In which Shawn looks at the New Releases and lets you know which books she is most excited about!

1) Blackest Night #8

Did someone say “splash pages”? The final installment of the Blackest Night mini-series is plum full of action, excitement and suprises. Here at Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find you get a free Black Lantern ring with purchase of Blackest Night #8!

2) Amazing Spider-Man #627

Roger Stern and Lee Weeks and the Juggernaut? Sign me up!

3) X-Men Second Coming #1

Hope and Cable return from the future to the X-Men and Utopia (their new home near San Francisco).

4) John Stanley Library Melvin Monster HC vol 2

It is like John Stanley took what I love about the Addams Family and the Munsters and turned it into a comic book. It has the perfect amount of humor and camp. I love it!

5) RASL #7

I seriously can’t wait to get home so I can read this book! If loving RASL and Jeff Smith is wrong than I don’t want to be right.

In the latest issue of Uncanny X-Men (No. 522) writer Matt Fraction finally showed that he has a handle on the direction of Marvel’s favorite mutants.

I’ve used this space and my column/blog at Creative Loafing to, while praising his stellar work on Invincible Iron Man, criticize his output on the main monthly X-Men series. I just thought that his tales seemed to dwell on not-so-new ground and his overarching story line appeared to be going in circles. But the current edition of Uncanny really worked to payoff some of the plot points that he, and others, have laid for the team, and it cleared a path to the future.

I hate to spoil things, but in this issue Fraction finally brings back Kitty Pryde from outer space (Joss Whedon put her in orbit during his Astonishing X-Men run) via Magneto’s magnetic abilities. The drama that ensues as a result of this endeavor seems “realistic” for the Marvel Universe ; most importantly, characters here react in ways that are consistent with their portrayals over the last few decades … and that’s a great gift for longtime readers.

The book, of course, is not perfect. The art, by Whilce Portacio, looked a little sloppy and rushed. From a story perspective, I have some problems with how Magneto was even able to perform this cosmic task. And the ending seemed to be ripped from the pages of the “Mutant Massacre” from wayyyy back in the day. Still, I understand the need for those events in the context of the unfolding story. Ultimately, things are — at last — moving forward, so I’ll give Fraction a break.

We hope you will join us on Tuesday April 6th when we will dissect and discuss the powerful and challenging Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb.

For anyone planning to attend the discussion group, we ask three things:

1) Please make sure you have read the Crumb version
2) Please take a few extra minutes and read Crumb’s introduction and End Notes
3) Most importantly, please bring an open mind to the discussion.

We plan to examine a rather bold and exciting interpretation of what is regarded to many as a sacred text. We plan to examine Crumb’s Genesis as a work of literature that has been reinterpreted for a modern audience.

Here are a list of just some of the topics we’ll be covering:

How well is the work serviced by the use of sequential art?
Does the stylized art of Crumb overwhelm the text?
Does this version of Genesis provoke an emotional response from the reader?
How does Crumb’s interpretation affect your personal beliefs?
A discussion of Crumb’s interpretation of the Serpent.
Do the “Crumb females” hamper the reading experience?

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. To prepare for the discussion I have been examining two books concerned with the Book of Genesis: “Genesis”— a roundtable discussion of the importance and influence of Genesis in today’s society edited by Bill Moyer; and Testament – an historical over-view that details the creation of the Old Testament written  by famed archeologist  and historian John Romer.

We look forward to seeing you! And as always, just mention the Heroes Discussion Group when you buy your copy at Heroes and you’ll get 10% off the cost of the book!

Rounding out our week of FOUR updates to our HeroesCon 2010 Guest List, today we announce a bevy of all-ages friendly guests to the show. Franco Aureliani is half of the team (with artist Art Baltazar) who do the multiple Eisner-winning and New York Times bestselling Tiny Titans series from DC, and will be making his first ever trip to HeroesCon this summer! Franco and Art are also the creators of their own Patrick the Wolf Boy series! He’ll be accompanied by his studiomate (and also first-timer at HeroesCon) Jamie Cosley, who does the Nobody Likes Tony Pony comics, as well as Big Honkin’ Bug Nut. Which is a hard to beat title for anything, you’ll of course agree.

Joining Franco and Jamie in our ever-growing section of kids-friendly creators at HeroesCon is our old friend Marcus Hamilton, who handles the art chores on the daily Dennis the Menace newspaper strip. Marcus is a local-boy-done-good–after years assisting Hank Ketcham on the strip, he took drawing the dailies after his death and has been doing them ever since! He’s also one of the sweetest guys you could hope to meet!

Returning to HeroesCon this summer is Michael Dooney, who has been doing cover and interior art for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics for years as part of Peter Laird‘s Mirage Studios. He’s also a toy designer for properties including TMNT, Star Trek, and Star Wars!

Many HeroesCon attendees and customers in our store will be familiar with Ian Flynn, the writer of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe, and creator of the Young Salem miniseries. Ian is a sweet dude who LOVES to talk Sonic, so bring your trivia hats, because he’s ready.

And while he’s not technically an all-ages creator, we round out our update today with Gary Kwapisz, who worked for both Marvel and DC in the 80′s and 90′s, including titles like Conan and The Punisher. These days he’s working on stories for History Graphic Press including Civil War Adventure!

Joining the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List today is fan-favorite cover (and sometimes interior) artist Greg Horn, who is known for his stylized cover ladies, especially for Marvel Comics. But more recently he’s been doing more DC stuff, including Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps variants, Wonder Woman, Justice League: Rise and Fall, and many more. But he’s been doing covers forever, notably on Marvel titles like She-Hulk, Ms Marvel, and more recently Dark Avengers.

Also new today are a ton of creators who work with longtime writer and editor Renee Witterstaetter, who is often identified with fellow guests Michael Golden and Mark Texeira. Renee has been working in comics since the 80′s on titles like Superman and She-Hulk. More recently she’s been co-produding the “Creators Chronicles” series of DVD’s, spotlighting popular comics artists like Mike and Tex, as well as George Perez, Bill Sienkiewicz, Joe Jusko and more.

Joining Renee are artists Steve Scott (Magick, Exiles, Marvel Adventures: Hulk), Leo Leibelman (Heavy Metal), and Creators Chronicles co-producer Robin Dale. These guys practically have their own little island in Artist Alley these days. And they’ll be joined by longtime guest and Art Auction favorite Buzz, who beside being an in-demand pinup and commission artist, has worked on comics including JSA, Atomika, and Vampirella.

Whew! Still tons more creators to announce–stay tuned!

In which Shawn looks at the New Releases and lets you know which books she is most excited about!

1) Uncanny X-Men #522

Is Magneto a good guy? Is Kittie Pryde back? Some or more of these questions may be answered in this issue of Uncanny X-Men!

2) Nemesis by Millar and McNiven #1

Mark Millar and Steve McNiven team up yet again! Nemesis boils down to this: a rich-guy vigilante goes bad. Or what if Batman were the Joker?

3) Art of Jaime Hernandez Secrets of Life & Death HC

Awesomely executed oversized art book for only $40!

4) Green Lantern #52

The cover of Green Lantern gives away the shocking ending of Blackest Night #7 so if you haven’t read that issue avert your eyes!

5) The Guild #1

Felicia Day and Jim Rugg bring you the origin story of The Guild, which is Day’s web series. Some of you may know her from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog. If you haven’t watched The Guild you should check out some of the episodes. It is funny even if you aren’t into gaming or live action role-playing.

New today to the HeroesCon 2010 Indie Island list: my super homey Paul Maybury, artist on the uber-acclaimed Aqua Leung and the forthcoming Act-I-Vate strip-turned-book Party Bear. Paul might do the best con sketches ever, they’re pretty nuts. I mean NUTS. I wish I had more money, I swear I do, because I would give it to Paul.

Also new is first-timer Ed Brisson, proprietor-in-chief of New Reliable Press, and publisher of the awesome You Ain’t No Dancer anthology, as well as Jan’s Atomic Heart and the brand new Horribleville, by fellow HeroesCon guest KC Green. Very excited that Ed is making the trip all the way from Vancouver for the show this year–be sure to stop by his table and make it worth the trip for him!

More updates coming tomorrow and Friday, including a fan-favorite all-ages artist AND  fan-favorite cover artist! Stay tuned!

We’re kicking off about 1,000,000 guests we have lined up to announce this week with two old buds and one new bud. First off is Brian Pulido, the energetic co-creator of Lady Death, Evil Ernie, and tons more characters, as well as the founder of Chaos! Comics! Brian doesn’t limit his scope to just writing comics though–he also wrote and directed the feature film “The Graves,” has earned the Defender of Liberty Award from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and is on the Hero Initiative‘s fundraising board. Look for his upcoming Lady Death ongoing, coming this fall.

Also new this week is our chum Eric Layton, who is moving across the aisle this year from his old digs in North Carolina’s Tsunami Studios to Georgia’s Jolly Roger Studios. His credits include Dean Koontz’ Fear Nothing, Ex Machina, and Hexxen Hammers.

And joining the HeroesCon Guest List for the first time is Chris Roberson, who has written a bajillion novels, but might be more recognizable to comics fans for his recent comics writing on titles like Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love, iZombie, Jack of Fables, and more! He’ll be set up with Bill Willingham and Chrissie Zullo in Artists Alley, so it’ll be one-stop shopping for Fables fans!

Okay! That’s just Tuesday–pretty sure we’ll be adding names every day of the week this week, so buckle up!

Guess who’s coming to HeroesCon this summer–

Well no, not him exactly, but pretty close. Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy and artist on books like Batman: Gotham By Gaslight and Cosmic Odyssey, will be returning to HeroesCon this summer! Mike is one of the most respected and influential creators in comics, Hellboy is consistently one of the best and most critically acclaimed comics on the rack. While there are many Mike Mignola duplicators, there’s only one original, and you can meet him in Charlotte this June!

Oh man, I just realized–with Guy Davis sitting right next to him, we may need to reinforce the concrete in Artists Alley to make sure the floor can withstand the weight of all those fans. Super exciting news–Shelton’s been working on this for a while; I know he’s extra excited about having Mike back in Charlotte!

Spring is just about here, and — as a result — I’ve been going “spring comic book crazy.” Over in this week’s edition of Creative Loafing and on my Comic Proportions blog, I’ve been offering up my picks for the season’s most anticipated titles. So, in keeping with that theme, I thought I’d continue with my spring comic kick over here at the Heroes blog … check out a few of my choices from Marvel and DC:

Invincible Iron Man No. 25: Writer Matt Fraction did a terrific job of taking a pretty demonized Tony Stark and turning him into a fan-favorite super-dude again. Consequently, I’m excited to see the direction this title takes post-Siege — especially in light of the Iron Man 2 film set to open in May.

S.H.I.E.L.D. No. 1: Just as Fraction revitalized the lagging Iron Man franchise, writer Jonathan Hickman gave a shot in the arm to Nick Fury and his world of Howling Commandos and secret agents with Secret Warriors. So, I’m trusting that Hickman’s newest stab at Marvel’s spy world — a comic simply titled S.H.I.E.L.D. — will be an entertaining read. The book apparently will trace the origins of the organization back to the days of early Egypt, showing ancient battles with Galactus, the Brood and other baddies.

The Flash No. 1: Now that the slightly flawed Flash: Rebirth limited series is finally finished, I’m looking forward to seeing what writer Geoff Johns and artist Francis Manapul do with the Flash Family. I’m thinking it will be good stuff.

Zatanna No. 1: And we’ve been waiting for this series for a looooonnnngg time as well, but Paul Dini is handling the writing chores — so it’ll be worth the wait. Fact is, Dini proved that he understands Zatanna a few years ago when he penned that cool one-shot (the one with the Brian Bolland cover). I’m hyped.

For more spring previews, check out the Creative Loafing Comic Proportions blog.