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
D&D Young Adventurer’s Collection Box Set 2 – released September 24th.
Conan the Barbarian #15 – released September 25th.
Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #2 (of 4) – releases October 2nd.
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.
Conan the Barbarian Vol. 3: The Age Unconquered TPB – releases November 19th.
Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 1 – releases November 19th.
Conan the Barbarian #17 – releases November 27th.
Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #4 (of 4) – releases December 4th.
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
Love what you’re doing on Conan. Look forward to what’s next.
I'm reading the 2nd Thunderbolts epic collection, Wanted Dead or Alive, having loved the 1st. Would your run spoil much from the original run after issue #25, the last in this epic?