HEROESONLINE

LAST POST ON THIS VERSION OF BLOG!

2009-08-20T18:55:00.003-04:00

HUZZAH HUZZAH! As of right now, we have moved our blog to the following address, which I encourage you to update your bookmarks with forthwith:

http://www.heroesonline.com/blog

The new blog is an integrated part of our site, built on a Wordpress template that will yield us all sorts of cool little widgets and goodies in the months to come. For now, we are finishing up some little cosmetic changes, but I wanted to get it up and live so I could try to find problems with it.

I encourage you to come on over and check it out--make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed (if you're into that) or update your existing RSS address to follow us. We'll be adding new contributors and expanding our content a good bit over the next couple of months. Enjoy!

ENORMOUS props go out to Phillip Duncan over at Superheroes-R-Us, who basically took my designs and many nitpicky suggestions and turned it into something that worked and made sense. Amazing job he did (and is still doing, as we polish and tidy things up!). Thanks Phillip!

DISCUSSION GROUP :: Asterios Polyp :: Sat., August 29, 3pm!

2009-08-14T17:44:00.008-04:00

Oh man this is going to be a good one. On Saturday, August 29th at 3pm, the next meeting of the Heroes Discussion Group will occur, and this time we will be rapping about one of the most talked-about graphic novels of the last several years, if not the decade: Asterios Polyp. The first long-form comic from creator David Mazzucchelli since City of Glass, Asterios Polyp is a ground-breaking graphic novel from the man who drew my favorite ever comic, Batman Year One. Not to mention his short but influential anthology Rubber Blanket, Daredevil: Born Again, etc. Dude is crazy good.

If you haven't read this book yet, WHOA NELLIE you need to. Even if you don't love it as much as I did, Mazzucchelli brings his A-game and creates something both playful and serious, inventive and satisfying. This will be a talked-about book for years and years: let's start talking about it now!

NOTE: this is a grown-up book, and we will be having a grown-up discussion. To that end, we'll meet here at the store and then troop across the street to one of our fine restauranting neighbors. All that we ask is that you bring an open mind and your brain. We'll handle everything else (except the tab). This is going to be one to remember!

REVIEW :: The Marvels Project #1

2009-08-14T12:15:00.002-04:00

Folks who complain about the horrors of “decompression-style” comic book stories will be pleased with the first issue of The Marvels Project.

The eight-issue limited series — written by Ed Brubaker with art by Steve Epting — starts off with a bang, and jumps straight into a tale that will reportedly track the secret history of Marvel’s superhumans.

The comic is filled with a slew of the company’s most iconic characters, set against the backdrop of World War II. Be on the lookout for action-packed appearances by cats like Prince Namor and the Human Torch, among others. The first few pages even feature one of the coolest cameos I’ve seen in a comic in along time. (Fans of old Avengers comics will particularly be pleased.)

One has to wonder, though, does the comic try to show too much too soon? I mean, will a casual reader know enough about Marvel’s pantheon of heroes to digest all the cookies spread throughout the story? I’m willing to reserve judgment about that point until later. In the meantime, I’d suggest that any fan of Marvel — new or old — should snag a copy of The Marvels Project No. 1.

TONIGHT!! Surprise Sale, Marvels Project #1 Pre-Sale, More!

2009-08-11T09:14:00.004-04:00

Now, we announced last Friday that we'd be having a 9pm Marvels Project #1 pre-sale tonight--that is still true. But in true Shelton Drum fashion, our boss has decided to super-size his party at the last minute.

SO tonight we will not only be staying up late to sell the new book by our buddies Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting (starting at 9pm), but Shelton and Seth will be rolling out their recently organized stock of Silver Age books, in celebration of the auspicious 70-year anniversary Marvel is celebrating throughout the year! These guys have really been working this stock, so there will be a lot of OOOOOLLLLLD books you probably haven't seen before, in all sorts of grades!

OH BUT ALSO we'll be having a surprise sale on back issues: all back issues in our regular back issue section will be half off all night! You heard right! Half off tonight only!

But leave us not forget The Marvels Project #1 itself--in true Marvel style, there will be a number of variants for this blockbuster event, including several you can ONLY get from retailers participating in tonights' nationwide party event! Those include:

2 regular covers

A "party exclusive" blank cover, perfect for getting sketched on later by a luminary

Another "party exclusive", this one a Phil Jimenez "virgin" cover (that means no logo, price, etc.--I know, these guys are nuts with these variants)

A Steve McNiven variant that's highly limited

AND a 1:25 and 1:70 cover as well. Holy Cow that's a lot of Marvel Project! But even if variant covers aren't your bag, the story itself is pretty interesting so far, perfect if you haven't been keeping up with Marvel continuity lately (like me). I dug it.

OH, I almost forgot--we'll ALSO have the new Marvel Comics #1 70th Anniversary Edition, a reprint of the original first-ever Marvel comic, from (I think) 1939. AND a second cover you can only get--wait for it--at participating "party" locations!

We'll start the back issue sale at 6pm tonight, and the Marvels Project #1 will be available for sale promptly at 9 o'clock. If you can't make it, we SHOULD have some left for the regular release tomorrow... HOPEFULLY....

UPDATE--It looks like we'll be joined tonight by some local artists, who you can probably trick into sketching on that blank cover for you. I know that both Andy Smith and Jason Latour will be dropping by, and I'll bet there'll be some more surprise guests as well. PARTAY!

THIS TUESDAY :: Marvels Project On Sale Early At 9pm!

2009-08-07T12:46:00.002-04:00

Yoyoyo! This Tuesday night we'll be staying open late to participate in Marvel's nationwide prerelease of The Marvels Project #1! Starting at 9pm sharp, you'll be able to purchase the book before everyone else, except of course for all the other people who are buying the book after 9pm. Oh, unless you're in the front of the line.

If you got to meet series creators Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting at this year's HeroesCon, or saw any of the panels Ed was a part of, you probably heard them talk about this new book, which ties together the origin of the Marvel Universe, which turns 70 years old this year! Don't miss this opportunity to pick up one of the summer's hottest books before its release date--you can only get it at participating retailers!

HEROESONLINE :: Shifting Site Navigation!

2009-08-06T18:33:00.003-04:00

Our new fancy blog is nearing completion, thanks in part to the timely assistance of Phillip Duncan over at Superheroes-R-Us, who apparently is a CSS master among his other skills. We'll be getting that live pretty soon, possibly even as soon as tomorrow. But that's not what I wanted to tell you--

Over the last few weeks we've been moving our site from one service to another, fancier one--one that we will hopefully be reaping some sweet functionality rewards from in the coming months. So far the biggest reward has been like 500% more junkmail, but as rewards go it's kinda lame, honestly. BUT that's surely just a speedbump.

But, check it out, two big changes for right now:

1) SITE NAVIGATION HAS CHANGED

The site still looks the same more or less, but now the New Releases page has moved from "http://www.heroesonline.com/new-releases.html" to just plain old "...new-releases". Ditto across the site; for instance, the HeroesCon Guest List is now at "http://www.heroesonline.com/heroescon/guests". A small thing, but a change I've been wanting to make for awhile, and I thought I might as well get it done while stuff was shifting around anyway. Makes for cleaner navigation and easier to describe links to things.

SO: update your bookmarks accordingly. I've created a fancy error message page that you'll get if you type in a file that doesn't exist any longer, and all the new links are there for reference. The main site navigation is still more or less the same, so you can use the existing navbars to navigate to pages you're looking for as well. If you have any problems or find any glaring errors, feel free to email me at dharbin[at]heroesonline[dot]com

2) While our e-mail addresses have not changed, some webmail-based addresses you may have been using will change before too long. So if you've been using an email like "shelton@ctc.net" or "dharbin@ctc.net" or pretty much anything that doesn't end in "...heroesonline.com", now is the time to update your address books. Those emails will still find their way to us eventually for a little while, but better safe than sorry, right?

Okay so new blog soon, plus more new stuff to come. ONWARD TO ADVENTURE!

REVIEW :: Secret Warriors #6

2009-08-05T16:14:00.002-04:00

The latest issue of Marvel's lone — to my knowledge — espionage comic, starring the long-running spy Nick Fury (former director of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and his band of superhuman secret agents, hit the stands last week.

I've been loving this book and acting as an evangelist for it since the first issue. Five more issues in, the comic is still great. So great, in fact, it's hard to even remember that, not too long ago, Nick Fury was one of those Dr. Strange-type characters — good for a cameo appearance, but not interesting enough to hold down his own book. Well, those days seem done.

This version of Nick Fury works by shrinking the cast of characters to a manageable size and throwing a healthy dose of superheroics on top of the spy stuff. So, instead of faceless agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fighting faceless hordes of Hydra, we've got a small, fleshed-out group of superpowered "secret warriors" fighting big-time bad guys like Gorgon (from that cool Wolverine story arc). Add a splash of great dialogue and several really cool-as-hell character moments (like when Dum Dum Dugan says to Nick Fury, "You give me a month and I'll deliver the baddest bunch of evil bastards this world has ever seen."), and you've got one hell of a comic book.

Now, I will say that it took me a moment to get into the art by Stefano Caselli (it seemed a tad too cartoony for a shadowy, spy book), but now I'm lovin' it.

Bottom line? Buy it.

Carlton Hargro is Editor-In-Chief of Creative Loafing. You can read more of his writing at the magazine's Comic Proportions blog.

2009: A BANNER YEAR?

2009-08-04T18:40:00.002-04:00

Jumping off a point made by my colleague (the delightful) Phil Southern, that this year is gonna be remembered as one of those banner years like 1986 or 1982 or some other year that was great, but I’d have trouble pinpointing...

Anyway, in an attempt to spur discussion and some pos-sit-tiv-it-ee in general, tell us what you’ve liked this year, why you’ve liked it and what you’re looking forward to, in the comments section below!

REVIEW :: Captain Britain & MI13

2009-07-31T11:56:00.004-04:00

Well Captain Britain and MI13 has come to a close … and I’m sad.

I don’t know if you had a chance to read it, but the comic — Marvel’s British-flavored super team series — did not deserve to die.

Of course, I hear many fans of canceled series say the same thing; although, honestly, most of the comics floating around the industry that get cut truly do suck. (Spider-Girl anyone? I’m just saying!) Captain Britain and MI13, however, was damned good.

The comic was that rare superhero book that didn’t focus on fight scenes that go nowhere and over-hyped characters — instead it reveled in witty dialogue and the development of smart stories.

Its last arc — which pitted the team against the legendary vampire Dracula and an army of the undead — was played out like an intricate game of chess. In this multi-issue tale, strategy was more important than things blowing up. That’s not to say that things didn’t blow up, but writer Paul Cornell forced you to pay attention to each move on his expansive battlefield — not just random acts of violence.

Yes, I will admit, the cast of MI13 (guys like the Black Knight, Pete Wisdom and Blade, among others) was far from a collection of A-list characters. Hell, it wouldn’t even be a stretch to call them lame. But if you read the book, you’d see they were utilized in ways they’d never been before. As the dust of the last issue clears, I’d go so far as to say that these heroes were left a lot cooler after the series than before.

At the very least, this comic brought Captain Britain’s “dead” wife Meggan back to the Marvel Universe … so those six Excalibur fans out there should be happy.

I’m not sure how much of this series will be collected in trade paperback, but hunt down the back issues for sure to enjoy this gone-too-soon series.

Carlton Hargro is Editor-In-Chief of Creative Loafing. You can read more of his writing at the magazine's Comic Proportions blog.

HEROES DISCUSSION GROUP :: Post Persepolis-Discussion Discussion

2009-07-30T10:49:00.002-04:00

On Monday night, the Heroes Discussion Group met to discuss the highly-lauded graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.

The conversation flowed fast and furious; there was a decisive split between the attendees as to the merit and the success of the work.

Some found the memoir a genuinely engaging slice of life; others had problems with narrative issues caused by Satrapi’s short-comings as a cartoonist.

We explored how she presented life in Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution. The Old Fart moderator added some historical color by describing how the average American teen felt when the American Embassy in Iran was seized.

A substantial amount of time was spent discussing the author’s teen-age years spent alone in Europe far away from her parents and her culture.

The conversation went on far longer than we anticipated. We had to stop at 8:00pm to give us enough time to screen Persepolis, the animated film adaptation of the books.

By the time, the film ended, it was close to 10:00pm and we decided to continue the discussion on line here at our favorite site.

If you have read the books or viewed the movie, we invite you to join us. The questions may range from general discussion about the graphic novel itself to comments about the film to an analysis of the adaptation from comic to cartoon.

To start: there were strong disagreements about the first 100 pages of Persepolis II that detailed the author's teen-age years spent in exile in Europe.

One of our participants—Heroes unofficial and incredibly talented photographer Vy Tran—Face-booked me (a verb is coined!) yesterday and stated:

"I was a little disappointed at how a couple of the folks at the discussion were giving the author flack because the problems she dealt with in the second half of the book "weren't a big deal" and were "stupid." Dusty even said, "Everyone deals with stuff like that." But I'll submit to you that the problems she dealt with during her time in Europe WERE a big deal BECAUSE everyone goes through stuff like that. "

What do YOU think?

REVIEW :: Not Assessing Legion of Three Worlds

2009-07-24T16:53:00.002-04:00

So, Legion of 3 Worlds is FINALLY over. And now that it’s over, it’s probably time to assess the general quality of the five-issue limited series.
I’ll say up front that I liked the LO3W — but for two specific reasons … which I’ll get to later.

Firstly, here’s what I didn’t like about the series:

Superboy Prime — The success of a blockbuster comic book rests on the shoulders of its villain, and Superboy Prime — though powerful — was just silly. Yeah, I sometimes found his dialogue freaking hilarious, but … err … that’s the problem. It’s hard to take a bad guy seriously when he’s cracking you up. (Except for the Joker and Superboy Prime ain’t nobody’s Joker.)

Too many characters — it seemed like a cool idea at first, but when you get hundreds of Legionnaires together it just seems like a big, anonymous mass of costumed dudes and dudettes. At the end of the day, only a few characters held the spotlight anyway.

Lateness — It’s bad when a book is so late, you know the ending before the last issue comes out.

OK, so that’s what I didn’t like. But, as I mentioned before, there are two reasons I think LO3W was actually an enjoyable tale: Conner Kent and Bart Allen.

Say what you want about the series and writer Geoff Johns and artist George Perez, but ultimately they brought two characters back from the dead who should never have died. So the ends justified every single page of the means.

And that’s it.

Can’t wait to read Adventure Comics!

THE HEROESONLINE BLOG :: What Would You Like To See?

2009-07-17T16:43:00.002-04:00

So this week is an especially slow news week. Besides the regular stuff we do in the store all week, y'know, selling comics, restocking comics, all that stuff, I've been working on some site-based stuff that's had me hip deep in code for the last week or so. Not necessarily redesigning the site, but before we start putting up a bunch of stuff for HeroesCon 2010 (yes I've noticed the 2009 dates are still listed, thank you), I wanted to spiff the place up a little bit. A lot of little things will change, and I'm going to clean up the site navigation and other little odds and ends that have annoyed me since I redesigned it back in 2007.

The big thing is that I'm going to be moving this blog onto our site proper, via the awesome and swear-inducing complexity of Wordpress. We're going to be using the blog a good bit more, providing more content from out in the comics world, more interviews like this one, more reviews, more guest blogging, etc. So while I'm still in the planning stages, I wanted to ask you guys:

What would YOU like to see on our blog? What aren't we talking about that you'd like? What ARE we talking about that you're tired of hearing about? While it's true that we're a comics shop that wants to take your money, we like you and want you to enjoy having your money taken; or if you live too far away to shop here, at least enjoy reading about us and our various opinions and connections.

Point is, a lot of what has made us so popular over the years is YOUR very kind support, so I thought I'd ask YOU what you thought. See how I'm getting YOU to do my work for me? All it takes is CAPITAL LETTERS!

Anyway, let's hear it: post in the comments section below what you'd like to see more or less of. As long as you're polite, I promise we are listening. And in the meantime, thank YOU for listening!

ASK SHAWN REYNOLDS :: Getting Old Man Logan Part 8

2009-07-17T15:56:00.003-04:00

How can I make sure I get part eight of the "Wolverine: Old Man Logan" storyline?

There have been a lot of changes with the Wolverine titles as of late and I have been getting a lot of questions about the Old Man Logan storyline. I wanted to take this time to clear things up a little bit so that everyone is on the same page. Wolverine has changed its title to Dark Wolverine and it is focusing on Wolverine’s son Daken. So that means that Wolverine Weapon X is the main Wolverine title.

So what does this mean to you, as a reserve customer, who has Wolverine on your pull list? I will pull Dark Wolverine #76 for "Wolverine" and "Dark Wolverine", but after that I will switch the Wolverine reserve list to "Wolverine Weapon X" (since that title is focusing on Wolverine). So if you want to continue getting Dark Wolverine you will need to add it to your list.

Now what does this have to do with Old Man Logan? Marvel is wrapping up the Old Man Logan storyline with Wolverine Old Man Logan Giant Sized #1 that is scheduled to come out in late September. I would have pulled this for everyone who was getting "Wolverine" but since I am changing that title I will pull this for everyone who is getting "Wolverine Weapon X". If you don’t want to get Wolverine Weapon X but you do want the Old Man Logan one shot do not despair! Just let me know and I can Previews order you a copy (but you should only do this if you don’t have "Wolverine Weapon X" on your list).

So to sum up this way-too-long blog post, there are TWO ways to get the Wolverine Old Man Logan Giant Sized #1: 1) Have "Wolverine Weapon X" on your list or 2) tell me that you want it. It is that easy!

REVIEW :: Remake!

2009-07-17T13:05:00.003-04:00

One of the cool things about working on the convention every year is getting to see some stuff well in advance of its publication. Sometimes it's because it gets sent to us, sometimes we see it at another show, sometimes the publisher sends out advance copies to increase retailer interest.

The first time I heard about Lamar Abrams was when "Cheeky" Chris Pitzer informed me that he would be attending HeroesCon with AdHouse Books. Now, while I trust Chris above most people, I like to have SOME kind of idea of who someone is before I just throw their name up on our guest list, so Chris sent me over a pdf of the first bits of Remake, which would be published in a few months. I was down with the program pretty much from page one, although I have struggled with how to explain why--Remake is an amazing book by a breakout artist, although it has some weaknesses here and there, even if they're mainly weaknesses born out of the enormous enthusiasm of the book.

The best and worst thing about Remake is its limitless enthusiasm and elan. Almost from the first page you can tell that Lamar Abrams is spinning these comics right out of his brain, with very little editing happening between said brain and the page. I say this as if I know: of course I do not. But I certainly got that impression, which as someone who reads a ton of comics is ENORMOUSLY refreshing. This, to me, is one of the things that really animates minicomics as an artform--the kind of egalitarian idea that says anyone can make comics any time, any way they like. And with someone like Lamar, who obviously is hugely talented, that kind of loose energy makes his comics come further alive.

It's almost like it's meta-funny--for instance, what is actually happening in the story rarely seems particularly important, as much as HOW it's happening. Like in this 2-page sequence, one of my favorite of the book which had me giggling out loud in the bathroom of the Toronto Reference Library a few months ago:

"UPSLAPT" is now my favorite sound effect, complete with arrow-addition to the "U". And how can you beat dialogue like "Oh my hand and part of my arm!" I'll tell you how: YOU CAN'T!

The problem with Remake is really just one of format. I think what's reprinted in the book is the original minicomics 1-3, and maybe some extra odds and ends. In small doses the lack of a gripping story is probably less evident, and you'd be free to just giggle yourself silly over the panache and flourish of Lamar's art and dialogue. As a 150-or-so page book, it can be harder to digest as a whole. This may just be me being a format snob, OR even more likely cautioning myself to be careful when one day reprinting my own feeble minicomics. I suggest reading Lamar's comics as they were originally published, in chunks. The book is just $12.95, so pretend you're buying 3 $4.50 minicomics with a fancy cover and you'll be in good shape.

Basically though, Lamar Abrams is the bomb-diggety. I have found myself looking at this book again and again--there's something really effortless and engaging about Lamar's comics, as if he's channelling the kind of silly comics you'd make when you were 8, but employing man-sized talents to those comics. Result: UPSLAPT!

Oh! And while hunting images for this review, I happened on Lamar's website, which has a ton more cool drawings and comics. I suggest you hop into that. In the meantime, you can pick up Remake from us at the store (some have Lamar drawings in them!) or from AdHouse if you are not fortunate enough to be one of our customers. Enjoy!

WHY YOU SHOULD BE READING WEDNESDAY COMICS

2009-07-13T11:12:00.006-04:00

by comic strip fanatic and general know-it-all Andy Mansell

My favorite memories from my childhood were the Saturday nights when my father would take me to the drug-store and we would buy the Sunday editions of all four major Chicago Newspapers. I had four, 12-page full color comic sections. It was heaven. This may be inconceivable for most of you under the age of thirty; but with the rise in classic comic strip reprints, the fondness for this great lost art is growing.

The strips were great--some adventure, some humor, some soap opera, but there were no superhero strips except perhaps the Phantom. Around the same time, I purchased a Batman 80 Page Giant for a precious quarter and lo and behold there was a reprint of a Dick Sprang style Batman Sunday page from the 40s!

My mind reeled—I sat down and drew my own fantasy Sunday Section with a full page Hourman, a full page Doctor Fate—in the style of Prince Valiant—an Aquaman vs. Sub-Mariner battle strip and a full page Fantastic Four. This was my childhood fantasy—my first “collectors” dream.

With the Sunday strips dying a slow painful death—even though we strip fanatics hold onto them for dear life—DC has decided made a bold step forward to bring my dream project to life! (They must have found the letter that I wrote to Julius Schwartz back in 1970!)

Thus Wednesday Comics was born—and you must read it for several reasons:

1. You will get to experience the joy our parents and grandparents felt every Sunday morning. In the Charlotte Observer, there are no less than 8 (8!!!) comics on a single page. DC gives you a single strip per page like the way it was back in the 30s and 40s. Nirvana!

2. The creators take full advantage of their format. Some explore the size with challenging results. Some stick to the traditional grid.

3. And the Flash Comics duo of half page features uses every old strip convention to create something refreshing and new!!—you have to read it to believe it!

4. Although they are all ‘hero’ strips, the results are wide and varied.

5. If you are a fan of current comics, the list of writers and artists reads like a veritable all-star roster: Azzarello, Busiek, Gibbons, Palmiotti, Kubert(s), Didio and Gaiman-just to name a few!

6. If you are more intrigued by a contemporary or “Indy” slant, you have Paul Pope tackling Adam Strange and Kyle Baker taking Hawkman to new heights (sorry--I had to)

7. The Gibbon/Sook Kamandi strip is told in the format of Prince Valiant. For me, this page alone is worth the price of admission! (Yes, it blows my Dr. Fate clear out of the water!)

8. Unless I am mistaken, we will finally find out who would win the epic battle: Krypto or Streaky

9. Best of all, you will finish the book (paper?—PAPER!!) and you will anxiously await next week’s edition. That was the sole job of the newspaper cartoonists back in the day.

10. Finally--It is only $4.00

Try it! Buy it!! Don’t wait for a couple of issues to come out. Don’t wait for a trade collection. These comics are meant to be read once a week in one sitting. So select your breakfast cereal of choice—I’ll take Fruity Pebbles —and enjoy!

REVIEW :: Marvel Divas

2009-07-10T17:23:00.002-04:00

OK, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend buying Marvel Divas #1 — because, as I flip through the pages of this four-part limited series’ debut issue, there’s stuff to like and stuff to hate.

First up, let’s talk about what I hate. For starters, the general concept is a little lame. I can almost hear the writer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, pitching this comic: “It’s like ‘Sex & the City,’ but with super heroes.” Not sure if that’s how it went down … but it’s corny, right? You’ve got to be one heck of a salesperson to convince an editor that gathering some of Marvel’s most well-known female heroes — Monica Rambeau (formerly Captain Marvel and Photon), Black Cat, Firestar and Hellcat — and have them sit around, drink mojitos and talk about boys will be a hot comic. But the book’s central idea comes off a trifle stale on the printed page.

All that witty banter about bad dates leads to my other most-hated section of the comic: the ending. The cliffhanger we’re left with is pure soap opera melodrama and something you’d see in a Lifetime movie, not a Marvel comic.

Now, putting those wacker elements of the book aside for a second, let’s talk about what I actually liked about Marvel Divas. Yes, the comic depicted a ton of “girl talk” scenes, but it was nice to see superheroes having conversations — especially ones about emotions and relationships — instead of just punching or shooting. In a weird way, it reminded me of old Marvel Comic titles where characters’ personal lives were regular fodder for stories. Look past the mojitos, and you’ll see some cool character developments and some cool in-continuity moments (like a scene showing Marvel’s black super people cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina).

On top of that, the art — by Tonci Zonjic — is done in a cartoony style that’s light on lines but heavy on emotion. It kind of comes across like a less-manic version of Amanda Conner’s work.

So, see: things to like and things to hate.

At the end of the day it was fun. If you are a fan of any of the heroes featured in the comic (or a fan of Sex & the City — oh you know you watched it!), you’d get a kick out of Marvel Divas.
Carlton Hargro is Editor-In-Chief of Creative Loafing. You can read more of his writing at their website.

EVENTS :: Charlotte ComiCon, July 12th!

2009-07-08T12:50:00.003-04:00

While you may not always know to hear US talk about it, we're not the only game in town when it comes to local comics conventions--our buddies Dave Hinson and Rick Fortenberry have been organizing the Charlotte ComiCon, for the last few years. It's a seasonal one-day show, with the summer installment taking place this Sunday, July 12th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Charlotte. The show will go on from 10am to 4pm, and there are a host of guests and exhibitors you can check out at the official site. Our resident tough guys Seth Peagler and Rusty Baily will be manning the Heroes booth, so be sure to drop by and slap some high-fives with those guys.

Best of all, readers of our blog and this Friday's Heroes Hotline will get an extra bonus! You can print out the coupon below and bring it in for $1 off your ticket price! You're welcome!

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MAY I PRESENT: Linda D'Olivat Drum and Shelton Drum

2009-07-07T15:49:00.003-04:00

Yessirree! As reported over the weekend by me on Twitter, both in my at-work and at-home identities, as well as by numerous employees on their various social media throughout the weekend, our boss Shelton Drum pulled a fast one this weekend and got HITCHED to his lady-love Linda D'Olivat!

While some of the staff were invited to a "light dinner" at Shelton's house Friday night, only a few of us showed up on time--it was, after all, Friday night. I, as a matter of fact, called to tell Shelton I wouldn't be there til after 9.30, but as I listened to the phone ring I didn't realize it was being used as a wedding iPod. So when I showed up the party was in mid-toast, everyone was pretty, er, mellow after a couple of hours of celebration, and I found myself late for my boss's wedding!

Whoa! Fortunately almost everybody else had been surprised by Shelton's backyard wedding/eloping trick, but once you got over the shock you realized in you were in the middle of a great big party. Super awesome, and Shelton and Linda were beaming all night--we're all pretty excited about adding a Canadian to the store family, which makes us 75% funnier AND 125% better cartoonists by association. Also now Seth can play hockey.

Shelton's pretty excited too--I asked him for a little quote for this announcement, and he sent me this:

It was like we eloped, but at home, and with our friends and family! It couldn't have worked out better. The weather was fabulous and everyone was surprised and happy for us. Linda and I are looking forward to sharing many happy years together!

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in congratulating Shelton Drum and newly minted Linda D'Olivat Drum on their happy nuptials! Many happy returns!

ADVANCE REVIEW :: Parker: The Hunter

2009-07-03T16:37:00.002-04:00

When it was first announced that Darwyn Cooke's first major project after "DC: The New Frontier" would be a graphic novel adaptation of Richard Stark's "Parker" novels, some fans might have been left confused by the choice. Why, after crafting one of the great modern examinations of DC's Silver Age glory, would Cooke shift his focus to a series of crime/noir novels that had until now only been adapted into films? In a way, that question answers itself. Anyone familiar with Cooke's previous comic work knows that noir has always been present, from his first major work in Batman: Ego, through his reinterpretation of Catwoman. Citing Stark's Parker novels as a major influence, it makes perfect sense that Cooke would use this opportunities provided by his New Frontier success to finally establish the relevance of these novels in a graphic novel format.

Upon first reading it quickly becomes clear that Cooke is enjoying every aspect of this production. The pages initially read like film storyboards, but a closer reading makes evident the methodical and deliberate pacing of the panels. For example, readers don't see Parker's face until page 20, but during that time we do see his cruelty and have an immediate understanding of what this character is all about. Propelling the story's pacing is Cooke's use of space between the panels. While there is no linear deliniation of panel borders, the art never bleeds together. Rather, there are borderless white spaces separating the art. This lends itself well to the book's ease in reading. It's not a book that one has to read closely to appreciate, but if that avenue is taken there are enough artistic elements to satisfy critique.

It would perhaps be too obvious to classify Cooke's art as cinematic, but there might not be a more appropriate description of his work here. It's evident that Cooke is employing his experience as an animator to great effect, but what struck me as an even more successful element is what seems to be his obvious maturation as a storyteller (both through narration and illustration). There are times when Parker's brutality has to be physically shown to move the story forward, but other times when it need only be hinted at. If we saw every murder or every display of cruelty in great detail the reader would tire quickly. Such subtlety is a great reminder that in any kind of art, less truly can be more. Not everything has to be shown to an audience for a work's minutiae to be grasped.

In the case of this book there are no lengthy, overindulgent monologues or tedious dialogues. A character speaks only when necessary, and when it's time to hear a character's backstory, it is presented in a succinct manner. After the technicolor demands of New Frontier, a book like The Hunter seems to allow Cooke the possibility of exercising a greater amount of artistic restraint - not that New Frontier was overdone, or too dense. One could easily argue that it was restraint that ended up being one of the great aspects of that book. But many super hero comics don't typically allow an artist a lot of room to be subtle. With a streamlined cast, a monochromatic color scheme, and a relatively basic plot, it's clear that Cooke is enjoying the opportunity that a smaller story provides.

Working in a monochromatic color scheme (in this case, just one shade of blue), there are certainly limitations that are imposed on an artist. But an artist might also be afforded new alternatives in the process. Regarding the flashback scenes, Cooke cleverly uses an artistic device that is relevant to the time period in which the story takes place (1962). The flashbacks are represented in a pixelated style, which we can imagine as a set of frame-by-frame television images which replay themselves like reruns in Parker's memory. No fancy camera tricks, no smoke or mirrors, just something that makes sense in to a character living in 1962.

In all honesty, Parker: The Hunter isn't all that complicated a tale. But it is that simplicity which has sustained it in numerous genres over the past several decades. In the hands of some artists, a graphic novel adaptation could have easily come across as a set of contrived cliches. But Cooke excels because he takes advantage of the straightforward source material and expounds upon it, not with over-the-top violence or blood-splattered pages, but with subtle, nuanced storytelling. There's a lot more that could be discussed about this work: comparisons between this book and the life and art of Edward Hopper; comparisons between the book, film and graphic novel - but I'll leave all those possibilities to you as individual readers. This book will be released on July 22nd, with the second volume to follow in 2010. While crime/noir is a genre which understandably doesn't appeal to everyone, I hope all kinds of Heroes customers will give this book a try, if for no other reason than to see a true craftsman of the comic industry working at the top of his game on one of his dream projects.

HEROES DISCUSSION GROUP :: Persepolis

2009-07-03T15:49:00.002-04:00

So how on earth can we possibly top the last three discussion groups?

In the past few months, we had Matt Fraction join us for a dissection of Iron Man.

Then we had an in-depth analysis of the Umbrella Academy.

Finally we had our infamous panel-by-panel discussion of Brave and the Bold #4 with Mark Waid and George Perez at HeroesCon.

Well how about this to start off the post-con season: come to the store on Monday July 27th at 6:00pm, and we will discuss Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel about growing up in Iran: Persepolis.

Topic will include:

The author's use of cartoon-y art for extremely serious topics

Looking at the story as a whole or as two separate graphic novels combined

How do readers from the West relate to Islamic society?

How reliable is our narrator?

and many, many more...

If you have not read the book, you are in for a treat. It is impossible to read the book without some emotional attachment; so come by and tell us about it -- or just come by to listen-- participation is NOT mandatory.

Ater we have spent an hour or so discussing the book and it's influences we will turn off the lights and watch the animated film adaptation of the book right in the store!

Once we have finished watching the award-winning movie, we will retire across the street for libations and a discussion that will focus on the adaptation of the book into the film, including:

What worked and what did not?

We can discuss scenes that were added or removed or combined from the original graphic novel

Could the movie have been more successful in CGI or even as a live action film?

We can discuss the success or failure of other comic related movies

and/or

We can have a round-table about adaptations in general:

How do we view the films if we've already read the book?

Can films be judged on their own merit without citing their source material?

and a whole lot more...Trust us -- this conversation could go on into the wee hours.

This will be a unique and exciting discussion--all we ask is that you read Persepolis prior to July 27th. A previous viewing of the film is not necessary

If you cannot make the early 6:00pm start time, please plan to arrive by 7:30 pm when we will promptly start the film!

So come one, come all, tell your friends!!

We will see you at 6:00pm on Monday July 27th and remember, you can purchase Persepolis at Heroes and receive a 10% DISCOUNT-- all you need to do is mention the Discussion Group Discount when you are checking out!

THINGS I LEARNED AT HEROESCON 2009

2009-07-03T13:56:00.006-04:00

by Andy Mansell

That we have the greatest group of volunteers in the history of Comic Cons! There are too many of you to name individually but you all know who you are!! God bless you!!

That HeroesCon is the greatest, family friendly Convention in North America

That Jeff Smith went above and beyond for his fans all weekend long!.

That Adam and team from the Dollar Bin are LIFE SAVERS (repeatedly!!). GO to their website early and often!!!

That when Shelley Drum says “Jump”, we say, “Out of what window?”

That Dustin Harbin defines 'grace under pressure' [editor's note: NOT!]

That I would gladly pay money at any time to listen to Dapper Phil Southern talk about anything and everything—a hoot and a half!!

That the lovely blue-haired Karla has THE toughest job in Charlotte during Con Weekend

That Trey and Michaele ought to quit their day jobs and open an Art Gallery

That when years from now--we in Charlotte--will be able to say that we were the first to identify Roger Langridge as the greatest cartoonist of this new-ish century.

That Jim Scancarelli, Marcus Hamilton and June Brigman combine to create a fascinating panel discussion. I hope they are all back next year.

That if we are ever allowed to do a Panel-by-Panel comic discussion again, we will need at least three hours to get through a standard comic book

That the Quick Draw keeps getting bigger and better every year. It is one of the Heroes Con highlights

That the best costumes were Mary Marvel (adult) and Nova (kid)

That Shawn Reynolds and Seth Peagler rock and are THE ROCKS!!

That Sunday at 3:30 pm is the time to buy up graphic novels.

That Vee is a fabulous photog

That the Information Booth is the most fun place to be on Father’s Day Weekend.

That I want my daughter to attended SCAD when she gets old enough. Their booth was hopping!

That if any of the film channels show Irwin Hasen: A New York Life, you will need to TiVo it and not miss it. when we were not laughing out-loud at his outrageous stories, we were tearing up at the sad moments in his long life

That the "Coolness Scale" has a new barometer; from this point on we rate coolness by 1 (for the least cool) to Matt Fraction who is the equivalent of a TEN PLUS

That Chris Claremont has a lot to say about many things non-mutant

That you have to take comments on Twitter with a grain or two of salt

That I am sure I am forgetting someone or something--Sorry!!!

That I can’t wait for next year!!

And finally:

That Shelton Drum is truly the Grand Master of Fandom. Once you enter into the Heroes Realm, you are part of his family forever

And AMEN to that!!!!

Photo by Vy Tran. Check out her whole set of HeroesCon picks here!

HEROESCON :: Dollar Bin Podcast Panels!

2009-06-26T12:19:00.002-04:00

Hey! While I'm thinking about it, I wanted to point out that our bros at the Dollar Bin podcast recorded a TON of panels at HeroesCon, which they are putting up on their site one by one. You can find them in more or less one place here, and I'll try to update this blogpost as well. Many MANY MANY thanks to these guys, including Adam, Brian, Devin, Kris, Ted, and probably a bunch I'm forgetting. They worked super hard over the weekend, not just recording panels, but miking them and just generally being super awesome. You would be well-served to check out their podcast, whether it's Heroes-related or not!

Okay, panels up there so far:

"New Power Generation" Panel, featuring Matt Fraction, Brian Bendis, Ivan Brandon, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker, and Matt Brady.

"DC Universe" Panel, featuring DC editors Brian Cunningham and Ian Sattler, with special guests

"Marvel Pint O' CB" Panel, featuring Matt Fraction, Brian Bendis, Ed Brubaker, and Mark Waid

Mark Waid Interview

HEROESCON :: Whoa Nellie, That Was Some Show

2009-06-25T19:45:00.001-04:00

Well as I write it's Thursday afternoon, and most of us have gotten our voices back and don't groan and complain about our sore legs anymore. After months and months of hard work, HeroesCon 09 is by all accounts an unqualified success. We've heard pretty much 100% positive reports from all the dealers and pros we've talked to, not to mention from those who bought small press tables. And fans as usual have been ever-so effusive with their praise. I have to tell you right here that there is nothing NOTHING that we like better than hearing from you guys after the show--it makes all the late nights and sore legs worthwhile.

I'll write a short con report here, but for the full story I suggest you consult the TONS of photos we uploaded to our Flickr page this week, many of which are slowly but surely being outfitted with little descriptions, etc. That will probably take awhile (there are 245 pictures so far); but in the meantime feast your peepers on this con link roundup I put up to help you out. Lots of good reports there as well--heckfire, you could burn a solid 8-hour day reading the Twitter search by itself. NOT THAT I DID THAT OR ANYTHING.

This year we were in Hall A, which posed a bit of a challenge in changing our seating plan--even more challenging when we moved things around to create a big space to hold a Red Cross Blood Drive, but I flubbed updating all the seating locations correctly. So that was the big problem on Friday, but fortunately most of the people I had to move around were very patient with me and I sure did appreciate it.

In fact, that was probably the only real problem all weekend, except that finding a particular person throughout the weekend could be tricky if they'd been moved a couple of times. Friday had a good turnout, and Saturday was great, although at first it was hard to tell--our hall this year was 20,000 square feet larger than last year's, so at first I was worried until Shelton reminded me.

Another thing we did this different this year was to set up some stanchions where we knew there would be massive lines pretty much all weekend long, which proved to be a good decision on our part. We try to be pretty careful about no playing favorites, no "guests of honor," that kind of thing, but when 200 people are in line, you've got to put that line somewhere, you know?

All in all the pros seemed to have an even better time than usual--as someone that answers maybe 75% of the complaints in the room, I just plain didn't hear that many. Maybe people were just going over my head to complain to Shelton about me? IT WOULDN'T BE THE FIRST TIME, NOSIR. We kind of pride ourselves on our hospitality, so maybe shouldn't feel surprised, but it's still nice to have so many guests come up and thank us for having them--heck, it's US who should be thanking the PROS, am I right?

All this friendly mutual-thankiness-society goodwill came to a head Saturday Night at our Annual Auction, where I started out reprising my role from last year of auctioneer, but was quickly heckled off the stage in favor of the lovely Allison Sohn, who--let's face it--is just a better auctioneer than I am, all around. She was DYNAMITE up there--not only does she know all the artists, but all the bidders as well, and would occasional cajole them into bidding wars. I hope we can trick her into doing it again next year--this year's auction raised an incredible 20% more than last year's, which was already among our best ever! WHAT?! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Allison Sohn...

That's not a great picture of her, but you can gaze on her up close in this one, in the aforementioned giant Flickr set! Anyway, after a long and successful auction, many of us retired to the Westin bar, and then magically awoke the next morning with no idea how we'd ended up back in our rooms, or even if these were, indeed, our rooms. But fortunately HeroesCon didn't open on Sunday til 10.30 for pre-reg, so by then we were looking sharp again.

Sunday is typically the "deal-making" day of the show, as traffic is typically down from Saturday. Dealers want to haul home as little as they can, and clever dealhunters are out in force looking for bargains. This year was no exception, and even the staff had a less stressful day. We gave away a bunch of door prizes, the Quickdraw contests drew over 200 fans, the panels seemed to go off without a hitch. The most talked about panel was without a doubt Rantz Hoseley's unveiling of his new Longbox application, which has been compared to a kind of iTunes for comic books--the early scuttlebutt is incredibly positive, especially compared to past initiatives of this kind. There's even rumor of interest from the "Big 4" companies, which is great for Rantz. Also talked about was the screening of the upcoming Jeff Smith documentary "The Cartoonist," Ben Towle and Craig Fischer's Ditko panel, Andy Mansell's panel-by-panel look at Brave And The Bold #4 with creative team Mark Waid and George Perez. Jeez there are so many good ones, I can't list them all.

In fact, I'd better wrap this up! For the complete skinny, check out those Flickr pictures and con links, which tell the tale better than I could. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this image from our Dead Dog Party, former employee Matt Fraction ringing up current employee Matt Knapik for a copy of Casanova. Priceless!

HEROESCON :: Ahoy The Internet!

2009-06-25T18:24:00.004-04:00

In true Comics Reporter style I thought I'd amass some of the links I've found or that people have sent me to HeroesCon reports. While I can't vouch for the content at some of these links (I mean language, some of these guys use teetee-caca language), most of the ones I've looked at are pretty awesome, not to mention complimentary (that falls under the "awesome" subheading anyway).

In no particular order:

Great CLT Blog photo slideshow
CBR coverage of Rantz Hoseley's Longbox announcement/panel
CBR coverage of DC Nation panel
Comics Reporter mid-weekend coverage
CBR talks to Mark Waid about Dr. Strange
Nick Mizgala Flickr set
Newsarama coverage of BOOM! Disney licenses
Newsarama coverage of Dark Reign panel
Newsarama coverage of Ares/War Stories
Newsarama coverage of DC Nation panel
Newsarama coverage of DC Universe panel
Newsarama coverage of Pint o' CB panel
Comics Reporter coverage of HeroesCon and Wizard
CBR coverage of Owly on Kindle
Twitter search for #heroescon
HeroesCon Flickr group
Kivus Flickr set 1/2
Kivus Flickr set 2/2
Van Jensen on Smith/Longstreth panel
CBR on NPG
Sidebar podcast
Jim Amash blog post
Vito Delsante Vlog on FCHS
Dean Trippe photo set
Van Jensen Publisher's Weekly con report
Creative Loafing photos
Red Moon report part 1
bodhipuff's photo report
Alec Longstreth con report
Evan Dahm post

Okay that's a lot of reading for you--get to work! And if you know of one you don't see here, feel free to post a link in the comments section!

REVIEW :: Fantastic Four #566

2009-06-25T17:52:00.002-04:00

Yes, I still like the Fantastic Four by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch.

I heard a dude in the comic shop the other day say he hates this current incarnation of the FF and prefers Dwayne McDuffie’s version of the book. I just don’t get it.

As much as I liked having Storm and the Blank Panther hang around Ben and Johnny, McDuffie’s stuff relied on nostalgia for characters that not many people cared about (like Gravity). Millar and Hitch, on the other hand, are serving up a thoroughly modern and fresh take on a comic that is pretty hard to pull off. And, even after more than 500 issues of the series, the current creators are finding new wrinkles on the team and their supporting characters.

Now, on the other hand, I am looking for some closure on the whole “Thing getting married” storyline. Just tell me why his latest lady is crazy/evil already. And (SPOILER ALERT) how many times are we going to decimate Latveria? Living in Kazakhstan next door to Borat would be better, I think.

Still — while I know writer Jonathan Hickman is gearing up for his run on the book right now — Millar and Hitch are creating some cool stories and pictures every month.