Quick Hits | Nirvana Comics in Knoxville wins the first Image Select Retailer Award

Plus: News on Rob Liefeld, Scout Comics, G. Willow Wilson and the Robert E. Howard awards.

Nirvana Comics in Knoxville, Tennessee has won Image Comics’ inaugural Image Select Retailer Award. The winner was announced this weekend at the Emerald City Comic Con during an event hosted by Lunar Distribution.

Images Comics announced the award last month as a way to recognize retailers “that are going above and beyond to serve their customers, expand readership and grow a healthier marketplace.” Customers were able to vote for their favorite store via an online form.

“This is such a huge honor,” said Grant and Jasmine Mitchell, co-owners of the store. “Thank you Image Comics for all you’ve done to help the comic shop industry. Thank you to all our customers who nominated us. Your support and friendship is why we do this everyday. The best is yet to come!”

According to Image, the shop was in the top tier of most nominations by sheer volume from “happy customers eager to pay it forward to the store they love.” They’ll receive several prizes from Image, including a commemorative medallion and their choice of a comic with a gold foil exclusive variant cover branded with their store logo.

“The response to this award was phenomenal with thousands of nominations submitted in just a few days,” said Alex Cox, director of direct market sales at Image Comics. “Reading that many testimonials from people praising their local comic shops was a great reminder of how amazing the comics community can be, and Nirvana Comics stood out as a prime example of a store that truly values their customers, and makes new fans every day.”

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Titan will revive ‘Savage Sword of Conan’ in all its bloody, black-and-white glory

The magazine-format title will launch sometime next year.

With just a little more than a week left before Titan’s first issue of Conan the Barbarian lays siege to comic stores, the publisher announced today in San Diego plans for another Conan title — Savage Sword of Conan.

Yes, Titan will revive the magazine-sized format title that Marvel published from 1974 through 1995. The black-and-white stories were “untethered from the bounds of the restrictive Comics Code Authority” at the time, according to Titan, and featured more adult-oriented stories about Conan by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Walter Simonson and more.

“Ever since we announced the launch of this new comic book line, fans and creators alike have been clamoring for the return of this iconic title – ONLY if it was in its original B&W anthology magazine format,” said editor Matt Murray. “It’s been a really tough secret to keep that we at Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics have actually been planning on that all along, but it can be a tough skull to crack on a few levels. We hope that we can live up to the expectations, as well as the legacy of the classic book, and think that with the writers and artists we already have on board (and those we’re still talking to) we can forge a new and exciting chapter in Conan’s savage story.”

Here’s the teaser they released:

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Titan confirms their new Conan creative team

Jim Zub, Roberto De La Torre and José Villarrubia will tell new stories about what is best in life.

Titan Comics have confirmed via press release what we learned earlier this year — Jim Zub will write their upcoming Conan title. He’ll be joined by artist Roberto De La Torre, who drew the preview art that was revealed this summer, while José Villarrubia will provide colors.

All three creators have worked on Conan before. Zub’s written many issues of the title for Marvel over the last few years, while Torre has done a couple of short stories featuring the character. Villarrubia probably has the most Conan on his resume, having worked on the character for multiple publishers, as well as doing illustrations for Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of, a role-playing game released a few years back.

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Jim Zub will write Titan’s upcoming Conan comic

The new series will launch in May of 2023.

During the Conan the Barbarian 90th Anniversary panel at Comic-Con International this week, Titan Comics announced that Jim Zub will write their upcoming Conan comic.

Zub has plenty of history with the character, having written the character at Marvel. Zub’s run will launch with a story during next year’s Free Comic Book Day, with the first issue coming in May of next year as well.

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