Zub Tales

Last week was intense with Stacy’s book launch and the MAD About DC signing, so this week needs to be a post-Easter burst of productivity. I have a To-Do List of deadlines coming up and approved outlines to work from, so it’s just going to be scripting up a storm here at Zub HQ.

If you enjoyed Ivan Gil‘s artwork in Conan: Scourge of the Serpent, you’re going to see him fully unleashed in our feature 48-page story for SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #14, arriving in May!

Ivan worked so damn hard on Scourge, so for this story he got to choose every piece – What era of Conan we’d be working with, where it took place, and what the threat would be. I tailor-made this story to his strengths and he attacked it with gusto.

His ability to carve out these environments and make them feel as real as the characters in the story is so amazing. Seeing that art in pure black & white at magazine size is going to be a real treat for fans, and it’s been an absolute feast for me as his collaborator.

The Nomad, Now Deluxe-ified!

Speaking of Conan x2 – Titan has announced a deluxe oversized hardcover edition of THE NOMAD, the fully oil-painted anniversary issue we released last year. If you missed my first King Conan story, a stunning visual whirlwind brought to life by master painter Alex Horley, you’ll definitely want to pick this up. And if you already have a copy, this baby is going to bring that artwork to life like never before and includes more making-of material so you can fully appreciate Alex’s phenomenal artistic skills.

Alex and I actually had a Zoom call last week where we chatted about current and future projects. Not sure when things will get announced, but know that there is more in development.

I’ll Be At Howard Days 2026

Speaking of Conan x3 – My travel is booked, so I’m happy to announce that I’ll be attending Robert E. Howard Days this year for the 40th anniversary of the festival happening on June 12th and 13th. It looks like fans from multiple generations of REH fandom will be in attendance, so if you’ve thought about making the trek, this would be a fine year to make it happen.

I attended for the first time back in 2024 and had a good time with friends and fans in the spot where the sword & sorcery genre erupted from Bob’s Underwood no. 5 typewriter.

Current + Upcoming Releases

• Avengers: No Surrender/No Road Home Omnibus – released Mar 10.
• Skullkickers: Compact Attack Edition Vol. 2 – released Mar 17.
• Conan the Barbarian #30 – released Mar 25.
• Mad About DC – released Apr 1.
• Skullkickers: Compact Attack Edition Vol. 3 – releases Apr 21.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King Prelude – releases May 2.
• Manga Classics: Journey to the West Prelude – releases May 2.
• Savage Sword of Conan #14 – releases May 6.
• Conan: Scourge of the Serpent TPB – releases May 6.
• Conan the Barbarian Vol. 7: The Conquering Crown TPB – releases May 20.
• Conan the Barbarian #31 – releases May 27.
• Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 4 TPB – releases May 27.

Upcoming Appearances

A pile of events have now been confirmed, filling in crucial parts of my summer schedule, as you’ll see below. I’ll be back at SDCC and Gen Con, which are once again happening back-to-back. I’ve also booked my first appearance for 2027 already, which is pretty wild.

Other Links

• Matt from the Comic Book Guy YouTube channel had a nice little shout-out about our chat at Megacon. He and his buddy Guy have all kinds of fun fan discussions on their channel and it’s worth checking out, especially if you’re a collector.

• Did you see Chip Zdarsky‘s MAD About DC promo video that came out the same day as the issue? Filmed in Toronto, it’s one for the ages and reminds me of his Toronto mayoral campaign video from 2010, which I would love to link for you but doesn’t seem to be online anymore.

• Heroic Signatures has details on their upcoming Robert E. Howard-focused ebooks arriving throughout the year. These short stories are a great way to sample sword & sorcery authors and keep up on the many characters in our “Howardverse.”

Jim