Jim Zub's Blog, page 17
February 12, 2024
Zubby Newsletter #49: Time Flies
Dungeons & Dragons posted a new 50th anniversary tribute video online and it was a nice little surprise to see Stacy and I briefly appear during a montage section of community moments.
I have so many incredible memories of that D&D Live event in Los Angeles. Mind boggling to me that it was almost five years ago.
At that moment, live TTRPG play games like Critical Role were taking off, Stranger Things was a cultural phenomenon, and it felt like the creative and corporate forces needed to shepherd a major brand like D&D were working in tandem, despite a growing awareness by the Powers That Be at Hasbro that they had a Golden Goose in their midst. I know that might just be pre-pandemic nostalgia, but the excitement and optimism that weekend really was contagious.
I hoped D&D Live would become an annual celebration I could be a part of, a way to bring together different fan and professional forces under a single tent of gaming and good times, but it didn’t work out that way. There’s still a lot to be proud of on the big anniversary, but quite a bit of melancholy as well. Controversies aplenty, impossible corporate benchmarks, and ruthless holiday layoffs have stolen some of the magic on what should have been a triumphant victory lap.
It’s also a distinct reminder to mark special moments when they happen, because they’ll slip through your fingers if you don’t.
Bound For Your Bookshelf
Speaking of marking big moments – This week, CONAN THE BARBARIAN Vol.1: BOUND IN BLACK STONE is available everywhere fine books are sold. Check out our new book trailer!
In bookstores you’ll find the cover by Dan Panosian. In direct market comic shops you can also choose covers by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau or Mike Mignola.
I know I sound like a broken record, but I am so incredibly proud of this book and thrilled at the response we’ve seen from readers, reviewers, and retailers. Thank you for reading and sharing your enthusiasm.
Traversing the StarsI spoke to Jeff Haas at Traversing the Stars all about writing Conan – The character’s literary legacy, working with an icon, collaborating with incredible artists, and more.
Talking Around the CampfireOn Sunday, February 25th just after 2pm EST I’ll be chatting with writer Kurtis Wiebe (Rat Queens) all about storytelling and creativity as part of the Campfire Stories online convention he and his crew at Vast Vision Publishing are putting together.
Vast Vision has a new Discord community where they’re assembling all kinds of different creative people from publishing and other media and they’ve already posted up a great interview with Nick Pitarra and legendary artist Frank Quietly you should check out.
On my Patreon you can now find the full script for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER #2.
Finder’s mysterious journey continues, right into Dungeonland! There are over 300 scripts available in my Patreon archive, available for the price of a fancy coffee.
Bluesky, a Twitter alternative, is now out of beta and open to the public. I’ve been there for a while, so if you’re making the move you can find me HERE.
• The Glass Cannon Network crew played the Marvel Multiverse RPG again and I couldn’t make it, but it looks like they had a blast anyways. The system is so good! I hope I get a chance to bust out big Marvel action with them again.
• On Friday I made Broccoli Tempura and it turned out great. Ordering tempura for takeout or delivery is always disappointing because it loses crispiness so fast if you don’t east it fresh, so learning to make it at home is a nice addition to my cooking skillset.
Have a great week!
Jim
February 11, 2024
Conan the Barbarian #7 Reviews
Our second story arc, Thrice Marked For Death continues. What did the critics think? Let’s find out-
• Black Comic Lords: “If you like sword and sandals-type stuff, this is the type of book for you. If you like the first Conan movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger, this is a book you will definitely enjoy.”
• Comic Book.com: 8/10 “The more recent issues have excelled at delivering on some fantastic supernatural elements. Conan the Barbarian #7 brings those things together for arguably the most compelling issue of the series so far.”
• Comical Opinions: 9/10 “For Conan fans, this comic has it all – a deep, gritty, dark, thought-provoking atmosphere, intense swordplay, and ample gore. Jim Zub’s writing captures the essence of a serious, no-nonsense Conan.”
• Infinity Flux: “Just continues to be awesome…The art continues to be fantastic.”
• League of Comic Geeks: 10/10 “Great story telling both with art and words. This is exactly what I want from my Conan comics and they’re delivering! Keep this up and I’ll never leave!”
• My Kind Of Weird: “The colors and vibrancy alone waste no time transforming this Conan the Barbarian story arc from a fantasy story of swords and steel into a horror-fantasy epic that pulls absolutely no punches…It’s absolutely outstanding and is something you should pick up when it’s released.”
• Pop Culture Philosophers: “Another super-satisfying issue of Conan the Barbarian. The writer, Jim zub, has done a fantastic job of capturing that old school feel with a bit of a modern approach…I’m just super diggin’ it.”
• Stygian Dogs: “Yet another fantastic issue. What else can I say? Jim Zub has given us something incredibly dark and violent, taking his time over 3 issues to set up further mystery, including that ultimate name drop…This readers can’t wait.”
• Thinking Critical: “I do love that we’ve got great action, great blood, and some hot chicks…The cliffhanger at the end of this, I flippin’ love! I cannot wait to see where we go to next. I cannot recommend it enough.”
• Todd Luck: “The artwork on the inside continues to be fantastic. The writing continues to be solid. This is a dark, bloody tale.”
• Wakizashi’s Teahouse: 9.5/10 “I couldn’t stop reading it! It was so, so good…This is one of the best series being published. It’s a huge recommend.”
February 5, 2024
Zubby Newsletter #48: Dungeons For Dinner
Over the weekend, Stacy and I watched all six of the released Delicious in Dungeon episodes out so far on Netflix and it is a strangely accurate representation of an actual Dungeons & Dragons campaign-
Foolish characters with poor impulse control doing weird stuff and losing track of the core plot while they obsess over random encounters. 
Like many anime series, you have to buy into the trope-y character parts, otherwise it’s a non-starter.
That said, the creature ecology and cooking bits are fun and the rest bounces between cliche and amusing. Almost every episode had a part where I thought “That’s inventive and interesting” and another part where I thought “That is absolutely moronic”.
Again, I must stress how accurate this is to tabletop gaming with friends. Improv at the table can be ridiculously brilliant or just ridiculous, usually multiple times per session. Kudos to manga creator Ryōko Kui on capturing that vibe.
Delicious In Dungeon is low stakes silly fantasy fare obsessed with food. If you go in expecting a cute-silly anime and RPG-style logic, you’ll probably have a good time.
Format and First Impressions
Speaking of anime and manga, over on my site, I recently posted up a new tutorial article called Don’t Fight the Format, all about manga pacing and making sure a story is paced and priced properly for your intended audience.
When I was first getting rolling with my comic writing career I posted up all kinds of different tutorials and there are over 50 of them for free on my site if you’re interested in a behind the scenes look on how comics are made.
Comic ChatterWith the imminent arrival of Conan the Barbarian Vol. 1: Bound in Black Stone, I’ve been promoting the series in recent interviews-
It was an absolute pleasure returning to the mighty Cromcast to talk all about how the Conan relaunch went and big plans for the future. The enthusiasm those guys have for all things Robert E. Howard is electric and it’s a great conversation. Make sure you give it a listen.
Then I spoke to World At War Comics about my career as a whole, how I got my start, and the things I’ve learned making comics, and going to conventions. Lots of great discussion here too.
Lastly, I received a Golden Grant award from Geek Hard and J. Torres presented me with it during the latest episode of their podcast. If you want to pop ahead to our chat, it starts at the 31 minute mark of the episode.
• Want to see superstar Conan the Barbarian artist Rob de la Torre sketch our favorite Cimmerian? Damn right you do.
• Katie Cook (My Little Pony, Nothing Special) and I are bringing back our annual . The gut-wrenching embarrassing tradition continues!
Have a great week!
Jim
February 2, 2024
Don’t Fight the Format
I’ve recently read some comics that are clearly influenced by manga and webtoon, which is not a bad thing at all, but when coupled with their format, release schedule, and price point it makes things more difficult.
Manga or webtoons with a more rapid release schedule can lavish page-panel count on small moments or more drawn out plot movement per chapter because of their frequency. The readership gets a steady flow of material to keep them on board and invested.
In addition, the price point on manga or webtoon per chapter is either incredibly low or free. Even if a reader occasionally feels like things are moving sluggishly, the overall frequency and value is more than worth it.
If your comic intended for North American comic shops has 20 pages of sloo~oow burn introduction for $3, $4 or more, it’s a much harder ask for that audience/that frequency/that price point.
Many manga settle into a drawn out storytelling style/pacing after they introduce a killer hook at the start:
• An incredibly charismatic main character.
• An unusual premise.
• A wild genre twist.
• A deeply compelling mystery.
• A bombastic art style.
Some of these awkwardly paced comics I’ve recently read come off the starting blocks decompressed out the wazoo but haven’t established enough engagement to earn my interest, loyalty, or money.
You’re giving me the storytelling equivalent of the dramatic slow burn first 10 minutes of a movie, charging me $4 and telling me I’ll get 15-20 minutes more…in a month.
If you have a self-contained graphic novel with 140+ pages you can absolutely use 10+ pages to slowly ease us into a sense of place or set up the mundane before something engaging happens. I have the whole story, I’m in for the whole ride. If that same concept makes up half of an opening issue and that’s all I get for my cover price this month, you’ve probably lost me.
First impressions are everything and format-pacing is a huge part of that impression.
You may have an epic long term story in mind, but you’ll never get to it if the value vs entertainment doesn’t work.
If you want that slow burn, maybe you need a ‘stinger’ style opening instead. Every story is different, but it’s something to consider. Think James Bond or Raiders of the Lost Ark – give us a bombastic opening before you settle in for the simmer.
When I pace out a 20-24 page issue, I write a numbered list so I can easily see how much space each part takes up and account for each page, page turn, and scene. Every damn page has to justify its existence – what happens, what do we learn, what gets revealed? On a single issue, I’ve got those 20 pages to earn the reader’s trust and cover price.
If I write a longer graphic novel, I can slow that down and pace information/mood/reveals over larger blocks of pages and scenes. If it’s a short story, I have to double or triple stack info/reveals far more, stripping away all extraneous stuff to focus the value-per-page.
Format determines pacing.
Don’t forget that genre and intent matters too!
If you’re writing a horror story, how many pages deliver dread, mystery, violence, shock?
The same goes for a romance, action-adventure, fantasy, or any other genre.
Are you dedicating enough of your page count to the core experience your readership expects?
Some of these poorly paced comics I’m reading feel like they’re actively fighting against their format, their genre, or their audience.
Surprising a reader with more than they expect is good. Actively giving them none of the promise of the premise is deeply unsatisfying, especially if this is the first issue!
I get it, the more well worn the genre and tropes are, the harder it can be to escape those confines.
How do you give people what they want and surprise them?
How do you deliver something familiar and new?
That’s the struggle.
No, not “struggle” – Challenge.
It’s a challenge you work to overcome.
Your try to please yourself and deliver the goods in a way that works with the story, genre, format, schedule, price point, budget, and audience.
And, if it’s a monthly comic series or weekly manga – you have to do it on 4-5 issues/chapters simultaneously in different stages of the production pipeline. As one goes out, another one enters.
That’s the job.
Get to work.
If you found this post helpful, feel free to let me know here (or on Twitter), share the post with your friends and consider buying some of my comics or donating to my Patreon to show your support for me writing this tutorial post instead of doing paying work. 
January 29, 2024
Zub Comics Arriving April 2024
CONAN BARBARIAN #10
(W) Jim Zub
(A) Rob De La Torre
Cover A – Alan Quah
Cover B – Erik Gist
Cover C – Rob de la Torre
Cover D – David Aja
In Shops: Apr 24, 2024
BEYOND FLESH. BEYOND DEATH. BEYOND TIME.
Conan has traveled far and seen much in his legendary journeys, but nothing he has experienced thus far can prepare him for a quest to lands beyond to answer dark riddles of the past.
Unexpected allies await, fierce enemies loom, and the strange power of the Black Stone stirs in THE AGE UNCONQUERED!
The triumphant new era of Conan continues in this a brand-new tale of brutal heroic adventure from acclaimed creators Jim Zub (Avengers, Dungeons & Dragons) and Rob de la Torre (Invincible Iron Man, King-Size Conan)!
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: THE THIEF OF MANY THINGS
(W) Ellen Boener & Jim Zub
(A) Eduardo Mello
Cover A – Max Dunbar
Cover B – Jesse Lonergan
68 Pages • $9.99
The Deck of Many Things is the most infamous item in the Dungeons & Dragons canon. Any one of its cards could throw the world into chaos or, in the wrong hands, end it all together. This mega one-shot reveals fresh lore tied to the Book of Many Things Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook and brings the legends of the Deck to life. Our quest follows two ex-romantic rivals who team up to steal the cards, risking everything for the chance to save the lover they lost.
Dungeons & Dragons icon Jim Zub (Rick & Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons, Uncanny Avengers, Conan) joins forces with up-and-coming writer Ellen Boener (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves—The Feast of the Moon) and artist Eduardo Mello (Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker, DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War) for this new Baldur’s Gate tale.
SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #2
(W) Jim Zub, Patch Zircher
(A) Patch Zircher, Richard Pace
Cover A – Dave Dorman
Cover B – Nick Marinkovich
In Shops: Apr 24, 2024
THE RETURN OF A CULT CLASSIC TITLE!
THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN continues its triumphant return from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics!
Featuring a new CONAN epic from writer Jim Zub and artist Richard Pace, the exciting continuation of writer/artist Patch Zircher‘s SOLOMON KANE tale, spectacular covers from Dave Dorman and Nick Marinkovich, jaw-dropping art pin-ups, and more, THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #2 is an onslaught of awe-inspiring adventure.
Zubby Newsletter #47: Savage Stirrings
Superhero Hype has more preview artwork from SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #1, the magazine-sized black & white epic that launches in late February. I have a short prose story in the first issue and comic stories and more in upcoming installments.
Heroic Signatures and Titan are currently lining up six issues (released every other month) worth of content, but if sales numbers are solid they’ll keep it going, so make sure you get your pre-order in now.
Near Mint ConditionA week ago I had a great time chatting with the Uncanny Omar from Near Mint Condition and answering questions on their livestream. So many Conan fans popped by!
Anecdotes and answers aplenty HERE.
A slew of new fantasy comics have been announced recently. It really feels like we’re moving into a new era of sword & sorcery comic storytelling. A few notable ones that have popped up on my radar-
• When the Blood Has Dried from writer Gary Moloney, artist Daniel Romero Ulloa, and letterer Becca Carey, with a main cover by Marco Rudy published by Mad Cave Studios arrives April 3rd.
• Heartpiercer from writer Rich Douek and artist Gavin Smith published by Dark Horse Comics arrives May 15th.
• I’m also thoroughly enjoying The Hunger and the Dusk series by writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Christian Wildgoose published by IDW, which launched in 2023. Five issues are available so far.
Current + Upcoming Releases
Convention season 2024 is finally getting going! I’ll add more as events get confirmed, but here are 3 events to get things started-
• Comic creator Rob Guillory has a new YouTube channel and it’s off to a solid start. Looking forward to seeing what he posts up next.
• Cartographer and artist Mike Schley has a Patreon called The Epic Atlas where he posts up incredible maps and fantasy art. Well worth checking out.
• Snipe and Wib discuss the unusual origin of the Githyanki in Dungeons & Dragons.
Jim
January 21, 2024
Zubby Newsletter #46: Definitely On Board
Last week, the latest Kickstarter campaign for the Conan Board Game by Monolith launched, based on Red Nails, one of the finest Robert E. Howard Conan tales, and it’s been crushing its way through stretch goals aplenty. Although the campaign has a bunch of new material available, they also have a ‘New Recruit’ pledge so you can get the original game flush with extras as well.
Obviously, I have a vested interest in all things Conan right now but, honestly, I think the board game is great on its own merits, and I enjoyed playing the heck out of it even before I started writing Conan on a regular basis. This isn’t a sponsored thing. I’m not being paid for this and Monolith doesn’t know ahead of time that I’m putting this ramble together.
Let me tell you why I think it’s good stuff-
Conan is a skirmish-style board game for 1-5 players. In the base game, one person takes on the role of the Overlord and controls the creatures, traps, and other trouble in the game. The other players are heroes of the Hyborian Age – usually Conan and his allies – on a mission to stop the Overlord’s machinations. After the initial release, Monolith released rules that can automate the Overlord role allowing full co-op and even solo play if that’s something that interests you.
The game design, rules, and different scenarios do a wonderful job at creating a proper atmosphere for big bloody adventures in a world where survival or slaughter are a sword stroke away.
Each turn, players have to decide if they’re going to store up their energy or go for broke with bold movement and attacks. Instead of being stuck with arbitrary turn order and sometimes not knowing what your allies are doing until after you get to go, player actions happen in any order. That means you can send a character into a dangerous situation, see how it goes, and then adjust strategy based on how the dice roll. This keeps everyone at the table engaged as they look for ways to play off each other and assist instead of players feeling disconnected as they take their turns.
The best defense tends to be a strong offense, but you also need to hold some energy back to protect yourself because damage taken equals energy lost. Getting hurt doesn’t just tick down a pool of hit points, it lowers the overall pool of energy your character has access to for the rest of the game (unless you find healing, which is few and far between). The push and pull of offense vs defense, when to unleash brutal attacks and when to back off or protect your allies, keeps things dynamic as each mission plays out.
There are a bunch of different missions in the Conan base game, a lot more free ones online, and even more with expansion material released since the game launched in 2015. Some missions are assaults where the players attack the enemy in their lair. Others are defensive, with the players protecting a location from invading hordes, assassins, or creatures. There are escort quests, treasure hunts, creature ambushes, bar brawls, and a lot more.
The base game started with missions that were all done-in-one play session, but now there are also missions that link together to tell a larger story. I’ve run scenarios for board game enthusiasts and friends who aren’t into TTRPGs and they had an absolute blast kicking down doors, gathering items, and slaying evil.
The artwork is top notch, the boards and counters are evocative, and the multitude of miniatures are really high quality. I’m obviously crazy-busy right now, but I’m looking to carve out some time this summer to start painting the characters, creatures, and bad guys aplenty so my set has even more ‘table presence’.
That said, even if you’re not up for painting, the sculpts look sharp. When you put a Giant Snake or Dark Demon on the table, it gets a great reaction.
Alright, hopefully that overview gets you pumped for Hyborian Age adventures at the table. If you need more info on how the game plays and what it looks like, check out these videos – one and two. I’m excited to crack open the new set when it arrives.
There’s only one week left to back the campaign and get a Conanza of extra stuff.
Conan Previews Aplenty!Speaking of Conan-
• Kabooooom has preview pages and an advance review of CONAN THE BARBARIAN #7 (and they gave it a 5/5!).
• Newsarama revealed advance artwork for CONAN THE BARBARIAN #8 with interior pages by Doug Braithwaite and covers by Ashleigh Izienicki, Patch Zircher and Greg Broadmore.
• Popverse revealed cover artwork for CONAN THE BARBARIAN #10 by Rob De La Torre, Alan Quah, Erik Gist, and David Aja.
• Patch Zircher spoke to David Brooke at AIPT all about working on Solomon Kane as part of the new Savage Sword of Conan series, and in that same interview they revealed fantastic new cover art for SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #2 by Dave Dorman and Nick Marinkovich.
The Thief Many Things Arrives in April!
I thought Fortune Finder might be my last D&D comic for the foreseeable future, but in April there’s one more in the mix.
Ellen Boener (writer of the recent Feast of the Moon D&D movie tie-in story) and I came up with a wild one-shot story with D&D’s infamous Deck of Many Things, a magical artifact that can create or destroy in an instant. Ellen took that core and has scripted up a tale of bombastic adventure and breathtaking betrayal. Eduardo Mello, who absolutely crushed it on the D&D: Mindbreaker mini-series I wrote, is back illustrating this one and delivers the best pages of his career so far.
Look for it in April. Solicit info below-
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: THE THIEF OF MANY THINGS
STORY: ELLEN BOENER & JIM ZUB
ARTIST: EDUARDO MELLO
COVER A: MAX DUNBAR
COVER B: JESSE LONERGAN
68 Pages • $9.99 • APRIL 2024
The Deck of Many Things is the most infamous item in the Dungeons & Dragons canon. Any one of its cards could throw the world into chaos or, in the wrong hands, end it all together. This mega one-shot reveals fresh lore tied to the Book of Many Things Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook and brings the legends of the Deck to life.
Our quest follows two ex-romantic rivals who team up to steal the cards, risking everything for the chance to save the lover they lost.
Dungeons & Dragons icon Jim Zub (Rick & Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons, Uncanny Avengers, Conan) joins forces with up-and-coming writer Ellen Boener (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves—The Feast of the Moon) and artist Eduardo Mello (Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker, DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War) for this new Baldur’s Gate tale.
Oshawa is…Gone?For years, Ed Brisson and I have joked about which of us was the more ‘famous’ comic creator from Oshawa, Ontario, “The City That Moto-vates Canada”. Ed’s now put his thumb on the scales in a way I can’t match by making Oshawa the core of his latest creator-owned series.
Well played, Brisson.
As always, Ed delivers a compelling story, grounded characters, and a killer hook, and the art by Luca Casalanguida and Dee Cunniffe looks great…I’m not jealous at all.
Pre-order cut-off on The Displaced #1 is Monday, January 22nd, so let your local shop know you want one…even if you’re not from Oshawa. 
• Who is the most popular American to ever work in comic books? Matttt has the answer and it’s ridiculously compelling. This guy’s YouTube Channel doesn’t have many videos, but every single one of them is a banger.
• This CBC News report on the ways food companies pass along costs to customers summarizes a lot of good info. With grocery costs on the rise, it’s good to keep an eye out for these manipulative changes so you can make more informed choices.
Have a wonderful week,
Jim
January 15, 2024
Zubby Newsletter #45: Get ‘Er Done
The above flowchart meme has been floating around and a lot of people empathize with it for good reason. It encompasses a common unhealthy cycle that creative people can get pulled into.
If something is a hobby or just experimentation, have fun exploring things without finishing them. Seriously– no worries or guilt required.
If you intend to make a career out of something – finishing is crucial.
Finishing things, releasing them out into the world, evaluating the results (of both the work and release), learning from it, and then doing more is the loop you need to look for. No one is perfect and there are times when you need to cut your losses and move on from a project, but wherever possible you want to complete the work to get the most from it.
I completely understand jokes about avoiding that step, and I’ve absolutely been there, but don’t let memes dictate your end result.
If you consistently struggle with completing the work, you may be starting too big. Make the scope smaller so you can see it through, and build up momentum for larger-longer projects.
At the start-
Short stories instead of novels.
Focused studies instead of large rendered images.
If it’s a collaboration with other people, this also gives you the chance to finish something together and evaluate how that worked – quality, communication, etc. It’s the equivalent of a couple dates before a long committed relationship.
If I want to be a marathon runner, I don’t buy running shoes and then immediately try to go 5km. People usually understand this when it comes to physical training, but rarely frame other skills, especially creative ones, in the same way.
Start small, build the habit and results, and then push forward with more ambition.
Sometimes the small thing becomes a ‘proof of concept’ for a bigger project. Other times you realize you just needed to get the small one out of your system and its fine on its own. Either way, you will benefit from a better creation cycle.
Transcribing The ProcessThat exact subject, building things and finishing them, is a big part of a discussion I had with Kieron Gillen a couple years ago. In the midst of lockdown I reached out to several comic professionals and chatted with them about their work and influences, and then posted those interviews to my YouTube channel along with other comic writing tutorials. The talk I had with Kieron is one of my favorites, but there’s always been a barrier for people when watching it – Between Kieron’s accent and the speed at which he talks, it can be dizzying at times trying to keep up.
Good news – over the past few weeks I painstakingly went through the auto-generated transcript for that video on YouTube and overhauled it so every comic, gaming or philosophy reference Kieron brings up is now clear in the closed captions.
We cover a LOT – the do-it-yourself culture of indie comics, getting started, the stresses of working on commercial properties, British comics, superhero books, the magic of tabletop RPGs, and I include samples of Kieron’s indie work no longer available and excerpts from some of his creator-owned comic scripts so you can see how he writes.
If you have some time, I highly recommend you give it a watch and, if Kieron’s going too fast, turn on the closed captions and enjoy-
Over on my Patreon, I just posted the full script to Conan the Barbarian #21 (legacy #296), released in 2021. Part 3 of Land of the Lotus is jam-packed with action and supernatural fury, including this-
Learn how comics are made for the price of a coffee. There are over 300 scripts in my Patreon archive.
Ukrainian Comfort FoodIn past newsletters I’ve included a few of my recipes. Click here and scroll down for –
Grandma’s Pierogies, Japanese Chicken Karaage, or Garlic Lemon Pasta with Salmon.
This time-
Cabbage Rolls (Holubtsi)Over the weekend I went on a Ukrainian comfort food cooking binge. On Saturday, we made a huge batch of cheesy potato pierogis, and on Sunday, for the first time, I made cabbage rolls and they turned out really good! My pierogi recipe is pretty strict to my grandma’s method, while here on the cabbage rolls I went a bit rogue and amalgamated some techniques I saw in a few cooking videos into the mix.
• 1 cabbage (Napa cabbage works really well, but any is fine)
• 3/4 lb. ground beef
• 1/4 lb. ground pork (or pork loin cut into tiny pieces)
• 1 and a half cups of white rice
• 3 cups of pureed tomatoes/tomato sauce
• Half a large white onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• olive oil/butter
• spices: salt, pepper, basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, paprika
1. Cook up a batch of rice and let it mostly cool off.
2. While that rice is cooking, chop up the half onion into a small dice and mince the garlic.
3. Sauté the onion in olive oil or butter in a non-stick pan for 4 minutes, then add the minced garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
4. If you’re using Napa cabbage, carefully peel off 16-18 outer leaves and blanch them in a pot of simmering water for 10 minutes. If you’re using regular cabbage, you’ll need to carefully cut the root-core out and dunk the cabbage top-down in a pot of boiling water and cover the top, simmering it for 10-12 minutes.
5. While the cabbage is steaming, mix together your cooked onion and garlic with the raw ground meat, cooked rice, a 1/4 cup of tomato sauce, and spices galore – pepper, salt, basil, oregano, thyme, paprika, and a big swack of chopped up parsley. If you’re worried about your ability to measure the filling equally, portion them out into mounds based on how many cabbage rolls you want to make.
6. Carefully pull the cabbage leaves from the water and shake off excess water. If it’s a regular cabbage, you’ll need to carefully peel the leaves off at this stage.
7. Pre-heat your oven to 350° F.
8. In a 9″ x 12″ baking dish (or any casserole dish/oven safe dish), ladle in 1/4 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom.
9. Lay a leaf out, add a mound of filling about 1/3 of the way into the cabbage leaf, then tuck in the sides and roll it toward the 2/3 section, like a very small burrito. For me, this is where the Napa cabbage leaves prove their worth because their long shape makes rolling very easy. Place that roll in your casserole dish and, as you finish each one, tuck it in next to the others until your dish is packed.
10. Ladle the rest of the tomato sauce over the assembled rolls.
11. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place it on a baking sheet (just in case it bubbles over) and then place it all in the 350° F oven.
12. Bake for 90 minutes.
13. Pull your baking dish out of the oven, remove foil, and let stand for 5 minutes or so before scooping each roll out and serving!
Leftovers can be wrapped in aluminum foil and frozen, so you can just pop the foil back in the oven to reheat and enjoy again.
Current + Upcoming Releases
• Colleen Doran continues to post all kinds of incredible advice in her newsletter, most of it framed through her experiences in the comic industry over decades of hard work. Her recent ones about the perils of fame and people’s assumptions are top notch.
• Samwise pointed me toward The Cybrarian, a YouTube channel with dramatic readings of pulp stories by Robert E. Howard. I’ve only had time to listen to a couple so far, and they were quite sharp.
Have a wonderful week,
Jim
January 9, 2024
Zubby Newsletter #44: Pull the Ripcord
Late last week I walked away from an unannounced and unfinished project. I’m pretty sure that’s a first for me.
(No, I won’t publicly say what it was and probably never will. I’m not here to sling mud. There are a lot of wonderful people involved who did great work and they don’t deserve any more stress than they’ve already got.)
In some ways, it’s a good thing – a signal to myself that there is actually a limit in terms of how much I’m willing to be yanked around before the time-money-hassle equation no longer adds up.
Of course, my pragmatic freelancer-fueled brain tried to fight me every step of the way. I had a hard enough time convincing it that I could turn down work from time to time even if a project wasn’t a good fit, the schedule was too tight, or the pay involved was insultingly low, but this…this was different – it was a great fit, the original schedule worked fine, and the pay was in my range…but then the whole thing slid into chaos.
When you contribute to licensed properties, obviously, the licensor gets approval. I know the drill and I work damn hard doing the research and bringing the things I do well into the mix while fitting within the confines of an existing IP. I’ve done it dozens of times on plenty of well known properties.
I’ve also done my fair share of revisions and rewrites. I don’t think my words are sacrosanct or unchangeable, by any means. I deeply appreciate editorial and licensor feedback to make sure we all have something we’re proud of when the finished project is out there in the world.
But, in this case – I was almost done writing, multiple scripts were approved, and there was finished art well underway when we were suddenly told that everything our team had done was now “unapproved” and we needed to start from scratch – That’s just unnecessary, unprofessional, and I can’t trust anything you tell me going forward.
Why even have ‘approvals’ if they don’t mean anything?It became pretty clear that the people reviewing the work had changed and the licensor no longer wanted this project to exist at all. It was a vestigial limb hopelessly dragging behind a previously agreed upon deal. I had to decide if I was going to pull it all back to the starting blocks and bitterly try to figure out the moving target of their expectations or step away and use my time and effort more productively. I chose the latter and, despite some twinges of freelancer guilt, I’m glad I did. The Zub of 5 or 6 years ago might have made a different decision and it would have been ulcer-inducing.
I don’t know if this is a sign of success, but it’s certainly a sign that I know what I bring to a project and that I’m willing to communicate that more clearly, in any case. Every creative career has highs and lows (and lows, and lows…), and I’m thankful that, at this moment, I have the freedom to make this choice and lean into other projects that engage and challenge me without breaking my brain.
Cover art by Joe Jusko. Logo by Dan Panosian. Pre-order now!A Savage StorySpeaking of challenges, this week I finalized my prose piece for Savage Sword of Conan #1. Marinating in Robert E. Howard’s famous fiction before I tried to rock out a short story of my own for the Cimmerian was suitably humbling, in all kinds of good ways. Summoning a scene without an artist to make me look good is a much different prospect and flexes a whole different set of creative muscles.
I have never taken any formal writing classes. I did a swack of Creative Writing in high school and learned some script writing when I took a year of Film & Multimedia before I started Classical Animation, but the rest of my ‘training’ has been reading about the craft and putting my own work out into the world; improving story by story and project by project. With my art background, the visual rhythm of animation and comics make the most sense to me. They’re where I feel most comfortable. I love the visual medium and love collaborating with artists.
Stripping everything back to the primacy of prose exposes a lot more of my imposter syndrome. I struggle to quiet that inner critic because I can’t point at the great art and tell it to shut up. It’s just my words sitting out there exposed on the page and either it grabs the reader’s imagination or it doesn’t.
I can write emails, blogposts, tutorials, curriculum, critique, pitches, ad copy, art notes, informal descriptions, and dialogue aplenty but, you know, that’s not ‘real’ writing. That’s not the power of the written word to weave worlds of wonder.
I wrote a Conan short story and, this time, it’s just me.
It’s very pulpy and punchy and I like it, even though it felt strange as a process. (Not bad, mind you, just strange.) People who edit this stuff for a living have read it and liked it and I’m being paid for it, so either they’re all lying because they don’t want to hurt my feelings, or I did okay.
It’s called “Sacrifice in the Sand”, it’s based on Joe Jusko’s gorgeous cover art and, when the big first issue of our mighty magazine hits stores in late February, readers get to decide if it hit the mark or not.
Either way, let me know.
And Yet, More AdviceDespite me exposing my fiction fears, I’m still out here writing advice to people who want to pursue a comic writing career. Ridiculous!
The latest tutorial, added to the pile of over 50 free tutorial posts on my website, is all about starting with “No Experience.“
Give it a read and, if you find it helpful, feel free to share it around.
We Sold Out – Again!Conan the Barbarian #6 arrived in stores last week. Readers seemed to really like it and the pent up demand (it had been delayed two weeks after shipping problems) blew reorders past the overprint, which means there’s a 2nd print coming at the end of the month, with a line art version of the stunning cover art by Jae Lee.
We’re now in the rare position of having sales rise as the series continues, which is an incredible vote of confidence for our team’s hard work. Thank you once again and please keep reading!
Despite the fact that I’m a quitter, a sham, quite ridiculous, and a sellout, I also can’t shut up when it comes to talking about my work and the craft.
On the latest episode of the Comic Shenanigans podcast, I spoke to Adam Chapman all about working with Tom Brevoort at Marvel, the comic writing process, and relaunching Conan the Barbarian at Titan.
For Conan fans, the Hyborian chatter starts at around the 22 minute mark. At the 37 minute mark I talk about my Marvel run of Conan issues and reflect on what I did well, things I still needed to learn, and things that were out of our control.
It’s always a pleasure talking with Adam. He’s enthusiastic, well researched, and subtly moves the conversation into some great places. Give it a listen and feel free to check out past interview episodes I link to below-
Episode 368: Thunderbolts and More
Episode 794: Agents of Wakanda, Conan the Barbarian, and More
Episode 986: Conan, Thunderbolts, and Life Of Wolverine
• Chaosium has a Humble Bundle going for a huge PDF collection of Call of Cthulhu tabletop RPG material at a fraction of its normal cover price. If you’ve ever wanted to run or play a Lovecraftian RPG, this might be the right time to dig in.
• I can get behind Jon Purkis’ list of 50 Rules For Board Game Etiquette. Lots of great stuff in there.
That should do it for this week.
Jim
January 5, 2024
Conan the Barbarian #6 Reviews
Our second story arc, Thrice Marked For Death continues as we hit the midpoint of our story.
What did the critics think? Let’s find out-
• ComicBook.com: 8/10 “Mixing the old school, barbaric violence with green and ghoulish supernatural elements is just a killer combo for Conan.”
• Comical Opinions: 9.5/10 “-a pitch-perfect example of a classic Conan adventure. Zub combines brutal action with supernatural evil for a rousing tale. Likewise, Braithwaite’s artistic style suits the Cimmerian and his exploits to a tee.”
• Comicon: 10/10 “the saga unfolds with a brilliant narrative of the stoic Cimmerian navigating and triumphing over the forces of darkness and horrors from the strange beyond. Yet, amidst these epic struggles, Jim Zub skillfully emphasizes that the one constant our hero cannot elude is the haunting specter of his own past.”
• Grimdark Magazine: “issue 6 answers some questions while raising several more. I’m excited to learn more about the black stone and its ghostly servants, and I hope to continue to see Conan’s past with Bêlit influence his current adventure.”
• Hither Came Conan: “This issue was just brutal. Very violent, very bloody. There were boobies, and it really earned the ‘Mature Readers’ warning on the cover.”
• Infinity Flux: “The art is fantastic. There’s some great action in here and the dialogue feels classic…Another great issue of a classic-feeling run.”
• My Kind of Weird: “This isn’t just a comic book issue. This is a f**king experience…Conan the Barbarian #6 is an adrenalin-filled heist adventure that leaves us with a climax that will demand the purchase of issue #7.”
• Pop Culture Philosophers: “If you are a Conan fan, this is the best Conan book in years, if not decades. This is awesome, awesome stuff.”
• Set The Tape: 10/10 “This is by far the best comic in the series so far; a glorious read from start to finish. It cannot be recommended highly enough.”
• Stygian Dogs: “I am decidedly enthusiastic about Doug Braithwaite and Diego Rodriguez’s work on this second arc. I can’t get enough…In many ways, issue #6 may be my favorite so far.”
