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!”
Last year I did a rundown of why San Diego was such a special show, for the industry as a whole and me in particular. Feel free to wander back to those words and drink them in, because they’re still extremely relevant.
I’m excited, I’m nervous, I’m frustrated, I’m pumped. That’s just how it goes.
Dealing with water leaking into our newly ‘waterproofed’ basement after severe thunderstorms in Toronto and our hot water heater breaking down this week definitely made it more challenging than usual, but all I can do is keep my head down and keep working away, checking off items on my To-Do List even while unexpected new ones get slotted in.
Avengers #688 artwork by Kim Jacinto. Colors by David Curiel. Letters by Cory Petit.
NZT reached out to me through Marvel’s PR department to see if I could be in on a joke as part of a skit they were putting together. I signed the release form, filmed a couple clips with them (and yes, the Producer asked me to act annoyed and unimpressed), and then didn’t hear anything after that. I searched online and couldn’t find the segment, so I assumed it never got used.
Well, apparently it did make it to air back then, but wasn’t available online until this week when New Zealand Today returned to YouTube. So…Check it out:
It’s surreal seeing myself on a Daily Show-esque segment. It’s also a testament to how wildly popular the Marvel Cinematic Universe was at that moment. Good memories all around.
Q&A
I asked for questions from readers and several of you delivered – Bring ’em on, and feel free to post more!
Adriano asks: What’s a good use of my time as an attendee at a con like San Diego? I know what I want to do as a fan (which, usually, is empty my wallet on cool books), but what can I do to help my own comics career without coming off as “sales-y” or disingenuous?
“Networking” is one of those nebulous terms that seems impenetrable to people starting out and obvious to people who are more established, so let me be more specific – Meeting staff at publishers face-to-face can be a really powerful tool, especially if you have professional quality samples, you’re sociable and make a good first impression. Be aware that staff at a booth are working so they won’t be able to give you much time, if any, but it can still be helpful to touch base with them, get contact info, and then follow up after the convention.
Other things you can do:
• Go to “Breaking In”-type panels to get more information or ask questions.
• Check out Artist Alley and independent creator booths and make contact with potential collaborators.
• Go to social events after hours where new creators or comic professionals might be.
And through it all, do your best to be patient, polite, and kind because breaking into in any creative business can take a whole lot of time and a big swack of luck. The old saying is that you need the “right place, right time” to make things happen and that is true, so you need to create places and times for interaction, patiently getting yourself out there until the ‘right’ one comes along.
Lastly, there’s nothing disingenuous about wanting to create stories/art, or being passionate about wanting to be break into the business and make a career out of it, just try not to let that passion overwhelm your common sense or decency. We’re all doing the best we can and these conventions can be stressful even at the best of times.
Nacho asks: What would it take for a character created nowadays to reach an iconic status akin to Conan or Sherlock? I mean, sure, there is the matter of time, but the way culture is published and distributed has changed a lot from the beginning of the 20th Century. Also, what characters do you think can reach that status that were created in, say, the last 15 years?
Iconic characters like Conan, Sherlock Holmes, and Superman pioneered entire genres in publishing, so it’s incredibly hard to imagine what a future one could be because, if anyone could envision that, they would be set to trailblaze a new shift in the entertainment landscape.
Even some of the most recognizable ‘recent’ characters in fiction – Deadpool (1991), Sailor Moon (1991), Daenerys Targaryen (1996), Harry Potter (1997), Jack Sparrow (2003), Katniss Everdeen (2008) – move in well-established genres and it’s easy to argue that several of them have already ‘peaked’ and are on the decline in terms of their pop culture footprint.
In terms of current audience and global relevance, a lot of manga would certainly be worth looking at, but that industry also has a natural cycle of popularity wax and wane, with a handful of titles carving out their own powerhouse spot but many falling away over time. Will there be extensive discussion around the cultural impact of Monkey D. Luffy or Naruto in the 2100’s? Hard to say.
Harvey asks: This isn’t worded as a question, but I’d love to hear more about your Star Wars short story, the origins and process. I always admired the collection sitting there in the back of your videos.
If you want to zero in on the Star Wars stuff, jump ahead to the 24 minute mark of the episode because that’s where my anecdote about it starts and I go through it in more depth than I would have room to easily cover here in text.
• There are a wild number of new projects and initiatives underway at Marvel and DC with the From The Ashes X-Men relaunch and DC’s All-In promotion. Calling out all the new books being put together by friends would take up more space in this newsletter than I have room/time to type but, suffice to say, it’s an exciting time full of possibilities in terms of ‘Big Two’ comics on the horizon. I’m eager to dig in to as many of these as possible to see what my friends and peers are building and discover new talent riding big waves as well.
• My friend Cavan Scott announced a new comic series at Magma called Night of the Slashers with artist Paul Fry that sounds really fun, especially if you’re a fan of 70’s/80’s horror movies.
• Not Just Bikes posted a fascinating video about how Japanese cities are designed – zoning, public transport, retail, traffic, bike lanes, and more. Lots of great info about Japan I find useful and appreciate even more now.
Titan Comics has three different Conan foil cover variants at the show illustrated by Joe Jusko, Dan Panosian, and Tehani Farr, all of them for sale at BOOTH #5537:
Diamond Distribution will also have a cover homage Conan variant illustrated by Nuno Pereira available at the show for sale from BOOTH #2401:
Here’s where you’ll be able to find me at the show when I’m not grabbing a meal, at meetings, or doing press: WEDNESDAY, July 24, 2024
07:00pm-08:00pm — Signing at Artist Alley TABLE GG-18
THURSDAY, July 25, 2024
10:00am-01:00pm — Signing at Artist Alley TABLE GG-18
03:00pm-05:30pm — Signing at Artist Alley TABLE GG-18
FRIDAY, July 26, 2024
10:00am-11:00am — Signing at Artist Alley TABLE GG-18
11:30am-12:30pm — Dynamite Entertainment 20th Anniversary panel – ROOM 5AB Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Dynamite Entertainment, publisher of The Boys, Vampirella, Red Sonja, ThunderCats, Space Ghost, Gargoyles, Lilo & Stitch, The Powerpuff Girls, James Bond: 007, and many more fan-favorite series. Dynamite founder Nick Barrucci and executive editor Joe Rybandt are joined by a star-studded cast of creators and friends to talk about their two decades of making comics history as well as previewing upcoming projects.
02:00pm-03:00pm — Signing at Titan Books – BOOTH 5537
05:00pm-07:00pm — Signing at Artist Alley TABLE GG-18
SATURDAY, July 27, 2024
10:00am-11:00am — Dungeons & Dragons 50th Anniversary panel – ROOM 6DE Dungeons & Dragons is celebrating 50 years, from countless hours of adventures and storytelling, new editions and book releases, to the rising tabletop entertainment and pop culture takeover. Industry experts Anjali Bhimani(Desi Quest, Critical Role), Kailey Bray (producer), Luke Gygax (founder, Gary Con), Jim Zub (author, Dungeons & Dragons), and Matt Forbeck (writer, game designer, Endless Quest) share how Dungeons & Dragons has taken its place on top of the pop culture dungeon. Moderated by Ross Thompson.
11:30am-12:30pm — Signing at Artist Alley TABLE GG-18
12:45pm-02:00pm — Signing at Random House – BOOTH 1514/1515 And get a FREE D&D Young Adventurer’s Guide book at this show floor signing, while supplies last.
03:30pm-06:00pm — Signing at Artist Alley TABLE GG-18
SUNDAY, July 28, 2024
10:00am-11:00am — Signing at Artist Alley TABLE GG-18
11:00am-12:00pm — Conan the Barbarian panel – ROOM 29AB By Crom! Go behind the scenes of the NEW Conan the Barbarian comics series arc launching at Comic-Con and the return of fan-favorite Savage Sword of Conan magazine from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics. Plus: exclusive reveals of the highly anticipated 2024 EPIC event comic series, The Battle of the Black Stone! Join award-winning writer Jim Zub, legendary Conan cover artist Joe Jusko, award-winning letterer Richard Starkings, historian Jeff Shanks, and Titan Comics/Forbidden Planet TV’s Andrew Sumner for a packed Conan discussion, exclusive reveals, special announcements of future plans for the new era of Conan media, and a FREE comic for panel attendees!
01:00pm-02:00pm — Signing at Titan Comics – BOOTH 5537
02:30pm-04:30pm — Signing at Artist Alley TABLE GG-18
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)!
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree launches today! I was originally going to immediately dive into expansion content, then realized two days ago that the character I used to Platinum the game is on New Game +3, they haven’t slain the correct boss to get to the expansion on this current playthrough, and the new content cranked up to +3 would almost certainly smash me to bits, so over the next week or two I’ll be power leveling a new character build to play Erdtree, which is already garnering intense praise.
I also want to get ahead on writing, enjoy summer weather, and see family and friends… What I’m trying to say is that it’s hard to ‘git gud’ and also be a responsible adult.
(If you missed my previous newsletter where I raved all about why I enjoy Souls Games and the particular qualities that grabbed my attention, give it a read right HERE.)
In September – Battle of the Black Stone #1
Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #1 cover art by Sedat Oezgen.
Battle of the Black Stone uses story threads we’ve been weaving in right from the start, from last year’s Conan the Barbarian #0 Free Comic Day issue and our entire first year of stories. The mysteries and powers of the Black Stone are one of the pillars I put into my proposal for the series and, now that we have momentum, we can really go all out in telling this epic tale of pulp-inspired adventure across the ages.
Black Stone is a mysterious material that showed up in multiple Robert E. Howard prose stories, including the titular Black Stone horror story from 1931, and we’re using it to link not just Conan’s Hyborian age to Kull’s Thurian age, but other points in time and characters from those eras as well.
The art on Battle of the Black Stone is so damn good. Every time Jonas and Jão send pages in I’m ecstatic. Don’t tell anyone that I showed you this teaser of Solomon Kane-
Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #1 interior art by Jonas Scharf.
In this first part, we cover my nerdy origin story – reading and collecting comics, comic universe continuity, tabletop RPGs, bringing new people into gaming, the D&D Satanic Panic, gaming during the pandemic, making comics, the early internet, webcomics, and more! Such a fun and nostalgic chat. Make sure you give it a listen.
I’ll back be at San Diego this year and am currently getting my schedule figured out for Wednesday through Sunday. I’m really looking forward to seeing friends and celebrating another exciting year. Same goes for Gen Con in Indianapolis, which is the following weekend. Man oh man, two of the biggest conventions back-to-back…It’s going to be a ride.
• My friend Raina Telgemeier was recently on PBS News talking about her graphic novels. I’ve known Raina since I was working on my original Makeshift Miracle webcomic in the early 2000’s. Seeing her phenomenal success and acclaim has been such a pleasure.
• A bunch of my friends have contributed to the new Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebooks, but I want to call special attention to Mike Schley‘s amazing new Greyhawk Map that is part of the revised Dungeons Master’s Guide. Gorgeous cartography work, as always.
Conan the Barbarian #13 art by Doug Braithwaite and Diego Rodriguez.
Over on Facebook Messenger I clicked through to ‘Message Requests’ and saw dozens of messages from readers and retailers who have enjoyed my work, artists wanting feedback, and writers looking for advice. It was awkward realizing that these people assume I’ve just ignored them all this time.
I don’t have time to mentor people one-on-one on their creative career or give extensive feedback (that’s why I put together 40+ free tutorial articles on my website), but getting a message to that effect is way better than someone sending material and feeling completely ignored. I remember what sending notes out into the void felt like and do everything I can to avoid doing it to other people.
Then, on a whim, I clicked the dreaded ‘Spam’ tab…
As expected, there were hundreds of useless ad messages and sex chat garbage, easy to spot with a half dozen or more people tagged on each one, but there were dozens of legitimate messages too, filtered there for reasons unknown.
• International fans excited about Conan.
• A convention runner asking if I wanted to be a guest at a show from over a year ago.
• Readers asking questions about Marvel continuity.
• Creators asking for signal boosts on their crowdfunding campaigns.
• Artist portfolios.
• Old friends touching base.
It’s humbling to see so many people reaching out, but also a bit overwhelming, especially finding them all at once. How is anyone supposed to keep track of all these outlets? How much time do I spend sending out little ‘sorry I missed this’ messages vs just plowing ahead on current projects/deadlines/commitments? I don’t know.
Anyways, if you’ve reached out to someone online and they didn’t get back to you – it might not be intentional. The algorithms that dictate so many of our online interactions may have just siloed it elsewhere.
Our team put everything they have into this relaunch and I want to make sure people know that Harvey-eligible titles are for books released from August 1, 2023-July 31, 2024, not just 2023 books.
Killer Covers From Mars
Legendary artist Joe Jusko has posted up the first three stunning covers for the upcoming release of the Barsoom Saga, the official reprint of the John Carter of Mars series being put out by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate. They have a 20% off preorder promotion running now, so if those covers grab your eye, make sure you get on board while you can save.
Also, while I was at Howard Days last weekend I met Henry Franke, editor of The Burroughs Bulletin, and his excitement for pulp stories was infectious so if you’re a Burroughs fan make sure you check that out too.
• In a few days, my friend Sandra Tayler is launching a crowdfunding campaign for her new book Structuring Life to Support Creativity, a much-needed guide to project management and avoiding burnout. Definitely check this one out.
• Jordan Sorcery has a great video run through on the initial development of Warhammer 40,000. When I was a kid I thought the game looked incredible, but the price point of metal miniatures and daunting work involved in painting figures and assembling terrain kept me from playing until I was older, but it looked amazing right from the start.
• Legendary anime studio Gainax has filed for bankruptcy after financial mismanagement and controversy. Gainax was an anime studio built from convention fan films that evolved into auteur-centric work and a pop culture juggernaut. It’s strange to think of the studio not being around anymore, but we’ll always have the the Ballad of the Otaking to remind us of their greatness.
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