EVENTS :: Charlotte ComiCon, July 12th!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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.

POST HEROESCON :: Chuck Rozanski Con Report

Well, I'm in the middle of preparing my con report, having already posted 245 photos to Flickr, descriptions of which are appearing as I write them. I'll be blogging about it here as well, but in the meantime I wanted to share with you what Chuck Rozanski said in this week's Mile High Comics newsletter.

To preface: if you're not aware of Chuck, Mile High Comics is one of the oldest and most venerable comics shops in the country, and Chuck Rozanski is a popular face at shows all across the country. Not only because dealers love selling him back issues, but he also happens to be a cool dude, too. Here's what he had to say--I'd just link to it instead of cutting and pasting it in toto, but Chuck's newsletter is e-mail only as far as I can see:

"After a wonderful weekend in Charlotte, we're now getting ready to head for the airport. HeroesCon turned out to be just as fantastic a comics convention as I had anticipated, with many thousands of fans from throughout the nation attending. While HeroesCon was originally intended as a regional convention, it is rapidly becoming an alternate destination for those dedicated comics fans who want to attend a large convention without all the media overlay that now dominates other large comics shows, such as San Diego and New York. It is a real blessing to be in a place where the vast majority of attendees are there because they love to read, as opposed to watching television, going to movies, and/or playing video games. I can pleasantly engage in all of the above on occasion, but my basic bias is definitely toward reading, so I find it quite refreshing to attend a comics convention where the entire emphasis of the convention is on comic books. Is it any wonder that HeroesCon is my favorite convention of the year?

"Aside from just having fun here in Charlotte, we also purchased a huge number of back issue comics from the dealers exhibiting at the show. This convention was really a test of our new online pricing structure, as I had to explore whether our wholesale back issue comics suppliers would be willing to lower their prices enough that I could maintain our prices at their new, much lower, levels. Blessedly, the answer turned out to be a resounding "Yes!" While I did run into several instances where I just could not work out deals with folks because they still had their comics priced at pre-recession levels, I found more than enough dealers who were willing to be flexible enough to spend my entire buying budget, and then some. I ended up buying about 30,000 back issue comics and trade paperbacks in Charlotte, including well over 10,000 Silver Age and Bronze Age comics! That was more than enough pre-1980 back issues to completely restock us from the debilitating effects on our online inventory resulting from our sales of the past two weeks, so I am feeling quite happy this morning. While there were certainly a few issues where I found out that I am going to have to raise our prices slightly over the next week in order to maintain our inventories, in most instances I am going to be able to keep our present extremely steep discounts in effect for you.

"While I purchased Silver Age and Bronze Age comics quite well in Charlotte, my assistant, Will Moulton, was also purchasing this past weekend at the WizardWorld convention in Philadelphia. Will was able to also buy about 30,000 comics (with an emphasis on issues that we're seeking from the past five years...), but his real score was a single deal containing over 3,000 scarce and out-of-print trade paperbacks. If you've been looking for any books for your library, the next couple of weeks are going to be a great time for you to shop with Mile High Comics!

"I'm going to have to cut things short now, as we still have to turn in our rental van, and then head for the airport for our flight home. Before I go, however, I want to close out today's newsletter with a special thanks to HeroesCon owner and founder Shelton Drum, and his entire crew at the wonderful Heroes Aren't Hard to Find retail comics shop. Thanks to Shelton and his wonderful crew, we all have the opportunity each year to attend a comics convention that retains the wonder and magical atmosphere of Phil Seuling's legendary 1970's conventions at the Commodore Hotel in New York, and the incredible early 1980's conventions in San Diego. Being able to step back in time, and to once again experience the joy that I felt at attending the greatest comics conventions of my youth, is such an incredible treat that I am forever their debt. Shelton, you're the best!"

Holy Cow! What a sweet post by Chuck! Shelton was super flattered by it, especially the part about Phil Seuling and the early San Diego shows, where Shelton was set up as a young man selling comics, before he even had established Heroes Aren't Hard To Find! Okay more con report coming soon.

[pictured at top of post, from left: Chuck, his wife Nanette, and our Warehouse Manager Seth Peagler, together in our warehouse after loadout of HeroesCon]