Stacy and I arrived in London yesterday on our 14th wedding anniversary, and spent the day wandering the city before perusing the National Portrait Gallery. Even with a bit of jet lag slowing us down in the evening, we had a wonderful time and are excited for adventures ahead of us here in the UK.
A quick reminder that I’m in London all weekend for MCM Expo, set up at Artist Alley table A-04 and hosting a Conan panel on Sunday, then heading to Nottingham, Newcastle, and eventually Edinburgh.
The press release went out on Friday to Animation Magazine and is circulating elsewhere now-
Copernicus and Baboon Animation continue development on an animated SKULLKICKERS series, and have signed Man Of Action‘s JOE KELLY (Deadpool, Ben-10, Big Hero Six) to act as our showrunner!
This has been in the works for a while and I’m thrilled to finally make it public. Having Joe’s expertise as both a phenomenal comic writer and skilled animation developer gives us a big leg-up in a crowded market and it’s been such a pleasure chatting with him about the series and storytelling as a whole.
These media development deals are slow-moving, especially compared to the rapid fire release schedule of monthly comics, but things are progressing, bit by bit. Everyone involved is passionate about the material and ready to rumble when the time is right.
What Do You Believe?
On the official Conan the Barbarian YouTube channel, artist Doug Braithwaite and I discuss Frozen Faith with host Shawn Curley – How the story grew from our collaboration, what it means to the Conan canon, gods, mortals and more.
By Crom, check it out, and pick up Conan the Barbarian #16, the coda issue for this story arc, in stores now. I am incredibly proud of this issue.
Ideas Don’t Bleed – Part 2
Matt Rosenberg, Ethan Parker, and I had a wonderful discussion on the Ideas Don’t Bleed podcast and, I know this will shock some of you, but we barely talk about Conan the Barbarian at all.
Here in Part 2 we talk about why I’m not drawing my own graphic novels, talent VS skill, my making comics blogposts, emailing comic professionals, learning how comics are made, comic coloring, comic creative teams, strange editor interactions, giving critiques, and more!
If you missed Part 1, here it is.
20 Influential Films
Over on BlueSky there’s a fun meme where people are posting 20 movies that have greatly influenced you, one a day for 20 days, no explanations, no reviews, just posters.
Here are the films I put up, in no particular order:
The Secret of NIMH (1982)
Lupin III: Castle Cagliostro (1979)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Big Trouble In Little China (1986)
The Thing (1982)
Akira (1988)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Iron Giant (1999)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Army of Darkness (1992)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Dead Poet’s Society (1989)
Star Wars (1977)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
The Last Unicorn (1982)
Labyrinth (1986)
Superman (1978)
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
No surprise that the majority of them came out in the 1980’s as I was growing up, that magic and adventure plays a big part, and that almost half are animated or Muppet-y.
Way back in my first newsletter I discussed commonalities in stories that appeal to me and many of the films above embody those key elements.
Perfect Sunday
Writer Cavan Scott asked me for the ingredients that would make up my ‘Perfect Sunday’, relaxing with great food and good company. Click on through to check it out.
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
Oct 25-27, 2024 | MCM Expo: London | London, England, UK |
Oct 29, 2024 | Forbidden Planet International | Nottingham, England, UK |
Nov 1, 2024 | Forbidden Planet Superstore | Newcastle, UK |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Nov 13, 2024 | Forbidden Planet: International | Edinburgh, Scotland |
Links and Other Things
• Matttt posts another banger of a comic video, this one all about the development and legacy of Scott Pilgrim, and it includes a short interview with my friend, series creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. Everyone in the Toronto comics scene in that period remembers the meteoric rise of the series, and it’s neat seeing those moments again in a more historical context.
• Goodman Games has a blogpost from a couple years ago discussing Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, two sword & sorcery characters who heavily influenced Skullkickers.
• Daniel Best has a newsletter that covers the strange legal cases around Robert Crumb’s infamous ‘Keep On Truckin” artwork. His posts about the legal side of comics are interesting if you want a peek behind the curtain of the business.
• Ethan Gilsdorf has a great little article about Dungeon & Dragons’ 50th anniversary, how the game is changing and how it’s stayed the same. I share many of his same sentiments.
Jim
Zubby Newsletter #85: Roll For Initiative
Stacy and I are in Madison, Wisconsin for Gamehole Con, gaming up a storm and celebrating 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons. We flew into Chicago, got our rental car, and made the drive over with a stop in Oconomowoc to sign at Kowabunga Comics, a really nice shop with amazing staff and customers.
The welcome party for Gamehole was amazing as well, with so many great people and a crackle of excited energy from both longtime industry folks and new gamers alike. As part of the discussion we had last night, I chatted with friends about the qualities that make gaming shows so enjoyable – Yes, some people get things autographed and buy rare collectibles, but those are a much lower priority compared to just spending time together playing games. The entire core of the hobby is about sharing time with old friends or new ones and having engaging experiences at the table, group by group and game by game.
Tabletop gaming is collaborative, interactive, egalitarian, and builds unique memories, and it’s these qualities that have helped the hobby successfully bring in a whole new generation of gamers, especially families and kids.
Anyways, back to the con – During the day I’ll be running The Crucible, my trap-laden 1st edition AD&D tournament adventure, and in the evenings I’m looking to jump into some spontaneous pick-up games with friends. If day zero is any indication, it’s going to be an incredible weekend.
Dreams VS Goals
I have a new tutorial post up on my website all about setting achievable goals for yourself.
The examples I use in the article are focused on comics and animation, but the advice applies to just about anything. Check it out and, if you find it helpful, please share far and wide.
Ideas Don’t Bleed
Matt Rosenberg, Ethan Parker, and I had a wonderful discussion on the Ideas Don’t Bleed podcast and, I know this will shock some of you, but we don’t talk about Conan the Barbarian. No, seriously. Right from the start we fall into a discussion around working in comics and starting out, rejection letters, why we create comics, the first books I collected as a kid, intense Marvel knowledge, working in animation, making a webcomic, meeting Scott McCloud, and more!
Your Hyborian Age Awaits
The Conan: The Hyborian Age tabletop roleplaying game crowdfunding campaign is underway and runs until November 6th. The campaign hit their funding goal in just over an hour, so keep an eye out for all kinds of spiffy stretch goals as it continues to surge.
Back in June I ran a scenario as part of the playtest and our crew had a blast. The rules are straightforward and capture the bombast of pulp sword & sorcery storytelling well.
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Oct 25-27, 2024 | MCM Expo: London | London, England, UK |
Oct 29, 2024 | Forbidden Planet International | Nottingham, England, UK |
Nov 1, 2024 | Forbidden Planet Superstore | Newcastle, UK |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Nov 13, 2024 | Forbidden Planet: International | Edinburgh, Scotland |
Links and Other Things
• My buddy and Samurai Jack collaborator Andy Suriano has a new crowdfunding campaign for Lost Company, an epic story about dwarves, elves and aliens told across multiple mediums: a hardcover graphic novel, an army of tabletop miniatures, and playable encounters. Andy has worked on a ton of amazing productions over the years (Rise of the TMNT, Samurai Jack, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Star War: Clone Wars and Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse) and I am pumped to see this creator-owned concept come together for him!
• The BaM Animation gents have a new drawing tutorial video that covers the basics incredibly well, including thought processes and warm up exercises that I haven’t seen in many places. If you want to get better at drawing, especially in an animated style, this channel is top notch.
• On the official Conan the Barbarian Youtube channel, Shawn Curley discusses the “Howardverse”, interconnected threads between various characters created by Robert E. Howard, the same ingredients I’m using as part of the current Conan: Battle of the Black Stone mini-series. Lots of neat information here, well presented.
Jim
Zubby Newsletter #84: More Pages, More Everything
More Pages
On Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #2 we had a ton of story to cover in 22 pages and I really wanted to make sure the confrontation between Conan and Solomon Kane hit hard, so I asked Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics for 2 extra pages this issue and they agreed.
Jonas Scharf and Jão Canola rocked every panel.
No one has brought the extra page count up in their reviews or feedback online and I consider that a compliment. The story flowed and readers seem happy with this week’s issue. If someone is counting story pages to see if they got their money’s worth, that’s a bad sign.
Adding 2 pages may seem like no big deal, but it actually is:
• Creative budget (script, line art, colors, and lettering) increased
• Deadlines shifted
• Our pagination template adjusted
All because I felt it worked better for the story. Grateful we were able to make it happen.
More Chatter
Sometimes you do a bunch of interviews and, even though you did them days or weeks apart, they all get released the same week!
I spoke to Sasha at Casually Comics about, no surprise, Conan the Barbarian, but also swords & sorcery as a genre, other comic characters I’d love to write, finding the humanity in big stories, the key to working with icons, interacting with a deeply-rooted fanbase, building momentum, and more!
Over on the Comic Culture YouTube channel, I spoke to Nick (Comic Culture), Stu (Dr. Doom’s Fan Club), and Eric (9 Panel Grid) all about Conan the Barbarian – the new series, nostalgia, sword & sorcery storytelling, the path of my career, the big pitch, my favorite Wolverine story, pulp storytelling, poetry and narration, plot-style or full script writing in comics, and much more!
(I get it if you’re not up for a 2 hour Conanza, but if you only listen to one section, please check out this spot near the end where I tell all of you how amazing my collaborators are and how damn grateful I am.)
Chris Piers from Comic Tropes has always been a really kind guy and a booster on my books, so it was great to jump in on his latest Pros & Cons livestream to chat about what I’ve been up to. We cover some of my favorite new board games, working on Conan and the Hyborian Age, getting into character, and upcoming convention travel. Check it out!
Dan at the Conan Chronology website asked me a few questions about the Conan timeline and where stories sit within our current comic continuity. Check it out!
More Votes
It’s almost the voting deadline for the 2024 Tripwire Awards. Conan creators are nominated for 4 awards: Best Writer, Best Cover Artist, Best New Series, and Best New Talent and we’d appreciate your support.
More Upcoming Books
More Signing Dates
Another UK signing date has been added to the list, this one with artist Doug Braithwaite in Edinburgh on November 13th! So excited to meet our readers in Scotland and sign some books!
Oct 15, 2024 | Kowabunga Comics | Oconomowoc, WI, USA |
Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Oct 25-27, 2024 | MCM Expo: London | London, England, UK |
Oct 29, 2024 | Forbidden Planet International | Nottingham, England, UK |
Nov 1, 2024 | Forbidden Planet Superstore | Newcastle, UK |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Nov 13, 2024 | Forbidden Planet: International | Edinburgh, Scotland |
More Links and Other Things
• Over on Proko, Michael Hampton covers drawing more mature characters without relying on wrinkles. Some great head construction technique and thought process for high quality drawing.
• Tennessee Fats bought a page of original art by Roberto De La Torre from Conan the Barbarian, and his excitement for the reveal as he opens the package and discussion of where he thinks our story is going is quite entertaining.
• If you’re looking for general artwork or photography to go with a blogpost or video, instead of AI-generated imagery or stock photos, consider browsing the Library of Congress Free To Use Image Archive. It’s vast and filled to the brim with interesting options.
• My friend Cavan Scott has a new comic series coming from Vault called Godfather Of Hell. I read the first issue and it kicks off strong. I’m looking forward to reading more. If you haven’t pre-ordered yet, there’s still time to get it on your pull list.
• A couple weeks ago I mentioned a crowdfunding campaign for Paragons, a new superhero tabletop roleplaying game. They just announced stretch goal contributors and, if the campaign hits $25k, I’ll add a new hero, villain, or evil organization to their world.
Jim
Zubby Newsletter #83: It’s Already October
Conan the Barbarian #15 arrived in stores last week, Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #2 this week. The one-two punch of those comics thundering their way onto shelves and the excited response from readers has been incredibly gratifying.
As always, thank you for reading and sharing your enthusiasm with others. It really does make a difference.
Now that October is underway, I’m sprinting to hit my writing deadlines before Canadian Thanksgiving and then four weeks of convention travel. Lots to do but it’s a good sprint, especially when I know I’ll be seeing so many great people in the days ahead.
Difficult News
Speaking of great people, my friend Howard Andrew Jones, sword & sorcery author/editor extraordinaire, has been diagnosed with brain cancer (multifocal glioblastoma) and, since he’s in the U.S., that means his family’s health expenses are set to skyrocket.
Help directly if you can, and please share widely.
In June – Howard, John C. Hocking, and I were in Texas for the Robert E. Howard Days Festival, laughing and celebrating. Howard had signed a multi-book deal for Hanuvar and I was in the final stages of signing on for at least 3 more years of work on Conan the Barbarian. We talked at length about how good it felt to know what we’d both be doing for the next 3 years.
I caught Covid and missed Gen Con, but Howard sent texts all weekend, telling me how much I was missed and that we’d need to celebrate twice as much next year to make up for it.
Getting the news about Howard’s diagnosis absolutely knocked the wind out of me-
Man plans. God laughs.
I cannot even fathom what he and his family are going through. Adding a crushing financial burden to that? It’s unbelievable.
Chatting With The Shrine of Comics
When I was at Robert E. Howard Days in June I spoke to Alfredo and Ludwig from The Shrine of Comics, but they had problems with the audio quality of the recording, so we decided to schedule another interview, this one online.
We talk about a lot of different subjects: the cast of Battle of the Black Stone, Civilization VS Savagery, long term story planning, working with the team, traveling to conventions, the legacy of Robert E. Howard, writing Conan at Marvel, writing Conan at Titan, the Conan fandom, and more!
A Big Bolt On Your Bookshelf
My first Marvel monthly series, THUNDERBOLTS from 2016-2017, is getting collected in a spiffy 12-issue omnibus called THUNDERBOLTS: WINTER SOLDIERS just in time for Marvel’s Thunderbolts movie coming out next year.
Is there anything from my comics in the new film?
I have no idea. Guess I’ll find out if I get invited to the premiere and/or get a Special Thanks callout in the credits.
Back to the Cimmerian Source, Part 5
I’m rereading all the original Robert E. Howard Conan prose stories and jotting down a few thoughts about each one. I don’t want to overwhelm this newsletter with text, so if you want to read what I think of more of the original Cimmerian stories, click on through to the posts linked below:
16) The Hour of the Dragon
17) Red Nails
Unfortunately, I fell behind on my reading because writing deadlines had to take priority, obviously. There are still a few Conan stories I want to cover that were published after Robert E. Howard’s death, but those will have to wait, so I guess it’ll be in Cimmerian Sept-ober. 😉
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
Another UK signing date has been added to the list, this one with artist Doug Braithwaite in Newcastle on November 1st! So excited to meet our readers in England and sign some books!
Oct 15, 2024 | Kowabunga Comics | Oconomowoc, WI, USA |
Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Oct 25-27, 2024 | MCM Expo: London | London, England, UK |
Oct 29, 2024 | Forbidden Planet International | Nottingham, England, UK |
Nov 1, 2024 | Forbidden Planet Superstore | Newcastle, UK |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Links and Other Things
• My pals at UDON Entertainment have a new comic series for Final Fight based on the classic video game and they’re giving away the first issue online for free, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t check it out.
• Derek Muller at Veritasium has a great video that explains how QR codes work and who invented them. Fascinating stuff.
• Scientific American explains why certain cheeses melt incredibly well and others don’t. Useful food science for cooks, and just interesting all around.
Jim
Zubby Newsletter #82: The Worst Fantasy Novel Ever?
I’ve been posting on social media about rereading the original Conan stories and, with an eye on purple prose, a well-meaning fan pointed me toward an infamous sword & sorcery story called The Eye of Argon.
The Eye of Argon is a sword & sorcery novella written in 1970 about a barbarian named Grignr, clearly inspired by Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, but it’s notorious for how poorly put together it is. In an age well before the internet, this thing went “viral”, was copied and shared amongst professional authors and eventually fandom at large. It has been called the “worst fantasy novel ever” and, at quite a few science fiction conventions of the era, there would be meet-ups where people would attempt to read The Eye of Argon aloud without cracking up. Right now, if you search YouTube for “The Eye of Argon” there are hundreds of videos with dramatizations, analysis, or group readings.
I’d heard passing mention of it before, but didn’t know any specifics and had never actually read the damn thing. It’s short and readily available online, so I finally checked it out.
As you’d expect, it’s bad. The story has spelling mistakes, grammatical problems, plot issues, and misuses words in spots that leave some sentences adrift in a sea of confusion. It leans into painfully overworn genre tropes and the pacing is terrible.
And yet…
…And yet, Jim Theis was only 16 years-old when he wrote this 11,000+ word story on a typewriter and submitted it to the Ozark Science Fiction Association’s fanzine. I sure as hell didn’t write stories that long at his age, and didn’t have nearly enough confidence to even try submitting work for publication. Maybe it was blind hubris on his part, but at least he made something, finished it, and could learn from it.
In this case, unfortunately, what he learned was that a group of successful authors and fervent fans were eager to endlessly mock the hell out of him for his literary shortcomings and ensured that he would never improve or write fiction again. Even worse, multiple small press publishers reprinted the story and sold it without ever paying him a dime. Even now, 22 years after his death, people are still making money on Jim Theis’ work, regardless of its quality.
What’s odd to me is that when I read The Eye of Argon I can see a writer struggling to understand the form and function of pulpy prose. He’s misfiring all over the place but, rather than just copying sentences word for word as a crutch, he keeps trying to grab bits of poetic thunder, make it his own, and put it on the page. He fails but, by God, he’s trying.
Yes, The Eye of Argon is bad, but I’m genuinely surprised that this particular badness took hold so intensely in the mind of fandom. I’ve read worse writing from some of my college students submitted for grading, and also much worse from obsessive fan fiction writers, hopeful game designers, and cocky first-time comic creators…and all those people had access to spellcheck and a ridiculous amount of online How-To resources that would have blown young Jim Theis’ mind.
Having all this knowledge at our fingertips hasn’t solved the Dunning-Kruger effect. If anything, non-stop internet access and the ability to ‘publish’ our words and ideas in an instant has created an endless factory of Argons, an ever-flowing torrent of naive stories and hurtful criticism. Even worse, the cringe-worthy creative output you put online when you were 16 now gets to sit dormant like a landmine until it’s ready to blow up in your face thanks to deep internet archives and the virality of social media.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve mocked terrible writing and had my mind vaporized by art portfolios so bad it was hard to believe they were sincerely trying to qualify for an art program or get a job as a professional. I snark about shitty movies and TV shows all the time and shake my head about the middling to poor quality of at least half the comics being professionally published each week. I understand the cathartic desire to filter and judge material that feels utterly incompetent, but watching nerds giddily eviscerate a hopeful teenage writer in the public square for decades is more sad than funny.
I hope the first story you ever wrote stays locked away in a drawer, so you never have to face the burning truth of its inadequacy.
Back to the Cimmerian Source, Part 4
As I mentioned above, I’m rereading all the original Robert E. Howard Conan prose stories and jot down a few thoughts about each one during September. I don’t want to overwhelm this newsletter with text, so if you want to read what I think of more of the original Cimmerian stories, click on through to the posts linked below:
14) Beyond the Black River
15) Shadows In Zamboula
I’m currently in the midst of reading The Hour of the Dragon, the only full-length Conan novel Howard ever wrote, and it’s 5-6 times as long as the other short stories, so my rundown on that is taking longer, especially while juggling writing deadlines.
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
Since I’m traveling through the UK in late October/early November, I’m adding some comic shop signings to my schedule. First out of the gate is a signing in Nottingham, at Forbidden Planet International.
Oct 15, 2024 | Kowabunga Comics | Oconomowoc, WI, USA |
Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Oct 25-27, 2024 | MCM Expo: London | London, England, UK |
Oct 29, 2024 | Forbidden Planet International | Nottingham, England, UK |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Links and Other Things
• The BBC has placed their entire Sound Effects Library online. It’s in-depth, searchable, downloadable and free for non-commercial use, including education.
• Jeff Shanks, Robert E. Howard scholar extraordinaire, chatted with the Sword & Sorcery Book Club about all things Conan, pulp storytelling, making his first comic, research, and more.
• My friend Vee Mus’e is part of a new start-up tabletop roleplaying game company called Broken Door Entertainment and they’ve just launched their first crowdfunding campaign for a superhero game called Paragons.
• Luke Gygax has a new crowdfunding campaign for an old school TTRPG adventure called Wrath of the Sea Lich.
Jim
Zubby Newsletter #81: Crossing The Gap
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.
Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
– Ira Glass
I definitely felt this frustration when I was starting out, and see it a lot in first-early comics from new creators. That nervous-awkward feeling because they finished a comic and are proud of it, but know it’s not clicking like the work that inspires them. They feel that gap.
Getting their first project done was incredibly hard and finishing it didn’t hit that high, so clearly they’re not cut out for this because creativity is supposed to feel good and inspiring and this doesn’t feel like that at all, so they quit.
The bad news is that it’s not destiny or the muses driving the work. You making this stuff is not inevitable or unstoppable. It’s messy and annoying and jam-packed with doubt because there are no guarantees on the other side of completion and there never will be.
And the people you know who aren’t in this field tell you you’re “brilliant” because they want to be supportive and don’t know any better, and that’s incredibly kind, but the compliment doesn’t fit how you feel or the quality you see, so you carry this dichotomy around with nowhere to put it.
When I was coordinating the Animation program at Seneca, there was an inevitable drop in student morale during second year (before it slooowly climbed back up). We’d warn students that drop was coming and they’d chuckle about it on the first day of class when I brought it up, but it always happened. Foundational learning was done (but not yet mastered) and we were moving into more advanced lessons, assignments where we wanted them to not just follow along and demonstrate the basics, but show us their creativity in storytelling and design. The vast majority of material handed in was poorly stitched-together monstrosities of current trends and obvious influences, surface level aesthetics at best, and when we called them on it they’d absolutely crumble. Maybe they weren’t cut out for this art thing after all. They wanted the work to be just as good as the stuff that inspired them and the gap was so damn obvious.
But, what they didn’t realize, was they were actually making important progress. They weren’t as good as they thought they were and were finally aware of it. They’d pushed through a crucial barrier – They could finally see the gap and work to close it!
The process hurts, but take comfort that you have a goal to achieve and see quality worth striving for. Being aware and chipping away at improving your craft is far better than producing utter trash and thinking you’re brilliant. Oh sure, you’d love to have that mind-melting level of confidence, but ignorance and hubris is so much worse in the long run. As frustrating as it can be, seeing quality and striving to reach it is a crucial aspect of the journey, wherever it leads.
Mind the gap and carry on.
Free Scripts
A new writer reached out with questions about how much detail they should have in their comic scripts. Every writer I know approaches it differently, and the amount of detail given when describing panels varies from project to project depending on the artist, specific reference required, and complexity of each scene. I have a lot of writing tutorials free on my website and, for more direct examples, browse these free full issue scripts available on my Patreon:
• SKULLKICKERS #1 and WAYWARD #1 full scripts
• WAYWARD #6 full script
• CARGO, a sci-fi short story script
For the price of a coffee you can dig into my Patreon script archive – over 300 scripts produced for practically every major comic publisher in North America – and compare the script I wrote to the published version to see how it all came together.
Last Chance Bundle
Speaking of Skullkickers, you have only a few days left to take advantage of the Skullkickers digital Bundle of Holding deal! Over 1000 pages of comics and gaming goodness for $10? Ridiculous.
If you’ve never read my creator-owned action-comedy series, this is where my sword & sorcery writing career begins!
Back to the Cimmerian Source, Part 3
In previous newsletters I mentioned Cimmerian September, with bloggers and vloggers reading and chatting about Conan stories. I’m hoping to reread all the original Robert E. Howard Conan prose stories and jot down a few thoughts about each one. I don’t want to overwhelm this newsletter with text, so if you want to read what I think of more of the original Cimmerian stories, click on through to the posts linked below:
9) Queen of the Black Cost
10) The Devil In Iron
11) People of the Black Circle – Part 1 Part 2
12) A Witch Shall Be Born
13) The Servants of Bit-Yakin
Quite a Trip
The 2024 Tripwire Awards have been announced and Conan creators are nominated for 4 awards:
Best Writer, Best Cover Artist, Best New Series, and Best New Talent!
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
Oct 15, 2024 | Kowabunga Comics | Oconomowoc, WI, USA |
Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Oct 25-27, 2024 | MCM Expo: London | London, England, UK |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Links and Other Things
• Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard, Mark Finn‘s excellent biography of the creator of Conan, is now finally available as an ebook on Kindle.
• The documentary Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters by my friend Jim Demonakos is now available on a slew of different platforms: Amazon, AppleTV, Google Play, Microsoft, Vimeo, YouTube.
• I made this pork tenderloin recipe last night for Stacy and friends and it turned out great. I don’t usually try out a new recipe with company coming over, but in this case it was a solid choice.
Have a great weekend!
Jim
Zubby Newsletter #80: Word Balloons
It’s always such a pleasure chatting with John Siuntres on the Word Balloon podcast, and it’s been over three years since we last talked, so there was quite a bit of catching up to do. This Word Balloon episode is almost entirely Conan-centric as we cover the transition of the comics moving from Marvel to Titan, working with our amazing team, future plans, and anecdotes aplenty. Since we were on livestream video I also shared some exclusive artwork from future issues as well.
It was a blast, so check it out:
And here’s just the audio:
If you want to listen to any of our past Word Balloon interviews, I’ve linked each one below:
April 2015, April 2017, November 2017, January 2020, February 2021
DM Deep Dive
On the same day as my Word Balloon chat, I also did a livestream interview with Tara Rout from D&D in a Castle and we talked all about 50 years of D&D and my excitement to be running a 3-day campaign in a castle in the UK in November:
Back to the Cimmerian Source, Part 2
In previous newsletters I mentioned Cimmerian September, with bloggers and vloggers reading and chatting about Conan stories. I’m hoping to reread all the original Robert E. Howard Conan prose stories and jot down a few thoughts about each one. I don’t want to overwhelm this newsletter with text, so if you want to read what I think of more of the original Cimmerian stories, click on through to the posts linked below:
4) Black Colossus
5) Xuthal of the Dusk
6) The Pool of the Black One
7) Rogues in the House
8) Iron Shadows in the Moon
And, speaking of reading material – If you want even more Robert E. Howard-inspired prose, make sure you check out the Heroic Signatures short fiction ebook series! $1.50 per story, or cheaper if you buy a bunch at once, and you get new tales of Conan, Solomon Kane, Bêlit, and Bran Mak Morn!
Don’t Miss That Bundle
You have just under two weeks to take advantage of the Skullkickers digital Bundle of Holding deal! Over 1000 pages of comics and gaming goodness for $10? Ridiculous.
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
By Crom, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be at MCM Expo London on October 25-27! It’s been 12 years since I’ve been to the show and I am so, so pumped to be back.
Oct 15, 2024 | Kowabunga Comics | Oconomowoc, WI, USA |
Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Oct 25-27, 2024 | MCM Expo: London | London, England, UK |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Links and Other Things
• This article all about the famous Daicon anime convention fan films and their legacy by Tim Eldred is a delightful burst of nostalgia.
• Daniel Best‘s Substack that covers publishing history and business is well worth a subscription. Lots of insight.
• The new Conan Tabletop Roleplaying Game from Monolith now has a launch date for their campaign – October 15th! Make sure you sign up so you don’t miss it.
Okay, that should cover it for this week. I hope September is going strong for all of you!
Jim
Zubby Newsletter #79: A Cast Stone Makes Many Ripples
Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #1 has arrived in comic shops today, kicking off a flurry of promotion as a cast of Robert E. Howard-created characters from across time are pulled into a grand pulp-infused epic adventure. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this point and I’m thrilled our first issue is finally here.
Just over a year ago at New York Comic-Con, editor Chris Butera, assistant editor Ashley Hodgkins, and I went out for dinner with artist Jonas Scharf so I could verbally pitch him the whole Black Stone tale, letting him know who was involved, every twist and turn, and the climactic conclusion so he’d be ready for what we had coming up. It felt good to lay out the big story beats and feel that sense of momentum building. Jonas’ art is a critical part of what makes this mini-series feel so epic and I can’t wait for you to see it all this Fall.
If you’ve enjoyed the new Conan the Barbarian comic series, you’ll essentially be getting a double dose of full color Hyborean action for the next 4 months as the regular book continues with Frozen Faith, our new non-Black Stone-related story arc. If you haven’t read the new Conan series at all, no problem. You can still dive in with Battle of the Black Stone #1 and can check out our FREE prelude issue online for a bit more context.
Titan Comics has put together a video trailer to help bring even more bombast to this week’s launch. Check it out:
The advance reviews for Black Stone have been enthusiastic and I’m hopeful that high praise brings even more readers on board.
A Skullkickers Bundle For You
The Bundle of Holding, a TTRPG-focused digital sale site, has posted up a SKULLKICKERS BUNDLE, with a terrific price for Vol. 1-6 and Caster Bastards available until September 23rd.
If you’ve never read my creator-owned sword & sorcery action-comedy comic series, the ‘Dungeons & Dragons by way of Deadpool’ trope-trashing tornado that kicked off my fantasy writing career, this is the perfect way to get all caught up, or you can buy it for a friend!
Back to the Cimmerian Source
In my previous newsletter, I mentioned Cimmerian September, with bloggers and vloggers reading and chatting about Conan stories. I’m hoping to reread all the original Robert E. Howard Conan prose stories and jot down a few thoughts about each one. I don’t want to overwhelm this newsletter with text, so if you want to read what I think of the original Cimmerian stories, click on through to the posts I’ve made so far:
1) The Phoenix on the Sword
2) The Scarlet Citadel
3) The Tower of the Elephant
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
On the way to Gamehole Con I slotted in a comic shop signing at Kowabunga Comics in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin from 4-6pm on Oct 15th.
Oct 15, 2024 | Kowabunga Comics | Oconomowoc, WI, USA |
Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Links and Other Things
• Watch a timelapse video of artist Doug Braithwaite penciling and inking a page from Conan the Barbarian #14. Even at high speed you can see how much skill and care Doug puts into every image.
• Conan YouTube channel host Shawn Curley spoke to World At War Comics all about hosting the channel, working on Conan, social media management and more.
• Artist Fernando Dagnino, whose visceral artwork made a big splash in the pages of Savage Sword of Conan #4, has got a brand new website. Browse and gawk at his excellent work. We’re already working away on a new project and I’m excited for you to check it out.
• Derek Laufman has a new grim fantasy graphic novel called Crimson Fall heading to Kickstarter and, trust me, you want to get on board this one. And while you’re at it, read the webcomic.
• My friend and colleague David Hedgecock has a new comic project on Kickstarter called Miss Mina and the Midnight Guardians. It’s 90’s anime-style with a supernatural flare and a ton of fun.
• Wizards of the Coast PR Manager Greg Tito is stepping away from Dungeons & Dragons for a brand new job with the office of Washington’s Secretary of State as Deputy Director of External Affairs, and he will be sorely missed by everyone in tabletop gaming. Greg’s hard work in promotion helped D&D 5th edition surge and his work partnering with streamers and promoting the game through liveplay events helped transform the hobby. I’m wishing him all the best.
Jim
Zubby Newsletter #78: Cimmerian September
I wouldn’t normally send out two newsletters in one week, but there is so much going on and a few time-sensitive deadlines that I needed to double up here. Trust me, I don’t have time to make this a regular thing.
Prep Your Fall Reading List For Glory
For the past 2 years on pulp literature-focused YouTube channels and various book blogs, there’s been a little movement called “Cimmerian September”, with people reading Conan stories – the original prose stories or pastiche novels/comics – and sharing their thoughts online.
On September 1st, it’s happening again and you can join in!
With the surge in interest around our favorite Cimmerian, I want to signal boost this fine endeavor and encourage old and new readers to join us. The original unedited Robert E. Howard prose tales are available physically and digitally in a wonderful 3-volume set published by Del Rey-
1) The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
2) The Bloody Crown of Conan
3) The Conquering Sword of Conan
On the comic front, the current Titan Comics series launched last year and we have two collected volumes released so far-
1) Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone
2) Conan the Barbarian: Thrice Marked For Death
with volume 3 available for pre-order, arriving in October.
There’s also a brand-new Robert E. Howard character-focused mini-series launching September 4th called Conan: Battle of the Black Stone, along with a special lead-in issue of Savage Sword of Conan, our black & white anthology magazine, in comic shops today – Wednesday, August 28th!
You can sample and share the new comics by checking out our Free Comic Book Day issues available FREE online:
Free Comic Book Day 2023 – Conan the Barbarian Prelude
Free Comic Book Day 2024 – Conan: Battle of the Black Stone Prelude
If you get a chance to participate any time this Fall, let people online know what you think and get discussion going. It’s a fantastic time to dive into grand adventures in the Hyborian Age!
If you want to convince friends or family to read Conan, let them know that the character and world is incredibly easy to jump into and core premise is simple:
Conan is a wandering warrior in a pre-historic time of swords, sorcery, danger and mystery. Wherever he goes, adventure and excitement is sure to follow.
Tickets Going Fast!
Even though it was only announced a couple weeks ago, my table for D&D In a Castle in early November is already almost full. If you’re interested in heading to northern England and playing at Lumley Castle in my D&D 50th anniversary adventure, you should dive in before all seats are gone.
In a similar vein, event registration for Gamehole Con is this Saturday, August 31st for general attendees. I’m running the old school dungeon delve I brought to Gary Con back in March three times over the weekend and seats are limited, so make sure you Wishlist that if you’re going.
Stacy is also running a special adventure for kids (one session ages 6-9 and another ages 10-12), so if you’re heading to the convention with your family add that to your Wishlist as well!
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
Oct 15, 2024 | Kowabunga Comics | Oconomowoc, WI, USA |
Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Links and Other Things
• My friend Jim Demonakos has produced an amazing documentary on comic creator Mike Mignola and it’s finally being released September 17th! Make sure you check that out.
• Watch a time lapse video of artist David Palumbo painting the cover to this week’s issue of Savage Sword of Conan in oil. When the cover was first revealed in solicits, several people responded that it was digital, but it’s all traditional and stunning to watch it unfold as he talks about his process.
• Sword & Sorcery Book Club is doing a series of videos that cover the prose source material I’m using as part of Battle of the Black Stone. His latest is the original Robert E. Howard horror story, The Black Stone, so you definitely don’t want to miss that.
• Gary B The Casual Comic Guy has a new video covering the strengths of the new Conan comic series and how other publishers can use what we’re doing to strengthen their releases. I’m humbled by the high praise and thankful we have such a loyal readership.
*whew* Okay, thanks for your patience on this newsletter double-dip and I hope your summer is ending strong!
Jim
Zubby Newsletter #77: Expo Experienced
Fan Expo Canada 2024 was a complete whirlwind. The weather was perfect and there was great energy in the air. The hometown show was busier than ever with friends, former students, and fans stopping by to visit and get books signed. Every few minutes someone new would pop up and I never knew if it would be a pal from high school, a colleague from Seneca, a long-time reader, or someone excited to meet me for the very first time.
By Saturday afternoon I was completely exhausted to the point that I almost fell asleep at dinner so I missed out on festivities that night, but the extra rest gave me enough energy to rally for Sunday and make the most of the last day.
There was a lot of discussion with friends about being “veterans” of the whole comic convention thing and it’s true. Year after year, it all becomes more familiar, but not in a bad way. We’ve seen the ups and downs, we’ve experienced good and bad runs, and we’re still here. Still making books and telling stories, and I’m thankful for it.
Conan Panel at Fan Expo
Stygian Dogs recorded the Conan the Barbarian panel I host at Fan Expo Canada over the weekend, so if you weren’t able to attend you can watch the whole thing right here:
Delving Into Doug’s Dynamite Work
Shawn Curley at the official Conan the Barbarian youtube channel interviews Doug Braithwaite, the incredible comic artist who drew Thrice Marked For Death, our second story arc, and is currently drawing Frozen Faith, our fourth one. They go over his amazing career, breaking in, learning from legendary creators, working on iconic characters, and more!
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
With Fan Expo Canada done, the summer con season is finished for me, but there are discussions underway for other appearances in the Fall, especially in the UK around D&D in a Castle. Hopefully I’ll have more to announce soon.
Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Nov 4-8, 2024 | D&D In a Castle | Newcastle, UK |
Links and Other Things
• Legendary creator Larry Hama has a new comic project fundraiser called Mounties Vs Werewolves and he’s put out the call to get more eyeballs on the work and help him through a tough financial period where G.I. Joe is one of the best-selling comics in the industry again, but he is not financially benefiting from the characters or concepts he created.
• Manifesto TV has an extensive interview with Jeff Shanks, the Robert E. Howard scholar who writes the essays in the back of each issue of Conan the Barbarian. It goes through a ton of different material across a broad range of topics.
• A lot of people commented on my new sword, and a couple people linked to pre-orders for a Conan sword based on the original Frazetta painting. I think I’m good with the one I have for now, but that does look pretty sweet.
• Last week I cooked up Pomodoro Crudo based on this simple recipe and it turned out really nice, a light summertime pasta.