Zub Tales

Ottawa Comiccon was a nice time, much more relaxed than the hustle and bustle of Fan Expo Canada, but that’s okay. I saw some family and friends, met a bunch of readers who hadn’t headed south for the big show, and chatted all about story ideas and creative consistency with Stacy as we made the trek to and from our nation’s capital.

We drove home Sunday night to make sure we were ready to start the week on a productive note, busting away on writing deadlines. There’s a lot to get done between now and Canadian Thanksgiving, and my To-Do List will prove critical over the next 3 weeks.

In stores today: SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #16, our Tides of the Tyrant-King tie-in issue and I wrote it all! 64 pages of magazine-sized, black & white bombast, 3 tales ready to pounce with powerful pulpy panels from 3 potent partners:

• Nicola Scott unleashes dark visions of Conan’s past, including a moment readers didn’t realize was happening between the panels of Bound in Black Stone.

• Chris Campana brings his crisp storytelling in a supernatural-sent sequel to the Robert E. Howard cowboy classic The Vultures of Wahpeton

• Sean Izaakse shows us a wondrous hidden side of Zuleika, the quiet servant girl in Robert E. Howard’s famous weird tale Skull-Face.

Getting to build and deliver another exciting ‘Howardverse’ event with our team is a joy. I’m neck-deep in research reading right now for my late 2027 story outlines and it’s both intimidating and amazing to realize that Conan the Barbarian #45-50 and our fourth event mini-series will bring all these threads together soon.

Watch the Comic Watchers

I spoke to Chad and Matt at Comic Watch all about our Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King event mini-series, writing different eras of the Cimmerian, procedural characters, pacing out stories and “the promise of the premise”, working with top-notch artists, working on long term storytelling, and more!

Current + Upcoming Releases

• Conan the Barbarian #34 – released August 26.
• Wayward Compendium – released September 9.
• Savage Sword of Conan #16 – released September 16.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King #1 – releases September 23.
• Conan the Barbarian #35 – releases September 30.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King #2 – releases October 21.
• Savage Sword of Conan vol. 1-3 Slipcase Set – releases October 27.
• Journey to the West: The Beginning – releases October 27.
• Conan the Barbarian #36 – releases October 28.
• Conan the Barbarian vol. 4-6 Slipcase Set – releases November 17.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King #3 – releases November 18.
• Conan the Barbarian #37 – releases November 24.

Upcoming Appearances

Thrilled to announce that I will be at this year’s New York Comic Con from Thursday to Saturday – set up in Artist Alley, moderating several panels, and making a big new project announcement! I wasn’t sure I was going to be at the show at all, but now I’m there in a big way and it’s going to be packed.

Other Links

• Andy Belanger and Karl Kerschl have been doing a series of videos titled Falling In Love With Comics Again on their Lethal Comics newsletter and it’s great to see and hear. Their excitement for classic comics is infectious and it does exactly what the title promises, reminding me why this medium grabbed my attention and has never let go.

Jim