Dragon Con was absolutely wild. One of our friends casually called it “Nerdi-Gras”, and the description could not have been more apt.

Mild weather for Atlanta in August meant that the streets were absolutely crammed with people, and an impressive number of them were in costume and ready to party. Five linked hotels plus the Americas Mart convention center hosted booths, events and panels, and every square inch of downtown was overrun with excited pop culture fans. Even the internal hotel TV channels broadcast Dragon Con TV all week. Raucous parties, over-the-top costumes, pounding music, and late nights…It was an incredible (and incredibly exhausting) finish to the summer convention season.

Two years ago when I was at Dragon Con, we’d just launched the new Conan the Barbarian series and now, with so much wind at our backs, there was a steady stream of readers to meet and fans to chat with about the series along with die hard older collectors regaling me with stories about growing up reading the pulps or original comics. It was a constant reminder of the legacy I currently get to be a small part of.

Having so many conventions back-to-back meant that I was able to slip into drawing mode quicker than usual, which was nice. Lots of character sketches and remarques kept me on my toes between signing times and panels.

At this show I also bonded with the Comic Sketch Art team. One of the new team members, an artist named Finch Champion, was assigned to my table and she did a wonderful job, handling books and signing stuff throughout the show. Chatting with her about art, storytelling, publishing and conventions scratched a bit of my teaching itch, which is extra scratchy right now as we head into the Fall and I’m no longer a prof at Seneca.

The End Before The Beginning

At the end of the convention, artist Cory Smith gifted me the final page of our story from Conan the Barbarian #25 (released in late 2021).

This was the last page of Conan I wrote at Marvel and, at the time, I thought would be the last time I’d ever get to write the Cimmerian’s adventures (little did I know what the future held…)

When I read that last Marvel story, I’m immediately transported back to pandemic lockdowns and the surreal feeling of watching this dream project slip away with no way to stop it and far more important things happening around the world that I needed to be focused on. Conan’s words work for the story, but they’re also the coda I needed to hear at the time, a resolution to do my best under the circumstances and to try not to regret things out of my control. As you might imagine, having the original art for this page in my collection is really special.

At the time I proposed that issue #25 of Conan, final issue of the series and legacy #300, should be an epic done-in-one story to celebrate the character and his world. It’s even more surreal that four years later I’m about to release a completely different Conan the Barbarian #25 via Heroic Signatures and Titan, the exact kind of illustrated epic I hoped it could be. Full circle indeed.

Zubble Double

This week has two big Zub releases – SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #10, an anthology issue with three separate stories that tie into the upcoming Scourge of the Serpent event, all written by me with stunning artwork by Doug Braithwaite, Mike Rooth, and Roberto De La Torre.

The second is SWORDS & LARCENY, a new prose anthology of swords & sorcery rogues and rapscallions. I have a new short story inside called Just A Bit of Smoke that I’m quite proud of.

Black Stone Action Figure – Animated!

Award-winning stop motion animator Justin Rasch put together this killer ad animation for the upcoming Conan: Battle of the Black Stone action figure. He used the figure’s crazy articulation to craft an incredible blast of action, with Conan squaring off against thrashing eldritch tentacles from beyond.

If you want your very own figure, pre-orders are NOW OPEN on the Heroic Signatures website. Tell ’em I sent ya.

Tales From The Table

Speaking of pre-orders, Target now has the full cover and preview pages for Stranger Things-Dungeons & Dragons: Tales From the Table, the exclusive scrapbook Stacy and I wrote (arriving in November) that chronicles bits of lore from the old school D&D campaigns run by the Hawkins heroes alongside era-appropriate artwork by Donato Giancola.

Current + Upcoming Releases

Upcoming Appearances

Other Links

• Thomas Flight‘s video documentary, Why The Movies Will Never Feel The Same Again, is an intense rundown of how movies and media have changed over the past 20 years.

• Over on the Thought Bubble blog, they have some tips for creators exhibiting at their festival (or any other convention). Most of the advice is straight forward for people who have been attending conventions for years, but it’s nice having recommendations like this all organized in one place.

• Want to own the original Frank Frazetta Rogues in the House painting? As I link this, there are still 9 days left and auction bidding is over 7 million…

Jim

I was home for five days after Gen Con, repacked, and then jumped on a plane. Stacy and I are now in Seattle for Worldcon, the oldest sci-fi and fantasy convention (it started in 1939) that is hosted in a different city each year. Worldcon is a very literary/prose-centric show (which makes sense given that it hosts the Hugo Awards) and we’re curious to see how it will compare to comic and tabletop game conventions we usually attend. I don’t have any kind of table presence at the show, I’m just participating in some panels and looking to socialize and network a bit, so it should feel quite different than a “comic con” kind of weekend.

Before that kicks off though, we have a couple days visiting our friends Jim and Andrea north of the city, which is a nice change of pace. Great conversation, good food, and a quick exhale before I dive into 3 more conventions over 3 weeks.

Power and Influence

Conan the Barbarian #23 arrives at your favorite local comic shop tomorrow – Wednesday, August 13th. We’ve been teasing Thoth-Amon’s influence in earlier issues, but now our Cimmerian hero confronts the Stygian Grand Sorcerer directly and our art team (line artist Fernando Dagnino and colorist Diego Rodriguez) pulls out all the stops for it. I am ecstatic at how it turned out.

No spoilers, but check out this text-free series of panels to get hyped–

Ridiculous, right?! I am so, so fortunate to be working with this crew and extra proud of how this issue turned out. Make sure you snap it up!

Old World Collectible

In the late 1970’s, readers saw this ad in various Marvel Comics, promoting a map poster and gazetteer of the Hyborian Age they could mail away for. I haven’t managed to track down that classic poster yet, but last week a copy of the gazetteer was added to my growing Conan collection.

This 132-page softcover includes an alphabetical listing of places mentioned or visted across all the original Robert E. Howard Conan and Kull stories, the adjusted versions by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, and early comic stories by Roy Thomas. Interesting bit of trivia – the book is credited to “Lee N. Falconer”, but that was a pen name for fantasy author Julian May, who was a huge Robert E. Howard fan and researcher.

I’m sure a digital version would work fine as a general reference, but having the physical book on hand is nice to have as I’m plugging away on new stories. It’s also another reminder of the legacy all this stuff carries.

Talking Scourge of the Serpent with The Comic Source

I spoke to Jace over at The Comic Source all about our Scourge of the Serpent event mini-series that will be slithering its way into your soul this Fall. I also cover info on our big 25th issue and tease what’s coming up in issue #29 and beyond.

Celebrating Dungeons & Dragons at SDCC

I didn’t realize that Penguin Random House recorded the Celebrating Dungeons & Dragons panel I was on at San Diego this year. So many great anecdotes and heartfelt moments here worth sharing. Such a pleasure getting to be a part of this.

Dungeons & Dragons continues its monumental rise in pop culture after 50 years! With more people rolling dice and telling stories every day, come hear from expert Dungeon Masters and Storytellers who share how Dungeons & Dragons has secured its place in society and the tabletop. Anjali Bhimani (Actor, DesiQuest, Critical Role, Dimension 20), Elisa Teague (Game Designer & Writer) Teagan Morrison (Co-Founder, Hero Forge), Jim Zub (Writer, Dungeons & Dragons) and Moderator Ross Thompson.

Fantasy Art For The Ages

Max Dunbar is a dear friend and has been a steady collaborator with me on a bunch of projects over the years, most notably Dungeons & Dragons, Castle Arkham, and Champions. He’s crowdfunding a new artbook of his fantasy art with Zoop, jam-packed with some of the most stunning characters and locations I have ever seen. If you are a sword & sorcery or D&D fan you NEED to get on board and secure yourself a copy!

Current + Upcoming Releases

Upcoming Appearances

Other Links

• Robert E. Howard scholar Jeff Shanks spoke to Lion at the Sword & Sorcery Book Club about eldritch horror, archaeology and more in this interview.

• Dr. Patrice Louinet spoke to the Robert E. Howard Foundation about editing the Del Rey editions of Conan the Barbarian.

Jim