HEROESONLINE

[POST] HEROESCON 08 :: Who Did You Meet?

2008-07-04T15:55:00.002-04:00

I thought it would be fun to hear about interactions you've had with guests over the weekend. Okay, so you stood in line for an hour to meet Frank Cho, and beaming you try to explain the excitement of the experience to your co-workers or your spouse: "Oh, that's nice, dear...now how much of Junior's college fund did you blow through?"

Let's hear those stories: ME FIRST!!

Al Feldstein-- I was proud to carry the man's bags (his oversized, 50 lb portfolio) for him. I told him he was a GOD. He looked at me and said, "Hey, I was just trying to earn a living!"
I pointed out that he--along with Monty Python and Saturday Night Live have shaped the comedy in this country for three generations. He didn't argue with that!! What a guy!!

Colleen Doran--for the first time, I kept my composure and did NOT propose to her. I think she is this/close from having the restraining order against me lifted.

Jaime Hernandez--all I could mutter were thankful ramblings about his consistent body of work for 25 years. He was very down to earth.

Picturebox-- Dan Nadel, Frank Santoro, Tim Hodler-- these guys are the cutting edge of comics, publishing challenging and format busting work. I was expecting some really over-intelligent guys, but these are three guys that LOVE all comics and were a joy to talk to. BTW-- Every comic strip aficionado should own Art Out of Time-- it is THAT good and that essential!

Okay, your turn-- Dustin was working me like a dog and I missed talking to almost everyone-- (except when I was shoo-ing them to their panels) -- so...

Let's hear it!!!!

YOUNG DANIEL SAYS :: Welcome To Heroes, All Newcomers

2008-07-04T14:58:00.002-04:00

Our convention brings in lots of new business, whether that is people brand new to our jolly little industry or people who have been out of the loop for a while. The staff is always happy to help people find their way into comics whether you’re a Marvel guy, a DC guy, an indie guy or (like me) someone who likes a bit of each. With that in mind here’s a handy dandy guide of fantastic collections and series on the book racks and then I’ll give you some things to be on the lookout for in the coming summer and fall months.

MARVEL:

Civil War: Customers come in and frequently inquire about this series, the necessity of the crossovers and what they need to read. If you get the main trade paperback collecting the 7 issues then you’ll be set. This series is the pivot which the Marvel U moves around even a year after its finale. The crossovers aren’t necessary but they do add layer and subtext to the main series and a lot of them are quite good. Out of the whole lot I recommend the Wolverine, Punisher War Journal, and Warren Ellis Thunderbolts trade.

New Avengers: Marvels biggest seller since its inception, New Avengers is probably Marvel’s flagship book at the moment. There are currently seven New Avengers trades, the Avengers Disassembled and Secret War trades which occur before New Avengers starts but are written by NA author Brian Michael Bendis. The House of M mini is also collected and features the New Avengers and X-Men and acts a follow up to Disassembled. All of these things have been leading to this summer’s Secret Invasion event.

Annihilation: This series of mini-series collected into three trades revamped Marvel’s space heroes completely making them viable and important and really really cool again. The likes of Nova, the Super-Skrull, Ronan the Accuser, and the Silver Surfer band together to defeat the Annihilation Wave and unstoppable bug army from the Negative Zone. Millions of lives are lost and it’s only a matter of time before the Wave reaches Earth. This doesn’t have the immediate weight that New Avengers and Civil War had but it is arguably a better story and definitely a lot of fun.

Other quite notable things from the House of Ideas include much beloved Immortal Iron Fist, collected into two fantastic trades and with a new writer coming on in the next issue. Fraction assures me that readers should stick around after he’s gone and I’m gonna take him at his word. Captain Britain and MI: 13 was a huge surprise. This book breathes new life into Marvel’s British characters with crisp and emotionally honest writing and clean vibrant art and lots and lots of action. Invincible Iron Man intentionally or not is the best place to start with the character if you loved the movie. Incredible Hercules comes out of World War Hulk and is a lot a more clever than it has any right to be.

Seeing as how short punchy articles tend to get more comments on here I’ll leave you with that and next time I’ll cover the DC side of things.

IN ALL THE HUBBUB I FORGOT TO MENTION:

2008-07-04T13:15:00.003-04:00

I don't normally talk about myself; well, that's not really true, but I rarely talk about not-work at work. That combined with a little party we were pretty busy organizing for the last 6 months or so kept me from even mentioning that last month my first ever published comic book story came out. Through the good offices and kindness of my man Chris Pitzer at AdHouse Books, I have a 12-page story at the end of the recent Superior Showcase #3.

It's a terrible story, rushed, too long, and amateurish, but it was enormously educational, and has filled my head with ideas for more comics and improvements, and I'm super thankful to Chris for giving me such a primo opportunity. FORTUNATELY, for the scant $2.95 cover price, you also get two other stories, both of much higher quality, one by the excellent Jim Rugg, and the other by the exceptional Laura Park. Talk about good company for a debut!

While we initially ran out before the convention, I bought a ton of these for the store from Pitzer, so we've got them if you want them. Any customer who buys one in the store is welcome to a free sketch in theirs by me if they like--just ask. And if you live outside of the Charlotte area and are unfortunate to not have a quality comic shop that carries AdHouse's books, you can always order it direct from AdHouse itself. Although it would be more cost-effective for you if you also bought the recent acclaimed Skyscrapers of the Midwest hardcover at the same time. I'm just saying. You can mail order it from us as well: supply your own "bigger ticket item to justify shipping cost", although my suggestion one of the few signed Scott Campbell Indie Island prints we have left.

HEROESCON 09 :: Well, It Had To Happen--

2008-07-02T15:16:00.003-04:00

For the first time in nearly 20 years? I'm not even sure--probably back to the 80's, and definitely before I started working here in 1996. Anyway, what I'm talking about is HeroesCon ticket prices, which for our 2009 show have gone up.

HeroesCon 09 ticket prices will be $15 a day, or $30 for a 3-day pass. Although, to ease the blow for our longtime patrons, we're offering an advance 3-day pass price of $25 for all persons who have paid by December 31st of this year. So if you buy early, your price only goes up by $5.

Not to sing the blues after a hugely successful show which people are still talking about, but you'd be surprised at how little money we actually make organizing the convention. Besides the incredible cost of just renting the hall for a few days, there are a million other costs involved, from tables and booths to hotel rooms to advertising, printing, and everything else. Part of what makes our show so great is that Shelton and the rest of us throw ourselves into it year-round, not only our backs (and in my case, carpal tunnels), but wallets as well.

2009 is already set to be a giant year--sure, we say that every year. But every year it's true--our convention has grown by leaps and bounds over the last five years. And with Brian Michael Bendis and Jeff Smith already on the list for next year (you may not have heard this if you weren't at this year's HeroesCon, but I'll "officially" announce it pretty soon) among a bunch of other big names, 2009 will be one of the biggest comics events on the East Coast next year. We feel confident that you guys will all come with us on this one, and help us pay some bills and (maybe) even have some profit left over afterward! That's what business is all about, after all, although it's good to have a great time at your business, too!

Tickets for HeroesCon 2009 are available right now, so go on and buy some, already!

Also, see the relevant pages for similar increases in our Exhibitor Booth pricing and Small Press Table pricing. Hey, we wouldn't ask the fans to shoulder it all by themselves!

[POST] HEROESCON :: What Did You Buy At HeroesCon?

2008-07-02T13:10:00.004-04:00

So what did YOU buy at HeroesCon?

While the staff is still getting back up to speed, I thought it would be fun to talk about the cool stuff we all bought at HeroesCon.

To me the very best thing about a terrific con is getting home with back, arms and legs hurting, sitting down and reveling in the bounty you've just acquired. I'll start-- most of mine is indie stuff but I want to know about ALL about your purchases. Did you finally get Amazing Spider-Man #215 to complete your collection? How long have you been looking for it? Lets hear about it!

so.....ME FIRST!!!!

• I got the Gary Panter two-volume omnibus from PictureBox signed (with a drawing!!) by Mr. Panter hisse'f!
• At the Heroes auction, I won a Gasoline Alley Sunday page (with the color guide on back!!!!) by Jim Scancarelli. The Sunday I bought was in the papers nationally the next day-- whoa!!)
• Richard's Poor Almanac by Richard (Cul-De-Sac) Thompson-- laugh out loud funny!!
• I bought so much stuff from Roger Langridge, I will need a CPA to sort it all out for me,but Zoot Suit excites me the most!!
• I got the two issues of Jack Kirby's 2001: A Space Odyssey that completes the run for me (sweeet)

What about you? Let's hear it!

HEROESCON 08 :: Super-Long Fact-Packed Con Report!

2008-06-27T16:43:00.014-04:00

For literally hundreds of photos, go check out our massive Flickr collection dedicated to HeroesCon 08, which we'll be adding to and updating with descriptions and links for most likely weeks!

Where to begin? Here it is a full week since HeroesCon 08 opened its doors to the public, and we're struggling under a DELUGE of well-wishes, congratulations, and sweet notes from many of you. Not to mention that half of us are sick--after a month without days off, a full weekend of scant sleep, missed meals and crummy food, and possibly more late nights in the hotel bar than are really appropriate for health-minded individuals, it's no surprise. Only super-conventioneer Shelton Drum seems immune to the effects of time and tide--not only did he bounce back faster than any of us, but he was unloading boxes and fixtures the very next day in our warehouse, with nary a complaint!

But enough about us: the report from every quarter seems to be that HeroesCon 08 was an unqualified success! Tons of smiling fans everywhere, the biggest guest list we've ever had, and dealers from wall-to-wall! It would be tough to hit all the points from over the weekend, but I'll try to as briefly as I can--brief for me is twice as long as most people's "long", so it should even itself out.

STAFF

It's not the sexiest place to start, but our staff usually gets mentioned last, and this year they were so amazing that I want to recognize them first. While you may not have noticed it--the infrastructure at a convention is designed to be invisible--this year's show was one of the smoothest-run I've ever been a part of. I don't mean me or Shelton, either: the credit mainly goes to our "lieutenants", each of which went over and above what was asked of them to provide the best possible con experience for everyone they came into contact with. Todd Harlan and Phil Southern crushed it at the Heroes booth; Steve Saffel, Dana Hayward, and Shelley Drum ran the smoothest registration ever; Charlie Foesch was hysterical and tireless at the Info Booth; Karla Marsh checked in most of the exhibitors almost single-handed; Doug Merkle ran shuttles to and from the airport all weekend; on and on. I'm leaving out a ton of our actual paid staff, who were awesome of course--but these guys each ran a prime sector of the convention, and the relative lack of problems is a testament to their abilities.

But I can't leave out two people who I'd personally nominate as show MVP's as far as staff goes: Andy Mansell and Seth Peagler. Andy, who we don't pay a dime, handled a giant panel schedule armed with nothing more than a cellphone and an inexhaustible wellspring of energy. It might sound easy, but it involves a lot of running up and down stairs all weekend, as you corral panelists, handle last minute problems, and generally keep everything looking smooth for the attendees. If you went to a panel and had a good time last weekend, thank Andy Mansell. I think the photo above is about as apt a description of what he did all weekend as anything I could describe.

Seth Peagler has been working for us for barely a year, but if we could clone him a couple of times we could run two or three more HeroesCons every year. I can't say enough about how ready to handle any problem Seth was, including many of my own problems. You can see how selfish my MVP suggestions are: both Seth and Andy did a TON of work that usually goes to me, so I actually worked less this year than in the past. Hurray me!

FRIDAY MORNING

So Friday morning, everything's going smoothly, due mainly to the staff I just praised above, and just before we're about to open the doors for fans at 11am, Shelton calls down to ask if I'm going to take a picture of the line. "Oh, is it a long one? I haven't been upstairs." "Oh, it's a long one," he says, "but you'd better run if you want a picture--these people want in."

Holy mackerel! This was Friday morning, too--usually the big line comes on Saturday morning. So this was definitely a good indicator of the kind of weekend we were going to have.

Once the doors were open and the fans streamed onto the floor, HeroesCon had begun! I have to say that the only real problem we had this year, and probably 70% of the fires I had to put out, had to do with tables in Artists Alley. When there's a misunderstanding and someone sits in the wrong table, it creates this chain reaction of table moves that takes a lot of head-scratching to solve. It helps that most of our invited guests are super patient when this kind of stuff happens, so thanks to everyone who was nice to me as I tried to get everyone seated correctly so they could start meeting fans. Also thanks to Steve Epting's sketch line, which I had to move TWICE on Saturday. People love some Steve Epting. Poor Steve deserves a big thank you, as he was feeling under the weather and STILL signed autographs and did sketches for a ton of fans.

RINGO TRIBUTE

By Friday night I was so wiped that all I could do was invite myself to dinner with some of my favorite Indie Islanders (more on I.I. later) and then sit there nursing a Coke and 4 orange slices. I admit--I totally broke down. If you want endurance, Shelton is definitely your man. What sucks about this is that I missed the tribute party for the late great Mike Wieringo, which from the pictures looks like a ton of fun. We had it across the street from the convention center, and it featured a ton of Ringo's buddies and collaborators talking about their friend, the new Ringo scholarship fun that Ringo's brother Matt has started in conjunction with SCAD, and just a little bit about some cops that showed up mid-party but then ended up being pretty friendly. Don't embarass us, Todd Dezago!

OH, THOSE GUESTS!

Man, if there was one thing we weren't short on this year, it was guests! Even with a discouraging number of cancellations in the couple of weeks prior to the show, we had every table crammed with someone all weekend. From first-timers like Darwyn Cooke and Frank Cho, to old salts like Adam Hughes and Matt Fraction, there were big name guests all over the place, all of whom seemed to have a great time. It helps that we definitely try to skew our guest list toward guests we like and who like us--that friendly vibe on the show floor doesn't happen by accident, you know! Plus a lot of guests recommend us to their buddies, as in Brandon Peterson and Frank Cho, Allison Sohn and Stephane Roux, etc. So it builds a big neighborly vibe on the floor that's pretty singular, from what I understand. Shelton knows better than I do--he does a lot more shows than I do. See earlier for reports of Shelton's powers of endurance.

We don't really play favorites or anything, but I gotta say I was impressed with Darwyn Cooke, although I barely had time to do more than shake his hand and introduce myself at one point. We worked this guy to DEATH, not only at the show, but beforehand. Besides doing the amazing art for our advance ticket incentive print this year, he had to sign ONE THOUSAND of them as soon as he showed up at the hotel. That's no small feat, if you've ever signed 1000 of anything. From all reports, Darwyn was a super-popular guest, and signed and sketched pretty ceaselessly all weekend, with his wife at his side.

A cool thing that we had a lot more of this year was podcasters--there were people holding microphones all over the place, across Artists Alley. The cool thing about that is that there are a ton of interviews across the internet for you to listen to, not to mention a bunch of our panels that the good guys at The Dollar Bin recorded for us. Those guys were SUPER awesome, and I know that main sound dude Adam worked his little earphones to the bone racing from panel to panel with his tricked out audio setup in tow.

Another cool thing about having so many friendly guests is the hotel bar scene--as Tom Spurgeon pointed out in his excellent HeroesCon report, there was a real mix of established veterans, hot newcomers, small pressers, and publishers of all stripe toasting each other in the Westin bar, which was cool. One of my favorite sights was seeing Jaime Hernandez in the corner, holding court and chatting with Evan Dorkin, Dan Nadel, Frank Santoro, and Sammy Harkham. I would have loved to sit in on that conversation, but I was getting pulled all over the place slapping high fives with everybody. Also great was Matt Fraction--wherever he went he was surrounded by a ton of funny people, in a kind of storm cell of hilarity. I joined in a couple of times, but him and Ivan Brandon, Rick Remender, and those guys are way over my head when it comes to funny. Best to get your shot in and leave on a high-note, Costanza-style. Although I will say: do NOT under any circumstances get into a discussion about Barack Obama with Matt Fraction, especially at 2am the night before the convention you've been working on all year is set to open. It'll make getting up the next morning so hard...

But leave us not forget to mention:

PANELS

The event schedule at many comics conventions, including ours at times in the past, can be something of an afterthought. It's not so much that the convention organizers aren't interested, but they most likely have a ton of things on their minds already, and organizing panels is highly labor-intensive. Just ask Tom Spurgeon, who has endured an endless barrage of e-mails from me for the past year. Besides just deciding what it is you'd like to do, you then have to get all your panelists onboard, which is a lot more e-mailing and phone work, etc. Then at the last minute, suddenly everybody decides that oh-yeah-they'd-like-to-do-a-panel-too, thus bunging up your carefully planned schedule.

Tom Spurgeon ran something like 7-10 different panels this year, and I missed almost all of them. If you don't know him already, Tom runs the Comics Reporter website, which is definitely my favorite comics blog to read. I don't read many comics blogs, though, so maybe I'm naive. Either way, he's a super smart dude, and a superb panel moderator--Tom just asks a couple of well-thought out questions and then gets out of the way, trusting the panelists to make things interesting.

Don't take my word for it; as I've mentioned elsewhere, the jolly guys at The Dollar Bin recorded most of his panels, and they're getting put up over at their site one by one. I listened to the 75 minute Collaboration In Comics panel, featuring Darwyn Cooke, Matt Fraction, Jimmy Palmiotti, Cliff Chiang, and Barry Kitson the other day, and it was really fascinating. My personal favorite panel by far was the one on Religion on Sunday, featuring Sammy Harkham and Kevin Huizenga, who are probably 2 of my 3 favorite cartoonists right now. I admit that I abused my role as organizer a little on this one, as it was kind of a dream panel for me. Apparently some of the staff thought so, too, as Seth and Rob were both in attendance, as well as a few volunteers.

INDIE ISLAND

This year's Indie Island was our biggest ever, with 46 tables and 8 booths crammed with cartoonists and publishers from all over the country. Most of the reports I'm getting are pretty excited about it, especially reports from people who have exhibited there over the years and loved all the new faces--and so many new faces! Sammy Harkham, Kevin Huizenga, Brian Ralph, Nick Gurewitch, the Chapman Bros of Homestarrunner... the list goes on and on. My personal favorite parts of Indie Island this year were meeting Scott Campbell, who did the art for our Indie Island print this year, which we turned into a giant 15' banner at the back of the section! The other favorite was getting to hang out with the awesome New York/Portland wing of comics, including Alec Longstreth, Liz Prince, Aaron Renier, Kaz Strzepek, Greg Means, Laura Park--all those peeps. They were so fun, and were very kind to let me hang around with them in the hotel bar after hours.

The only down side for Indie Island this year were reported crummy sales for some of the new exhibitors, including Buenaventura, Picturebox, and Bodega. This was the first HeroesCon for all three, and their books weren't as recognizable to our admittedly highly superhero-centric crowd. But I trust that future appearances will see those sales climb, as they build a regional audience. Chris Staros of Top Shelf told me that they'd had one of their best HeroesCon's ever, and that sales last weekend were on par or exceeded many of the other "big" indie shows they attend. So it's six of one, half dozen of the other. But as the guy responsible for Indie Island (along with the kind indulgence and budget of Shelton, who really has let me do things my way with the section), I take these sorts of things to heart, and am already churning my brain for how to address them next year, when our regular exhibitors are joined by Jeff Smith and Fantagraphics, as well as I'm sure a ton of other new faces! Either way, hanging out with the guys from Buenaventura and Picturebox and Bodega was awesome, they're all super nice guys, which is right up my alley.

The cool thing about Indie Island was that all the guests were so much fun--even the ones that weren't doing great selling stuff were big fans of each other, or just plain friends, so there was a fun vibe everywhere. And for some reason, everyone kept saying how much they liked that the Indie Island table skirts were yellow rather than blue, and how nice it looked. I thought they were hideous, but that just shows what I know.

ART AUCTION

I go to the Art Auction every year--as I tell new guests who are wondering whether or not to attend, "It's twice as fun as you think it would be." And this year we tried all kinds of new stuff. For one thing, we held the Auction in The Alley Cat, an uptown club that contains two or three full bars, a miniature version of the excellent Penguin restaurant, and a much more organic atmosphere than a hotel ballroom, where we've had it the last several years. What did the Alley Cat lack this year? Rosario Dawson. No problem! Shelton was kind enough to rent me a white pinstripe tux, and for the first time ever, I was the auctioneer.

Things almost got off to a rocky start, when a sudden thunderstorm dropped a month's worth of rain on Charlotte precisely when people were leaving the hotel to walk the 6 blocks uptown to the Alley Cat. I thought for sure the attendance would be killed, but when I finally showed up, the room was packed from wall to wall and front to back, and people only seemed a little disappointed to learn that I was not, as they may have thought, Rosario Dawson. I do what I can with what I've got, and if you ask me, I did okay. I think at the end of the night, the Auction total, despite the much-less-attractive auctioneer, rainy start, and new venue, pulled in just a hair less than last year's record amount, and that's not including items included in our Silent Auction on Saturday and Sunday at the convention itself. I've heard a few complaints about the acoustics in the Alley Cat, but I think those are easy to address next year, as the room was set up for a band following our event.

In fact, the band was probably the biggest pro and con of the night. We promised the kind owners of the club that we would be done by ten o'clock, and done we were, but at such a speed! It's hard to talk for three hours straight really fast, especially when some of pieces are so dazzling! Allison Sohn was the unofficial star of the night, bidding on several pieces very aggressively, often throwing out epithets at the audience if she didn't feel like people were bidding enough. I myself got into a brief bidding war over the original painting Scott Campbell did for our Indie Island print, which finally went for a wallet-bursting $750! Holy mackerel! But what can I say, I had to have it. Once that credit card bill is paid off (around HeroesCon 2010), I'll be able to stare lovingly at the framed painting without thinking so much about all that money.

Other "big" pieces including the biggest of the night, Stephane Roux's Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy painting, which he did onstage at the show. Plus "live" pieces from Brian Stelfreeze, Jim Mahfood, Josh Cotter, Tommy Lee Edwards, Darwyn Cooke, and a ton of others. Even going fast, it was pretty dizzying to see so much amazing talent whizzing by. Reports we've heard are still split on the faster, leaner Auction: on the one hand, many of the pros I talked to afterward were EXTREMELY positive about a shorter Auction, not to mention starting at 6.30-7pm, rather than between 8 and 9 as has happened in the past. Other people liked the longer, marathon-style auction, although I haven't heard from them as much. Much of the credit for the earlier start goes to Michaele Drum and Trey Alexander, who shepherded the Auction all weekend, and Allison Sohn, who was a huge help (as always) in coordinating everything.

THE WRAPUP

Believe it or not, I could go a lot longer with this report. I've left out a ton of stuff--the guests I witnessed sneaking 40's of Colt .45 into the hotel bar, the incredible patience of Roy Richardson, June Brigman, and Rod Whigham, how cool it was to see Al Feldstein hanging around our convention, on and on. Plus a neverending list of people to thank for their kind indulgence and enthusiasm.

But all good things must come to an end! By the end of the show on Sunday, Phil Southern and Andy Mansell cranked up their awesome load-out machine. I'm not proud to say that I helped almost none at all, although they had it well in hand to all appearances. By Sunday night I could barely move, and was having a hard time thinking about anything more complicated than "need water" or "feet hurt." Fortunately others on the staff are made of sterner stuff. Later we all repaired back to our store, where Shelton threw a giant party for all the guests and staff. Talk about a Who's Who! By the time I showed up, it was standing room only already, and I had to wade through Frank Cho, Al Feldstein, and Dexter Vines just to get in the door! Our buddy Billy Reid helped serve a ton of food from Mac's Barbeque, and our other buddies Pete and Michelle kept making beer runs, but everyone was happy and slapping each other on the back.

Speaking of slapping each other on the back, here's a back-slap for us: one of the coolest things about HeroesCon is how focused on comics it is. Believe me, it's not by accident, and we talk a LOT about anything that might be at odds with that. Even as tired as I was on Sunday, I sat down with my new best buds Alec Longstreth and Aaron Renier, with my plate of BBQ, and looked around at all these minicomics dudes, then at the table next to me were Al Feldstein, Jim Scancarelli, and Don Sherwood. In the store Matt Fraction and Rick Remender were cracking up a crowd of people, and not far from them Robert Kirkman and Brandon Peterson were doing the same with a different crowd. Such a crazy mix of people, all here at the place I've worked (with a couple of interruptions) since 1996! And all because of HeroesCon.

Regardless of all the time and effort we put into it, for what is often no profit at all in terms of revenue, I'm proud that Shelton has built HeroesCon into what it is over the years; I'm even more proud of what I have to do with that, but maybe I'm just self-centered. But believe me when I tell you that HeroesCon has a paid staff of like 12 people, only 4 of which are full-time. And all of which run the best comic book store in the country all year long as well. So surely it can't be all our fault that our show has become famous for being so great. No, we strongly suspect that most of the blame rests squarely on YOUR shoulders.

And we sure do appreciate it.

HEROESCON 08 :: A Quick Word While We Unpack And Get Our Voices Back

2008-06-23T17:20:00.004-04:00

Well, holey moley! We're still unpacking everything, trying to wade through the hordes of sweet congratulatory e-mails already pouring in, and generally nursing sore hips and backs--but we wanted to drop a quick word. In case you didn't make it to HeroesCon this year, you missed the

BEST.

HEROESCON.

EVER.

I'll get to work on a overwritten, over-exhaustive con report tomorrow first thing, and photos will be added to our Flickr stream for probably weeks into the future, as some of the many photographers and press that were on hand get them to me.

But for now I thought I'd leave you with Tom Spurgeon's pretty excellent report, which is certainly better-written than I could ever do. Tom ran about 75% of this year's panels for us, and from the few I had time to sit in on, he was pretty great at it. If you don't already start your comics-blog-reading mornings at The Comics Reporter, I'd recommend you check it out. I'll leave you in Tom's capable hands until later in the week. See you then!

[pictured above from left: Kathryn Immonen, Whit Spurgeon, Tom Spurgeon, Stuart Immonen, and Chris Duffy]

HEROESCON THIS WEEKEND: FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY!

2008-06-19T12:27:00.002-04:00

We're in the middle of loading in right now, so the next post you see from me will likely be photos from the floor of the show. BUT if you want all the scoop, read the special edition of the Heroes Hotline we sent out this morning in advance of the show, right HERE. See you this weekend!

HEROESCON :: Art Auction Is Large And In Charge!

2008-06-18T14:38:00.002-04:00

Hi there! Remember me? It seems like it's been a while, but over here we've all got our noses to the grindstone getting everything in place for this weekend's HeroesCon. THIS WEEKEND's HeroesCon--crazy, no? Just think, a couple of weeks from now this blog will be back to talking about comics and our store again--imagine!

But not yet: I wanted to let you in on the details of this weekend's coolest con-event--our Annual Art Auction! This has become one of the most popular events on the comics convention calendar, and this year we're pulling out all the stops.

First of all, we're having it for the first time in Charlotte's coolest uptown club, to give you all a bit of local flavor. This year's Art Auction will take place Saturday at 6.30pm at THE ALLEY CAT, located at 314 N. College St., just five blocks from the convention center. Heckfire, if you're feet are tired, you can take the Light Rail! Feel free to quiz us at the Info Booth on how to get there once you're at the convention.

One of the coolest things about the Alley Cat is that right inside is a miniature version of the famous Penguin burger restaurant--for the first time you can go to the Auction, have a great dinner, and bid on original art all at the same time. Plus there's a full bar and a super-friendly staff on hand, so this should be our most fun Auction yet!

Also new this year is our Silent Auction--because of the HUGE number of donations we get for the Auction, we're going to place most of them in a Silent Auction, to take place throughout the weekend at the front of the convention. Near the end of each day we'll award pieces to the winners, so each day there'll be new works to bid on!

Oh, one more thing--while I'm no Rosario Dawson, this year I will be auctioneering the Auction, so things are going to have a distinctly ME flavor to them. Hopefully that's a good thing, but we'll see.

Oh, and one MORE one more thing--the Auction couldn't happen with the help of our friend Allison Sohn, one of our most tireless supporters. We wanted to mention someone that I forgot to get on the guest list in time was going to be set up at the convention--Allison's friend Mark McHaley, who's done a ton of trading card art for companies like Rittenhouse Archives and Topps, including the recent Indiana Jones series. He won't be in the program book, but search him out at table AA-214 this weekend!

Okay, tons more to do, but I wanted to drop that knowledge on you really quick. More coming!

HEROESCON :: Darwyn Cooke Advance Ticket Incentive!

2008-06-13T16:34:00.003-04:00

Well, we may have not made as big a deal of it this year as in the past, but as you can see it's not for lack of an incredible piece of art! We've been busy pretty much from sunup to sunup for the last forever, and as you blog readers may have noticed, not been posting with our normal regularity.

But hopefully this makes up for it! Presenting, ladies and gentlemen, the HeroesCon 2008 Advance Ticket Incentive Print! Featuring all-new artwork by Darwyn Cooke! Everyone with an advance 3-day pass will get one of these 11" x 17", signed and numbered EXCLUSIVE prints, printed on sexy thick paper and ever-so suitable for framing! FREE! The design may change a little bit by the time of the show, but that art will always be awesome, no matter how my design may screw it up!

Speaking of advance tickets: the deadline is Tuesday night, June 17, at 9pm. After that we will not accept anymore ticket forms. You can call for tickets at 704.375.7462, or go here and use the pdf form to fax a charge in. If I could get some time one year, we'll get all that automated online, but for now you'll have to step back into the 80's, technologically speaking. And remember to be patient--our phones are RINGING OFF THE HOOK with ticket orders, and this isn't going to help any! So give whoever answers a break, if you could--they'll appreciate it!

HEROESCON :: Ivan Brandon Can Replace Any TWO Men!

2008-06-10T10:07:00.002-04:00

Lo, tis sad news I bring you, ye faithful--Ed Brubaker has been forced to cancel his trip to his first HeroesCon this year due to some unavoidable developments at home. We're crushed! I was personally looking forward to meeting Ed, who comes highly recommended by constant collaborator Matt Fraction. But Ed sends his most heartfelt apologies, and has already confirmed for 2009, so dry those eyes!

Also forced to cancel, again due to last-minute and unavoidable circumstances, is Daredevil artist Michael Lark. Oh, the hurt! But that still leaves 300+ guests for you to lose your mind over--imagine a HeroesCon so big that two big guests are forced to cancel, and the room is STILL packed!

But there's a light on the horizon! As in the classic "Where The Red Fern Grows", a tender shoot emerges from the soil to replace what has gone before! Joining the HeroesCon 08 Guest List this morning is writer Ivan Brandon, he of SECRET INVASION: HOME INVASION, MACHINE MAN, THE CROSS BRONX, NYC MECH, and the Eisner-nominated Image anthology 24SEVEN! Whoa Ivan!

HEROESCON :: Event Schedule Roundup!

2008-06-09T23:17:00.003-04:00

Another late-night blog post! That's what conventioneering is all about! I'll cut out the chatter and get to posting: presenting the last of the additions (at least the ones that will get into the program book) to our HeroesCon 08 Event Schedule:

COVERING COMICS: Criticism, Reportage, and Gossip Room 219
The digital age has allowed a deeper understanding of comics criticism and reporting than has ever been possible before. Tom Spurgeon of the Comics Reporter moderates this discussion featuring some of the leading lights on the comics journalism scene, including Heidi MacDonald of The Beat, Tim Hodler of the Comics Comics magazine and blog, Matt Brady of Newsarama, and Johanna Draper-Carlson of Comics Worth Reading. From industry reporting and journalism to criticism and good ole gossip, this is sure to be a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the comics news!

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY DISCUSSION Room 207
The Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon moderates what's sure to be one of the most fascinating conversations of the weekend, in this roundtable discussion featuring artist and Image publisher Erik Larsen, DC Executive Editor Dan Didio, artist and DRAW! MAGAZINE editor-in-chief Mike Manley, writer/artist Jimmy Palmiotti (COUNTDOWN, JONAH HEX), and writer and Boom! Studios Editor-In-Chief Mark Waid.

THE SILVER AGE OF COMICS Room 216
It's hard to imagine a period in comics history filled with more creativity and experimentation than the Silver Age--and who better to lead a discussion on it than Roy Thomas, former Marvel editor-in-chief and current ALTER EGO editor. Roy is joined by GHOST RIDER co-creator Gary Friedrich, HULK #181 penciller Herb Trimpe, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE penciller Ron Wilson, and others to be announced!

THE NEW ART COMICS Room 219A
From critical favorite hits like MAGGOTS and POWR MASTRS, to prominence in influential anthologies like KRAMER'S ERGOT, "art" or "abstract" or "out" comics are pushing the boundaries of the avant garde in comics. Join Tom Spurgeon of the Comics Reporter as he sits down with Picturebox publisher Dan Nadel, KRAMER'S ERGOT editor Sammy Harkham and publisher Alvin Buenaventura for a frank discussion of this leading edge of art in comics!

DISNEY'S KINGDOM COMICS PRESENTS: HOLLYWOOD AND THE GRAPHIC NOVEL Room 217A
Join recently announced Disney's Kingdom Comics co-heads Ahmet Zappa and Christian Beranek as they discuss what it takes to navigate between graphic novels to film and back again.

COLLABORATION AND STORYTELLING IN TODAY'S COMICS Room 217BCD
Super panel moderator Tom Spurgeon conducts this chat with a who's who of artists and writers, featuring Darwyn Cooke (DC NEW FRONTIER), Matt Fraction (INVINCIBLE IRON MAN), Jimmy Palmiotti (COUNTDOWN), Cliff Chiang (GREEN ARROW & BLACK CANARY), and Barry Kitson (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN). From collaboration with other creators, editors, or big company-wide crossovers, it can be tough to get your creative vision out there sometimes. This is sure to be a great discussion by some really entertaining creators!

NOT THE USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS: EC COMICS PANEL
Part 1: Kurtzman for Beginners
In the first half of this look at two of EC Comics most important creators, we present a Harvey Kurtzman retrospective that's a veritable smorgasbord of presentations and events, including an overview of Kurtzman’s career by Thought Balloonist blogger Craig Fischer, and a close reading of “3-Dimensions!” a MAD story by Kurtzman and Wally Wood, by MIDNIGHT SUN cartoonist Ben Towle. Plus: a sneak peak at the new Kurtzman COMPLETE HUMBUG collection, forthcoming from Fantagraphics!

NOT THE USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS: EC COMICS PANEL
Part 2: A Chat With Al Feldstein (and Friends)
Ben Towle and Craig Fischer host an in-depth interview with Al Feldstein, EC artist and writer and MAD MAGAZINE editor extraordinaire! Along for the ride is a pair of celebrity funsters—FRED THE CLOWN and FIN FANG FOUR cartoonist Roger Langridge and CUL DE SAC comic stripper Richard Thompson—ready to roast and grill Feldstein about The Lighter Side of Editing America’s #1 Humor Magazine!

KIDS LOVE COMICS! Room 216
Featuring "Kids Love Comics" creators Jimmy Gownley, (AMELIA RULES), John Gallagher (BUZZBOY), and Josh Elder (MAIL ORDER NINJA), plus Michele Gorman, the Teen Services Manager at Charlotte's amazing ImaginOn youth library, and the author of GETTING GRAPHIC: COMICS FOR KIDS. This is sure to be a fun and informative panel for kids and parents alike, with some of the country's best all-ages cartoonists!

Holy Mackerel, those are some sweet panels. For all the times and days, check them out on our Event Schedule page--they'll be the ones in red.

HEROESCON :: Last Minute Additions Rick Remender and Tommy Castillo!

2008-06-08T23:13:00.003-04:00

Woo-ee, talk about a last-minute update! But this one will make our man Rusty pretty happy!

Brand new to the HeroesCon 08 Guest List is good ole Rick Remender, the writer of a ton of stuff including THE ATOM, FEAR AGENT, CRAWL SPACE, SEA OF RED, STRANGE GIRL, THE END LEAGUE... I could go on all day. I would, too, except I've got eight other things I need to get to, one of them being bed--so to really experience the majesty of Rick Remender, I suggest you go right to the source at the convention.

But that's not all--also new to the Guest List tonight is BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS artist Tommy Castillo. Besides his comics work, Tommy's also worked extensively in movies and other media, and has a couple of art books to his credit, including DRAGONS, MYTHS, & MAYHEM!

Okay, time for bed--see you tomorrow! Tons more announcements to make!

HEROESCON :: Mike Wieringo HERO Benefit Book To Debut At HeroesCon!

2008-06-06T16:48:00.003-04:00

As you know, our friend Mike Wieringo passed away last year. Mike was an extraordinarily popular figure among fans and pros alike, and the outcry over his passing was enormous. Now some of his closest friends and collaborators have come together to finish the last book he was working on! But the Hero Initiative says it a lot better than I do, in a press release sent out today:

LOS ANGELES (June 6, 2008) – The long awaited Mike Wieringo Tribute Book can now be yours at HeroesCon on June 20 before it is officially released everywhere on June 25th!

When artist Mike Wieringo passed away, he was in the middle of his latest Marvel Comics book, a What If? story. Mike had completed seven pages of what became a massive 27-page story. With Mike’s passing, Marvel Comics generously provided access to the script and Mike’s art to The Hero Initiative, and Mike’s friends stepped up to finish the story, and pay tribute to Mike. Now, What If…This Was The Fantastic Four?: A Tribute to Mike Wieringo is a massive, 48-page tribute book that contains the full story, and additional written tributes to Mike.

The tremendous list of talent participating in the book includes Jeff Parker, Arthur Adams, Paul Renaud, Stuart Immonen, Cully Hamner, Alan Davis, David Williams, Sanford Greene, Humberto Ramos, Skottie Young, Mike Allred, Barry Kitson, and Val Staples. Cover artwork is by Mike Wieringo and Paul Mounts, and The Hero Initiative is publishing the book with the full support of both Marvel Comics, and the family of Mike Wieringo.

Stop by the Hero booth to obtain your very own copy before it is available everywhere on June 25th. The book retails for $4.99. In addition, the following ten talented men will be signing the book at HeroesCon: Richard Case, Todd Dezago, Cully Hamner, Stuart Immonen, Barry Kitson, Nathan Massengill, Jeff Parker, Val Staples, Mark Waid, Karl Kesel and Matt Wieringo so don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity!

“Thanks to Marvel and The Hero Initiative, Mike’s friends got to work with him one more time and I get to experience seeing one of my brother’s comics on the stands again. That’s a thrill I never again hoped or expected to have. And it’s for a great cause that Mike would have been proud to be a part of,” said Matt Wieringo.

The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays' creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It's a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment. For more information, call 310-909-7809.

Well put, Hero Initiative! Be sure and visit their website for more information on this excellent charity!

HEROESCON :: Announcing: Indie Island Shirt Redux!

2008-06-05T23:31:00.003-04:00

Aw yeah! Remember all those sweet Indie Island shirts I had planned? Well, I haven't forgotten them--in fact, we're doing up this sweet Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer art as our first ever OFFICIAL Indie Island con shirt! Oh yes, it's true! I just got this art today from Sarah, and as we speak it's wending its way to our awesome screenprinters, and will be available for sale to one and all at HeroesCon!

Now, I know you're thinking--wait, weren't there supposed to be an ambitious SIX Indie Island shirts? I know, I know--I haven't forgotten. But it was ambitious, wasn't it? Well, I'm working on it--you should concentrate on just how great you're going to feel wearing this shirt, available in a MULTITUDE of different sizes, and in some non-American Apparel styles too. I know, I know--my mistake. But I'm making good on it!

I'd write more but I've got to go sleepy-bye, so I can wake up early and get back to work on the greatest HeroesCon of all time! I just got back from a pre-show staff meeting, and it looks like we're really firing on all cylinders. We'll be bringing our "A" game this year, so you'd better bring a real high level game as well. At LEAST "B" level, I'm thinking. B+ would probably be better.

HEROESCON :: Dave Dorman, Scott Hampton, Rod Whigham!

2008-06-03T11:24:00.002-04:00

Who knows where we'll put them, but we've got some late-breaking HeroesCon 08 Guest List additions!

Dave Dorman and Scott Hampton need no introduction to people who attend HeroesCon each year, but just in case: Dave is the highly recognizable painter of literally ZILLIONS of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and many other high-profile properties! Scott is another high-profile painter, although most of his work is on the macabre side of things. Besides work on SPOOKHOUSE and an issue of DC's SOLO dedicated to him, Scott has also provided the gorgeous art to BATMAN: GOTHAM COUNTY LINE and HELMET OF FATE, among many others.

Rod Whigham really should have been on the guest list a month ago, but I totally spaced! Sorry, Rod! Rod's worked all over the place, on titles as diverse as PUNISHER, JUSTICE LEAGUE, FLASH, and DOC SAVAGE, as well as many others. These days he draws the newspaper strip GIL THORP!

And a couple more names to add to the Cancellation list--unfortunately our buddies John Lucas and John Beatty won't be able to come this year, although hopefully we'll be able to get them back next year! You can see a list of all the cancellations on our Guest List page, underneath the "RECENT ADDITIONS" column.

HEROESCON :: Even More Panel Updates!

2008-06-01T18:37:00.005-04:00

Well, while it's not normally our wont to post to the blog on the (what?!) weekend, we're burning the midnight oil getting ready for things, and have been chugging away on the packed HeroesCon 08 Event Schedule! Progress on the over 300 bios I have to write is not as sunny, but we'll leave that for a different blog post. For now, new schedule (note that some of these panels are pending final approval from participants, and like everything else is subject to change:

CONVERSATIONS: Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich Room 216
This is sure to be a fascinating discussion, between former Marvel Editor-In-Chief and Alter Ego editor Roy Thomas, and Ghost Rider co-creator and Marvel writer Gary Friedrich. Listen as they discuss the Silver Age of the House of Ideas, the creation of Ghost Rider, and much more!

THE FUTURE OF PODCASTS IN THE MEDIA Room 213A
Heidi MacDonald of The Beat moderates this panel featuring a who's who of comics podcasting talent: Jimmy Aquino of Comic News Insider, Charlito and Mr. Phil of Indie Spinner Rack, Brian Christman and Adam Murdough of Comic Geek Speak, and most likely a bunch more guests from our Podcast Arena!

WEBCOMICS ROUNDUP Room 213BCD
Join the Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon for a roundtable discussion on webcomics, from conception and creation to marketing and--what?--profitability. With guests Nicholas Gurewitch, David Malki, Julia Wertz, Chris Harding, Danielle Corsetto, and more!

CRAFT IN COMICS: Jaime Hernandez, Jim Rugg, and Frank Santoro in Conversation 213A
Less a conversation on materials and techniques and more a conversation on ideas and beliefs, this panel will focus on tradition and innovation in composition and drawing for comics. From Jaime's insistence on not using photographs as reference in his comics to Jim's clarity of composition and Frank's careful color choices, there are countless tenets of craft that are largely underappreciated by readers. This panel will investigate these ideas and attempt to illuminate and outline them in a lively conversation led by Frank Santoro.

THE FUTURE OF PODCASTS IN THE MEDIA Room 213A
Heidi MacDonald of The Beat moderates this panel featuring a who's who of comics podcasting talent: Jimmy Aquino of Comic News Insider, Charlito and Mr. Phil of Indie Spinner Rack, Brian Christman and Adam Murdough of Comic Geek Speak, and most likely a bunch more guests from our Podcast Arena!

NEWSPAPER STRIPS: Keeping It Fresh After All These Years Room 216
Our own Andy Mansell moderates this panel featuring some of the brightest stars of classic newspaper strips! With Jim Scancarelli (GASOLINE ALLEY), Marcus Hamilton (DENNIS THE MENACE), Irwin Hasen (DONDI), June Brigman (Brenda Starr) and Alex Saviuk (SPIDER-MAN)! Explore the challenges of taking over an iconic strip, and keeping it fresh day in and day out!

TORI AMOS' COMIC BOOK TATTOO ROOM 217A
Heidi MacDonald moderates a panel of cartoonists, writers and artists hand selected by Tori Amos to reinterpret her music into sequential art. Features previously unseen images exclusively from the forthcoming book from Image Comics!

Check the Event Schedule page for all the times and to see all the zillion other events going on! Is that enough for you? Well, I've still got some more coming, but good GRAVY, I've been at the computer all day and haven't even had a shower yet. The dog won't even lick my feet anymore. Gross! More to come--TODAY IS JUNE 1ST! Just under three weeks to (gulp!) go!

HEROESCON :: Hotel Update!

2008-05-30T19:13:00.003-04:00

Big news this week: while there are individual room nights still available at both, it looks like we've effectively sold out both the Hilton Charlotte Center City AND the Westin Charlotte! What? Seriously? Oh yes--fortunately Shelton has been casting his net farther and farther out, as we could see from pretty much the first day we announced our HeroesCon rates at those two hotels that the rooms were going WAY faster than normal.

So Shelton has signed contracts with TWO more hotels: the Hilton Garden Inn Uptown, and the Hampton Inn! Both are just two blocks east of the Convention Center, and both are providing us with $99/night rooms! So if you've been hanging onto some overpriced room reservations because you couldn't find anything better, ditch em and call:

HAMPTON INN: CHARLOTTE UPTOWN
1.800-HAMPTON

or

HILTON GARDEN INN
1.877.STAY.HGI

BE SURE TO SAY THAT YOU WANT THE "HEROESCON RATE". There's a good chance that the rate won't go "live" until Monday, so try back then if it's not working yet. And as before, if you have any problems, please feel free to comment below--Shelton and I both will be monitoring this post closely, and will try to address any problems as quickly as possible! Remember to be polite!

HEROESCON :: Bronze Age Great Joins Guest List!

2008-05-30T17:59:00.005-04:00

Our good buddies over at the HERO Initiative are bringing 70's and 80's great Ron Wilson to the HeroesCon 08 Guest List! I know a ton of people are going to love this news, especially our employees Phil and Rusty! His appearance will be to benefit the Hero Initiative, which--well heckfire, they say it better than I do, both about Ron and themselves! Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jim McLauchlin (emphasis mine):

"Longtime Marvel Comics artist Ron Wilson worked extensively for the publisher from the 1970s through the 1990s, notably on Marvel Two-in-One and The Thing. He also made contributions to Power Man, Incredible Hulk, and What If? It's only very recently that Ron started hitting the convention circuit, so his appearances have been very few.

The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays' creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It's a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment. For more information, call 310-909-7809 or visit http://www.heroinitiative.org/."

HEROESCON :: Our Buddies Steve And Dana!

2008-05-30T17:40:00.006-04:00

Two of our oldest and best friends are joining the HeroesCon 08 Guest List today, although they should have been among the first to be added right after last year's show! Steve Saffel and Dana Hayward are not only esteemed working professionals, but they actually come down here from New York every year--just to bust their butts working for us! Now that's friendship! So it's very embarassing for me, having CONTINUALLY forgot to add them to the list, despite Steve's regular gentle reminders. What can you do?

In his latest e-mail, Steve was kind enough to actually write bios for himself and Dana; perhaps he thought I couldn't think of anything to say. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present:

Dana Hayward is a letterer and designer for Del Rey Books, HarperCollins Children's Books, and others, with credits that include dozens of installment of the bestselling manga titles Tsubasa (from Clamp), Wallflower, and xxxHolic (also by Clamp), as well as the Terry Brooks graphic novel Dark Wraith of Shannara.

Steve Saffel is the writer of Spider-Man: The Icon from Titan Books, and is an independent book editor for Titan, Random House, Perseus Books, Watson-Guptil, and others. Most recently Steve has worked with noted Hollywood professionals to develop properties such as the military-meets-monsters series SPOOKS, currently available as a limited series from Devil's Due (www.spooksthecomic.com).

HEROESCON :: Late-Breaking Guest Additions!

2008-05-28T16:54:00.003-04:00

I'm in the middle of trying to put together the massive 64 page program book for HeroesCon 08 right now, plus beat a bunch of other print deadlines, so I HOPE YOU'LL PARDON THE BREVITY of this post. Most of you will welcome it! But I just hate to slight any of these EXCELLENT guests, who I will now unceremoniously announce. Lo, behold!

CHRIS BRUNNER, our old friend, and artist of the upcoming LOOSE ENDS from 12 Gauge, as well as on numerous books including THE RIDE and GOTHAM CENTRAL!

SEAN CHEN, returning champeen, member of theBLVD studio, and excellent draughtsman behind NOVA, WOLVERINE, and X-MEN: THE END!

SANFORD GREENE, who smiles a lot and giggles even more! And who is working now on the upcoming METHOD MAN GN, besides past work on Teen Titans, Army of Darkness, and more!

RICO RENZI, blistering colorist, proud papa, and printer extraordinaire. Also with credits on THE RIDE, GOTHAM CENTRAL, and 24/SEVEN!

MARK TEXEIRA, the smiling painter who always dashes into the Art Auction at the last minute, having just finished his submission on stage! Past artist of GHOST RIDER, WOLVERINE, and his own PSCYTHE!

Oh, and there's more less exciting news: joining the list of people forced to cancel their appearances at this year's HeroesCon is Greg Rucka and Jennifer Van Meter. Greg was super-apologetic, saying it was just unavoidable and it killed him. He assures us that they'll be back next year. Also heartthrob Dean Haspiel and Sean "Cheeks" Galloway. Sniff! We'll try to get these guys back in 09, for sure! For now, you can see an up-to-the-minute list of cancellations at the bottom of the "Recent Updates" list on our Guest List page.

REPORT :: Batman Year One Discussion Group!

2008-05-23T11:20:00.003-04:00

What a fun night!!! On Monday we hunkered down and discussed Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's Batman Year One. We covered a number of topics, but the majority of the entertainment-packed two+ hours revolved around the effects of the dual narrator on the flow of the story, the importance of Commissioner Gordon's character in the Batman mythos, and most importantly (ok, arguably most importantly) the effect of the characters on Gotham and the effect of Gotham on the characters.

As an added bonus, Andy Smith, local penciller/storyteller extraordinaire (Stormwatch, 52, Red Sonja/Claw) went over Mazzuchelli's page layout and demonstrated how certain graphic tricks work to lead the readers eye through a given page. OUTSTANDING!!! Thanks Andy!!!

We've posted a few new pictures from the night over in our Heroes Discussion Group set on our Flickr site, if you'd like to take a peek.

Of course the last fifteen minutes were spent on the battle royal to decide what the next book will be. We have it narrowed down to three and we would like ALL of your input as to what it should be:

SHAZAM: Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith
Sandman Volume 4: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman
Astonishing X-Men Volume 1 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday

These nights are fun and informative and can only improve if more of you join us. It's VERY laid back, and a lot of fun! All you need to do is set the date aside-- the next one will be after HeroesCon in July--we'll announce it right here on the blog once we nail it down. Read the book and then join us! There is no pressure to speak, but if the past discussions are a harbinger for future meetings, we feel confident you will want to join in.

MEMORIAL DAY SHIPPING DELAYS!

2008-05-21T17:30:00.003-04:00

Quick Reminder:

Diamond will be closed May 26th in observance of the Memorial Day Holiday. That means we won’t be receiving new books until Thursday the 29th next week.

Ok-bye!