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Post by hun on Sept 9, 2023 3:51:19 GMT -5
Nice Braithwaite Black and White variant for issue 3:  |
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Post by hun on Dec 9, 2023 23:37:54 GMT -5
This is the 1st negative review of the new series (a little too harsh in my opinion):
Jim Zub is ruining Conan
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Post by johnnypt on Dec 10, 2023 5:30:21 GMT -5
This is the 1st negative review of the new series (a little too harsh in my opinion): Jim Zub is ruining Conan Very confusing, and unfocused. Other than saying he doesn’t like Zub, not sure what he’s really looking for. Unfortunately my plans for a video review series have had to be revised due to my complete lack of time. My larger Conan of the comics podcast episode has also had to take a backseat and instead I’ll do a brief recap of the first arc. The main reason is my Left Turn at Albuquerque video series has unexpectedly taken off (to some extent). The latest episode from two weeks ago already has twice as many viewers and listeners for all Valleys of Numenor episodes from the last year or so combined! Plus there’s a new Looney Tunes Blu-ray coming out next week and I’d really like to get the review out before Christmas to strike while the iron is hot, so it’s going to take up all my spare attention until it’s done. Plus the job hunt and computer classes also have to fight for time 😊. |
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Post by kemp on Dec 10, 2023 7:35:33 GMT -5
I think that negative review needs a negative review. Agree that it was unfocused and confused. I myself had no idea what he was complaining about, there was nothing specific.
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Post by hun on Dec 10, 2023 12:09:15 GMT -5
Yeah, he sounds pretty confused. If you check out the comments he is also disrespectful when responding to Jim Zub.
His main complaint seems to be about the amount of times a certain Pictish woman named Brissa saves the life of Conan in the 1st story arc, I think.
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Post by kemp on Dec 10, 2023 20:17:04 GMT -5
Yeah, he sounds pretty confused. If you check out the comments he is also disrespectful when responding to Jim Zub. His main complaint seems to be about the amount of times a certain Pictish woman named Brissa saves the life of Conan in the 1st story arc, I think. I never saw Brissa upstaging Conan in any way, she seemed very complimentary when paired with our favourite Cimmerian, they worked well together, and an interesting character in her own right. Yeah, noticed his nasty replies to Jim Zub, not even sure why Jim gave that Bathyal guy the time of day, total waste of time. |
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Post by danieljames495 on Dec 10, 2023 21:59:15 GMT -5
Man if he thinks Zub is ruining Conan he probably hasn't been reading any US written Conan material for the past 5 years.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Dec 11, 2023 18:29:33 GMT -5
Man if he thinks Zub is ruining Conan he probably hasn't been reading any US written Conan material for the past 5 years. Yeah, Zub has been an improvement over Wood at DH and all the other Marvel relaunch writers. The only one who comes close is Cullen Bunn with Conan the Slayer, which I wish Titan would let him finish. I liked the Ghoul. |
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Post by terryallenuk on Dec 12, 2023 4:00:52 GMT -5
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Post by bunty0barbarian on Dec 12, 2023 7:30:33 GMT -5
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Post by terryallenuk on Dec 18, 2023 14:04:31 GMT -5
From Jim's current newsletter-
At the epilogue at the end of Conan the Barbarian #4, we see a traveler from Asgard pick up a fragment of Black Stone, the strange eldritch material at the heart of several mysteries in Robert E. Howard’s pulp stories, most notably the titular horror story The Black Stone from 1931. This discovery is a classic set-up for a future tale, making our reader wonder when they might see it again, presumably at some future date…
…And then, just one month later at the end of Conan the Barbarian #5, we reveal that our second story arc ties back in with Black Stone.
Weird, right?
I saw a couple reviews where people felt we jumped the gun a bit by having two Black Stone-centered stories one after another and, under different circumstances, they’d be right. In a classic monthly comic run from the 1970’s or '80’s this kind of set-up and payoff would have been many months apart, with unrelated 1 and 2-part stories between to clear the decks and focus readers elsewhere before we brought it back as a surprise. In an ideal scenario, that’s exactly what I would’ve done as well.
But~ you also have to understand the broader context involved.
Here and now, looking in the rearview mirror with six months of shockingly strong sales for the relaunch behind us, it seems obvious that the pacing could be/should be less frenetic and that we have lots of time to set up and pay off big ideas over a longer span, but when we planned this out more than 18 months ago there was absolutely no way we could have known how successful it would be.
Titan Comics is obviously a smaller comic publisher than Marvel or Dark Horse (the previous licensors for Conan comics). Direct market comic shop sales in North America have been shaky as of late and, while comic sales for Conan in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s were spectacular, that hasn’t always been the case in the modern era. Couple that with me at the center of this relaunch, the writer who quietly wrapped up the run at Marvel during the pandemic, and things looked even less certain.
We had to come out of the gate roaring like Hell and not hold anything back, otherwise readers wouldn’t see anything special they had to read and collect every month and we’d quickly sink. If Black Stone sets up big mythic storytelling and can make readers and retailers take notice, then, by Crom, it has to be Black Stone all the way! Back-to-back stories with a plot point that acts as a clear throughline for year one (issues #1-12) to build an epic saga of cannot miss comics!
That’s the plan, at least. So far, so good.
It reminds me of interviews I read with Robert Kirkman around Invincible where he originally planned to have the big twist for the series (a key character betraying our hero and turning the entire narrative on its head) arrive in issue #25. Like me, he grew up reading superhero comics in an era where that absolutely would have worked, a wonderful slow burn build up and pay off over two years, but the Publisher at Image at the time (I think it was Jim Valentino) warned him that he didn’t have that luxury. Modern readers decide almost immediately if a series is worth their time and money and drop it in a heartbeat if they believe it’s not, so slam that accelerator pedal down at the start and cover as much ground as you can because you will not get a second chance to earn their loyalty.
(Although weirdly, in this case I kind of did, because this Conan relaunch has had way stronger sales and staying power than my initial run, which is highly unusual.)
Invincible delivered its big twist in issue #7, and I genuinely think if the series launched in 2023 Robert would’ve done it by issue 4 or 5 to get the same jolt.
Anyways, if we’d known right off the bat that the Conan relaunch would be the smash hit that it’s been, I’m sure we would have made different narrative choices, but then maybe those choices wouldn’t have led to the same surge of interest. It’s chicken and egg, in full effect.
Now that we have some momentum it’s a bit easier to set up future plotlines without the same level of fear around a quick cancellation. I’ve always been committed to at least 2 years/24 issues on the new series (and am now looking at possibilities beyond that), but I’m sure that if we would’ve flopped right at the start the plan would look very different right now.
Speaking of which, I’m in the thick of year two writing on the series and am happy to report that readers will get more variety as we keep rolling- Arc 4 will be 4 issues, but after that we switch things up with some 2-parters and even some done-in-one adventures. Different times in Conan’s life, different locations and circumstances…All kinds of creative levers we can pull to keep the excitement going.
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Post by johnnypt on Dec 18, 2023 16:54:18 GMT -5
THIS is how to plan ahead.
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Post by cromfelge on Dec 19, 2023 5:01:31 GMT -5
Wow maybe a newsletter actually worth subscribing to and reading. Refreshlingly honest and understandable reasoning.
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Post by Von K on Dec 19, 2023 21:46:09 GMT -5
Posted this here rather than the issue 4 thread because I think it eloquently highlight's the success of this team's whole endeavor:
Titan Comics' CONAN Issue #4 - The FULL REVIEW!
Grammaticus runs a great channel - I found out about him via DMR Books.
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Post by hun on Jan 3, 2024 15:39:20 GMT -5
Jim Zub talking Conan comics:
Thank You for the Savage Return of Conan the Barbarian!
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