Health Update: Thank you to all the people who reached out about my previous newsletter where I talked about catching Covid and missing Gen Con. So many kind messages about that and the Conan contract helped bolster me through a tough week. A few friends came through with food care packages and many others offered to help, which was also deeply appreciated.

Two days ago I tested negative for Covid. I still have some minor aches and bouts of exhaustion but it’s getting better, day by day. Stacy seems to be about two days behind me in terms of symptoms and recovery so our fingers are crossed that she tests negative later today so we can fully restock groceries and start to socialize again.

Chicago Fan Expo is next week and if I wasn’t clear of Covid obviously I wouldn’t be going, but I am so I will, though I’m definitely going to be less cavalier about handshakes and hugs. I haven’t been to the Windy City since 2018, so I’m really looking forward to it.

A quick browse through photos from that show and it’s a bit mind boggling to me that it’s already been six years. Tom, Mark and I were out for dinner when Tom told us Marvel would be licensing Conan the Barbarian again and he wanted us to include the Cimmerian in our second Avengers weekly event series. A month later I was in a boardroom at the Marvel offices hashing out story beats with our team as we brought together a wild amount of elements in Avengers: No Road Home. So many great memories.

As always, in the rearview mirror the route of these creative projects make sense, but in the midst of the journey it can feel like you’re just driving into the dark and hoping it all works out.

D&D In a Castle!

So thrilled to formally announce that I’m the latest Dungeon Master to join the D&D In a Castle team and I’ll be running a big adventure at Castle Lumley on November 4th-8th!

Seats are extremely limited, so if you want to travel to the UK and play with me in a castle as we celebrate 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons, gather up your dice and register as soon as possible. It’s going to be one for the ages.

Sanctuary of Comics

I spoke to Alfredo at Sanctuary of Comics from Mexico when I was in Cross Plains for Robert E. Howard Days. There are some audio issues with this interview, but we cover a lot of good ground, so it’s worth checking out if you can muscle through:

Endured, Not Surpassed

At home resting and recovering, so I tackled the last part of the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

All in all, Erdtree has incredible design and atmosphere – The new locations look epic, the new dungeons are interesting, and the new weapons are fun to try out. But, even with all that new stuff and stellar art and design, it didn’t push Elden Ring to the top of my personal Souls game list. Not even close. The issues I had with the base game are still here and some are even more pronounced in the DLC.

The bosses are designed to challenge characters across such broad power builds and assume you’re using spirit ash allies, so by the time you reach the end game they have to unleash ridiculous movements and area of effect attacks that make battles feel less like epic one-on-one duels and more like hooligan free-for-alls with anime explosions.

Without spirit ashes, most of the big boss battles are winnable but become endurance slogs as you jump and flip like a fool waiting for those moments when you’re allowed to punish the enemy.

With spirit ashes, most of the bosses get distracted so you can unleash combos or have time to heal, but then it feels like you’re ambushing them with attacks or running away to hide and lick your wounds instead of actually being in a direct duel. This means that even when you win, it can feel remarkably unsatisfying.

For me, Bloodborne had an ideal balance of aggression and maneuverability. You face down boss creatures or other hunters, the combat is intense, and you feel like you earned each victory.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice laser focused on sword combat and pushed it to the absolute limit. Every key boss battle was a white knuckle struggle that was hard as hell, but also fair in its application of the gameplay skills it taught you.

Elden Ring has a massive amount of content and a ridiculous amount of flexibility, which is really impressive, but the need to encompass all that creates a host of problems that crop up over the long haul. Even still, my first playthrough was flush with discoveries and a feeling of my character’s power growing, bit by bit. The Erdtree DLC has that same sense of awe and discovery. It is absolutely worth the price of admission…but also exhausting.

When I finished Bloodborne and Sekiro I immediately wanted to play them again, and soak up every moment, showcasing my new confidence and mastery.

When I finished Elden Ring (and now Erdtree) I was glad I went through it in general, but had zero desire to jump back in. The whole thing wore me down instead of pumping me up for another playthrough.

In Sekiro, when I fought Genichiro, Owl, and Isshin I felt the intensity of those duels. They were a test of my skill in watching enemy movement or listening to the audio cues for tells, and then executing moves in the core gameplay to succeed. I didn’t just want to move past those bosses, I wanted to prove myself.

In Elden Ring and Erdtree, the big fights feel so chaotic, the camera so unwieldly, and the arms race of combos so unrelenting that I used anything at my disposal to just get them over with. Most of the bosses felt like a punishment endured instead of a challenge surpassed.

I eventually platinumed Elden Ring and I’m sure I’ll play Erdtree again at some point, but right now I’m happy to set it down and try something else. It didn’t get its deep hooks into me like Bloodborne and Sekiro did…and that’s kind of disappointing.

Current + Upcoming Releases

Now that the solicit info for Conan the Barbarian #16 is out, I can show off Doug Braithwaite and Diego Rodriguez‘s wonderful connected covers for this story arc:

Upcoming Appearances

Links and Other Things

• Over on AV Club, Jarrod Jones discusses the legacy of The Iron Giant, one of the finest animated films ever made, 25 years after its release.

• Jon Peterson‘s Playing At The World and The Elusive Shift are wonderful books about tabletop gaming history and this interview with him from a few years ago feels even more relevant this year on D&D’s 50th anniversary.

• Campbell Walker has a neat video on the history of fonts, from ancient record keeping through to modern design. We take a lot of the typefaces around us for granted, so it was a nice reminder of the way these things build on each other over looong periods of time.

Jim

San Diego Comic-Con went so well, with almost no downside at all, and I joked with Stacy that it meant Gen Con would be a disaster…

We drove down to Indianapolis Tuesday and Wednesday, and everything went well. Laughing and singing on the road, chatting about our plans. On Wednesday night I saw lots of friends and could feel that convention excitement starting to build. Then, on Thursday morning, literally minutes before the exhibit hall opened, my head suddenly felt stuffy and lightheaded, so I went back to our hotel room and took a Covid rapid test-

And there it was. The joke was now the reality.

As soon as I called Stacy, she stepped up to cope with a rapid series of logistic needs. She took a Covid test and it came up negative, and then sprang into action. While day one of the show kicked off, I notified everyone I met the day before and started repacking our luggage while she carted a load of books back to the hotel room so I could autograph them in the hope that they might sell at the booth even if I wasn’t there.

(And if you’re at Gen Con right now, BOOTH #1145 is still selling our signed books all weekend.)

Going to the show Covid symptomatic would be irresponsible. Staying sequestered in a hotel room wouldn’t work. Not being able to socialize with anyone and spending more money would just be pointless. So, heartbroken and frustrated, we loaded up the car and drove out of Indy less than 24 hours after we arrived.

The drive to Indianapolis from Toronto usually takes about 9 hours and on the way down we split it up over two days, so it was leisurely. Thanks to construction slowdowns and bad weather the drive home took 11 hours and it was utterly miserable, especially as I kept getting messages from people asking where we were at the show

The crapola icing on the cake was that when Stacy got home she tested again and this time was Covid positive. We knew that would likely be the case, but having that at the finish line after such a hard day was pretty demoralizing.

I slept almost 12 hours today and have been congested and a bit feverish. Stacy hasn’t slept as steadily and has more body aches and fever. We know we need to just rest and recover, but doing that while Gen Con rolls on feels so strange.

Last year I managed to attend a lot of events and not get Covid, but obviously I became too lax and need to be more methodical about future appearances. Ironically, I have new events to announce coming up but, as you might imagine, that is not my top priority at this moment.

Years In The Making

In my previous newsletter I mentioned signing a long-term deal with Heroic Signatures to keep writing Conan, and when I expanded on that info a few days ago it went wide to the comic press and a barrage of happy messages poured forth from readers, retailers, and fellow pros.

I was really taken aback, in the best way possible. It’s been a steady stream of excitement and well wishes that continued even while our Gen Con plans unraveled in real time. I woke up this morning from my feverish sleep to dozens of new congratulations from colleagues and fans, so word is still getting out to wider circles. It’s been a bright spot through a couple dim days.

Thank you. I’m genuinely humbled by all the kind words.

I firmly believe that serialized storytelling like this works best when the creative team has room to build with confidence. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a place for short and powerful stories, but iconic characters or teams carry on and thrive, decade after decade, when the fanbase isn’t getting the rug pulled out from under them multiple times per year. Yes, a fresh first issue can be a potent jumping on point, but it can just as easily be an off ramp if readers feel like they’re not getting their money’s worth and it’ll all be vaporized in a reboot/relaunch in a few months anyways.

The Conan the Barbarian relaunch with Heroic Signatures and Titan was a unique opportunity to refocus and renew a character and world with over 90 years of published stories and 50 years of comics, but we had to make absolutely sure the end result felt worthy of that restart. I pitched a wider mythic story that encompassed all kinds of ideas, some self-contained stories and other longer interweaving plotlines, but also knew I was only promised one year to prove it could work. Conan the Barbarian #0-12 had to serve as a self-contained epic and also tee up the future. Thankfully, by issue 4 we could see how solid the response was and could start ratifying the long term plan.

So, here we are! This 3-year contract extension I’ve signed with Heroic is a way to ensure we deliver the goods, with all of us confidently pushing in the same direction. Conan the Barbarian #13 just arrived in stores, and I’m writing issue #22 while tightly plotting out material for the end of year 2 and into year 3. Rob De La Torre, Doug Braithwaite, Richard Starkings, Jeff Shanks, and the rest of our amazing crew are on board, all of us excited to be part of this grand adventure. It’s going to be an absolute blast.

Barbarian Talk

Quite a few fans asked me if there was any video footage of the Conan the Barbarian panel from SDCC. The official Conan YouTube channel has you covered.

Scholar Jeff Shanks, painter Joe Jusko, letterer Richard Starkings, artist Geof Isherwood, and I talk about the exciting year we just had and exciting plans to come:

Magic on the Move

During San Diego Comic-Con, Dark Horse Comics announced that they would be taking over the comic license for Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering, previously at IDW and Boom.

I’ve known about this for a few months but couldn’t say anything public, obviously. Both Wizards of the Coast and Dark Horse reached out to let me know well ahead of time. Since the announcement didn’t come with any creative team attached and I’ve written more D&D comics than anyone else, a lot of people asked me if I would be involved in this new DH-D&D comic initiative. I’m not part of the launch line-up, but I know who is and I think fans are going to be really happy once they’re announced.

(That said, I’ve already been talking to my friends at Dark Horse about possible future stories, so don’t be surprised if I do pop up again at some point down the road…)

Current + Upcoming Releases

Upcoming Appearances

Just announced at Gen Con, I’m joining the team at D&D In a Castle and will be running my first game at Lumley Castle from November 4th-8th. A lot more details coming up in future newsletters, but if you want to secure a spot at my table, head on over to the website HERE. Specific tickets for my event will start going live next week, so you can secure a spot at the castle now and then specify your Dungeon Master of choice next week.

Links and Other Things

• Editor and writer Alex Segura talked to the Los Angeles Times all about the enduring importance of San Diego Comic-Con.

• Samwise Didier posted a streaming rundown of the illustration process for his Battle of the Black Stone variant cover.
Jim