Zubby Newsletter #155: Ready For Battle

Posted by Jim Zub on April 28, 2026 Leave a comment (0) Go to comments

**Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King Prelude** artwork by **Jesus Merino**, colors by **Jao Canola**.

This Saturday, May 2nd, is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY and I have two giveaway titles available on the big day- CONAN: TIDES OF THE TYRANT-KING Prelude and MANGA CLASSICS: JOURNEY TO THE WEST Prelude!

I’ll be signing at Gotham Central comic shop in Mississauga from 11am-2pm along with comic creators Chip Zdarsky, Nick Marinkovich, and Derek Laufman!

Conan: Tides of the Tyrant King
CONAN OF CIMMERIA believed that THULSA DOOM’s evil had been banished forever, but the Atlantean necromancer’s dark power stirs once more and, if it cannot be stopped, the dead shall overtake the living! The Tyrant-King of Atlantis returns and all shall suffer, unless Conan and his brave allies can turn back the tide!

Journey to the West
Following the Buddha’s instruction, monk Tang Sanzang and his four disciples set forth on a journey to India to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures. What kind of evils and dangers will they encounter along the way? This introductory story also tells the origin of Sun Wukong – the legendary Monkey King!

Post-Calgary Expo

*With **Jed MacKay** and **Ed Brisson** as the show wound down.*

This year’s Calgary Expo was a success and, as always, it was wonderful to see old friends and fans in Alberta. Quite a few people mentioned that they follow along with my adventures here in the newsletter, which was nice to hear as well.

The weather shifted wildly between snowy and cold to sunny and…also cold. It was unexpectedly chilly this year and I forgot to bring my winter jacket so I didn’t venture too far from the hotel in the evening but, thankfully, it also wasn’t required because there were so many good spots nearby.

I did quite a bit of sketching at the expo and my commission list was steady throughout, which was fun as well. Here are a trio I thought turned out solid:

I’m still in Alberta visiting friends until tomorrow night. When I get home, the first thing on my work schedule is illustrating a variant cover for an upcoming-but-not-yet-announced comic project, which will be a nice change of pace and something I want to do more of down the road.

Canadian News Coverage

Canada’s CTV News covered three Canadian comic book professionals talking about being on the convention circuit and I was honored to be one of them alongside legends Tom Grummett and Ken Lashley.

A Conanza This Spring

The hit video game CONAN EXILES conquers its 8th anniversary in May and, to celebrate, it’s getting a major visual overhaul on PC on May 5th, moving to the latest Unreal Engine, massively enhancing the environments alongside other quality of life gameplay improvements.

I’ve never played Exiles before and am thinking about jumping in and giving it a shot, maybe even on a livestream game. My work schedule is intense right now, but it would be fun to be part of the relaunch excitement alongside new fans and old. Fingers crossed.

Along with that, Monolith has announced they have a new Kickstarter campaign coming for the Conan Board Game and Hyborian Age tabletop RPG. This time they’ll be showcasing Conan’s pirate adventures and venturing to legendary Zamora as well, which syncs up quite well with our next comic story arc, Cursed Shores Beyond.

Click on the art below to go to Monolith’s pre-launch page and sign up.

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

May 2nd, 2026	Gotham Central 11am-2pm	Mississauga, ON, CANADA
Jun 12-13, 2026	Robert E. Howard Days	Cross Plains, TX, USA
Jul 23-26, 2026	San Diego Comic Con	San Diego, CA, USA
Jul 30-Aug 2, 2026	Gen Con	Indianapolis, IN, USA
Aug 15, 2026	Comics Assemble	Gloucester, England, UK
Oct 15-18, 2026	Gamehole	Madison, WI, USA
Nov 12-15, 2026	D&D Weekend	Lake Sinclair, GA, USA
Jan 14-16, 2027	Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo	Philadelphia, PA, USA