Zubby Newsletter #180: The Needs of November

Posted by Jim Zub on November 3, 2026 Leave a comment (0) Go to comments

**CONAN THE BARBARIAN #37** cover by Roberto De La Torre

Good luck to my friends south of the border. I don’t want to Hopescroll or Doomscroll today, I need to focus my attention on the tasks in front of me I can affect and see how it all goes.

October ended strong, as Stacy and I have both been blasting away on writing deadlines and even started working out again. As much as I enjoy traveling and seeing people at conventions, I have to admit that a solid rhythm of work, play, and cooking here at home has been good for my brain and body.

Canadian Thanksgiving was almost a month ago, and this year it generated a series of thankful ripples I’ve been benefiting from lately. Good thoughts and observations. Grateful moments and reminders.

I’ve been writing comics for 20 years (my first professional writing credit was in 2006) and I’m happy to say that it still feels wonderful and surreal. Of course there are stressful days and frustrating projects but, on the whole, the positives absolutely body slam the negatives.

When I was co-writing Avengers, a close industry friend asked if I was still enjoying the work, if it was still fun. The question really surprised me – Yes, it was great.

Then they told me that the whole time they were writing [top tier Marvel/DC book] they hated it. It was way too stressful and the creative team was out of sync. They never felt comfortable with the series and couldn’t stop worrying about whether they could leverage that title to get something bigger or better.

That conversation helped remind me that who you’re working with matters just as much as what you’re working on. The importance of finding a working environment with strong communication and support that empowers the creative team to swing for the fences.

It also reminded me to celebrate the now instead of pining too much for what might come next. Make each current project the best I can and build strong relationships that can fuel future collaborations. Enjoying being part of a team, interacting with excited readers, and the legacy I get to be part of. Those aspects help pick me back up when there are setbacks or frustrations and refill my creative batteries, month after month.

I hope your November is reflective and gratifying. I also hope you get to enjoy some fine Fall weather. Autumn in Toronto this year has been spectacular-

Podcast Two-Fer

I’m on the latest episode of X-Men Horoscopes, chatting all about the craft of writing comics, the industry, and analysis of X-Men #99, the issue that came out closest to the month I was born.

And then, over on ‘Is That Some Kind of Japanimation Thing?‘‘s Halloween Special, Scott Wachter, Justin Mohareb and I chat about the original Vampire D movie from 1985 – The source material, the animation, and weird creative choices behind this particular adaptation.