Zubby Newsletter #137: Parallel Moments

Posted by Jim Zub on December 2, 2025 Leave a comment (0) Go to comments

*Conan the Barbarian #18 -> Conan: Scourge of the Serpent #3*

There’s a grand plan for the Conan the Barbarian series through to issue #50, using many of the original Robert E. Howard prose stories as pillars to build a larger mythic arc about men, gods, courage, sacrifice and storytelling. Each year we also have a 4-issue event mini-series that exemplifies and extends ideas from the monthly series, putting a button on broader themes and showing how adventures the Cimmerian has been part of echo outward, interacting with other characters in the ‘Howardverse’. My first Heroic Signatures editor Matt Murray and I generated this concept in brainstorming sessions long before the series launched, hopeful we’d get the chance to see it through and, as year 3 continues, it feels amazing to slowly unveil each major moment along the way.

Scourge of the Serpent #3 reveals the reality of a flashback first shown in Conan the Barbarian #18, built around the REH story God in the Bowl. Conan’s memories of that moment are hazy and I love the way artist Danica Brine‘s flashback version has a dreamlike quality while Ivan Gil‘s reality of that moment is more textured and horrific, even while both compositions are identical. Getting to plan all this out and see it executed so incredibly well by our team is a thrill.

With holiday shipping and distribution all jammed up, Scourge of the Serpent #4 has slipped to first week of January, but I promise that you won’t want to miss what gets revealed there, a big piece of the broader mythic puzzle.

Our year 3 event mini-series for Fall 2026 has already been teased in the upcoming distribution catalogue, but I’ll save discussion around that for after Scourge wraps up…

*Art by Danica Brine and Ivan Gil, colors by João Canola, letters by Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith.*

Conan.com Has The Crown

Conan editor Chris Butera talks with the official Conan website all about The Conquering Crown, the story of the Cimmerian’s rise to become the King of Aquilonia. There are exclusive sneak peeks at upcoming artwork and a lot more. Check it out!

Assembling Mighty Memories

There were a lot of fond memories of working on AVENGERS: NO SURRENDER + NO ROAD HOME in the interview I did with the Avengers Forever podcast. Working on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was a really special time for me. There are other discussions as well, but if you want to dive right into Avengers-related anecdotes, those start right HERE.

War Chatter

I was on World at War Comics last week, chatting on their livestream all about Conan the Barbarian – the current storylines, long term planning, our amazing artists, and a whole lot more!

Zub Books for the Holidays

When you’re looking at gifts for friends and family this holiday season, don’t forget to check out the Buy page on my website for a massive alphabetical list of books I’ve worked on over the years, across all different genres and age groups.