jimzub
Wanderer
a thief, a reaver, a slayer
Posts: 24
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Post by jimzub on Apr 14, 2021 19:23:22 GMT -5
Hey gang, My name is Jim Zub. I'm the current writer of Conan the Barbarian for Marvel Comics and have previously contributed writing to Savage Sword of Conan, Conan-Red Sonja, Conan: Serpent War, and Avengers: No Road Home (which includes our favorite Cimmerian). A member of one of the Robert E. Howard Facebook groups I'm on pointed me toward this forum and I was thrilled to see all the interest and engagement around the series. Whether you have compliments or critiques, knowing that you're reading and are so engaged with the character and his world means a lot to me. Thank you for your support. Anyway, I wanted to give people here a place to ask me questions about writing Conan or just feedback in general without side-lining the ongoing series thread that already exists. I'll answer as honestly as I can, though obviously there may be some subjects I can't cover in detail.   |
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Post by danieljames495 on Apr 14, 2021 19:54:23 GMT -5
Hey gang, My name is Jim Zub. I'm the current writer of Conan the Barbarian for Marvel Comics and have previously contributed writing to Savage Sword of Conan, Conan-Red Sonja, Conan: Serpent War, and Avengers: No Road Home (which includes our favorite Cimmerian). A member of one of the Robert E. Howard Facebook groups I'm on pointed me toward this forum and I was thrilled to see all the interest and engagement around the series. Whether you have compliments or critiques, knowing that you're reading and are so engaged with the character and his world means a lot to me. Thank you for your support. Anyway, I wanted to give people here a place to ask me questions about writing Conan or just feedback in general without side-lining the ongoing series thread that already exists. I'll answer as honestly as I can, though obviously there may be some subjects I can't cover in detail. Knowing that you take such an interest in our feedback is Great! I see your involvement in the community on Reddit as well. Looking forward to more of your work and also issue 300 of Conan the Barbarian! |
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Post by emerald on Apr 15, 2021 10:01:24 GMT -5
Hey gang, My name is Jim Zub. I'm the current writer of Conan the Barbarian for Marvel Comics and have previously contributed writing to Savage Sword of Conan, Conan-Red Sonja, Conan: Serpent War, and Avengers: No Road Home (which includes our favorite Cimmerian). A member of one of the Robert E. Howard Facebook groups I'm on pointed me toward this forum and I was thrilled to see all the interest and engagement around the series. Whether you have compliments or critiques, knowing that you're reading and are so engaged with the character and his world means a lot to me. Thank you for your support. Anyway, I wanted to give people here a place to ask me questions about writing Conan or just feedback in general without side-lining the ongoing series thread that already exists. I'll answer as honestly as I can, though obviously there may be some subjects I can't cover in detail. Hey, welcome to The Maul. It’s cool to find you here. I think issues #19 and #20 are the best Conan comics we’ve seen in a long time. Your enthusiasm for the character is well documented. I know there are a lot of variables involved, but do you see yourself sticking with the comic for the foreseeable future? Do you intend to follow, more or less, the chronological path you’ve set thus far? Will you continue to spin yarns a handful of issues long or can we expect a few one-shots or maybe even a sprawling multi-issue epic? If I was to request anything I’d hope to see a memorable villain or two. One who can survive a few clashes with the Cimmerian before being dispatched to his inevitable doom. I’m not talking about Thoth Amon/Yezdigerd level threats, but villains that endure more than an issue or two and provide the barbarian with a real challenge. Thanks. Keep it coming. |
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jimzub
Wanderer
a thief, a reaver, a slayer
Posts: 24
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Post by jimzub on Apr 15, 2021 10:26:10 GMT -5
Knowing that you take such an interest in our feedback is Great! I see your involvement in the community on Reddit as well. Looking forward to more of your work and also issue 300 of Conan the Barbarian! Thanks! I try to be approachable and honest about the work whenever possible. I know Conan and Robert E. Howard have a really committed and passionate fanbase that doesn't always see eye-to-eye but also want to encourage discourse and feedback. Better that than silence. All that said, the most potent thing fans can do is, if they like the current state of the series, buy the issues and buy the collections. Steady sales (or, even better, growing sales) speak louder than any online chatter. |
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jimzub
Wanderer
a thief, a reaver, a slayer
Posts: 24
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Post by jimzub on Apr 15, 2021 10:42:40 GMT -5
Hey, welcome to The Maul. It’s cool to find you here. I think issues #19 and #20 are the best Conan comics we’ve seen in a long time. Your enthusiasm for the character is well documented. I know there are a lot of variables involved, but do you see yourself sticking with the comic for the foreseeable future? Do you intend to follow, more or less, the chronological path you’ve set thus far? Will you continue to spin yarns a handful of issues long or can we expect a few one-shots or maybe even a sprawling multi-issue epic? If I was to request anything I’d hope to see a memorable villain or two. One who can survive a few clashes with the Cimmerian before being dispatched to his inevitable doom. I’m not talking about Thoth Amon/Yezdigerd level threats, but villains that endure more than an issue or two and provide the barbarian with a real challenge. Thanks so much! I'm really proud of The Gambler 3-part story in Savage Sword and feel that Into the Crucible (#13-16) and Curse of the Nightstar (#17-18) have parts that hit the way I hoped, but was also hampered by the pandemic in terms of schedule, production and release. All kinds of aspects out of our control, but we still managed to spin some pretty good yarns. Land of the Lotus (#19-23) is much more focused and delivering a lot more of what I hope for in the series and I'm really glad a lot of fans agree. I'm on Conan the Barbarian as long as Marvel will have me. At the start when I was offered the flagship book the editor gave me a verbal commitment for at least 2 years, but then the pandemic struck, the industry shuddered and we had a 6 month pause, so all of those original plans kind of went out the window. Having my first arc get broken up into two halves, release-wise, was obviously not how I wanted to start or a good way to build momentum. That's one of the reasons I've been banging the drum so hard on issue #19+ and the Into the Crucible trade. I want to clearly show the Powers That Be at Marvel that there's support for the series and fans like this current direction/creative team. If we can do that, it'll be a lot easier for me to stay on board for a good long run. Nothing speaks stronger than sales. I know a lot of current comic writers "write for the trade", stretching stuff out to 6 issues because that's a full book, but I'm trying to be more flexible and give stories the space I think they warrant: 4 issues, 2 issues, 6 issues, or whatever works. Threads will carry through from previous stories, but each one is also grounded enough that readers can come on board and not feel lost. Issue #24 was originally built as a one-shot, but now ties into #25 (legacy #300) in a neat way that worked out better than I expected. I do have plans for a new villain in year 2 of my run but, until we see how sales roll out for this arc and #300, I don't know for sure if I'll get to it. I'm cautiously optimistic but haven't received the green light just yet. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2021 10:52:26 GMT -5
Hey gang, My name is Jim Zub. I'm the current writer of Conan the Barbarian for Marvel Comics and have previously contributed writing to Savage Sword of Conan, Conan-Red Sonja, Conan: Serpent War, and Avengers: No Road Home (which includes our favorite Cimmerian). A member of one of the Robert E. Howard Facebook groups I'm on pointed me toward this forum and I was thrilled to see all the interest and engagement around the series. Whether you have compliments or critiques, knowing that you're reading and are so engaged with the character and his world means a lot to me. Thank you for your support. Anyway, I wanted to give people here a place to ask me questions about writing Conan or just feedback in general without side-lining the ongoing series thread that already exists. I'll answer as honestly as I can, though obviously there may be some subjects I can't cover in detail. By Crom, Erlik & Tengri! Welcome to the forum. |
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Post by robp on Apr 15, 2021 11:18:32 GMT -5
Props for being here, welcome!
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Post by johnnypt on Apr 15, 2021 12:47:05 GMT -5
Good stuff Jim, looking forward to more of it! Is the overall plan still to stick with original stories or will they think about a new take on one of the Howard stories if there's something interesting and different to do with it? Search up Black & Red on the site and you'll see what I mean  |
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Post by Char-Vell on Apr 15, 2021 13:31:50 GMT -5
Hello Jim, and welcome.
Any chance you can use your influence to get Marvel to hire Benito Gallego to draw a few issues?
Also, does anyone at the House of Ideas seem likely to back a return of the magazine-sized black and white Savage Sword of Conan.
Thanks!
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Post by danieljames495 on Apr 15, 2021 16:03:38 GMT -5
Good stuff Jim, looking forward to more of it! Is the overall plan still to stick with original stories or will they think about a new take on one of the Howard stories if there's something interesting and different to do with it? Search up Black & Red on the site and you'll see what I mean I second this motion. |
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jimzub
Wanderer
a thief, a reaver, a slayer
Posts: 24
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Post by jimzub on Apr 15, 2021 17:31:59 GMT -5
By Crom, Erlik & Tengri! Welcome to the forum. Thanks! Happy to be here. Props for being here, welcome! Thank you for the support! |
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jimzub
Wanderer
a thief, a reaver, a slayer
Posts: 24
|
Post by jimzub on Apr 15, 2021 17:35:19 GMT -5
Is the overall plan still to stick with original stories or will they think about a new take on one of the Howard stories if there's something interesting and different to do with it? Search up Black & Red on the site and you'll see what I mean Since Marvel has done multiple adaptations of the REH Conan stories in the past there isn't a big desire to retread those. I know Roy Thomas would sometimes adapt other Howard stories or even fantasy stories from other authors into Conan tales, but there's no plans to do that right now either. I have talked to my editor about another REH adaptation comic project, but I can't say any more than that right now. It's still very preliminary. |
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Post by Erik on Apr 15, 2021 17:38:13 GMT -5
Thanks for joining us, Jim! Really enjoying the series so far, and I'm glad to see it still going strong! Would you ever consider bringing back any of the old Marvel Conan allies, such as Isparana or Zula? I think it would be fun to see them again.
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jimzub
Wanderer
a thief, a reaver, a slayer
Posts: 24
|
Post by jimzub on Apr 15, 2021 17:45:07 GMT -5
Any chance you can use your influence to get Marvel to hire Benito Gallego to draw a few issues? Also, does anyone at the House of Ideas seem likely to back a return of the magazine-sized black and white Savage Sword of Conan. I've recommended quite a few artists already, but so far all of the artists on Conan stories I've written have been chosen by my editor and Conan Properties, not me. I don't have any say on who does main covers, variant covers or interiors. If there's an artist you think is perfect for the series, feel free to let me know but unfortunately I don't have any control on that part of the process. That said, I think Cory Smith is crushing it on the new story arc and we're meshing really well in terms of story + visuals. I'm hopeful he and I get to stay on for quite a while. My editor and I have been trying to get Savage Sword back in black + white (magazine-sized or regular) but so far it hasn't happened. The bean counters aren't convinced it will sell enough to be viable and, given the market in general right now, unfortunately that's probably true. If the flagship series is strong and special issues like King-size Conan do well it makes it far easier to pitch other ideas as well. There are people at Marvel who love the format, but that alone is not enough to overcome the financial risks involved right now. |
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jimzub
Wanderer
a thief, a reaver, a slayer
Posts: 24
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Post by jimzub on Apr 15, 2021 18:00:03 GMT -5
Thanks for joining us, Jim! Really enjoying the series so far, and I'm glad to see it still going strong! Would you ever consider bringing back any of the old Marvel Conan allies, such as Isparana or Zula? I think it would be fun to see them again. Thanks for the suggestion! It would be fun to have them appear in a future story, but I'm honestly not sure when it would work with my current plans. I am planning to move to different parts of the Conan timeline at some point, so that may be when it might fit best, as a 1 or 2-parter flashing back or forward back to that period of Conan's life. |
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