Zubby Newsletter #90: A Scourge in the Works
Announced on Tuesday, Conan the Barbarian charges into Free Comic Book Day on May 3rd, 2025 with a special FREE prequel issue for our next mythic storyline – SCOURGE OF THE SERPENT!
The serpent god’s influence tightens its coils around the Hyborian Age and every other age linked to it. Three stunning supernatural stories will spiral together to answer a chilling question framed in past and present—What is Set’s grand plan for humanity and, now that it has begun, can it be stopped?
Ivan Gil is our interior artist on this FCBD issue (and accompanying event). You may not know Ivan’s name now, but he’s been doing wonderful work in the European graphic novel market and he’s definitely going to turn some heads with the inspired Conan art he’s putting together here. Make sure your local comic retailer is participating in Free Comic Book Day and secure your copy because, just like in 2023 and 2024, I suspect copies of this issue are going to vanish quickly on release day.
The conclusion to Battle of the Black Stone (arriving in stores Dec 4th) completes an epic adventure that began in 2023 with Conan the Barbarian #0. Now we’re ready to move into a new stage of this grand journey.
Obviously there will be a lot more details to come, especially once Battle of the Black Stone #4 is out in the world and readers can start theorizing about plot points revealed there. Until then, all you need to know is that the new Age of High Adventure will keep going strong in 2025 thanks to your support!
Current + Upcoming Releases
Conan the Barbarian #16 – released October 23rd.
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 Nov 19th.
Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #4 (of 4) – releases 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.
Upcoming Appearances
Remember just a few days ago when I said my 2024 signing events were all done?
Zdarsky has made me a liar:
Comiccompscon24 is happening at the RAID Studio in Toronto on Dec 14th and I’ll be there!
Bring your other Zub comics to get signed if you want but, more importantly, help me clear out space in my studio by buying a slew of single issues.
Links and Other Things
• Todd Klein has a great blogpost from last year all about comic book logo design. Well worth checking out.
• RPG Developer and writer Matt John talked to the official Conan the Barbarian YouTube channel all about the new Conan: The Hyborian Age TTRPG.
• Here’s a timelapse video of Jonas Scharf pencilling and inking a page from Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #3.
• Spanish YouTube channel Sanctuary of Comics has an extensive interview in English with Jeff Shanks, the Robert E. Howard scholar who writes essays in the back of each new issue of Conan the Barbarian.
• Jared Henderson talks about why everyone stopped reading books, including college students enrolled in english and writing programs. Anecdotal, but it does line up with what I’ve been seeing as well.
Jim
EVERYTHING MUST GO!!!
Enjoying the work I read. In the New Year , I'm taking a break from comics. I need time to reflect on my lost. I need to focus on other things but I'll still continue listening and reading on the industry. The stories, the art, and the imagination gives the reader perspective on the world the writer creates. I like entering a world unknown and being entertained with a journey.