It is Memorial Day weekend which heralds the official-unofficial start to the summer! As a result we won’t have new books until Thursday, June 3. Which is the day before the convention starts! Be warned, if you come by Wednesday we won’t have new books. But there is plenty of convention prep that needs to be done. So roll up your sleeves and come by to help! Or if you are so inclined you can stop by Thursday afternoon to pick up your books. And while you are in the store you just might get the chance to meet Steve Niles and get your copy of the Mystery Society #1 HeroesCon Exclusive Variant signed! Either way is fine by us!

Super crazy INSANE late night last night finishing the program book for this year’s HeroesCon, and thus finalizing all the little bits and pieces that go into it. The good thing about that is that all those little bits and pieces are finally finalized, including these guys:

COMPLETE EXHIBITOR LIST

COMPLETE EVENT SCHEDULE

LOCATIONS FOR GUESTS

LOCATIONS FOR SMALL PRESS

hmm, is there anything else? Well just to remind you that you need to buy

TICKETS

on or before Monday, May 31, if you want to get one of these exclusive signed and numbered 11″ x 17″ prints by Mike Mignola F-R-E-E. That is cheap at twice the price, sports fans, just look at this beauty:

Tons more people to announce today! This update represents pretty much as many people as we can shoehorn into the convention center. If ever there was a HeroesCon to go to, this is the one! It’s EPIC! Check out these new names–and please forgive the short listings, but I need to make 3 or 4 more announcements today before I can send out the Heroes Hotline! You can see the entire current guest list here, as well as all the artists seating locations!

DAVE DORMAN is one of the most prolific painters in comics, working often on Lucasfilm-related properties like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. We always love having him!

BRIAN CLEVINGER is the writer of the hit Atomic Robo, as well as The Avengers & The Infinity Gauntlet.

IRWIN HASEN is one of our favorite people in the world, he’s just an amazing guy and dresses like a million bucks. Now in his early 90’s, Irwin (Dondi, All Star Comics) is still a snappy dude–be sure you don’t miss the “Irwin Hasen: A Life” panel/screening, now up on our Event Schedule!

P. CLELAND is setting up at his very first HeroesCon as a guest. The Asheville native is the creator of the Real Cane Sugar webcomic.

CLAY & SUSAN GRIFFITH are regulars at HeroesCon, and boy have they been busy lately, collaborating on Politial Power: Nelson Mandela, Allan Quartermain And The Lord of the Locusts, and more!

RIKI LECOTEY is no stranger to HeroesCon–she’s one of the pair of cosplayers who often assist with the annual Art Auction–Riki and costumer Chris Donio make their own costumes and they are RIDICULOUS. Plus they bring like 40 of them or something. Nuts!

MATT WIEGLE is one third of the Partyka collective of artists, and is known throughout indie comics for his ridiculously nice mini-comics. He’s done some maxi comics too, including work in Papercutter, Elfworld, and No Fear Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet!

GREG MEANS is the publisher behind Tugboat Press and its popular Papercutter anthology, one of the most critically acclaimed anthologies being done today, with one exception.

Okay! More announcements coming!

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

1) Mystery Society #1

I read this during my lunch break and I must say that I thought it was great. Mystery Society is about an organization that was founded by a rich, young couple who want to unearth secrets. It was written by Steve Niles with art by Fiona Staples. Niles will be at HeroesCon! The story is fun and engaging and I dig the washed-out tones of the art. Check out the awesome HeroesCon variant! Stay tuned to the blog for more exciting news about Steve Niles and Mystery Society variants!

2) Dazzler #1

This issue features not one but two stories about the roller-skating disco mutant. Both stories are written by Jim McCann who will be at HeroesCon. I like how they put her in her original costume complete with disco ball.

3) Fall of the Hulks Savage She-Hulks #3

This book has two people on it who are coming to HeroesCon: Jeff Parker and Jonboy Meyers. This issue is jam packed with action. And Hulks. Lots of Hulks.

4) Incorruptible #6

I think Mark Waid has written for every comics company ever. He will be at HeroesCon at the Boom! Studios booth. I am a big fan of Waid’s work. And he is a super sweet guy. You should definitely stop buy and say “hi” to him!

5) Secret Warriors #16

Jim Cheung and Mark Morales who worked on the cover will be at HeroesCon (Justin Ponsor also worked on the cover but he won’t be at the convention). Also writer Jonathan Hickman will be there! Hickman also wrote Fantastic Four #579 which came out this week.

I’m about to sprain your EXCITEMENT MUSCLE!!!

SOMEBODY GET ME MORE EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!

Bernie Wrightson, you guys, Bernie Wrightson. Late breaking addition to one of the most ridiculous (and hugest) HeroesCon Guest Lists of all time. Extraordinarily influential artist, inspiration to entire generationS (note the S!) of artists! Master of creating mood and atmosphere, part of a tradition of a tradition in comics stretching back to Frank Frazetta himself! Creepy, Eerie, House of Secrets, and the recent Dead She Said with fellow guest Steve Niles! Whoa nellie, guys, whoa nellie.

But what about this guy?

Whaaatt?? Jim Starlin?? Death of Captain Marvel? Death of the New Gods? Cosmic Odyssey? Sure bring him on WHY NOT?? Holy cow HeroesCon is NUTS this year.

But wait look at all these new guys, as if Bernie and Jim weren’t enough:

Mark Chiarello and Ian Sattler of DC Comics–Mark is DC’s Art Director, and editor on high profile works like Wednesday Comics and Solo, not to mention a painter, illustrator, and occasional comics cover artist. And DC Editor Ian Sattler, who last year decimated on of the Dollar Bin‘s microphones in an ill-advised bit of stage showmanship!

Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe creators Tracy Yardley, Paul Kaminski, and Jon Gray! Tracy’s been with us before, but I do believe that Paul and Jon are first-timers!

And, from our guest Brian Pulido comes this exclusive HeroesCon cover–or coversss??–to Lady Death: The Rapture #1. Brian will have those only at HeroesCon at his table in Artists Alley (tables 54 and 55!)!

Okay guys tons more to come–I’ll be working late tonight getting the schedule up on the site. Will it be up when you wake up tomorrow? Can I keep from falling asleep at my desk? Only time will tell!

Behold, milords and ladies, the 2010 HeroesCon Advance Ticket Incentive, free to everyone who purchases an advance 3-day pass before 9pm on May 31st! This exclusive piece by Mike Mignola will be signed and numbered in a limited edition on fancy-dan print paper that is going to make your walls look ghoulishly amazing.

Here’s the catch: there is no catch! Just buy a 3-day pass before the cutoff, and this beauty will be waiting for you at the convention center when you check-in at the show! The last few year’s prints (by Bill Sienkiewicz in 2009 and Phil Noto in 2008) were pretty big runs, so there’s a fair chance your prints won’t be ready for you RIGHT when you show up. Mike has to sign all of them, after all.

Best of all, we give these out in the order the tickets are purchased, so the earlier you bought your pass, the lower your number will be! If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, head over to the Tickets page of our site to get the skinny on how to do it!

Boom! Studios is coming to HeroesCon this year LOADED FOR BEAR! They’re camping out in a massive fortress-like block of booths, and will have FIVE different HeroesCon exclusive covers available! Whattt??? I’ll pepper this post with those images, but the get-a-sketch covers (the white ones) will get you a sketch (see how that works) from artists Allen Gladfelter (Cars), Amy Mebberson (Muppet Show Comic Book), or Travis Hill (Toy Story)!

And just look at all the PEOPLE they’re bringing! Probably most familiar to HeroesCon goers will be Mark Waid, enormously popular writer and editor of everything from Kingdom Come to Spider-Man to Flash to Captain America and a million more! These days he’s Editor-In-Chief at Boom!, and writes the hit books Incorruptible and the newly Eisner-nominated Irredeemable!

While Mark is a regular at HeroesCon and one of our favorite regulars at that, this year is extra special because it’s the first time Mark and his Irredeemable collaborator Peter Krause will be doing a con appearance together! Super awesome. Besides his current work on Irredeemable, Peter has also worked all over comics on books including Flash, Power of Shazam, and Superman!

Boom! is super organized–they were nice enough to send complete (and exciting!) bios for all the pros they’re bringing as well–check out this roll-call of talent!

THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK/MUPPET PETER PAN’s Amy Mebberson
Amy Mebberson’s biggest tours of artistic duty are 5 years with Walt Disney Animation Australia, followed by two graphic novels for TOKYOPOP. Her work with BOOM! Studios includes MONSTERS INC., MUPPET PETER PAN and countless covers for other Disney/Pixar and Muppet titles. Born in Sydney, Amy Mebberson is currently living and working in Oregon.

TOY STORY’s Travis Hill
Travis Hill soaks up the sun in Orlando, Florida.  His artistic debut with BOOM! Studios began in the pages of Disney/Pixar’s Cars.  With a tool-belt of experience in interactive and edutainment, publishing, licensing, performance, writing, illustration/design, and comics… he is currently a Producer in the video game industry and the father of a fledgling movie-geek.

CARS’ Allen Gladfelter
Allen Gladfelter lives and draws comics in Boise, Idaho.  It’s a comfortable place tucked on the opposite expanse of the vast high desert from the locale of Radiator Springs.  The people are kind and energetic, Boise life is smooth and comfortable, my family is supportive and my friends are close at hand.  What better way to pass the days than to amuse children with fun drawings of cartoon cars? Life is good.

28 DAYS LATER’s Michael Alan Nelson
Michael Alan Nelson is known for his work on such BOOM! Studios titles as 28 DAYS LATER and FALL OF CTHULHU, as well as creating supernatural thrillers HEXED and DINGO.  In 2004, Nelson won the NEW TIMES 55 Fiction Contest for his short story “The Conspirators” and was tagged as a talent to watch by horror tastemaker RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE. Nelson lives and writes in Los Angeles.

28 DAYS LATER’s Declan Shalvey
Declan Shalvey received much acclaim in the UK comics scene after winning an Eagle Award for his first published work HERO KILLERS in 2007. The Irish artist has since illustrated chapters of the series FREAK SHOW and a graphic novel adaptation of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN for UK publisher Classical Comics. His work with BOOM! Studios on 28 DAYS LATER marks his American comics debut.

MR. STUFFINS’ Johanna Stokes
Johanna Stokes is a screenwriter and comic book writer who has worked on such projects as the EUREKA television series. Her work for BOOM! Studios is extensive, ranging from zombie comedy with DEATH VALLEY to historical drama with GALVESTON to who-done-it murder mystery with STATION. Stokes currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

FARSCAPE’s Keith DeCandido
Keith R.A. DeCandido has authored Farscape novel HOUSE OF CARDS, as well as short stories that appeared in FARSCAPE: THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE and the FARSCAPE role-playing game. For BOOM! Studios, Keith has helped in writing all of the FARSCAPE books, including the UNCHARTED TALES series featuring the adventures of Ka D’Argo.

FARSCAPE’s Will Sliney
Will Sliney initially worked as a 3D and storyboard artist, and from there he was able to begin his comic book career illustrating several Irish and British graphic novels. Soon after, he moved to Canada to break into the American market. His work with BOOM! Studios includes FARSCAPE: STRANGE DETRACTORS and the FARSCAPE ongoing series.

Man alive!

There’s a science to crafting the perfect first issue for a comic book series — and not everyone has mastered this science. Here’s a look at two of debut editions that were released this week:

Legion of Super-Heroes No. 1: As much as it pains me to say it, this comic makes all the wrong moves for a first issue. And this comes after years of rebuilding the LoSH brand; Geoff Johns in particular did a ton of work during his run on Action Comics and Legion of 3 Worlds to make the team viable and accessible again. This new No. 1, however, is anything but accessible. The issue starts off by jumping knee-deep in continuity — stuff that you’d have to follow the Legion to appreciate. First issues should, as I’ve said over and over again, set the status quo by bringing readers into worlds and showing them around. LoSH No. 1, instead, drops readers off and just makes them fend for themselves when it comes to understanding characters, locations, motivations and more. Moreover, the book never really shows readers what makes the Legion cool … and more than anything else, that’s what it needed to do.

Zatanna No. 1: Now this comic is the polar opposite of LoSH in terms of accessibility. Writer Paul Dini quickly tells you everything you need to know about Zatanna and supporting cast and then dives deep into the first storyline. The magical hero has been without a solo title for a looooong time, but Dini manages to shows us the ropes and explain the rules of her world in an easily digestible way. Granted, Zatanna features a lot less characters than LoSH, but the same techniques apply no matter what the book. Open the door and welcome the readers in — don’t scare them away with an uninviting presentation.

Are you ready for this? I’m super excited about this and I hope you’re about to be too:

Kate Beaton of the insanely popular Hark! A Vagrant webcomic did our Indie Island shirt this year, and it’s a doozy! These will be on sale at the convention itself, in both American Apparel and Gildan styles, men’s and ladies sizes! How about that! That aqua in the background is the shirt color itself, and let me tell you: you are going to look so good in it! All the pirates on your street are gonna be like NUH-UH!! They’re being printed by our friends at Contagious Graphics, who are pretty much the best screenprinters ever–if you are looking for quality screenprinting, it would be hard to over-recommend them.

IF we have any shirts left after the convention, we’ll sell them to you by mail order, but I have to say I really expect this thing to sell insanely well, so you’re best bet is to either come to HeroesCon and buy one, or send your cabin boy in your stead.

But what? You don’t wear t-shirts? You have too much CLASS for a t-shirt?? Well how about a fancy-dan, high quality, suitable for framing, signed and numbered limited edition PRINT of said image? Ahoy webmaster, load that image:

Looks fancy to me! Printed on heavy cardstock, this little gem will be signed by Kate herself and on sale at the show for $10 a pop. Or you can get one afterwards by “mail.” If you’re currently berthed on a pirate raider, or are a pirate ghost chained to the mast of the Queen Anne’s Revenge… well, you made your pirate bed. Now pillage in it.

Lots of new names today for the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List, let’s jump right in!

First of all, Joe Jusko, as pictured above on his magical wheel-less skateboard, is silver-sailing his way back to HeroesCon this year. Joe’s super duper famous as a cover and pinup painter, notably on books like Silver Surfer, Punisher, Savage Sword of Conan, and 1,000,000 trading cards. You can also see his famous She-Hulk pinup LIVE AND IN PERSON for the rest of the month, as part of the SUPER! The Fine Art Of Comics show still up at 22 here in Charlotte. It’s pretty impressive stuff.

Roy Thomas is no stranger to fans of HeroesCon: the former Marvel Editor-In-Chief, Alter Ego Editor-In-Chief, and writer of comics including Conan, Amazing Spider-Man, and more recently the Marvel Illustrated series of classic adapations will be appearing Saturday only this year!

J.D Arnold is the writer of the new BB Wolf And The Three LP’s from Top Shelf, and a first-time comics writer and HeroesCon guest!

Rich Barrett has been a guest at our Charlotte Minicon, but this will be his very first HeroesCon as a full-on guest. We’ll see how he handles THREE DAYS of promoting his awesome webcomic Nathan Sorry.

Pat Broderick has worked in comics for decades, on titles like Micronauts, Alpha Flight, Firestorm, Captain Atom, Batman, and a ton more! I think this is his first trip back to HeroesCon since 2005 or 2006, so it’s super good to see him again!

Dana Hayward is digital content manager for HarperCollins Children’s Books. And as an independent designer and letterer she’s worked on some of the hottest manga and graphic novels around, including Tsubasa, xxxHolic, Bakugan: Battle Brawlers, the Evo Tournament, and the Terry Brooks Shannara graphic novel, Dark Wraith of Shannara. She’s also one of the people that make the show possible with her tireless help and advice!

Steve Saffel is the U.S. editor for Titan Books, the London-based popular culture publisher. His book The Best of Simon and Kirby is up for an Eisner Award, and he has four big books coming this summer: Jim Lee: Icons, The Art of Drew Struzan, Beetle Bailey 1965, and The Simon and Kirby Superheroes. As a fiction editor, he works on science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other genre novels, and in his spare time he wrote Spider-Man: The Icon. Steve is also an insanely helpful guy at the convention–it’s hard to imagine what we’d do without him and Dana (his wife) (sorry dudes).

Chris Pitzer is an old friend of ours, and a big help around con time believe me. He’s also a hot-snot publisher lately, with works like Afrodisiac (by fellow guest Jim Rugg), The Ancient Book of Sex And Science (by fellow guest Scott Morse), Process Recess and Pulphope (by James Jean and Paul Pope respectively), and his own series of critically acclaimed anthologies, Project: Superior, Romance, etc.! Whew!

Art Director at one of the hottest SFX houses in Hollywood, Blur Studios, Chuck Wojtkiewicz got his start in North Carolina at Artamus Studios where he drew Justice League for DC and then Imperial Guard for Marvel. Great to have him back!