Zub Tales

Our whole crew, artistic and editorial, has been incredible.

Artists Rob De La Torre, Doug Braithwaite, Jonas Scharf, Richard Pace, Patch Zircher, Fernando Dagnino, Dean Kotz, Dan Panosian, Joe Jusko, and variant cover artists aplenty.
Colorists José Villarrubia, Dean White, Diego Rodriguez, and Jão Canola.
Letterers Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith.
Editors Matt Murray, Joakim Zetterberg, and Chris Butera.
Loremaster and Scholar Jeffrey Shanks.
The rest of the team at Heroic Signatures and Titan, including Fred Malmberg, Ashley Hodgkins, Marcos Cronander, Shawn Curley, Nick Landau, John Dziewiatkowski, Will O’Mullane, Ricky Claydon, Alexandra Iciek, and so many more.

They’re delivering their best, page after page, issue after issue, and I am so damn happy with how it’s turning out. This is where I want to be – building exciting long term stories with a passionate crew. It’s the kind of consistent project I’ve been wanting to sink my teeth into for years, the kind of run that can happen when creative and business interests push in the same direction and it’s the most fun I’ve had on a commercial project since Avengers. This team has enthusiasm, good communication, and professionalism all around.

Heading to San Diego in a few weeks and celebrating the momentum we’ve got is going to be such a rush.

But, now it’ll be in the hands of our readers, so-
Did we stick the landing on issue #12 and our first year?
Is it worthy of the world’s greatest sword & sorcery hero?
Read CONAN THE BARBARIAN #12 on JULY 3rd and let me know!

Make Stories in the Mighty Marvel Manner

New on my YouTube Channel, a FREE lesson from Marvel’s The Art of Storytelling course, in partnership with Proko.

If you want to start writing stories for comics, understanding the basic three-act structure is the ideal way to begin:

Start by establishing key characters, their abilities, and the setting. Introduce an inciting incident to propel the story into conflict, where characters face both external and internal challenges. Build tension and excitement leading to a climax, then resolve the core conflict while leaving room for future developments. This timeless structure helps keep your story clear, engaging, and impactful.

Get the premium course and learn Marvel Storytelling:
proko.com/marvel

Check out another lesson from the course HERE on the Proko YouTube channel.

Your New Hyborian Adventures Begin Here!

Monolith, the game company behind the incredibly successful Conan Board Game, have been hard at work on a brand new tabletop RPG called CONAN: THE HYBORIAN AGE and on Thursday they released a FREE Quickstart PDF that outlines the core mechanics, includes pre-generated characters, and a sample adventure so anyone can easily get a handle on how it works.

I had a chance to run the Quickstart a few weeks ago at Robert E. Howard Days with a wonderful crew of players well known for their contributions to Hyborian adventure. We had a lot of fun kicking the tires on the rules and seeing how easy it was to get rolling, literally, and bust out some fun sword & sorcery action.

All this to say, go get that download and share the link far and wide, but if you’re a player don’t spoil the adventure ahead of time – Grab a Game Master and let them run it for you!

Current + Upcoming Releases

Upcoming Appearances

I’ve added a store signing to my schedule – Heroes World comic shop in Richmond Hill (just north of Toronto) is celebrating 23 years in business with a weekend full of events and giveaways.

I’ll be there this Saturday, July 6th from 1pm-3pm.

Heroes World received permission to sell Conan the Barbarian Vol. 2: Thrice Marked For Death 10 days early, so if you’re in the area pick up an advance copy there, buy other books at the shop (they’ll be well stocked), or bring other Zub comics you want signed.

This and Fan Expo Canada will probably be my only local signings this year, so don’t miss out!

Links and Other Things

• Last week I mentioned Raina Telgemeier appearing on TV and this week, she and Scott McCloud have announced that they’ve collaborated on a new graphic novel coming out Spring 2025 called The Cartoonists Club. People Magazine has the scoop. This is going to be huge and could usher in a whole new generation of cartoonists.

• The upcoming Batman: Caped Crusader animated series is looking great, a fun fusion of the classic animated series style with a pulpy throwback feel inspired by the original comic run that kicked off in 1939. I’m excited to check it out in August.

• My friend Matt John, who is helping develop the Conan tabletop RPG I linked earlier in this newsletter, has a new prose anthology out now called To Walk On Worlds. It has eleven short stories that cover a fantastic range of pulp action-adventure.

I hope your summer is going well and, for all my fellow Canadians – HAPPY CANADA DAY!
Jim