Zub Tales

CONAN.com has been on an updating spree with new material (and some exclusive merch as well), including this recent article all about my work on the monthly Conan comic series and our big plans for the future.

Speaking of Conan, Superhero Hype has preview pages up for Conan the Barbarian #10. Part 2 of The Age Unconquered is jam-packed with intense adventure aplenty and you’ll be able to get your copy in stores or online on April 24th.

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A Down To Earth Discussion With a Stygian Dog

I finally had a chance to chat with Stygian Dogs about CONAN, and the 2-part interview is a really fun one that covers a lot of ground. In this first part we talk about:

• The convention circuit and my upcoming trip to Howard Days
• The Conan relaunch, including pitching the new series and large scale storytelling
• Discovering Conan when I was a kid
• Writing a prose short story for the new Savage Sword magazine
• Working on Conan at Marvel and assumptions some current readers have about my first run
• The comic production pipeline and unsung heroes on the creative team

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Life Of Wolverine Arrives in July

Announced by Marvel on Friday, the 10-part digital LIFE OF WOLVERINE story I wrote and Ramon Bachs illustrated back in 2022 is finally arriving in a one-shot print issue.

Editor Mark Basso asked if I was up for a challenge – Threading together dozens of Wolverine stories in historical order to act as a proper timeline and introduction for readers. To pull it all together I read literally hundreds of Wolverine comics for research and it was intense.

Life of Wolverine involves Jean Grey doing a deep dive into Logan’s mind. She experiences his past and is able to contextualize it with things we know now to see larger patterns around what he’s been through. If you didn’t get a chance to read it on Marvel Unlimited or if you did and want a physical copy, you’ll get your chance on July 3rd. Pre-order now.

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Grad Films Next Week

On Thursday, April 18th at 4:30pm EST the new Seneca 2D Animation grad films will stream online, but you can check out past films and see grad portfolio sites NOW at the Seneca 2D website and YouTube channel.

I am so proud of my students. Putting together these films is an incredible effort, the crucial final step as they push their drawing and animation skills from assignments to actual production.

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Current + Upcoming Releases

• Dungeons & Dragons: Fortune Finder #5 – released March 20th.
• Conan the Barbarian #9 – released March 27th.
• Dungeons & Dragons: The Thief of Many Things – released April 10th.
• D&D Young Adventurer’s Guide: Artificers & Alchemy – releases April 16th.
• Conan the Barbarian #10 – releases April 24th.
• Savage Sword of Conan #2 – releases May 1st.
• Conan the Barbarian #11 – releases May 22nd.

Upcoming Appearances

A pair of Fan Expo shows were officially added to my schedule this week: Chicago and Toronto, both happening in August.

Apr 25-28, 2024	Calgary Expo	Calgary, AB, CANADA
Jun 7-8, 2024	Howard Days	Cross Plains, TX, USA
July 25-28, 2024	San Diego Comic-Con	San Diego, CA, USA
Aug 1-4, 2024	Gen Con Indy	Indianapolis, IN, USA
Aug 16-18, 2024	Fan Expo Chicago	Chicago, IL, USA
Aug 22-25, 2024	Fan Expo Canada	Toronto, ONT, CANADA
Oct 17-20, 2024	Gamehole Con	Madison, WI, USA

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Links and Other Things

• The Beat has a solid rundown of the recent chatter around the terms of the WEBTOON Originals contract, with boilerplate text that is extremely unfavorable for hard working creators trying to make a living in digital comics on their platform. It’s hard to advocate for yourself, especially at the start of your creative career, so try to stay on top of information like this as best you can so you know what to look out for.

• Michael Spicer‘s latest video called Nothing Has Changed Since 1999 feels pretty accurate. The differences between 1960 and 1980 or 1980 and 2000 seem vast in comparison to 2000 and 2020. Entertainment, fashion, and culture in general have been atomized in a way that’s hard to wrap our heads around.

• Seth Skorkowsky has a great rundown of tips for tabletop RPG players to get into the right mindset and make a positive impact at the table.

• Doug Gilford compiled an alphabetical list of every weird sound effect used by Don Martin, the classic MAD Magazine cartoonist. It’s a delightful archive for lovers of Onomatopoeia.

Have a great weekend!
Jim