Zubby Newsletter #122: A Real Sell Out
Gen Con 2025 happened, of that I am certain, but the speed with which it shot past us was awe-inspiring. After getting home from San Diego, I had one day to reorganize and repack before we were on the road, driving to Indianapolis. Stacy and I did the trek to Indy over two days, stopping midway and heading to a screening of Fantastic Four: First Steps (which was wonderful – brimming with retro-future fare, big ideas, and even bigger hearts) before the “Best Four Days in Gaming” kicked off with aplomb.
The show was completely sold out and the crowd was hungry for new games and stories. I thought we had enough Conan the Barbarian books for the entire weekend, but by first thing Saturday morning we’d blown through every Conan trade and variant our booth had in stock. We could have gone double or triple in terms of inventory, which is a bit head-spinning.
Other highlights included:
• Big social energy at the Diana Jones Party, which acts as the unofficial Welcome Party for Gen Con.
• Attending the memorial panel for my friend Howard Andrew Jones and telling the crowd there about our time together at Robert E. Howard Days in 2024.
• Hanging out with the D&D in a Castle crew at their posh Airbnb, chatting about business, storytelling, and future plans.
• An amazing dinner with Kandrix, Lindsey, and Andrea at Commission Row.
• Old school webcomic nostalgia with Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade.
• Attending the Chaosium 50th Anniversary party to celebrate Call of Cthulhu, Runequest, and more.
• Dinner with the Ten Speed-Random House team at the Rathskeller pub, including the spiciest mustard I have ever tasted.
• Playing the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing with the Glass Cannon Network crew in their Marvel Multverse RPG live game, injecting as many old school comic-isms into my dialogue as possible and saving H.E.R.B.I.E. from disaster.
• Having a mutual fan moment with Kevin Siembieda, creator of Palladium Books and a slew of games I grew up on, including TMNT, Robotech, Beyond the Supernatural, and Rifts.
• Building more memories with Howard, Sandra, Darrin, and the rest of our Gen Con booth family.
It came up over and over again in conversation – When I was a kid I heard about Gen Con by seeing ads for it in Dragon Magazine or reading articles about book launches and game demos. Getting to attend the show once would have been a dream back then. Having a booth year after year and being part of the tabletop gaming industry is such a surreal and amazing thing. Thank you to everyone who stopped by!
A Book of Many Patterns
Speaking of Gen Con, over the weekend Ten Speed Press revealed the cover and details for Stacy’s latest book which arrives March next year – It’s called Dungeons & Dragons Crochet: A Book of Many Patterns!
Nerdist had the exclusive reveal and the article exploded on social media, with gamers and yarn weavers alike getting really excited about the variety and quality of the designs being shown so far. I had no idea that so many tabletop gamers crochet while they play, and this is really hitting the spot for them. Stacy wrote all the descriptve and fiction sections and wove in tons of deep cut references from old and new D&D lore. I can’t wait for people to see how well put together all of it is.
The D&D Crochet book is a lot of fun and going to make a wonderful gift, so make sure you pre-order now!
Local Comic Shop Day Special
Saturday, September 27 2025 is Local Comic Shop Day and, to help encourage readers to head to their favorite local comic shop, Titan is putting out a special front-and-back variant cover for CONAN: SCOURGE OF THE SERPENT #1, with stunning linework by Rob De La Torre.
Make sure you let your favorite comic store know before August 18th if you want one so they can put in the order and put your copy aside! I suspect this will be the rarest cover for the event.
SDCC Interview Marathon
On Friday during San Diego Comic Con, editor Chris Butera and I ran a Gauntlet with a series of back-to-back interviews talking about Conan the Barbarian. Given that these were recorded in the same 2 hour block of time, it’s interesting to see how our attitude and responses change depending on the interviewer and questions they ask. Check ’em out:
With Fanboy Planet we cover event-planning, the works of Robert E. Howard, obscure characters, timelines and more!
With The Mary Sue, I’m more punchy, joking about conventions, long term storytelling, and how fantasy reflects the times we live in.
With Pop Culture Cult we talk about why Conan is an icon, why sword & sorcery is exciting, the original Conan movie versus the character’s literary source material, why we don’t put sound effects in most Conan comics, and more.
And then Comic Crusaders came in with a chest-thumping intro that changes the vibe again as we talk about the Scourge event, writing technique, collaboration, Conan’s American identity, surviving in the Hyborian Age, and more.
Seeing some of this marathon is a glimpse at the promotional work we do at a big show like San Diego. It’s a ton of fun, but you also need to be quick on your feet and roll with each interviewer’s approach to make an impact.
Horley Talks To FP about His Painted Epic
Onward to even more interviews – Painter Alex Horley has an extensive interview with Forbidden Planet all about working on the fully painted Conan the Barbarian #25 arriving in October. He talks about his influences, scheduling, inspiration, and teases small story bits from our aniversary issue.
Current + Upcoming Releases
Conan the Barbarian #22 – released July 9th.
Conan the Barbarian #23 – releases August 13th.
Conan the Barbarian vol. 5: Twisting Loyalties – releases August 20th.
Swords & Larceny – releases September 2nd.
Savage Sword of Conan #10 – releases September 3rd.
Conan the Barbarian vol.1-3 Slipcase Set – releases September 10th.
Predator: Black, White & Blood #3 – releases September 10th.
Conan the Barbarian #24 – releases September 10th.
Conan the Barbarian vol. 1: Bound in Black Stone Deluxe HC – releases September 16th.
Conan: Scourge of the Serpent #1 – releases September 24th.
Conan the Barbarian #25 – releases October 8th.
Conan: Scourge of the Serpent #2 – releases October 29th.
Upcoming Appearances
Aug 13-17, 2025 World Con Seattle, WA, USA
Aug 21-24, 2025 Fan Expo Canada Toronto, ON, CANADA
Aug 28-Sep 1, 2025 Dragon Con Atlanta, GA, USA
Sep 27-28, 2025 Chattanooga Comic Con Chattanooga, TN, USA
Oct 16-19, 2025 Gamehole Con XII Madison, WI, USA
Nov 3-14, 2025 D&D in a Castle Newcastle, UK
Nov 15-16, 2025 Thought Bubble Harrogate, UK
Other Links
• Stop motion animator Justin Rasch put together this amazing animated ad for the Frazetta Girls official Conan the Barbarian action figure.
• Wonderful seeing so many of my industry friends visiting the set of Fantastic Four: First Steps in this promotional video by Marvel.
• This interview with novelist Paul Harding is full of inspirational bits about writing, language, and the creative process.
Jim
Thanks for your work and craft. I hope o can go to a con this year or next. Enjoy the day.
Heya, Jim! Great update. Just missed you at SDCC…we had a fairly insane con including taking the stage as Disney’s Gargoyles (Goliath, Demona, and Princess Katharine) for the Cosplay Masquerade and briefly Gargoyle-chasing Greg Weisman down the hallway (long story), but saw you working the tablemagics as we dashed between things.
That’s a +1 Wisdom and +1 Charisma to you for evoking my fond memories of Dragon Magazine. Always made me want to go to GenCon but have yet to make it, thrilled to see it still going strong. Continue to love the Conan you cats are getting out into the realms and the positive reception it’s still getting now that readers have truly embraced this new era of tales and yourself as the acknowledged Bard of the Barbarian. So cool that you moved so many books…a fair portent, for certain.
Rock on,
—Kᴇɴ