Conan the Barbarian #14, part 2 of Frozen Faith, is now out. What did critics think of it? Let’s see…
• 9 Panel Grid: “I love how Conan keeps growing and developing into this fantastic comic book that I didn’t think I would still be along for the ride on after 14 issues.”
• Amazon.com: 5/5 “These stories are wonderful and the art is excellent. Titan comics hits homerun after homerun. True to the spirit Howard created.”
• Comic Book.com: 8/10 “It feels intense and gritty, like every fan of the character expects…this snowbound adventure is really hitting the mark.”
• Comic Culture: “Really, really strong issue. Love this one. One of my favorite Conan issues of this entire run right here.”
• Comical Opinions: 9/10 “Jim Zub gives readers a masterful object lesson in how to build a story that stretches over multiple issues without filling pages with decompressed fluff…plus Doug Braithwaite’s deceptively detailed art is outstanding.”
• DC Patrol: “Read this book. Highly recommend. One of my absolute favorites.”
• Goodreads: 10/10 “we get to see Howard’s world renewed and opened up, rather than retold and retread. [Zub] uses exactly the right elements from the source material and brings us through parts between the famous tales, seamlessly sewing new tales before or after the old ones as if Robert E. Howard had never left us”
• Grimdark Magazine: “Conan has won allies and embroiled himself in the conflict with the Vanir, and it seems like his beguiling watcher will reveal herself soon. I look forward to see how Zub weaves his story with the classic Howard tale that serves as its inspiration.”
• League of Comic Geeks: 10/10 “It is genuinely insane how good this book is. This is one of the best issues of it yet…This is THE ongoing indie to be keeping up with.”
• Mighty Thorngren: “This artwork is just phenomenal. I love it so much…This continues to be my favorite comic every month it comes out and has been since the first Free Comic Book Day issue.”
• Pop Culture Philosophers: “For 14 issues, I’m still digging it…I’ve never been engaged with a Conan book for as long as I have here. Jim Zub and company are doing an absolutely fantastic job.”
• Stygian Dogs: “Diego Rodriguez has fun throughout, playing blues against red, bringing Doug Braithwaite’s blood-spackled battle-fueled fury to vivid life and in Braithwaite’s panels we get a solid six pages of brutal appendage-severing action in a row. It’s wild, it’s Conan.”
• Sword & Sorcery Book Club: “I thought that this was a great issue…It encompasses everything that Conan is in a way that is digestible, which is the mark of a good story.”
• Thinking Critical: “The very best comic book of the week, bar none…This is arguably the best illustrated issue that Doug Braithwaite has done so far. It is so immaculately beautiful and bloody well done.”
What did critics think of Conan the Barbarian #13, the kickoff to our fourth story arc?
Read on and find out…
• Amazon: 10/10 “I’m fairly certain Robert E. Howard himself wouldn’t miss an issue of this series, and I imagine him reading them out loud and forcefully turning to the next page. Amazing art as well.”
• Comic Book Dispatch: 9.4/10 “Doug Braithwaite’s distance shots show Conan trekking with snowy wastes. Close-ups reveal calf-high boots plunging into snow, hands pressing into a tree, and exhalations becoming vapor as they depart Conan’s lips.”
• Comic Culture: “This has been one of the best, most consistent runs of comics I have read in a very long time. We are on issue #13 and I cannot wait for each and every issue to come out…The themes are instantly resonating with me, which is probably why I love the book.”
• Comical Opinions: 9/10 “It’s written great and it looks great…In a comic industry where even the best selling titles are hit or miss, this series has yet to produce a bad issue.”
• DC Patrol: “I’ve just got to give some praise to Titan Comics. They’re putting out a beautiful book. Everyone involved, every issue, it’s always great. There is nothing not to love.”
• Deceptisean 77: “This is a great series, in keeping with Conan the Barbarian…the art continues to be great for this series.”
• Grimdark Magazine: ” This issue delivers a change of pace for existing readers and serves as a gentle jumping-on point for newcomers curious about Titan Comics’ most successful series to date.”
• League of Comic Geeks: 9/10 “I’d be critical of an issue like this in any other book, but Zub makes it work. This might be the most reliably solid ongoing series on my radar right now.”
• Mighty Thorngren: “This continues to be my favorite comic that I am reading in general…It’s so damn good!”
• Pop Culture Philosophers: “Jim Zub has been killing it on this book…This is the first time I’ve ever truly enjoyed a Conan book for more than 12 issues.”
• SciFi Pulse: 9.7/10 “It’s a story very much about the will to survive and how frightening life and death-situations can push a person beyond their limits. Overall, this is a great start and I can’t wait to see where the story goes.”
• Stygian Dogs: “Zub and team have successfully created a sense of renewal here…This absolutely heralds the start of another great year of Conan comics.”
• Sword & Sorcery Book Club: “It was phenomenal and I really loved this…Issue 13 was a wonderful comic book.”
• Thinking Critical: “I love this issue. Narratively-speaking, I think this is one of my favorites…It’s a great look into the past and an introspective look into Conan.”
• Todd Luck: “It’s a good, solid entertaining issue and it reminds me of some of the high points we’ve gotten in some of the Conan the Barbarian comics in the past 20 years…It’s been remarkably consistent and my opinion isn’t really changing.”
I flew home to Toronto on a red eye flight from San Diego and didn’t get much sleep, so there’s definitely a spacey quality to the universe as I unpack and then repack my luggage while following up on correspondence before heading off tomorrow to Indianapolis.
This might be the first San Diego Comic-Con I can remember where I didn’t actually have a “washout moment”, a crisis of faith or momentary stab of imposter syndrome about being at the show, meeting people, or talking about the work. From the moment I touched down Wednesday morning to the late night Sunday takeoff, there was a wonderful burst of uplifting energy, excitement, and engagement from friends and strangers. Despite how busy it all was, I felt weirdly comfortable and settled in, going with the flow and letting inconsequential stuff slide. It felt great. If I saw you there, thank you for making this year extra-special.
Editor Chris Butera, YouTube host Shawn Curley, scholar Jeff Shanks, and me!
I’d love to be more elegant and verbose about this year’s SDCC, but unfortunately I don’t have enough time between two crazy cons, so bullet point anecdotes and info will have to do:
• The teams at Heroic Signatures and Titan were amazing. Their enthusiasm and organization kept everything cooking and I could not be more proud of where we’re at with it. Our signings throughout the show were packed and the panel on Sunday was energized.
• Speaking of which, I’m ecstatic to announce that I’ve signed a multi-year deal with Heroic Signatures to keep writing the Conan the Barbarian monthly title and related narrative development (event mini-series and Savage Sword in particular, but other stuff too) for the foreseeable future! Working on such an important character and building out this vibrant mythology over a longer span is both an honor and a privilege, one that I don’t take for granted.
The new contract I’ve signed is non-exclusive (so I will have work with other publishers), but it solidifies my commitment to the Hyborian Age going forward. Like I said at our Conan panel, none of this would have been possible without reader and retailer support, so thank you for helping make my dreams come true.
When I was a kid it would have been a dream to meet the people who made Conan the Barbarian or Dungeons & Dragons. Actually being one of those people is stratospherically beyond anything I could have imagined, even in those fantasy worlds.
• Savage Sword of Conan is getting a second year of magazine-sized black & white glory. We defied expectations with the classic format and year two is poised for even more. Roy Thomas is teaming up with Rob De La Torre for a B&W feature story and Jason Aaron and Geof Isherwood are set for a King Conan epic.
• Conan: Battle of the Black Stone action figures are in the works and first out of the gate is our savage Cimmerian, including armor and weaponry taken from our Free Comic Book Day 2024 story.
Battle of the Black Stone Conan figure design work
• Getting to meet and talk with Kenichi Sonoda (Bubblegum Crisis, Riding Bean) at the UDON Booth this year was a glorious experience. It was hard to express to him how much his work blew my mind when I first saw it in high school.
• Seeing Hitoshi Ariga was also an absolute thrill. We worked together on the Klonoa: Dream Traveler of Noctis Sol webcomic for Bandai-Namco way back in 2012 and I hadn’t seen him since then, so it was a rush getting to touch base again.
• My Artist Alley table was hopping thanks to the staff at Comic Sketch Art. They rolled with every schedule change and press request and it was always nice settling back in for signings there and focusing on readers instead of the hustle and bustle needed to keep the booth running.
The D&D 50 panel: Ross Thompson, me, Kailey Bray, Matt Forbeck, Anjali Bhimani, and Luke Gygax.
• The Dungeons & Dragons 50th Anniversary panel was unbelievable. The crowd packed a triple-sized panel room, the kind normally reserved for big movie-TV panels, and the energy was off the charts. The crew at Random House filmed the panel, though they did miss our intros, but you can watch the rest of it HERE:
So many great stories and aspirational thoughts on the magic of tabletop roleplaying games – where they’ve been, why they matter, and the needs of creative VS corporate desires. Watch it!
Zub is Gen Con Bound
Like I said above, I’m mid-marathon with SDCC and Gen Con, two of the biggest conventions, back-to-back. I just posted up my Gen Con location, live play, panels and more right HERE. Just like with SDCC, I’ll be keeping that site post up to date in case things change.
• My friend Mark Jones has a new book coming out next month about creative careers and the creative economy called The Starving Artist Myth. Mark helped guide Seneca’s award-winning Animation program when I was in charge there and his expertise and guidance helped us thrive, so I’m incredibly excited to give this a read.
• My friend Gail Simone announced that she’s written a new Red Sonja prose novel that arrives in stores in November. Can’t wait to read it!
• My friends Fred Kennedy and Adam Gorham produced a graphic novel for Blizzard called Diablo: Legends of the Necromancer- Rathma. Fantasy and a beloved video game series? I’m pumped to check it out.
Conan is approached by a Thieves Guild to act as muscle for a heist in Shadizar, the barbarian agrees, hoping some mindless wanton violence will drown his pain after the death of his beloved Belit. Despite the mission being a success, the gang inadvertently unleash a trio of vengeful, dark and deadly spirits who guarded the treasure.
• Amazon: “Are we absolutely sure there isn’t a secret story fragment they uncovered from Robert E. Howard that is fueling these comics? Because that’s how they feel”
• Comic Book.com: “Zub really finds a great rhythm here once he gets going. It’s paced much more efficiently than most of that first arc, with the heist element making things even faster as it goes along.”
• Comical Opinions: “-a pitch-perfect example of a classic Conan adventure. Zub combines brutal action with supernatural evil for a rousing tale. Likewise, Braithwaite’s artistic style suits the Cimmerian and his exploits to a tee.”
• Comicon: “Conan the Barbarian harkens back to the golden age of adventurers and captures the spirit of the Sword & Sorcery genre so completely that I feel transported back to the days of reading pulp books under the covers well past my bedtime.”
• League of Comic Geeks: “I am consistently shocked by how much this series I never planned to pull or expected to love so much is one of the best indies I’ve been reading.”
• Lord Samper: “A quick read that left me a little bit in awe of how much it was able to pack into not a lot of space…‘Thrice Marked for Death’ ended up being the gift that just kept on giving then and I loved going on that journey.”
• Negromancer: “This second arc, Thrice Marked for Death, is downright murderous and is unremittingly dark. And I like it. I like that Conan is also vulnerable and lost in a kind of grief that is as unrelenting aggressive as he is.”
• Pop Cult HQ: “Thrice Marked for Death checked every box for me as a comics reader. Lifelong fans of Conan the Barbarian will eat this story up, and newcomers will enjoy it, too. The writing, the art, and the colors were all fantastic.”
• Pop Culture Philosophers: “The enthusiasm for Conan and his world and the meticulous nature in which it’s presented here absolutely rocks. This book has been so much fun. This book feels literary. This book feels exciting. This book feels like exactly what we need in comics right now!…Jump in if you haven’t already.”
• Rough Edges: “Jim Zub’s script is fast-paced and packed with action, and more importantly, he writes a version of Conan that is recognizably REH’s character. Really, that’s what you’re looking for in a Conan pastiche. Doug Braithwaite’s art is excellent, with good storytelling and a gritty quality that really works well with the story.”
• Set The Tape: “[Zub’s] collaboration with artists Doug Braithwaite and Diego Rodriguez feels like a return to the golden age of Conan Comics, and it has to be hoped that Titan Comics realize what a phenomenal title they currently have on their hands.”
• Stygian Dogs: “Overall, it’s a great reproduction of the illustrations and colors that were found in the original issues…Ultimately, this is a must-have collection of an outstanding series.”
• Wakizashi’s Teahouse: “I couldn’t stop reading it! It was so, so good…This is one of the best series being published. It’s a huge recommend!”
If you’re headed to San Diego Comic-Con or Gen Con and want to talk business or you’re a friend and want to hang out, now is the time to reach out and find a good time for it instead of leaving it to chance.
Who will I see at the shows?
Are you ready for impact?
My contribution this issue is small in terms of page count, but big for me in terms of flexing new creative muscles. Check out more info here:
Big thanks to Chris Butera and Fredrik Malmberg for the suggestion and encouragement, and Rob De La Torre for the incredible art that accompanies my piece in the magazine.
We cover graphic novels versus prose, working with artists, writing a short story, the eb and flow of nerd culture, working on Conan the Barbarian, structuring stories for serialized storytelling, and more! Give it a listen.
I’m continually impressed by the number of questions that Tom Brevoort answers in each installment of his newsletter. It’s clearly a lot of work, but he’s also able to maintain a great sense of back and forth with his readers.
I’ve done extensiveQ&As before, and am happy to answer more here if people pose questions in the comments.
Got questions about current or old projects I’ve done? Want to know more about working in the industry or attending conventions? Other queries about other things? Ask away and we’ll see if it gets some traction.
• I read an advance of the first issue of The Power Fantasy, a new creator-owned comic series by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard, and it’s really sharp stuff. Make sure you pre-order to get on board this rocket before it launches to the stratosphere.
• My friend Phil Rickaby is crowdfunding a Christmas horror stage play called It Sees You When You’re Sleeping about terrors that lie beneath the holiday season, embodied by that damn elf-doll. If you’re in the Toronto area or want to support an independent theater production, check it out.
• I made Sam Zien‘s Saucy Pasta recipe on Friday night and it cooked up fast and turned out really tasty. It’s also a simple base to build other pasta recipes around, so I’m definitely going to make it again in the future.
July has already burst from the starting blocks and is moving into quite the sprint. I’ve got an aggressive writing schedule going right now, trying to get as much done as I can before the back-to-back blitz that is San Diego Comic Con and Gen Con this year. I’m chipping away at my To-Do List while also carving out time for walks with Stacy, seeing family and friends, exercise, cooking fun meals, and a little bit of gaming. It’s a busy time, but also feels good all around.
I know I say this a lot, but it still bears repeating – Thank you for reading and thank you for sharing your enthusiasm with other readers, in person and online. It means so much to all of us on the team.
In our first issue there was a flashback montage that shows Conan fighting at the Battle of Venarium that also included these two panels-
Artwork from Conan the Barbarian #1 by Rob De La Torre. Colors by José Villarrubia.
The narration drops hints about a young Conan challenging himself on his early journeys and that was by design. Like the original Conan short stories published in Weird Tales, we’re hopping around the timeline to build larger thematic arcs, not just telling Conan’s story in chronological order.
Our fourth story arc, called Frozen Faith, chronologically takes place between issue #0 and issue #1. It will show Conan traveling north after leaving Cimmeria and issue #13 includes that fateful bear hunt and its meaning to our Cimmerian hero. After a wild year of dark magic, time travel and cosmic horror, this is very much a back to basics man vs nature-style survival story, but with twists and turns along the way and important tethers to The Frost-Giant’s Daughter, one of Robert E. Howard’s finest Conan tales.
In a similar fashion, I’ve already planted seeds for our fifth story arc, crucial moments and thrilling adventures we’ll fill in as they become important to the big picture. Building this kind of non-linear story structure is obviously a lot more challenging than just going in order, but it also gives us a lot more flexibility and keeps readers on their toes.
Look Inside Battle of the Black Stone #1
Alongside Frozen Faith, the mysteries of the Black Stone also carry onward this Fall-
Artwork from Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #1 by Jonas Scharf. Colors by Jão Canola.
Jonas Scharf‘s line work is sublime and Jão Canola‘s colors punch up every scene. Like with Rob De La Torre, I’m writing plot-style on this mini-series, letting Jonas define the page composition and panel count in ways that works best with his art, then writing a separate lettering script after page art comes in. It’s incredibly collaborative and keeps me inspired at every turn. I think this mini-series is going to be one for the ages, my friends. Make sure you get on board.
— CONAN: BATTLE OF THE BLACK STONE #1 (of 4)
Story – Jim Zub
Artist – Jonas Scharf
Colors – Jao Canola
Cover A – Gerardo Zaffino
CONAN OF CIMMERIA IS HAUNTED BY SHADOWS, LIVING NIGHTMARES CONNECTED TO A MYSTERIOUS EYE SYMBOL ETCHED IN BLACK STONE.
An unspeakable evil looms over the Hyborian Age and every age connected to it… and it will take more than a lone barbarian to stop its relentless march upon time, space, and sanity.
BATTLE OF THE BLACK STONE, an epic new CONAN EVENT from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics, begins HERE, from Jim Zub (Conan the Barbarian, Dungeons & Dragons) and artist Jonas Scharf (Dark X-Men, Basilisk)!
In this second half, we cover the evolution of my comic career – webcomics, joining the UDON studio, my first published comic credit, working with editors, my oldest pitch, Conan the Barbarian, channeling the source material, and more. Make sure you give it a listen.
Slay the Hydra
I read an advance digital copy of the upcoming graphic novel Gamemasters, a history of roleplaying games told by my friends Fred Van Lente and Tom Fowler. I enjoyed it so much I gave them a blurb, which you can see above.
• Lindsay Ellis has a new video essay on Yoko Ono and the Beatles that twists and turns its way through pop culture in an impressively compelling way, illuminating aspects of fame, friendship, relationships and more. It’s feature documentary length, but worth the watch.
• Comic Culture: “This was a great, great story…I’m super energized, I cannot wait to read more.”
• Comical Opinions: 10/10 “a pristine, pitch-perfect end to another fantastic Conan adventure for Jim Zub and Titan Comics. Zub is channeling Robert E. Howard, with a clear reverence to the source material, and Robert De La Torre’s art is astounding.”
• DC Patrol: “This is amazing, I love absolutely every single thing about this. I will be buying the trade.”
• Deceptisean77: “I love the art, I love the action, and all the sword & sorcery sensibilities…It is an incredible book.”
• Goodreads: “This is a moment they have been building toward this entire time, and finally culminates in a powerful conclusion. Jam-packed with vicious action and unrelenting fury, the recent episode of Conan’s journey is powerfully-written, beautifully organized, and unfolds like magic on the page.”
• Grimdark Magazine: “With issue #12, Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian ends its first year on a high note…the artwork remains fantastic and the stories engaging.”
• League of Comic Geeks: 10/10 “What a dream team working in perfect harmony. I want to tear the book apart and frame every page to put on my walls. Fantastic finish to the arc.”
• Mighty Thorngren: 10/10 “What a dream team working in perfect harmony. I want to tear the book apart and frame every page to put on my walls. Fantastic finish to the arc.”
• 9 Panel Grid: “Conan is the sleeper pick every single month…I could seriously read Conan for the rest of my life by Jim Zub and be completely happy. It’s just an amazing book.”
• Negromancer: “Roberto has made The Age Unconquered seem like a story out of a mysterious unknown ‘times past’ with aesthetic elements and graphical styles that recall Frank Gazetteer, Al Williamson, and John Buscema. It is not often that modern comics recall the hoary pulpy prose of Weird Tales, but Jim and Roberto pull that off.”
• Pop Culture Philosophers: “This has not let me down one single month. This is the best!…This felt like a very good conclusion to the story. I didn’t feel like I’d been let down or strung along.”
• Professor Frenzy: “I think this was a great mesh between writer and artist with Zub and De La Torre. It has gorgeous artwork…All in all, I was very satisfied and pleased with this issue. It delivered a lot more than I expected…I thought this was a masterpiece.”
• Sci-Fi Pulse: “We get some fantastic artwork from the team of artist Roberto De la Torre and colorist Diego Rodriguez…An excellent conclusion to what has been a brilliant story arc.”
• Stygian Dogs: “What a year and what an issue!…The final product is thoroughly satisfying. All of it a thrill, ending with a palate-cleansing promise of future adventure.”
• Thinking Critical: “The best new comic book we got this week…This thing ended on the highest of high notes. This is may be the best issue of Conan the Barbarian thus far…Conan has never been better. It represents the very best of the industry right now.”
• Todd Luck: “I’m completely satisfied with this final battle. It’s incredibly bad ass…A perfectly solid, entertaining Conan comic that is worth picking up.”
• Weird Science Comics: “The best book of the week. The art’s great and if you’re not reading it, you should just start from the beginning.”
Man oh man, I’m proud of this issue, this run, this ride.
When we were building the original publishing schedule for the relaunch, Titan asked if we could do 10 issues in 12 months to try and reinvigorate the readership. 4 issue arcs with a break month between each arc.
I said “No”, we’d do 12 issues in 12 months because I really wanted the readership to get back into the habit of reading a Conan book every month. Momentum matters.
And here we are, one year later with 12 issues delivered, plus a new Free Comic Book Day teaser and the triumphant return of Savage Sword magazine. Year two production is deep underway and the long term plan for the series is solid thanks to reader and retailer support across six languages (with more to come).
These foreign edition covers feel like Conan is charging right at us!
Our whole crew, artistic and editorial, has been incredible.
Artists Rob De La Torre, Doug Braithwaite, Jonas Scharf, Richard Pace, Patch Zircher, Fernando Dagnino, Dean Kotz, Dan Panosian, Joe Jusko, and variant cover artists aplenty.
Colorists José Villarrubia, Dean White, Diego Rodriguez, and Jão Canola.
Letterers Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith.
Editors Matt Murray, Joakim Zetterberg, and Chris Butera.
Loremaster and Scholar Jeffrey Shanks.
The rest of the team at Heroic Signatures and Titan, including Fred Malmberg, Ashley Hodgkins, Marcos Cronander, Shawn Curley, Nick Landau, John Dziewiatkowski, Will O’Mullane, Ricky Claydon, Alexandra Iciek, and so many more.
They’re delivering their best, page after page, issue after issue, and I am so damn happy with how it’s turning out. This is where I want to be – building exciting long term stories with a passionate crew. It’s the kind of consistent project I’ve been wanting to sink my teeth into for years, the kind of run that can happen when creative and business interests push in the same direction and it’s the most fun I’ve had on a commercial project since Avengers. This team has enthusiasm, good communication, and professionalism all around.
Heading to San Diego in a few weeks and celebrating the momentum we’ve got is going to be such a rush.
But, now it’ll be in the hands of our readers, so- Did we stick the landing on issue #12 and our first year?
Is it worthy of the world’s greatest sword & sorcery hero?
Read CONAN THE BARBARIAN #12 on JULY 3rd and let me know!
If you want to start writing stories for comics, understanding the basic three-act structure is the ideal way to begin:
Start by establishing key characters, their abilities, and the setting. Introduce an inciting incident to propel the story into conflict, where characters face both external and internal challenges. Build tension and excitement leading to a climax, then resolve the core conflict while leaving room for future developments. This timeless structure helps keep your story clear, engaging, and impactful.
Check out another lesson from the course HERE on the Proko YouTube channel.
Your New Hyborian Adventures Begin Here!
Monolith, the game company behind the incredibly successful Conan Board Game, have been hard at work on a brand new tabletop RPG called CONAN: THE HYBORIAN AGE and on Thursday they released a FREE Quickstart PDF that outlines the core mechanics, includes pre-generated characters, and a sample adventure so anyone can easily get a handle on how it works.
From Left: Me, John C. Hocking, Jeb Boyt, Mark Finn, Jeff Shanks, Howard Andrew Jones.
I had a chance to run the Quickstart a few weeks ago at Robert E. Howard Days with a wonderful crew of players well known for their contributions to Hyborian adventure. We had a lot of fun kicking the tires on the rules and seeing how easy it was to get rolling, literally, and bust out some fun sword & sorcery action.
All this to say, go get that download and share the link far and wide, but if you’re a player don’t spoil the adventure ahead of time – Grab a Game Master and let them run it for you!
I’ll be there this Saturday, July 6th from 1pm-3pm.
Heroes World received permission to sell Conan the Barbarian Vol. 2: Thrice Marked For Death 10 days early, so if you’re in the area pick up an advance copy there, buy other books at the shop (they’ll be well stocked), or bring other Zub comics you want signed.
This and Fan Expo Canada will probably be my only local signings this year, so don’t miss out!
• The upcoming Batman: Caped Crusader animated series is looking great, a fun fusion of the classic animated series style with a pulpy throwback feel inspired by the original comic run that kicked off in 1939. I’m excited to check it out in August.
• My friend Matt John, who is helping develop the Conan tabletop RPG I linked earlier in this newsletter, has a new prose anthology out now called To Walk On Worlds. It has eleven short stories that cover a fantastic range of pulp action-adventure.
I hope your summer is going well and, for all my fellow Canadians – HAPPY CANADA DAY! Jim
CONAN OF CIMMERIA IS HAUNTED BY SHADOWS, LIVING NIGHTMARES CONNECTED TO A MYSTERIOUS EYE SYMBOL ETCHED IN BLACK STONE.
An unspeakable evil looms over the Hyborian Age and every age connected to it… and it will take more than a lone barbarian to stop its relentless march upon time, space, and sanity.
BATTLE OF THE BLACK STONE, an epic new CONAN EVENT from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics, begins HERE, from Jim Zub (Conan the Barbarian, Dungeons & Dragons) and artist Jonas Scharf (Dark X-Men, Basilisk)!
In Shops: Sep 04, 2024
CONAN BARBARIAN #15
Story – Jim Zub
Artist – Doug Braithwaite
Colors – Diego Rodriguez
Cover A – Mahmud Asrar
Cover B – Jessica Fong
Cover C – Doug Braithwaite
Cover D – Fernando Dagnino
After leaving Cimmeria filled with wanderlust, a young Conan heads north in search of glory.
What he finds in that cold climate will change his outlook forever, setting him on the path that will make him a legend.
The triumphant new era of Conan continues in this tale of brutal heroic adventure from acclaimed creators Jim Zub (Avengers, Dungeons & Dragons) and Doug Braithwaite (Punisher, Justice)!
I’m home from four days in Texas – three in Cross Plains for Howard Days, the annual Robert E. Howard celebration at his home, and a quick half day stop at Fan Expo Dallas.
Howard Days was an informal gathering that began in 1986 with ten fans making a pilgrimage to Robert E. Howard’s home and is now an official two day event deeply tied into the town with several hundred attendees. There’s a small pavilion set up near the home for barbecues and hanging out, a dozen vendors selling books and other merchandise, tours of the house (which is now a museum) and local sites, discussion panels and signings at the community center, original manuscripts on display at the local library, gaming, poetry readings, a banquet, a silent auction, and more.
Each piece of the festival was quite small but when you put it all together it made the whole thing feel expansive, especially considering that Cross Plains itself has a population of less than a thousand people. Dozens of regulars return to spend time together, year after year, alongside a host of new people like me making the trek for the first time. I thought coming down from Canada would make me the furthest visitor for the event, but I was wrong – there were people who came in from France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Norway.
Jeff Shanks, the Howard expert who writes the essays in the back of each issue of Conan the Barbarian, told me it was a family reunion and I was part of the family, and I joked that I was more like a long lost cousin who showed up out of nowhere carrying a deed for an important tract of land. That said, the Howard Days core made me feel incredibly welcome and their excitement for the future of the fandom came through in every interaction.
This year, Robert E. Howard’s original writing desk had been restored and replaced the stand-in they’d been using for decades at the museum. I was one of the first people to stand at the desk returned to its rightful spot and, as you might imagine, it all felt pretty surreal. Honestly, the whole week was surreal, as I chatted with literary scholars, locals, friends, and fans.
Jeff Shanks, John C. Hocking, Howard Andrew Jones, and me.
I filmed interviews and signed hundreds of comics while walking around the small town grounds where the sword & sorcery genre came to life. Shawn Curley from Heroic Signatures was there filming material for the official Conan the Barbarian YouTube channel and, as it all gets compiled, edited, and posted, I’ll be sure to share it in future newsletter installments. The legacy and gravity of it all washed over me a few times, but then a few minutes later we’d all just be laughing and hanging out, looking for respite from the intense Texas heat or hunting for bug spray to handle the mosquitos.
Fan Expo Dallas on Sunday was a breakneck pace, especially in contrast to the previous three days. I woke up at dawn and drove almost 3 hours from Cross Plains to Dallas, arrived at the convention center, signed for two hours, hosted a Conan panel, signed for another hour and then had to dash so I could return my rental car and head to the airport. Lots of Conan, Dungeons & Dragons, and Marvel fans there and it was really nice even though it was so short and rapid fire.
I’m finally home and spending today unpacking, reorganizing, and decompressing. The whole week was really special but I don’t know if all of it has really sunk in yet.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN: BOUND IN BLACK STONE won this year’s Costigan Award at Howard Days!
“Awarded for original creative writing that carries on the spirit and tradition of Robert E. Howard, to better recognize and celebrate his influence on future generations of writers.”
Comics are rarely nominated and an original one based on a Robert E. Howard property has never been nominated in the literary category before.
Rob De La Torre and José Villarrubia also won the Rankin Award for Artistic Achievement, so Bound in Black Stone won in both categories we were nominated in.
I know for people on the outside it may seem obvious that a Conan book wins a Robert E. Howard-related award, but the Foundation is not directly tied to the company that owns Conan, it’s an independent panel of scholars and archivists focused on the legacy and literary merit of Howard’s works. I’ve been writing Conan-related comic stories since 2015 and this is the first time the Foundation has given my work any kind of acknowledgement, both with the nomination and now the award.
Bill Cavalier, one of the Foundation board members and a key organizer of the festival, handed me the award and said- “Congrats! We don’t normally give ’em to the funny books, but you and the boys did a fine job. Keep it up.”
Thank you to the Foundation and our readers. It’s an honor.
Doom Is Coming…and It’s Going To Be Great
Shawn Curley has posted a Conan News video on the official Conan the Barbarian Youtube channel and it’s packed with exclusive sneak peeks at artwork from CONAN THE BARBARIAN #12, the next Conan prose novel, Savage Sword, a sneak peek of the Heroic Signatures office, and more. I also make a brief appearance at the 5:40 mark to help hype the end of our first year on the relaunch.
Jim Zub – Voice Actor?
The latest grad films from Seneca Animation are starting to get posted online and first out of the gate is Fly Away, Froggy Boy, a wild and weird noir story about an anthropomorphic fly seeking revenge against the frog mob.
I lent my voice to the Frogfather, the main villain of the cartoon and it was a lot of fun snarling, grunting and screaming my way through the script. Give it a watch and let me know what you think of my performance and the hard work of my students.
Back In School With Teachers In The Dungeon
Stacy and I returned to the Teachers in the Dungeon podcast, chatting with Tom Gross and Dan Reem all about ARTIFICERS & ALCHEMY, the latest Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guide, discussing what goes into making the books, igniting the imagination of new gamers, fun details, future plans, and more!
• Conan scholar Jeff Shanks is chatting up a storm lately, and his latest interview with Stygian Dogs is fantastic, covering many different aspects of Robert E. Howard literary and fandom circles.
• Asa Wheatley is crowdfunding the next volume of Sagas of the Shield Maiden. I’ve enjoyed the previous anthology volumes and am looking forward to this one.
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