Zub Tales

After a short delay, CONAN THE BARBARIAN #17 arrives in comic shops this week, kicking off a brand new story arc called Twisting Loyalties!

Guest artist Danica Brine steps in for this 2-part tale that rolls our timeline back to Conan’s pirate days with Bêlit, showing the Queen of the Black Coast and Amra at the height of their swashbuckling infamy, a fun caper that will have ramifications for the future. Following in Rob De La Torre and Doug Braitwaite‘s footsteps is a real challenge and I think she did a great job keeping the high quality of the series going strong. That said, Doug will be back illustrating another 2-part story in issues #19 and 20, and more issues are already in production beyond that, so there’s a steady flow of amazing artwork hitting my inbox almost every day. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

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After The Stone Makes Its Impact

BATTLE OF THE BLACK STONE concluded last week and I’m thankful that the response from readers and reviewers has been very potent.

Now that our first Conan event mini-series is in the rearview mirror, I spoke to Jared Bird at The Comics Beat all about planning it out, how writing Conan is different from other comics, and big plans for the future. We cover a lot of solid ground here, so check it out!

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Lit’s Play – Baldur’s Gate 3

Watch me play Baldur’s Gate 3 while waxing nostalgic about growing up playing Dungeons & Dragons and how tabletop RPGs changed my life. Also watch me rip through the tutorial section of the game too fast to be remotely strategic.

According to the video description I am an “all-around cool guy” which, given that I’m playing a video game and discussing D&D, tells you how far we’ve come from the Satanic Panic. What a world!

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Pierogi Production

I was at my childhood home for a couple days and, while I was there, my parents, Stacy, and I busted out a ridiculous amount of pierogis we’ll have on Christmas Eve and through the new year.

If you joined this newsletter late and missed my Grandma’s recipe for Ukrainian-style pierogis, make sure you click through, scroll down, and check it out. If you’ve only had factory-made grocery store-style pierogis you have no idea what you’ve been missing compared to the handmade comfort food I grew up with.

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Current + Upcoming Releases

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

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

Conan the Barbarian Vol. 3: The Age Unconquered TPB – released November 19th.

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

Conan the Barbarian #17 – releases December 11th.

Conan the Barbarian #18 – releases January 8th.

Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 1 TPB – releases January 14th.

Conan the Barbarian Vol. 4: Frozen Faith TPB – releases February 18th.

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Upcoming Appearances

Comiccompscon24 is happening at the RAID Studio in Toronto on Dec 14th and I’ll be there!
A bunch of local creators are purging the extra copies of comics they have and, from what I can tell, we’re all looking to move a bunch of books for cheap, so if you’re there you could get a ridiculously good deal and get other books signed as well. If you’re in Toronto or driving distance from the city, put it on your calendar.

Dec 14, 2024	ComicCompsCon 2024	Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
Mar 20-23, 2025	Gary Con XVII	Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA

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Links and Other Things

• While chatting with a friend about 80’s/90’s anime series we should rewatch, I remembered a martial arts anime called The Dagger of Kamui and thought I’d check to see if it had been released on Blu-Ray. Looks like my timing was good – AnimEigo has a Blu-Ray arriving in June 2025 fans can pre-order on their site.

• Mystic Arts DM has a theory about the 8 Types of Combat in Dungeons & Dragons, and I think it covers some nice tips in terms of varying up things at the table to keep players engaged.

Jim