Zub Tales

Here I am again, luggage packed before I fly to San Diego for Comic Con and then immediately head to Gen Con in Indianapolis – a five day show and then a four day show – the infamous Nerd Prom Twin Terror™©. As ridiculous as that will be, I’m also pretty damn excited. After being home for the past four and a half weeks busting away on writing deadlines I’m looking forward to seeing industry friends and celebrating another year making comics. Even after all these years, it’s hard to believe this is my job.

I had an industry pro reach out this morning to let me know that this would be their first SDCC and ask for advice. At first I wasn’t sure what to suggest, and then next thing I knew I’d sent them a list of industry parties, meet-up spots, food recommendations, great vendors, and places to escape the hustle-bustle. I don’t know exactly when I became a veteran of these Comic-Con-flicts, but it’s happened, so I’m heading into SDCC 2025 with a sense of zen about it all – The show will be a whirlwind and I’ll try to be the calm eye of the storm.

Obviously the consistency of Conan helps bolster my confidence. Keeping this Hyborian adventure going and commemorating another year on the series with our team is going to be wonderful.

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Zub at SDCC 2025

When I’m not doing panels, signings or meetings, I’ll be at Artist Alley Table GG-07 with the Comic Sketch Art team.

In a separate post on my website there is an extensive rundown – panel details, show-exclusive variant covers, giveaways and more. I’ll be sure to keep that post up to date in case anything changes.

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The Big 25 Arrives in October

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #25, arriving in October, is going to be extra-special – a 48-page issue fully painted by Alex Horley! Solicits and preview pages are making the rounds and it’s so nice to be able to show people some of the jaw-dropping work I’ve been staring in awe at since Alex and I started working on this epic back in September of last year.

This issue is my first King Conan story, it’s a self-contained adventure, and it’s a fist-pumping sword-swinging celebration of our series – past, present, and future. Make sure you pre-order, if you haven’t already!

And just as a reminder – Conan the Barbarian will keep going after issue #25! I know a lot of current comic series seem to be getting cancelled or constantly relaunched, but we are going strong and our latest issues have defied typical attrition patterns and are going up in sales. There are many more adventures to come as long as readers and retailers keep supporting the series the way they have so far.

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Pre-SDCC Stream With Near Mint

I was a guest on the Near Mint Condition livestream, and chatted with Omar all about how Conan the Barbarian is going, San Diego Comic Con memories, answering online questions, screen sharing old photos and artwork, and a whole lot more. It was a ton of fun, so please check it out!

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Writing and Role-Play

I spoke to Anton Kromoff at Comicon.com all about the writing process for Conan the Barbarian – research, collaboration, role-play and more. It covers quite a bit, so check it out!

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Current + Upcoming Releases

Conan the Barbarian #21 – released June 11th.

Savage Sword of Conan vol. 2 – released June 17th.

Conan the Barbarian #22 – released July 9th.

Conan the Barbarian #23 – releases August 13th.

Conan the Barbarian vol. 5: Twisting Loyalties – releases August 20th.

Swords & Larceny – releases September 2nd.

Savage Sword of Conan #10 – releases September 3rd.

Conan the Barbarian vol.1-3 Slipcase Set – releases September 10th.

Predator: Black, White & Blood #3 – releases September 10th.

Conan the Barbarian #24 – releases September 10th.

Conan the Barbarian vol. 1: Bound in Black Stone Deluxe HC – releases September 16th.

Conan: Scourge of the Serpent #1 – releases September 24th.

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Upcoming Appearances

Thrilled to announce that I’m a special guest at this year’s Thought Bubble Comic Festival in Harrogate, happening right after my stint at D&D in a Castle.

Jul 23-27, 2025	San Diego Comic Con – Table GG-07	San Diego, CA, USA
Jul 31-Aug 3, 2025	Gen Con Indy – Booth 1349	Indianapolis, IN, USA
Aug 13-17, 2025	World Con	Seattle, WA, USA
Aug 21-24, 2025	Fan Expo Canada	Toronto, ON, CANADA
Aug 28-Sep 1, 2025	Dragon Con	Atlanta, GA, USA
Sep 27-28, 2025	Chattanooga Comic Con	Chattanooga, TN, USA
Oct 16-19, 2025	Gamehole Con XII	Madison, WI, USA
Nov 3-14, 2025	D&D in a Castle	Newcastle, UK
Nov 15-16, 2025	Thought Bubble	Harrogate, UK

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Other Links

• Tom Cardy‘s music cracks me up quite a bit and his latest, Love Letter to a Dungeon Master, is one of those things that won’t make any sense unless you play TTRPGs but, if you do, it strikes gold.

• The official Conan the Barbarian website has a great article about Conan toys by Matt John, including a look at the upcoming Conan action figure based on my Battle of the Black Stone story.

• My friend Jason Bulmahn has a crowdfunding campaign going for Hellfinder, a horror alteration of the popular Pathfinder TTRPG.

• The Robert E. Howard Foundation now has their own YouTube channel and one of their first videos is a rundown of the foundation’s purpose, as told by noted Howard scholars and Foundation Directors Rusty Burke and Paul Herman.

• Sean Jordan has a crowdfunding campaign going for Wordburglar Rhymes With Comics, a music and comics collaboration with lots of my industry friends contributing artwork.

Jim