Zub Tales

Robert E. Howard re-used names he liked in different stories, sometimes different genres entirely. I’m using as many cool pieces as possible in our Howardverse events, but it can require some extra problem solving. Last year when I wrote Sailor Steve Costigan in Savage Sword of Conan #10 I dropped a key bit about a similarily-named Stephen Costigan, who now appears in the Tides of the Tyrant-King event mini-series.

I keep telling you guys, it’s all planned out!

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In SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #14, released last week, I had a ton of fun building an epic sword & sorcery tale with artist Ivan Gil.

Was this line an indulgent Easter Egg solely included for my own amusement?

Damn right. That’s the magic of comics, baby.

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Author VS The Hyborian Age

On Friday night, I played CONAN EXILES for the first time, discovering the new enhanced game on a livestream (my first time ever doing my own gaming livestream) and everyone got to follow along. It was a bit nervewracking but also a lot of fun, bantering about how bad I would be at wilderness survival, dropping bits of Robert E. Howard lore, and answering viewer questions while stumbling my way into a Hyborian Age desert and the dangerous lands beyond on the game’s standard difficulty.

Also, no spoilers, before you watch the stream take a guess how many times my character named “Hubris” dies within those first 2 hours – I bet you’ll guess wrong!

I don’t know how often I’ll be able to do this kind of livestream, but I will try to make it semi-regular if I’m not traveling as a way to chat about Conan with fans and be a dancing video game monkey for your amusement.

Speaking of livestreams, this Wednesday, May 13th at 8pm EDT I’ll be on a livestream interview chatting with Evan from Stygian Dogs, Dan from the Conan Chronology, and Lion from the Sword and Sorcery Book Club.

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Pint O’ Comics

Last month I was on Jon Johnson‘s long-running radio show Pint O’ Comics and the full episode is now available on his website.

We had a really good time talking all about working on Conan, the character’s legacy and future plans. I highly recommend you check it out!

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Cooking Zen

Also on Friday at Chez Zub’s, I went all fancy by hand-making Ricotta-Filled Ravioli pasta. I made enough for four people, so I froze half to use as another meal for Stacy and I.

I’ve mentioned before how much I’ve come to enjoy cooking as a hobby and de-stress from writing and other things happening in the world. While I cook I can usually just concentrate on that task, a focus on making something as tasty as possible with the immediate reward of a job well done at the end of it. Very satisfying, and it can save us quite a bit of money compared to going out to restauarants as often as we used to.

If you want wholesome content that inspires me to cook, I highly recommend the Pasta Grannies YouTube channel. Watching little old Italian ladies bust out their favorite recipes in their own homes is good stuff.

When I try preparing a dish I’ve never made before, I usually watch 3-4 different videos to see similarities and differences in technique. One video becomes the main one I follow, but seeing multiple ways of approaching the dish gives me confidence I can change it up and still get great results. With something like Pasta Grannies the range is vast. Different ingredients, different approaches, but all of it homemade and inspiring.

Seeing a 104-year old woman laughing as she kneads and rolls dough is amazing. Having an archive of these people and their personal recipes is a gift, the kind of thing we need more of, especially now.

If my retirement is writing stories, playing games, and cooking delicious food for loved ones I will have won the entire Game of Life.

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Current + Upcoming Releases

• MAD About DC – released Apr 1.
• Skullkickers: Compact Attack Edition Vol. 3 – released Apr 21.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King Prelude – released May 2.
• Manga Classics: Journey to the West Prelude – released May 2.
• Savage Sword of Conan #14 – released May 6.
• Conan: Scourge of the Serpent TPB – released 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.
• Stranger Things VS Dungeons & Dragons HC – releases May 27.
• MAD About DC – 2nd printing – releases June 2.
• Conan the Barbarian #32 – releases June 17.
• Conan the Barbarian #33 – releases July 29.

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Upcoming Appearances

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

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Other Links

• Omar at Near Mint Condition does a nice rundown of the newly released SKULLKICKERS COMPACT ATTACK EDITION Slipcase set. I am so happy to have the series back in print for new readers to discover:

• My friend Jesse Scoble has a new crowdfund campaign going to continue funding on his supernatural western comic series DEAD MONEY! Make sure you check it out and, if you missed issue #1, there are reward tiers where you can get all caught up with the digital or physical printed comics.

• Atomic Robo is the latest Bundle of Holding, so you can snag digital comics and TTRPG material for a deeply discounted price. It’s one of my favorite action-adventure comics and well worth every penny at full price, let alone this crazy good deal.

• Did you know Google Chrome secretly dumped over 4 gigs of AI model crapola on your hard drive? Yeah, it was news to me too as I followed the procedures here and ripped it all out by the roots. Bad enough that this stuff steals content, but now they’re back door dropping it onto our systems without even letting us know.

Jim