Zub Tales

England and Ireland were great. We were on the road for seven days and only had two days of work at the events we lined up, so there was a bit of downtime to relax and explore, which was nice.

In Gloucester, I met Jesus Merino in person for the first time. He’s a legendary artist and we’re currently working together on the CONAN: TIDES OF THE TYRANT-KING mini-series that starts next month, so it was wonderful getting to spend a bit of time and chat about our work on the Cimmerian.

Our dear friends the Trowers family made the trek down from Nottingham to see us and after the event we went out with them for dinner.

Dublin was a lot of fun too. It was our first time in Ireland outside the airport but we didn’t want to overextend ourselves so soon after the SDCC-Gen Con Gauntlet so we kept things simple, staying in the city and hitting up tourist spots: The Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College, museums and galleries, Grafton Street and pubs aplenty. I know there’s a lot more to Ireland than Dublin and next time we visit we want to check out more of the country, but for this short stint it was nice staying in one spot.

Voice artist Jeff Hays happened to be visiting Ireland at the same time, so he invited us to high tea with some of his crew, and that was excellent. Great conversation, wonderful food, and lots of anecdotes around fandom. Comic artist (and former footballer) Danny Earls took us out for breakfast and we chatted about his incredible artistic growth. Comic writer Gary Moloney met up with Stacy and I for dinner after our signing at Dublin City Comics and we talked about the current state of publishing.

The next thing we knew, we were on the flight back home. Jet lag and a pesky cough took me out for a couple days after we returned, but now I’m on the mend and diving back into writing as I race to hit deadlines before Fan Expo Canada, the biggest convention in the country happening this week in Toronto. (And yes, I’ll be at the show in the South Hall at Artist Alley Table CP67).

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #34 is in stores this week! This issue continues our twisted pirate tale with mystery and action galore.

It’s also a career milestone for me. Up until now, my longest unbroken comic runs have been on my creator-owned series: Skullkickers (34 issues) and Wayward (30 issues), but with this issue Conan the Barbarian (#0-34, 35 issues) is now my longest unbroken run and there’s many more still to come!

(In terms of overall Conan writing, if you add together every regular issue, mini-series, anthology or special I’ve written, I’m up to 78 Conan-centric issues and counting.)

Current + Upcoming Releases

• Conan the Barbarian #33 – released July 29.
• Conan the Barbarian #34 – releases August 26.
• Wayward Compendium – releases September 9.
• Journey to the West: The Beginning – releases September 15.
• Savage Sword of Conan #16 – releases September 16.
• Conan the Barbarian vol. 4-6 Slipcase Set – releases September 16.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King #1 – releases September 23.
• Savage Sword of Conan vol. 1-3 Slipcase Set – releases September 23.
• Conan the Barbarian #35 – releases September 30.

Upcoming Appearances

Other Links

• My friend Jason Bogath is in need, juggling intense healthcare-related debts through no fault of his own. Please give this a read, then help and share if you can.

• Artist Liam Sharp has a portfolio and calendar of his iconic Conan the Barbarian artwork and you can order it via crowdfunding here.

• Michel Gagné‘s SAGA OF REX is a hand-animated feature film he’s been working on for 14 years and the trailer is finally here! I backed Michel’s original 4-min short way back in 2012 and am so thrilled to finally see this feature version come to life.

Jim