Zub Tales

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

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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:

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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!

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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.

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Current + Upcoming Releases

Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #1 (of 4) – released September 4th.

D&D Young Adventurer’s Collection Box Set 2 – releases September 24th.

Conan the Barbarian #15 – releases September 25th.

Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #2 (of 4) – releases October 2nd.

Conan the Barbarian Vol. 3: The Age Unconquered TPB – releases October 9th.

Conan the Barbarian #16 – releases October 30th.

Savage Sword of Conan #5 – releases October 30th.

Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #3 (of 4) – releases November 6th.

Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 1 – releases November 19th.

Conan the Barbarian #17 – releases November 27th.

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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

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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