lot of extra flavor.

  • Coat each piece generously with the potato starch + powdered broth mix. Don’t leave any chicken exposed. Let the pieces sit on a wire rack (so air can circulate above and below) for at least 10 min to really let the starch adhere.
  • You can use a deep fryer to cook the chicken, but I just use a steel pot with peanut or canola oil on the stove. Make sure the pot you’re using is no more than half full to avoid spills or splashes!

    Use a thermometer to check the temperature. The oil should be between 325° and 350° F before the first fry starts.

    Yes, first fry. We’re triple frying these pieces for maximum crunch and flavor! The meat is encased in the potato starch batter so the outside gets crisp while the meat inside steams, keeping it moist and tender.

    Don’t overcrowd the pot. You need space to keep the heat up and let the hot oil circulate around each piece. Fry the chicken pieces in batches and put them on your wire rack between each round.

    Approximately 30-45 seconds for the first fry.
    Approximately 1 min for the second fry.
    Approximately 1-1.5 min for the third fry.

  • After the third fry, put the chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl with a paper towel to wick off any excess oil and then sprinkle on some salt so it attaches to the hot chicken.

    The traditional pairing with karaage is a wedge of lemon and kewpie mayo with a sprinkle of 5-spice on top. Japanese beer is a proper addition as well. 🙂

  • Essentially, I follow this video recipe (but add a bit of powdered chicken broth to the starch) and it really hits the spot – bringing back the full karaage sensory experience I’d been missing from Japan:

Also, don’t just ditch the cooking oil after you’re done. After the oil cools down completely, carefully pour it through a fine mesh strainer (to get rid of particulates) into a bottle or jar and keep it for next time. You can re-use the oil 4-5 times without any problem.

Links and Other Stuff

  • This history and analysis of the storytelling and panel choices from Bernard Krigstein’s famous EC Comics short story is really compelling, made even more impressive by the fact that this is the first video on this gent Matttt’s YouTube channel. If he keeps up with content this good it’ll definitely be a channel worth following.

That should cover it this time.

Jim