We promised you several huge HeroesCon 2011 Guest List additions as we transition into 2011 and we are here to deliver! It is hard to believe that HeroesCon is just around the corner. We’ve got even more surprises for you coming up so stay tuned!

Scott Beaderstadt is probably best known for his work on Troll Lords, which he plans on re-launching with the three-issue mini-series Death: My Life and Love. You may also know him from The Mummy or Archie: Superteens. You can become a fan of Troll Lords on Facebook!

Jacob Chabot is the writer/artist on The Mighty Skullboy Army. He also did the art for the adorable comic X-Babies. Recently he has worked on several books for Marvel like Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special #1, Deadpool #1000 and I Am an Avenger #2.

SL Gallant is currently the artist on GI Joe: Real American Hero which is written by Larry Hama. Issue #162 was just released this week! It is published through IDW but continues where the classic Marvel run left off. Gallant has also worked on other popular GI Joe titles like GI Joe: Origins and GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Chris Giarrusso burst onto the scene with his highly entertaining and enormously popular Mini-Marvels. When Mini-Marvels TP vol 1 Rock, Paper, Scissors came out we had a hard time keeping it in stock because it was flying off the shelves! Most recently Giarrusso worked on G-Man: Cape Crisis which was a witty and fun-filled all-ages book. He is an incredibly talented writer and artist and you should definitely track him down at the show!

Gregg Schigiel is the writer of the aforementioned adorable comic X-Babies. He is currently working on SpongeBob Comics which will debut in February. He is also working on Pix: Teenage American Fairy which can be viewed here. You can also check out his extremely funny Stick Figure Night Live comics which summarize Saturday Night Live in stick-figure form.

David Williams has recently done interiors and covers for a number of Marvel’s all-ages books such as Wolverine: First Class, Uncanny X-Men First Class and Hulk and Power Pack. You may recognize him from his cover runs on Incredible Hercules or GI Joe.

Thom Zahler is best known for his creator-owned book Love and Capes which just got picked up by IDW. Be on the look out for Love and Capes: Ever After #1 this February! Back in October for 24-Hour Comic Day Zahler set up a studio in the Great Lakes Mall and created a comic live. You can check out Robot 6‘s coverage of his process or read about his experience on his blog!

We are super excited to be able to announce some great additions to the HeroesCon 2011 Indie Island Guest List! 

Stephanie Buscema is a fantastic illustrator and cartoonist. Most recently, her painterly style can be seen in Girl Comics and Web of Spider-Man. She is also currently working on picture books for Dial and Disney/Hyperion. This will be Buscema’s first appearance at HeroesCon but hopefully it won’t be her last. Make sure you stop by her table and check out her amazing work!

Evan Dorkin is probably best known as the writer and artist for Milk & Cheese and Dork. He is also the writer on the critically acclaimed Beasts of Burden mini-series. Currently he and Sarah Dyer are working on a Super Martian Robot Girl story for a Yo Gabba Gabba! anthology for Oni Press. Check out his blog for news on his upcoming work!

Sarah Dyer got her start in the underground zine movement of the eighties and nineties and is famous for creating Action Girl Comics an all-female comics anthology. She frequently collaborates with her husband Evan Dorkin and is often his editor and colorist. She is a mulit-talented writer and artist who doesn’t confine herself to comics.  She also bakes, sews and knits! Check out some of the projects she has been working on over at her blog!

Dusty Higgins is most famous for being the artist and creator of Pinnochio Vampire Slayer, which is written by Indie Island guest Van Jensen. The first two volumes have been released and they are working on the third one. He also illustrated Pedestals, Parapets, and Pits and Where You Stand is Where You Sit.

Matt Kindt is the amazing writer/artist behind Pistolwhip, Super Spy and Two Sisters. His most recent work includes 3 Story, Revolver and a Black Widow story in Marvel‘s Strange Tales. He is currently working on The Tooth with Cullen Bunn and Shawn Lee.

Robbi Rodriguez made his comics debut in 2005 with Image Comic‘s Hero Camp. Since then he has been entertaining audiences with his art on such titles as Maintenance and Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen. He just completed work on Polly and the Pirates from Oni Press, so look for that soon!

Joel Watson is the creator of the webcomic HijiNKS ENSUE which focuses on geek culture. He recently started updating his webcomic 5 times a week! Watson has begun collecting HijiNKS ENSUE into handy trade paperbacks. Volume one is already out and it collects 2007-2008. Volume 2 is scheduled for early this year. For more information visit the HijiNKS ENSUE website.

1) Fantastic Four #587

The book most likely to move quickly this week is probably this anticipated issue featuring the death of one of the members of FF.  There’s been healthy speculation in recent months about which character will meet their end.  While the media has already leaked that information, the issue is still guaranteed to sell out, so make sure you pick up a copy.  Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting have been building their entire run up to this moment, and are planning a relaunch for March that is simply called FF.  Come see how they end this incarnation of Marvel’s flagship title.

2) Shazam #1

Fans of the Big Red Cheese rejoice!  This is only a one shot, but for Captain Marvel fans any new issue is worth appreciating.  Eric Wallace and Cliff Richards offer up this issue which has the added bonus of featuring a great cover by Cliff Chiang.  I’d be remiss not to mention that we still have several copies of Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear‘s excellent pictorial history of the character, Shazam! The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal.

3) Age of X: Alpha

This new X crossover seems to me like it will be a strong seller for Marvel.  Like the popular Age of Apocalypse of years past, Age of X features an alternate take on the X universe, with the last remaining mutants trying to survive on the fringes.  The draw of this series is the curiosity it raises around how certain characters will be portrayed.  Mike Carey, Paul Davidson, and others are the creators behind this series, which Marvel is touting as another universe-changing event.

4) Detective Comics #873

Scott Snyder and Jock wrap up their acclaimed “Black Mirror” storyline with this week’s issue.  Readers seem to be excited to see Jock doing interiors for this arc, as lately he’s become a go to cover artist for Marvel and DC.  Snyder has capitalized on his American Vampire success by doing a respectable job following Greg Rucka‘s popular Batwoman issues of Detective.

5) X-men #7

The inclusion of vampires into the X universe probably kept a few of you away from this newest ongoing X-men book.  If you’re among that lot, consider picking up this issues, as the X-men team up with Spider-man in a story set in New York.  Regular writer Victor Gischler is joined by artist Chris Bachalo, who is no stranger to illustrating Spidey or the X-men.  His Lizard story arc in Amazing Spider-man still gets plenty of talk around Heroes from staffers and customers alike.

>Bonus picks of the week: Uncanny X-force #4, Question: Pipeline TP, Magneto #1, Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #1, and a slew of Avengers titles, including Avengers #9, New Avengers #8, and Secret Avengers #9.

Available now?! But new comics only come out on Wednesday! That’s right, this week we’re bringing you a new comic on Tuesday. Marvel has everyone so excited about Fantastic Four “Casualty” #587 that they are allowing us to sell it a day early! Come by the store today so you don’t miss out on this historic “Death in the Family” event!  We should point out that this is the only new title available for purchase today, but we’ll have all our new releases ready for you bright and early Wednesday morning!

The 33rd anniversary of the first Charlotte Mini·Con has come and gone and it was a blast!  We’d like to thank everyone who came out to celebrate comic books with us.  You are what make the show so fun for us. Thanks also to all of our great guests, Duane Ballenger, Rich Barrett, Chris Brunner, J. Chris Campbell, Sanford Greene, Dustin Harbin, Jason Latour, Buddy Prince, Budd Root, Bridgit Scheide, Andy Smith, and Chrissie Zullo. Be sure to stop by our Flickr and Facebook pages for our extensive photo report!

Don’t forget that the Charlotte Minicon will be this Saturday, January 22, 2011 from 11 am to 5 pm. The show will be at the Palmer Building at Fireman’s Hall which is just half a mile from our store. We love having our Minicon at this cozy location and it is well worth the $3 admission price just to come and check out this cool, old building. If you are not familiar with the location, fear not, we will put up signs along 7th St. to help direct you to the event!

Our awesome guest list includes Rich Barrett (Nathan Sorry), Chris Brunner (Boondock Saints, Loose Ends), J. Chris Campbell (Zig Zag), Sanford Greene (1000), Dustin Harbin (Diary Comics #1), Jason Latour (Noche Roja, Scalped, Wolverine), Budd Root (Cavewoman), Bridgit Scheide (Kindle), Andy Smith (X-Men Forever 2) and Chrissie Zullo (Fables #100). We have been spotlighting these guests for the past month now to show off just how incredibly talented these guests are. Check out the blog for those spotlights!

In addition to our special guests there will be a room full of dealers from all over the Southeast selling their comic wares. Come by to dig for comics both new and old as well as other comic related items like toys! As a special bonus treat, the Charlotte Minicon will feature pony rides (weather permitting)! All you have to do is donate at least $3 to the Latta Plantation Equestrian Center. Funds raised will go to erect a covered area at the center. I can’t think of another convention that can boast that they have pony rides!

We hope to see you Saturday, January 22, 2011 at this incredibly fun, family-friendly event!

Charlotte Minicon
January 22, 2011
11 am to 5 pm
Admission is just $3!
Palmer Building at Fireman’s Hall
2601 E 7th St
Charlotte, NC 28204

Update: Unfortunately, Special Guest Chris Stevens will be unable to attend the Charlotte Minicon this Saturday. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

The Charlotte Minicon is THIS Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm at the Palmer Building! For the past several weeks building up to it we have been spotlighting our awesomely talented guests and here is the last batch for your enjoyment! Come see them live and in-person at the Minicon. In the meantime, for more information about the artists please visit their websites!

First up is Dustin Harbin who is no stranger to Heroes events. Up until recently he was helping to organize them! We welcome him as he sits on the other side of the table. For more images like the one on the right check out Harbin’s Ten Dollar Fourths Flickr set.

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Dustin Harbin: I guess I’m pretty proud of making a newspaper, which was a fun design challenge, and of getting to work with Anne Koyama, whose Koyama Press published my DIARY COMICS #1 in September. She let me design that book too, so 2010 was a year with a lot of successful design challenges met for me.

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
DH: In 2011 I’ll have two more (small) volumes of DIARY COMICS, plus at least one full-color collection of the non-diary comics I publish on dharbin.com. I’m shooting for at least 3 different anthology stories this year, and will be pitching a couple of things to publishers, so we’ll see how that shakes out. But I bet those things wouldn’t show up until 2012 anyway, just in time for the Mayans to return and destroy us all.

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
DH: Well, I used to work at these things! So most of the memories are work-related. Weirdly, all my favorite memories are of setting up the room in the morning, and wheedling free Bojangles out of Shelton for everyone. Last year was my first year exhibiting as an artist, so that was pretty great. Especially since I live right around the corner, so I just wheeled my little handtruck right over. It’s always nice to hang out with J. Chris Campbell, that guy’s the best. I am hopefully going to make a memory with him this year, or maybe Rich Barrett. Either one of those guys, pretty sure.

Next on the list is J. Chris Campbell who is simultaneously a super awesome artist and a super awesome guy! His mini comics are humorous, fun and occasionally a bit melancholy, but they are always worth the price! You should definitely stop by his table and take a gander. I heard a little rumor that Duane Ballenger might be appearing along with Campbell. Come to the Minicon to find out for yourself!

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
J. Chris Campbell: I’m most proud of finally putting together a collection of my comics from a bunch of anthologies. Zig Zag: Mish Mash brings together stories that have been scattered all over the place for years. I released a small number of them at Heroes and it’s available thru the Comixology app for iPhone. I was also pretty proud to be among the few to beta test Comixology’s self authoring software that will help me release more digital comics.

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
JCC: 2011 is a great year. It’s the 10th anniversary of Wide Awake Press! We aren’t planning anything huge but we’ve got a couple of projects in the works that should prove to be a lot of fun. Including the 2011 Free Comic Book Day download and an anthology edited by Pat Lewis called Our Broadcast Day.

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
JCC: One year we crammed four guys behind our table including Rob Ullman, Duane Ballenger and Justin Gammon. It was a tight fit but a lot of fun and I think that was the same year that it started to snow. Last Charlotte Minicon we closed the place down by chatting it up with the Dollar Bin. I always love doodling robots for all the folks who drop by my table. Minicon is in a really nice venue with great local artists and quality dealers. A great mix for a super one day show!

Also we have Sanford Greene who is a regular guest at HeroesCon and for Free Comic Book Day so we are delighted to have him up for the Charlotte Minicon. Greene’s recent work includes Wonder Girl, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and Deadpool Team-Up.

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Sanford Greene: In 2010, I did a lot of design work for games and animation that I am proud of. Some of which I can not mention. However,  one thing I am happy with the work I did for the new DC Comics MMO that just came out. I am also proud of to finally get one of my creator owned projects ( 1000) off the ground!

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
SG: I am excited to be apart of the new Dark Horse Comics Presents launch! I am also excited about my new OGN 1000, coming soon to MTV.com! There’s several other things lined up with Marvel but really can’t announce yet.

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
SG: This is my first Minicon,  and will not be my last! I am sure from here on , I will have fond memories!

Finally we get to Chris Brunner. All of us here at Heroes are super excited about the work his is putting out and we can’t wait for Loose Ends to hit stores!

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Chris Brunner: Can’t help but be a tease here, I’m happiest with the pages Rico Renzi, Jason Latour and I have stockpiled for our comic Loose Ends. We’ve been scheming on it for a while now, and I’m dead pleased with how it’s coming together. We have run amok.

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
CB: A couple more Boondock Saints covers this spring from Rico and I, a heady dose of Loose Ends in 12 Gauge’s Free Comic Book Day release, and the full Loose Ends run for the summertime. There’s regular art shenanigans here too: http://kickstandkids.blogspot.com/

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
CB: At last years Minicon I did a drawing for Brandon Padgett of the Dollar Bin podcast, which is now hanging in his son’s bedroom- can’t beat that. The show seems to grow every year, hopefully twice the guest list means twice the tomfoolery and general comic hijinx.

I can’t believe it has been over a month since we made the last addition to the HeroesCon 2011 Guest List. It seems like a week ago to me! We have quite a backlog of confirmed guests to get up on the website, so without further ado, here is the first guest list addition of the New Year!

Cullen Bunn is probably best known for his collaborations with Brian Hurtt, which include The Damned, The Damned: Prodigal Sons and The Sixth Gun. In addition to his comics writing he does a considerable amount of short fiction, typically horror stories. Bunn has a ton of comics coming out this year so be on the lookout for Superman/Batman #81, Captain America #616 and Deadpool Family #1!

Jeremy Dale first broke onto the scene with his six-issue comic series Trust. Since then he has worked on numerous other projects including Popgun vol 1 and GI Joe: A Real American Hero. He is currently working on the creator-owned project Skyward.

We are happy to welcome GW Fisher back for his tenth consecutive HeroesCon! In his 14 years as an artist and inker he has worked on numerous books including ShadowHawk and Intimidators. Currently he is a licensing artist for Marvel.

HeadHunta’ Studios have several more names to add to their corner of Artist Alley. Joining previously announced members will be: Jeff Balke (Grimm Fairy Tales), Ben Fisher (Smuggling Spirits), Kevin Stokes (Guardian Project) and Wilfredo Torres (Salem: Queen of Thorns).

Brian Hurtt, as previously mentioned, frequently collaborates with Cullen Bunn. He has also worked on such popular titles as Queen & Country, Gotham Central and Hard Time. He has a lot of upcoming projects including the Vertigo Crime book Cowboys which is scheduled for a July release.

Sunny Lee has been in the industry for about 15 years now. He has worked on such fan-favorites as Superboy and Wolverine. His most recent work was Wildstorm/DC on Gen13. Check out his deviantART page for some examples of his awesome commissions!

We are thrilled to be able to add Tony Moore to the HeroesCon 2011 Guest List! It was just announced that he will be doing the art for the upcoming Venom ongoing series. Moore is well-known for his work on Battle Pope, The Exterminators and Fear Agent. Most recently he has been doing Punisher and Franken-Castle for Marvel. He is probably best known as the co-creator of The Walking Dead which AMC turned into a television series last year. It is a huge success and it is the most-watched basic cable series of all time!

Chris Samnee is the critically-acclaimed artist on Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Area 10 and Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale. It was recently announced that Samnee and Roger Langridge would team up once again for a Thor and Captain America story in one of Marvel‘s FCBD books. Also, Samnee will be doing the art for Ultimate Spider-Man #155!

Matt Wilson is the super-talented colorist on such popular titles as Wolverine, Invincible Iron Man, Ultimate Spider-Man and Thor: The Mighty Avenger. He is working on a ton of upcoming books  including Captain America and Crossbones #1, Arcade: Death Game and Ultimate Comics Doom. He reportedly has colored over 1,000 pages this year! It boggles the mind!

Stay tuned to our blog and keep reading the newsletter because this is just the first of many announcements for HeroesCon 2011!

Unfortunately, Special Guest Chris Stevens will be unable to attend the Charlotte Minicon this Saturday. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.