Search Results for: Dungeons

Zubby Newsletter #48: Dungeons For Dinner


Over the weekend, Stacy and I watched all six of the released Delicious in Dungeon episodes out so far on Netflix and it is a strangely accurate representation of an actual Dungeons & Dragons campaign-
Foolish characters with poor impulse control doing weird stuff and losing track of the core plot while they obsess over random encounters. 🙂

Like many anime series, you have to buy into the trope-y character parts, otherwise it’s a non-starter.

That said, the creature ecology and cooking bits are fun and the rest bounces between cliche and amusing. Almost every episode had a part where I thought “That’s inventive and interesting” and another part where I thought “That is absolutely moronic”.

Again, I must stress how accurate this is to tabletop gaming with friends. Improv at the table can be ridiculously brilliant or just ridiculous, usually multiple times per session. Kudos to manga creator RyĹŤko Kui on capturing that vibe.

Delicious In Dungeon is low stakes silly fantasy fare obsessed with food. If you go in expecting a cute-silly anime and RPG-style logic, you’ll probably have a good time.


Format and First Impressions

Speaking of anime and manga, over on my site, I recently posted up a new tutorial article called Don’t Fight the Format, all about manga pacing and making sure a story is paced and priced properly for your intended audience.

When I was first getting rolling with my comic writing career I posted up all kinds of different tutorials and there are over 50 of them for free on my site if you’re interested in a behind the scenes look on how comics are made.


Comic Chatter

With the imminent arrival of Conan the Barbarian Vol. 1: Bound in Black Stone, I’ve been promoting the series in recent interviews-

It was an absolute pleasure returning to the mighty Cromcast to talk all about how the Conan relaunch went and big plans for the future. The enthusiasm those guys have for all things Robert E. Howard is electric and it’s a great conversation. Make sure you give it a listen.


Then I spoke to World At War Comics about my career as a whole, how I got my start, and the things I’ve learned making comics, and going to conventions. Lots of great discussion here too.


Lastly, I received a Golden Grant award from Geek Hard and J. Torres presented me with it during the latest episode of their podcast. If you want to pop ahead to our chat, it starts at the 31 minute mark of the episode.


Current + Upcoming Releases

Upcoming Appearances

Feb 29-Mar 3, 2024 Emerald City Comic-Con Guest Seattle, WA, USA
Mar 16-18, 2024 Founders & Legends Guest Lake Geneva, WI, USA
Mar 21-24, 2024 Gary Con Guest Lake Geneva, WI, USA
Apr 25-28, 2024 Calgary Expo Guest Calgary, AB, Canada


Links and Other Things

• Want to see superstar Conan the Barbarian artist Rob de la Torre sketch our favorite Cimmerian? Damn right you do.


• Katie Cook (My Little Pony, Nothing Special) and I are bringing back our annual Convention Horror Stories panel to Emerald City Comic Con this year. The gut-wrenching embarrassing tradition continues!

Have a great week!
Jim

Dungeons & Dragons: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book

Stacy and I had the chance to work with award-winning paper engineer Matthew Reinhart, artist Claudio Pozas and the crew at Insight Editions to put together an incredible Dungeons & Dragons pop-up experience.

Trust me when I tell you that that modern pop-up books are way, way more elaborate and impressive compared to the kinds of books we had when I was a kid. Each spread in this deluxe book unfolds and stands up off the page with dozens of different interactive elements based on iconic locations and creatures from the Forgotten Realms.

It’s a stunning showpiece worthy of a place in your D&D library available for pre-order now and arriving in stores in May!

Dungeons & Dragons:
The Ultimate Pop-Up Book

See the world of Dungeons & Dragons come to life through the incredible craftwork of pop-up legend Matthew Reinhart! Traverse the land of Faerûn in an all-new way! Featuring innovative pop-up artistry and original illustrations, D&D: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book gives fans a unique experience of the world of D&D.
PRE-ORDER
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
Bookshop
Chapters-Indigo
Indiebound

Dungeons & Dragons Annual Arrives in June!

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ANNUAL 2022
Writer: Jim Zub
Artists: Eduardo Mello, Kyler Clodfelter
Cover A: Max Dunbar
Cover B: Eduardo Mello

The Witchlight Carnival is a traveling circus filled with wild wonders aplenty, but its sensory splendors bring deep danger as well! Fan-favorite D&D writer Jim Zub explores the Feywild realm in this special self-contained issue that’s perfect for new readers and gaming fans alike!

• Dungeons & Dragons has never been bigger, and The Wild Beyond the Witchlight adventure sourcebook that inspires this issue has been a sales smash hit.
• This issue includes a brand-new magic item for gaming fans to use in their own tabletop adventures!

IDW Publishing
In Shops: Jun 08, 2022
SRP: 7.99

Arriving February 2022 – Rick and Morty VS Dungeons & Dragons: The Meeseeks Adventure


RICK and MORTY VS DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: THE MEESEEKS ADVENTURE
Story – Jim Zub
Artwork – Troy Little and Leonardo Eto
Cover A – Mike Vasquez
Cover B – Troy Little
Cover C – Character Sheet

The creative team behind the bestselling Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons and its snappily titled sequel, Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons II: Painscape, are back!
“Look at me!”

The worlds of Dungeons & Dragons have their share of blue, wish-granting djinn, but none is as desperate to please, persevering, or unstable as Mr. Meeseeks! Watch what happens when a pair of hapless rogues stumble upon the ultimate magic lamp.

In Shops: Feb 09, 2022
SRP: 5.99

Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker #1 Reviews

• Comic Book.com: 9/10 “This is a fun opening issue and can be enjoyed by readers of Zub’s past D&D series or newcomers to the long running story. I’m curious to see where this particular adventure goes as it doesn’t have any obvious parallel to a previous D&D campaign adventure.”

• Comic Book Resources: “Mindbreaker #1 sets the stage for an exciting series…Fans of the Dungeons & Dragons Universe are sure to be delighted by this debut issue.”

• Lyle’s Movie Files: 8.5/10 “Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker is an easy to follow, enjoyable issue for longtime fans and newcomers alike…Mindbreaker is off to a very promising start and looks to be a title worth following each month.”

• Major Spoilers- Dueling Reviews: “It’s good, it’s solid. Zub puts together an interesting group and there’s always nicely plotted stuff to be done…If you want a story set in that D&D world, this is a good one.”

• Multiversity Comics: 8/10 “Jim Zub has been writing these characters enough to have them down to an art. Right from the first lines of dialogue, their personalities shine through…A fantastic new chapter in the ongoing adventures of the heroes of Baldur’s Gate, carrying on plot points introduced in Infernal Tides and tying the characters in to the Baldur’s Gate III video game.”

• Reading With a Flight Ring: “This is a classic superhero book set in a Dungeons & Dragons setting, which is basically how it has always been as long as I’ve played. I love the way that this is being written and how we see the characterization along with these stunning interiors make this as much fun as it can possibly be.”

D&D Celebration: Bringing Young Players Into Dungeons & Dragons

I hosted a panel as part of D&D Celebration 2021, an official Dungeons & Dragons online event that ran over the weekend. In My First Character: Bringing New Players Into D&D, we cover strategies and tips for running a game with new players – narrative, character, engagement, and ways to streamline rules and combat.

Our panelists Librarian Liz, Amy Dallen, Jennifer Kretchmer, and Daniel Kwan did a great job and the hour flew by. Check it out!

Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker Foreshadows the Dark Forces Featured in Baldur’s Gate III Video Game

SAN DIEGO, CA (July 22, 2021) – Beginning in October, IDW returns to the Forgotten Realms with Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker, a five-issue monthly comic book series that takes place before the events of Baldur’s Gate III, the highly-anticipated video game!

Acclaimed author Jim Zub joins artist Eduardo Mello in a tense tale of familiar Dungeons & Dragons adventurers Krydle, Shandie, Delina, Nerys, Minsc, and Boo, as they discover that something insidious has taken root in their homeland!

“Our Baldur’s Gate heroes have traveled to remote parts of the Realms, tumbled through the Demiplane of Dread, been exiled to Hell, and somehow made it back alive,” says Zub. “Now they’re home in Baldur’s Gate and the threat that’s arrived on their doorstep is far greater than any of them could have imagined.”

Mindbreaker builds upon IDW’s expansive library of Dungeons & Dragons tales written by Zub, a sixth entry in a Baldur’s Gate saga that includes prior publications Legends of Baldur’s Gate, Shadows of the Vampire, Frost Giant’s Fury, Evil at Baldur’s Gate, and Infernal Tides.

“Getting to write new Dungeons & Dragons stories with Minsc and company alongside the incredible surge in the tabletop game’s popularity has been an honor and a thrill,” says Zub. “Mindbreaker is D&D on a grand scale, jam-packed with action and adventure. It pays off a bunch of elements introduced in earlier D&D miniseries and foreshadows the dark forces that rise to prominence in Baldur’s Gate III. I can’t wait for readers to see how it all plays out!”

“Jim’s wisdom and charisma, combined with Eduardo’s dexterity, have crafted a powerfully emotional adventure that never skimps on action or humor. We’re so excited to collaborate with our colleagues at Wizards of the Coast on a series so closely tied to the franchise’s status quo and that, in the mind flayers, showcases the D&D villain that has most captured popular imagination in recent years,” says series co-editor Zac Boone.

Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker #1 will be available with multiple cover variants for retailers and fans to enjoy, including Cover A by Max Dunbar (artist of Legends of Baldur’s Gate and Infernal Tides), Cover B by Max Davenport, and a Retailer Incentive edition featuring art by Celia Lowenthal.

For information on how to acquire copies of Dungeons & Dragons comic books, please contact your local comic shop or visit www.comicshoplocator.com to find a store near you.

Launching in October – Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker!

Announced as part of D&D Live’s press coverage, I’m writing a new Dungeons & Dragons comic mini-series called Mindbreaker that launches in October and continues the adventures of our Baldur’s Gate heroes!

Mindbreaker is a five-issue mini-series that features Minsc and Boo, Krydle, Shandie, Delina, and Nerys. Written by Jim Zub with art by Eduardo Mello and covers by Max Dunbar, our heroes must fight to save each other, and their sanity, from a mind flayer-led cult secretly destroying trust between the factions in Baldur’s Gate. This storyline follows on from the Infernal Tides mini-series and acts as a prequel to Baldur’s Gate III.

Rick and Morty VS Dungeons & Dragons Deluxe Edition Arrives in August!

So thrilled to announce this-
A limited edition RICK and MORTY VS DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Deluxe Hardcover arrives in August, collecting both hit mini-series along with a brand new MEESEEKS ADVENTURE story created especially for this collection!

Click on through to The Beat to check out exclusive art and preview pages!

Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons Deluxe Edition

#1 New York Times-bestselling fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind), acclaimed comics writer Jim Zub, and Eisner-nominated artist Troy Little bring you the comics crossover of the year now in a deluxe, hardcover collector’s edition! Featuring all eight issues of the hit series, plus a BRAND NEW story from Jim Zub and Troy Little featuring Mr. Meeseeks conquering The Forgotten Realms! Over 250 pages of monsters, mayhem, and a bag of holding worth of bonus materials.
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
Books-A-Million
Bookshop
Chapters-Indigo
Cheap GNs
Indiebound

Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons #4 Reviews

• Comic Book.com: 8/10 “This was a surprisingly good mini-series, one that used Stranger Things to demonstrate the beneficial values that playing any sort of tabletop RPG can have for a group of friends (or strangers).”

• Comic Crusaders: 10/10 “The art was done by Diego Galindo coloring by MSASSYK. Spot on art. Beautifully capture the feel of the late 80’s while integrating the Stranger Things Gang as well.”

• Flickering Myth: 8/10 “The story here ends with a twist, a turn and a satisfying conclusion. It has reached a logical closure point where the baton has been passed and friendships are stronger than ever before.”

• Monkeys Fighting Robots: 8.2/10 “It wrapped up everything neatly, but more importantly, it held true to the tone of the main series. It brought all of that full circle while providing just a touch of insight to everything that had gone on.”

• One More Comic (Spanish): 8/10 “A friendship that is about to grow apart must say goodbye with the game that brought them together. This chapter is one of the most emotional.”

• Sci-Fi Pulse: “Jodie Houser and Jim Zub do a brilliant job of wrapping this story arc up. And get to do a story where the friends say their farewells to Will.”