Zub Tales

We were only home from New York for two days before Stacy and I turned around and drove to Madison, Wisconsin for Gamehole Con XIII. It was one of those things that looked okay on the calendar but in reality was quite the marathon. Thankfully, we made the drive over Tuesday and Wednesday instead of all in one go and slept deeply on both Tuesday and Wednedsay night, giving us much-needed energy to carry through the rest of the week.

I ran multiple sessions of Shadowdark and Conan: The Hyborian Age, and played in games of Call of Cthulhu and Star Wars: Edge of the Empire in between great conversations with gaming industry friends and fans. As both a show and experience, Gamehole is pretty ideal. It’s robust enough that almost everyone in the industry you want to see is there, but still focused on gaming in ways that larger shows like Gen Con struggle with given their size and cost.

The annual Welcome Party at the Free Hold Pub was a highlight, the games I ran went really well, and being on stage with the Glass Cannon crew was extra special (I can’t wait for that video to arrive online so I can share it with all of you).

Tabletop roleplaying games are such an incredible way to bond with friends and strangers and I’m so thankful I get to have these kind of experiences and share them with other people. Spending time together engaging and interacting at the table has enriched my life in countless ways and every time I get to do it again I’m reminded how special it is.

By Sunday morning, Stacy and I had a wonderful time, but also felt current deadlines looming so we hit the road and pushed hard, getting us back home just after midnight. Today has been all about unpacking and reorganizing, hunkering down for an intense sprint of productivity needed between now and the end of the year. We thought about doing a bit more traveling in December but, realistically, I think we need to be here on a more dependable schedule to bring 2026 to a proper close and prepare for an intense 2027.

Solid Bronze

Dan Yergert of The Conan Chronology has put together an impressive rundown of the original 275 issues of CONAN THE BARBARIAN published by Marvel that includes thoughts and anecdotes from creators who worked on it then and others who carry on the legacy now. It was a blast to be a small part of this retrospective.

Dungeon Dudes in the Hyborian Age – Part 3

Back in March I posted a liveplay game I recorded with the Dungeon Dudes as they played the Conan: Hyborian Age TTPRG for the first time and they finally posted up the final part of the adventure – Enjoy!

If you missed the other two parts, here they are: PART 1 and PART 2.

Current + Upcoming Releases

• Wayward Compendium – released September 9.
• Savage Sword of Conan #16 – released September 16.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King #1 – released September 23.
• Conan the Barbarian #35 – released 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.
• Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King #4 – releases December 16.
• Conan the Barbarian #38 – releases December 23.

Upcoming Appearances

Other Links

• Earlier this summer I decided I wanted to move away from the Playstation ecosystem and ordered an Ayn Odin 3 handheld and dock that finally arrived a couple weeks ago. With my current work schedule I haven’t had much time to pour into it, but even just the initial set-up and testing has been fantastic, especially with the arrival of the Droid Deck app to turn this Android powerhouse into a miniature Steam Deck. I have a slew of Steam games I’ve picked up on sales over the years that I’ve never played or finished and am looking forward to delving into those and other titles in the weeks and months ahead, especially since I can now seamlessly play them on my TV or while on the go.

Jim