Zubby Newsletter #107: Make It Happen
Luc Forsyth‘s video titled “If You’re Creative But Lazy, Please Watch This” is BANG-ON.
‘Action Over Everything Else’ is a critical attitude to have. Watch and learn-
This. This.This.
My creative career leapt forward as soon as I started doing instead of stockpiling plans and looking for the ‘right’ moment to start. There is no inevitable success, but improvement and personal satisfaction comes from consistently doing and building good creative habits.
I’ve known way too many people who paralyse themselves with learning about learning or planning the plan and never finish anything, because they’re afraid of being judged on the result and coming up short. It’s a self defeating cycle because actual improvement only happens with experience and if you don’t do the actual thing, over and over, you are not building that experience.
Luc covers some absolutely crucial ways of looking at a creative skillset – finding time, setting realistic goals, building momentum and incremental improvement that leads to actual growth.
A lot of people seem to understand the importance of practice and habit when it comes to physical pursuits, being an athelete or dancer, but they have a blind spot around the same mentality for other creative pursuits – art, writing, music, acting, photography, filmmaking. It is the same. The sooner you get into the habit of creating on a regular basis, the sooner you will be able to see progress, no matter where that path may lead.
Deep Archives
Speaking of seeing progress, over on my Patreon there are now over 320 scripts in the archive, work from almost every major comic publisher in North America that you can check out and compare my script to the published version to better understand how comics are created, step by step. All those scripts, plus Q+A’s and other resources all available for the price of a fancy coffee. Check it out!
Upcoming Hyborian Adventures
Eagle-eyed Conan fans noticed that a few unlettered preview pages of Fernando Dagnino artwork were incuded with the pre-order listing for Conan the Barbarian Vol. 6: A Nest of Serpents and they’ve been excitedly posting them up on Conan fan groups, so I thought I’d put a link to those here so readers can see how wonderful the story arc coming in a few months is going to look.
Fernando is a massive Conan fan, he’s bringing his absolute best to the series, and I can’t wait for you to see how this story kicks off! Just this morning he sent over character designs for an upcoming issue and they are stellar. I feel so fortunate that I get to work with so many phenomenal artists and that they’re just as passionate about these stories as I am.
Talking to Black Gate
I spoke to Ismail Soldan at Black Gate: Adventures In Fantasy Literature all about working on Conan the Barbarian and the importance of the character’s legacy in prose and comics.
Current + Upcoming Releases
Conan the Barbarian Vol. 4: Frozen Faith TPB – released February 19th.
Conan the Barbarian #18 – released February 19th.
Thunderbolts: Winter Soldiers – released March 4th.
Conan the Barbarian #19 – released March 19th.
Conan: Battle of the Black Stone TPB – releases April 1st.
Rick and Morty VS Cthulhu – Deluxe Edition – releases April 1st.
Conan the Barbarian #20 – releases April 16th.
FCBD Conan: Scourge of the Serpent – Prelude – releases May 3rd.
Conan the Barbarian #21 – releases May 14th.
Upcoming Appearances
Apr 12-13, 2025 Mumbai Comic Con Mumbai, INDIA
Apr 24-27, 2025 Calgary Expo Calgary, Alberta, CANADA
May 3, 2025 Third Eye Comics – FCBD Signing Annapolis, MD, USA
Nov 3-14, 2025 D&D in a Castle Castle Lumley, Newcastle, UK
Other Links
• With economic struggles happening everywhere, we’re seeing more GoFundMe campaigns popping up for older American comic creators who have fallen upon hard times. I try to signal boost these fundraising campaigns when I can. Mike W. Barr (Camelot 3000, Batman and the Outsiders), Thomas Tenney (West Coast Avengers, Iron Man), and Peter David (Incredible Hulk, Star Trek) are all in need right now, so if you’re able to help and/or spread the word wider, please do so.
• Alex Segura, Sara Century, and Patrick Kennedy have a new comic online called The Forgotten Five, all about a strange new superhero group on the run from the government. It’s paced like a classic comic strip serial with a fun retro style to match.
• Bill Cavalier chats with the official Conan the Barbarian website all about how Robert E. Howard’s work influenced the creation of Dungeons & Dragons.
Until next time,
Jim
Thanks, friend!!
I suffered "learning about learning" myself. I must have read and re-read the articles on your site and others endlessly - all in the hopes of one day getting something off the ground. They're all very helpful, but only when they're put into action.
It took a summer of three funerals for people who died under tragic circumstances, way earlier than anyone may have hoped or predicted, for me to get that kick in the pants. Life is short. Waiting for the perfect time might just be too late.
I'm now launching my 8th Kickstarter on Wednesday and waiting on an order of 1200 comics to ship out to backers from my 6th and 7th. I've still got a ways to go to get where I want to be, but me three years ago, feverishly watching videos and making plans, wouldn't believe I've made it this far.