Well, we had so many Indie Island additions for a while there, that I was trying to put this off for a little bit, but people keep throwing their hat in the ring, so I figured I’d better get this up while I can. So, not to diminish the relative importance of these personages/institutions, there are just too many to be too verbose about each:

T. Edward Bak is the author of the much-vaunted The Service Industry and recipient of a fellowship at the Center For Cartoon Studies. He’s joined by Tom Neely, author of the Ignatz Award winning The Blot, which also has been the subject of all sorts of critical attention, nearly all of the good kind. Ed Piskor is the illustrator behind Harvey Pekar‘s Macedonia, as well as The Beats and various issues of American Splendor. And coming all the way from Portland Oregon is Sparkplug Comic Books, publisher and distributor of books including Elijah Brubaker‘s Reich and Renee French‘s Edison Steelhead’s Lost Portfolio.

And if that weren’t enough, scant seconds before I was about to post this, I got confirmation that White River Junction, Vermont’s own Center For Cartoon Studies will be setting up at its very first HeroesCon! With a faculty and visiting speaker list that reads like a who’s who of cartooning, CCS is quickly becoming the new face of education for aspiring cartoonists and self-publishers. Joining CCS will be up-and-comer Joseph Lambert, the author of Bait & Switch and one of the organizers of The Sunday Anthologies, not to mention this awesome cartoon. We just got some of Joe’s minicomics in, which I haven’t put out yet, but which are awesome. Just ask me if you want one.