The second of three updates to the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List this week, holy cow! And a big one at that–new to the Guest List today is uber-fan-favorite artist Kevin Maguire, whose work on titles like Justice League International, Formerly Known As The Justice League, Metal Men, and many more has cemented his reputation as the go-to artist for rubber-faced comedy. Pretty sure this guy is going to have a ridiculous line and sketch list at the show, if he’s doing sketches. I’m presuming he will, but we’ll leave that up to him.

Also new this week is Jose Marzan, Jr., the inker on super-popular Y: the Last Man, Jack of Fables, House of Mystery, and a bunch of others.  Jose has inked over just about everyone over his 24-year career, including Adam Hughes, Mike Wieringo, and John Romita Sr.! I believe this is his first appearance at HeroesCon, and he too can most likely expect a healthy line–I think Y: the Last Man is one of the most popular series Vertigo has published in years, second only to Fables!

The only line new guest Jeff Parker can expect is probably one composed of parole officers and mimes, but if you can fight your way through them you can meet Jeff, who’s one of our very favorite people in the world, and a former North Carolinian. Jeff writes Agents of Atlas, the just-finished Underground, Mysterius the Unfathomable, and a ton of others. He’s left NC behind to be a member of the world-famous Periscope Studios in Portland, but we’re happy to have him back all the same, even if it’s just for a visit.

Okay! Still another update to go this week, and it’s a doozy!

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

1) American Vampire #1

Features two all-new short stories illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque with first story written by Scott Snyder and the second written by Stephen King. I really dig the art on this book. Albuquerque was able to subtly change up his art to distinguish between the two stories.

2) Jughead #200

I bet Jughead eats a hamburger in this issue.

3) Nation X #4

I open up the book and what is the first thing I see? An X-Factor story by Peter Milligan and Michael Allred featuring Doop. Sweet!

4) Krazy & Ignatz Tiger Tea HC

Perfect jumping on point for anyone interested in reading George Herriman‘s Krazy Kat strip. This collects the longest running storyline and was originally collected by Raw Magazine in the 80s. From the sound of it this story is Krazy!

5) X-Factor Forever #1

This is a five part mini-series where Louise Simonson is picking up where her 1986 series left off. I have really been enjoying the mutant related one-shots and mini-serieses as of late. And I am a big fan of Simonson (and her husband) so I am looking forward to giving this a read!

Yes! New to the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List today is one of our faves and an old friend, Ron Garney! Ron has been the very definition of “fan favorite” artist for years and years, with popular runs on series like Captain America, X-Men, Hulk, and many more. More recently he’s been on titles like Amazing Spider-Man, Skaar: Son of Hulk, and Wolverine: Weapon X, plus working on movies including I Am Legend. Busy busy! We’re super-stoked that Ron has the time to make it back to HeroesCon this summer.

Another old chum who’ll be returning this year is NC-native Chris Kemple, who first gained exposure in the 90’s as part of North Carolina’s Artamus Studios, which also included Rich Case, Mike Wieringo, and Jeff Parker. Chris’s work has seen print in Fallout, Negative Burn, and more–these days he’s writing and drawing his own Red Vengeance graphic novel.

You may have heard about a little comic book called Amazing Spider-Man #583, which featured President Barack Obama on its cover and was one of the best selling comics of the last decade. If you were one of the bajillion people who bought one of the 5 or 6 printings of the comic, you can get it signed this year by artist Todd Nauck, who will also be a guest at HeroesCon! Heck, feel free to bring your other Nauck books, which include Spider-Man Clone Saga, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Young Justice, and Teen Titans Go, among others!

Alright! More announcements on the way this week, so stay tuned!

Oh wow.

This summer, one of the biggest names in comics will be appearing at HeroesCon 2010—Rob Liefeld! From hot X-artist to Image co-founder to Internet comics-community darling/firebrand, Rob’s done pretty much everything in his career in comics. His credits are sort of insane, with X-Force, Youngblood, New Mutants, Cable, and the upcoming Prelude to Deadpool Corps just the tip of the iceberg. His art style is much discussed online, and whether you’re a fan or a not-fan, pretty much everyone who’s ever met Rob personally will agree that he’s one of the most affable, friendly guys in comics, not to mention hard-working.

Good thing too–he’s sure to have some wicked long lines, which we’re already figuring out how to handle. Most likely similar to how we handled the Bendis/Brubaker/Fraction/Claremont lines last year.

And get this–remember how last week I was talking about a “big announcement” for this week? Believe it or not this wasn’t it–Shelton sprung this one on me yesterday in a staff meeting. But we were so excited about it we decided to go ahead and announce it today, while we double-dot our i’s and triple-cross our t’s for the other big announcement. Next week yo!

We have been trying to update our database and we need your help! Have you moved? Do you have a new email address? Do you have a new phone number? Email me at [email protected] with any changes so that your contact information can be as up to date as possible.

Oh man, this is super exciting for me, I’m such a fan:

Sammy Harkham is one of the most influential cartoonists of his generation, maybe the most influential. That’s a crazy statement to make maybe, but heckfire, I have made it. Besides his very famous editing of the seminal Kramer’s Ergot anthology, the last iteration of which was a massive 16″ x 21″, and his more recent guest-editing of Bart Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror (itself a sort of Kramer’s reunion); my very favorite of Sammy’s work is his own Crickets. Crickets is a throwback of sorts to the great 80’s one-man anthologies like Yummy Fur, Love & Rockets (okay, 3-man in that case), etc. A recent casualty of the squeeze on indie publishers due to Diamond’s change in their minimum orders for small press books, a lot of people thought Crickets was dead. BUT #3 is due this summer, and I cannot tell  you how excited I am to tell you you can buy one from Sammy right smack in the middle of Indie Island. Sweet!

But listen, Sammy’s not the only person doing 1-man anthologies (1-manthologies?)–he’ll be joined at HeroesCon this summer by cohort and friend John Pham. John is the proprietor of Sublife, which I think will see a third issue this year as well. He’s also been in another great anthology, Mome. I think I first twigged to his work when Chris Staros hand-sold me a copy of Epoxy, which maybe he was distributing for John back in 2000 or so? Chris also sold me my first copy of Kramer’s Ergot (#3). Which I hated. Hey listen, people change, I never promised you a rose garden.

Oh! But there’s more good news! Returning to HeroesCon this year will be mighty Tom Scioli, co-creator of Godland and the creator of The Myth of Opus-8. Tom is a sweet dude and extraordinarily knowledgeable about comics. Most recently he did the art for the Freedom Force comic, as well as writing and drawing the “Space Smith” stories in Image’s The Next Issue Project.

Man, those are three quality dudes. But there’s more to come this week, so stay tuned!

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

1) Super Hero Squad #3

This cover rocks! Literally.

2) Breaking Into Comics the Marvel Way #1

Breaking Into Comics the Marvel Way is a two issue series that showcases 12 new artists that C.B. Cebulski found during his many excursions as a talent scout. The stories are written by some of the top writers at Marvel. If you are interested in getting into the industry you should really follow Cebulski on Twitter. He is incredible informative and entertaining. And he is always tweeting about food. I want to hang out with him and eat cheeseburgers!

3) Batgirl #8

I have been hearing some really good things about Batgirl. This issue is the first part of a crossover with Red Robin (part two is in Red Robin #10 which is also out today). I enjoy team-up issues so I am going to give this crossover a read!

4) Wonderful Wizard of OZ #1 MGC

MGC = Marvel’s Greatest Comics. Marvel is reprinting some of their best issues and selling them for only $1. First up is Wonderful Wizard of Oz #1. Awesome issue! Thor #1 (JMS run) and Captain America #1 (Brubaker run) are due out soon.

5) WWE Heroes #1

The debut issue of WWE Heroes is full of wrasslin’ action with art by the illustrious Andy Smith!

Yen Press announced that their manga adaptation of Stephanie Meyer‘s Twilight series will have a national sale date of Tuesday, March 16. So one week from today Twilight Manga GN vol 1 will be sparkling up our shelves! It is a hardcover, $19.99 and clocks in at 224 pages. This adaptation is being done by Young Kim under Meyer’s close supervision. The manga is reportedly more close to the book than the movies, especially in regards to the depiction of the main characters. In other words you won’t see Robert Pattinson’s likeness in the manga. It is Kim’s interpretation of Edward you will see. There is a lot of buzz on the internet about it both good and bad. Personally, I think people on the internet need to lighten up and stop complaining. I am happy that Yen Press is doing a manga adaptation of the Twilight series and I am happy we will have it for sale in our store!  And as we know by now all the cool kids like vampires.

Whoa! Have you guys ever heard of Tim Sale? I know Shelton has; Tim’s one of Shelton’s favorite creators (he has a lot, admittedly), so I know he’s excited to be able to welcome Tim back to HeroesCon this summer. Besides extraordinarily popular books like Batman: The Long Halloween, Spider-Man: Blue, and Captain America: White, Tim also did the paintings (with Dave Stewart) for the Isaac character on a little show you might have heard of called… Heroes? I could be wrong but I think the last time Tim was here was back in 2006 or 7, so it will be interesting to see how his already-massive lines are affected by his increased fame since then. Either way, I’m pretty sure he’s still a sweet dude. Pret-ty sure, guys.

Oh! And also returning to the HeroesCon Guest List is inker Mark Morales, who has turned into one of the foremost inkers in the comics industry, most recently working on enormous event books like Siege and Secret Invasion, and over smaller but acclaimed books like Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine and Young Avengers. Smoooooth style he’s got, especially over smooth guys like Olivier Coipel and Jim Cheung. I love it.

And! Stepping back into the ring again this summer is Stephanie Gladden. Stephanie’s worked on pretty much every major cartoon license, including The Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, Looney Tunes, Powerpuff Girls and more. She’s also a character artist for Cartoon Network, working on shows like Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends and Chowder (my favorite!). BUT she’s probably most excited about her new creator-owned project, Girls of Monster Paradise!

Still more to come next week, I’ve got updates stacked up, including someone who hasn’t been to HeroesCon in at least ten years, and today is one of the biggest names in the industry–no lie!

Holy moley! Returning to the HeroesCon Guest List this week are three of the best! You almost certainly know Sean “Cheeks” Galloway from his epic turn in Wednesday Comics, not to mention his Teen Titans Go! work, his bajillion sketch cards for Upper Deck and other trading card publishers, and more. He’s also a lead character designer for the Spectacular Spider-Man and Hellboy cartoons–check out that Hellboy up there, it’s GORGEOUS. I swiped it from Cheeks’ blog, which is just an embarassment of drawing riches.

Joining Cheeks is his buddy and fellow mack-daddy talent Jonboy Meyers. While Jonboy’s work has been in a bunch of comics like She-Hulk, GeNext, and JLA, he’s enormously prolific as a sketch and commission artist. His commissions are like full-on covers, they’re kind of amazing. I don’t know how much he charges but I bet his sketch list fills up lickety-split at the con, so better wear your running shoes and show up early.

Also returning this year is our buddy Mike Choi, whose pencils on Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, and Witchblade (among others) have made him a darling of the original art scene. He’s got a smooth style that’s mm-mm good like Campbell’s Soup, and that’s no lie!

That’s not all–we’ve got another big announcement set for tomorrow, and then a couple of HUGE announcements next week–we’re getting close to the show now; it’s only going to get more exciting from here on in.