New to the HeroesCon 09 Guest List today are six more awesome names–as we move into the last month before the show, the announcements are going to turn from new guests to new pieces of schedule, hotel announcements, and more, so keep your digital eyeballs glued to this site and the Heroes Hotline for all the updates.

But for now, check out these sweet peeps:

CULLEN BUNN returns to HeroesCon this year along with fellow guest Brian Hurtt. The two have collaborated on two The Damned series so far, with a third “Daughter’s Danse” on the way. Look for Cullen in Immortal Weapons, coming up from Marvel!

MICHAEL KRONENBERG is a writer and designer who has written for a ton of books including The Batcave Companion, Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu, and designed books like the recent EC Archives and more. He’s a regular contributor to TwoMorrows magazines including Rough Stuff and Back Issue.

BRIAN REBER is a colorist who’s worked for most of the big companies, most regularly for Marvel and DC on books like Captain Britain and MI-13, X-Men Legacy, Outsiders, and Runaways.

DURWIN TALON is an artist, editor, and professor. His comics work includes Beautiful Scars and Bonds, and he also edited the excellent Panel Discussion book focusing on a number of iconic comics creators and their approaches to their art.

GREG “DARK ONE” WILLIAMS is best known for his creation Animal Mystic. These days he’s behind Paleo Pirate, published by the new company Void Comics.

MATTHEW WILSON‘s color work has appeared in The End League, Gigantic, and Phonogram. Please help us welcome him to his very first HeroesCon!

Okay, more on the way! Stay tuned!

A quick post while working on a longer post for later this morning: we’re getting a lot of e-mails about the HeroesCon host hotel announcement. We are right on the cusp of making an official announcement, just crossing all the t’s and dotting all the i’s.

We will make that announcement first through a special edition of the Heroes Hotline, our weekly newsletter. If you’re not already receiving it, you can sign up here. If you’re already getting it, then you’re good to go.

Once we’ve announced it through the newsletter, about a day later we’ll announce it here on our blog. Note that I’m subtly hinting that you should totally be getting our newsletter. It’s the nazz. Okay back to the impending Guest List update! And the schedule is coming together–I’ll be posting the first parts of it tomorrow, including the much asked-about SCAD workshops!

Huzzah, huzzah! A new addition to the HeroesCon 09 Guest List to celebrate the week’s end–we’re what? about 5 weeks away now, so things are starting to get crazy around here. But we think we’ve got something extra special cooked up for you… in the meantime, feast your Internet eyes on these new guests:

PAUL AZACETA has had art in a bajillion different things lately, including BPRD 1946, Foolkiller, Potter’s Field, and Daredevil. This will be his very first appearance at HeroesCon!

JONATHAN HICKMAN returns to HeroesCon this year, having added a number of Marvel titles (Secret Warriors, Dark Reign: Fantastic Four) to his already fan-favorite list of credits (Pax Romana, Nightly News).

JAMES “DOODLE” LYLE is an old buddy of ours, and no stranger to HeroesCon. His donations to the annual Art Auction are often among the top bids of the night! Doodle has had work in Negative Burn, Doorman, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and many more.

Another chum is smilin’ RICO RENZI, one half of the Kickstand Kids (along with fellow guest Chris Brunner), and a totally studly color artist. You’ve almost certainly seen Rico on Perhapanauts or Killing Girl, and you should certainly check him out in the upcoming Loose Ends and Talisman.

ROBBI RODRIGUEZ also returns this summer. His sweet brush stylings are all over Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen, Maintenance, Hazed, and less recently on Hero Camp from Image.

And bringing up the alphabetical rear this week is legendary letterer JOHN WORKMAN, whose career in comics goes back over 40 years, and whose credits include Wolverine, Howling Commandoes, Heavy Liquid, Thor–pretty much everything. He’s often associated with his buddies in the Boulevard Studio. Welcome back!

Okay, more to come early next week, and soon we’ll be seeing the schedule come into focus! Have a great weekend!

I used to loooooovvve the original New Mutants series waaaaayyy back in the day (I’m old enough to have actually read the book as it came out).

I fondly remember issues featuring stuff like the Demon Bear, the Mr.T-esque villain Axe and even a guest appearance by Team America, among other cool items from the first series. Sure, it was a little cheesy (cheese, by the way, is tasty), but the stories were solid (this was Chris Claremont on his “A” game) and the art, by Bob McCleod, was tight.

That said, simple nostalgia over the old series would not get me to like New Mutants No. 1 if it sucked. Luckily, it doesn’t suck.

The first issue of the team’s newest incarnation is right on the money in terms of tone, direction and respect for current X-Men continuity. I especially love how well writer Zeb Wells handles the relationships between the team members; it’s obvious that they respect and actually like each other — which makes their re-teaming even more logical.

One other thing I dig about this comic is that it shows some of the more administrative aspects of being on a X-Men team. In one scene, Cannonball fills out a “roster request form.” And in another scene, we see Beast handling design and creation of the group’s uniforms. Maybe I’m the only one who gives a crap about Cyclops’ paperwork, but mundane stuff like that just makes the comic experience more “realistic” for me.

On the art-side of things, Diogenes Neves does an outstanding job of rendering great human figures, emotion-filled facial expressions and detailed backgrounds. I’ve never heard of this artist, but I’m impressed by the work here.

All in all, speaking as an old fan, I can honestly ay I’m excited about the promise and potential of this new series.

Oh, and Team America rocks!

The Heroes Discussion Group returns with a vengeance!!

We are sticking with the mainstream and this time we are going to tackle the immensely popular Umbrella Academy written by Gerard Way front man for the band My Chemical Romance (MCR).

Please join us on Monday May 18th at 7:00pm when we will be discussing the “The Apocalypse Suite,” the first storyline of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s The Umbrella Academy. The book is available from Heroes in both single back issues (1-6) or as a recently released softcover collection.

PLEASE NOTE: The single issues on the rack at Heroes are 1-5 of the second series. We will be discussing the first series!!!!!!

Potential topics will include (but are NOT limited to) the following:

• Does the cartoony art properly service a super-hero story? Were Ba’s references and influences a help or hinder to the storytelling?

• Could you relate to any of the characters on a gut level?

• Does any of MCR’s music overlap into Gerard Way’s comics writing?

• Did the creators successfully capture the European feel they were striving for?

• Does the story hold up well on a second reading?

• And lots and lots of plot points I don’t want to mention here so we can avoid spoilers for those who have not yet read?

• If we have time, I’d love to discuss the covers as well. James Jean is a true talent!

So please join us for this exciting discussion!! Remember the The Apocalypse Suite is offered at 10% discount as long as you remember to mention the Heroes Discussion discount when you purchase it!

Hope to see you on May 18th It’s gonna be terrific!

Oh yes! New to the HeroesCon 09 Guest List today are Rantz Hoseley, the editor of the recent hit Comic Book Tattoo book from Image, AND Jason Levesque, the cover artist! While I believe Jason was at the show last year (although in stealth mode due to a last-minute appearance), this is he and Rantz’s FIRST “official” appearance at HeroesCon, and I hope you’ll welcome them with all the pomp and foofah that HeroesCon is known for.

Also new today is our man Andy Kuhn, who has worked all over the place during his career, most recently on the hit book Firebreather. He’s also been penciller on Marvel Team-Up and IDW’s The Easy Way. Welcome back, Andy!

Oh, and last thing–check out the image Roger Langridge did for our Art Auction! Fans of Doctor Who and The Muppets will go into paroxysms when they see this badboy–I’ve already had one request from a fan in the U.K. to be able to lodge a proxy bid at the auction!

Every Wednesday we run down the 5 most interesting comics or graphic novels coming out for the week.

5. CEREBUS ARCHIVE #1
By Dave Sim
Aaardvark-Vanaheim
$3.00

This isn’t what you might expect from the title. It’s not some sort of omnibus repackaging of Dave Sim’s 300-issue classic story of a barbarian aardvark turned papal aardvark. You’ll have to stick to the phonebook sized volumes that already exist for that. This is a new bi-monthly, floppy format series where Dave Sim looks back over the work he put into this series and shares some sketches, unpublished stories and even rejection letters from publishers. So obviously this is for the already initiated – fans of not only Cerebus itself but those willing to read Sim’s verbose and eccentric offerings like Glamourpuss.

4. FIN FANG FOUR RETURN #1
Written by Roger Langridge and Scott Gray; art by Roger Langridge
Marvel
$3.99 | 48 pgs

Roger Langridge and Scott Gray return to playing around with Marvel’s forgotten, pre-Silver Age monsters in this one-shot featuring the gargantuan creatues Fin Fang Foom, Elektro, Googam and Gorgilla. These four fearsome monsters have been reduced to human size and now have to assimilate into society. Langridge, as we’ve all seen recently in his new Muppet Show series, is a master of the slapstick comic book and this one does not shy away from craziness of any sort. It’s great for kids too, as well as fans that might actually remember a time when these characters were actually considered scary.

3. THE ETERNAL SMILE
By Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
First Second
$16.95 | 176 pgs

Gene Luen Yang became the unofficial star of First Second books when his American Born Chinese became the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award. Meanwhile, Derek Kirk Kim is the highly acclaimed creator of the award winning Same Difference and Other Stories as well as the artist for the DC Minx graphic novel Good As Lilly. So, needless to say, a new book containing three short stories by these two men is kind of a big deal.

The three stories collected here range from a fantasy adventure with princes and frogs to a Scrooge McDuck/Pogo style comedy to an office drama involving Nigerian internet scams.

2. POWER GIRL #1
Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; art by Amanda Connor
DC Comics
$3.99 | 32 pgs

I’ve always thought of Power Girl as the girl you’d like to cheat on Supergirl with. But the thing is, Power Girl deserves a shot at happiness too. Even though she’s a DC Comics mainstay, I think this is the first ongoing series she’s ever had. They’ve definitely found the perfect people to give her that chance. Husband and wife team Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor – joined by writer Justin Gray – previously brought some empathy and cuteness to the character that she’s never really had before in a 3 issue JSA Classified story a few years ago. Now they try it on a regular basis starting with a storyline that has Power Girl creating a new secret identity for herself while saving Manhattan from alien invaders.

But don’t worry, we all know what you’re really looking for so don’t miss the boob-alicious Adam Hughes variant cover, shown here.

1. LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL. III: CENTURY #1 (of 3)
By Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neil
Top Shelf
$7.95 | 80 pgs

After the text-heavy (and 3-D-heavy) taster, The Black Dossier, Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neil return with a proper 3-volume adventure. This time Mina Murray and Allan Quartermaine have entered the 20th century where must face a shadowy occult order and a serial killer called Jack The Ripper. Lots of new characters join the cast this time around like Mac The Knife, Pirate Jenny and Orlando (who we saw join the League in the Black Dossier). It’s going to be a wild ride into the 1900s full of references to The Threepenny Opera, Aleister Crowley, Somerset Maugham and more.

WOW THERE’S A LOT OF STUFF THIS WEEK…

WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM TP VOL 01
If you enjoy zombies and/or dark survivalist dramas like Cormac McCarthy’s The Road then don’t ask any questions and just pick up this hefty volume that contains the first 48 issues of this excellent series.

TANK GIRL REMASTERED EDITION VOL. 1 and 2
A new collection of the classic Martin/Hewlett Tank Girl stories with some recolored stories.

SUPERMAN ESCAPE FROM BIZARRO WORLD TP
Eric Powell drawing Bizarro? Nuff said.

PHERONE HC
A graphic novel from Viktor Kalvachev about a female spy that may be having a mental breakdown. Reprinted from an issue of Heavy Metal magazine.

ALIAS ULTIMATE COLLECTION VOL. 1
Collecting the first half of Brian Michael Bendis’ early and groundbreaking Marvel series about a former superheroine turned down and out private eye.

MONOLOGUES FOR CALCULATING THE DENSITY OF BLACK HOLES
A new collection of experimental, stream-of-conscious art comics from Anders Nilsen.

POINT BLANK TP
A new edition of Ed Brubaker’s precursor to his now famous and influential supervillain spy drama, Sleeper.

Now up over on our Flickr photostream–an exhaustive photo report on last Saturday’s Free Comic Book Day! Without a doubt this was our most successful FCBD event ever–the number of people in our store was MASSIVE all day long, really stunning, and with the roster of talent we had signing and doing free sketches, there were just as many people OUTSIDE under one of the four tents Shelton set up for the event.

If you weren’t able to make it, or just want to see a really nice comics shop with a hundred people inside, I invite you to mosey over and check out the Flickr set we’ve created to venerate it! Tons of pictures of fans, guests, and a bunch of the sketches.

And thanks to everyone who made this year’s Free Comic Book Day such a massive success! Not just the many MANY fans who showed up (although thanks!, or the 14 different guests who generously gave their time and drawing power to us for the day (thanks to them also, of course!), but to our bedraggled Heroes staff, who did a really amazing job getting the store ready and then being friendly and helpful all day long!

I recently read two rather entertaining science-fiction-flavored comics from Marvel — with two very different approaches to the genre.

First up was Astonishing X-Men No. 29. I know that the X-Men is widely thought of as a superhero comic. But as Grant Morrison proved during his acclaimed run on New X-Men a few years ago, the X-Men is best when it’s considered a sci-fi book. Writer Warren Ellis delves even deeper into the sci-fi pool by telling a tale of artificially created mutants and instant parallel universes. Ellis’ approach is incredibly cerebral — short on action but long on big ideas. For some, this may come off as a “talking heads” issue — and it is thick at times — but the arc’s ongoing mystery presents some challenging concepts. And its ending leaves us with an ominous cliffhanger.

Now, where Astonishing X-Men was all about heady ideas and challenging exposition, Guardians of the Galaxy #13 is all about mindless action and fun. This month, the team gathers all its old members, officially adds a few new heroes to the team and gets involved even deeper in the “War of Kings” crossover event. I’ve been promoting this comic for months; for me, it provides the best old-school Marvel fix of any comic on the stands. It’s got guest stars galore, the most far-out pseudo-science ever and features probably the lamest cast of any team in comics — but that’s the draw. Guardians has become, for all intents and purposes, the repository for all of Marvel’s “homeless” cosmic characters. So if you like Bug from the Micronauts, Moondragon or Rocket Racoon, buy this book.

Today is Free Comic Book Day at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find! We’ve got the tents set out, Seth’s put out his magical dollar stock–25 boxes of dollar books, all in order, tons of gems–and fans are already lining up in front of our door! Matt Brady, Newsarama’s Editor-In-Chief, is here and will be live-blogging all day long, and if you follow our Twitter stream, we’ll be tweeting all day as well! With thirteen special guests signing autographs (from 1-5pm) under four tents, something is bound to we worth talking about!

To review: this is what you get when you’re a customer of Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find on Free Comic Book Day:

TWENTY-SOMETHING DIFFERENT COMICS, which you can have absolutely free. No catch, you don’t have to do or buy anything, although we hope you will. Our buddy Rich Barrett posted a great list of suggestions of things to buy related to the Free Comic Book Day books right here.

THIRTEEN (or more) GUESTS, including Mark Brooks, Chris Brunner, Ian Flynn, Sanford Greene, Cully Hamner, Matt Herms, Adam Hughes, Jason Latour, Budd Root, Chris Schweizer, Andy Smith, Allison Sohn, and Brian Stelfreeze! Whew! They’ll be signing and doing sketches from 1-5pm! NOTE that previously announced Laura Martin, Doug Wagner, and Karl Story will be unable to make it this year, but all three will be at HeroesCon next (gulp!) month!

FOUR TENTS set up in front of our store and down its side, which will not only contain our many guests, and their many fans, but also:

MANY DIFFERENT ITEMS including a ton of dollar boxes, as always COMPLETELY IN ORDER and containing tons of hidden gems. AND a selection of half-off trade paperbacks, deep-discounted statues and other stock.

Okay, Happy Free Comic Book Day and we hope to see you here!