May was a busy month with my big birthday and deadlines aplenty. I prepped for a bustling summer by getting a lot of writing done. From January to May this year I’ve already written more than I did for all of 2025, which is pretty wild. It feels good crossing off each deadline and building momentum, week after week.
Now that Conan the Barbarian #31 is in stores and we’ve wrapped up our Son of the Tooth 3-parter, the focus of course now turns to issue #32, which I’m incredibly excited about.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN #32 is a done-in-one sword & sorcery spectacle called “A Sacred Task”, built in the style of the original Robert E. Howard Conan stories from Weird Tales magazine. Our Cimmerian is hired as a bodyguard for a beautiful and mysterious woman on an important quest and their journey together will be memorable, to say the least.
I’m so proud that we’ve built enough trust with readers and retailers over the past 31 issues that we can do this kind of self-contained story as a breather between larger plot developments.
A classic adventure. An easy jumping on point.
In the current North American market, many series get cancelled outright or rebooted every 10-12 issues. I know how special this kind of extended run is, especially outside of DC or Marvel.
Great word of mouth got us this far and it’ll keep the adventure going, on and on, with reader support.
Where Should You Start Reading?
With all the excitement around Conan the Barbarian – movie rumors, the enhanced Exiles video game, new action figures, and publishing projects aplenty – it can be a lot to take in, especially if you want to jump into this world of High Adventure for the very first time.
Thankfully, Titan has officially released their Free Comic Book Day Conan promo issues online, no charge, so make sure you check them out and please share these links far and wide:
Hubris By Name, Hubris By Nature
Last week’s livestream of Conan Exiles Enhanced was not what I expected, but apparently much closer to what the experienced Exiles audience thought would happen back on session 1.
Hubris lived up to his name and I spent 90% of the stream trying to retrieve my corpse and/or running from enemies. It was a rough ride in the ol’ Hyborian Age:
Trying to be entertaining on a livestream (banter, answering questions, keeping things moving) and being careful/methodical about playing a game do not go hand in hand. Especially on a game I’ve never played before and purposefully did no prep for in advance.
Glancing down at the chat and keeping that conversation going means I keep missing brain damagingly obvious stuff in-game. People watching must have thought I was incompetent, and I was, because it’s like trying to learn to drive with 50 people in the car with you giving directions and changing the radio station.
I definitely have a much different perspective on livestreamers who do this well. Playing a game you know and are good at would certainly make a huge difference. The learning curve and distraction is wild. At some point I may have to stream a game I know so viewers don’t think I’m absolute trash at video games in general. I’ve platinumed Souls games. I don’t mind a challenge.
Stacy: “How’d your game go?”
Zub: “Hyenas chewed on my gnards and I lost all my equipment.”
Stacy: “Did you have fun?”
Zub: “Sort of.”
Hubris was brought low and lost all of his spiffy equipment. I learned some of the game’s systems despite my foolishness and will return to lick my wounds and rebuild, more carefully this time.
Current + Upcoming Releases
- 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 the Barbarian Vol. 7: The Conquering Crown TPB – releases May 20.
- Conan the Barbarian #31 – released May 27.
- Conan: Scourge of the Serpent TPB – released May 27.
- Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 4 TPB – released May 27.
- Stranger Things VS Dungeons & Dragons HC – released May 27.
- MAD About DC – 2nd printing – releases June 3.
- Conan the Barbarian #32 – releases June 24.
- Conan the Barbarian #33 – releases July 29.
Upcoming Appearances
| Jun 12-13, 2026 | Robert E. Howard Days | Cross Plains, TX, USA |
| Jun 14, 2026 | Madness G&C 11:30-3pm | Plano, 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 |
Other Links
• My dear friend and collaborator Troy Little has a new crowdfunding campaign underway for Levada, a graphic novel inspired by his trip to Portugal. I think Troy is one of the most amazing cartoonists in the industry and know that this introspective story is going to be special. If you enjoyed his work on Rick and Morty VS Dungeons & Dragons or Rick and Morty VS Cthulhu, make sure you check this out.
• Marcia Lucas, the Oscar-winning film editor on American Grafitti, Taxi Driver, and Star Wars, passed away last week. The work she did on Star Wars, in particular, is an absolute master class in refocusing and enhancing a production. RocketJump‘s video essay on How Star Wars Was Saved in the Edit is an amazing overview of how much editing changed pacing and intent to create a classic. Did you know that originally the Death Star was not going to destroy the Rebel Base at all? Watch this video and you’ll be impressed!
• David Finch‘s YouTube channel is packed with incredible drawing advice and examples from his own work and other top notch artists. His latest, all about drawing background tech, covers a lot of valuable techniques, plus you get to watch him draw in real time.
I hope you’re enjoying the Spring weather,
Jim
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