With all the excitement surrounding Free Comic Book Day on May 1st and HeroesCon June 4th- June 6th, we wanted to make sure the old reliable Heroes Discussion Group didn’t fall off any of our already loaded plates

So we are doing something a little different and something that is rather exciting.

Today, we are announcing our next 5 Discussion Groups!

1) Blankets

Join us on Thursday (note the day of the week!!) March 4th as we sit down and discuss Blankets by Craig Thompson.

This is with a doubt one of the most popular and influential graphic novels of the past half decade. We know many of you have already read this wonderful story and we hope you will join us.

For anyone who has yet to tackle Thompson’s intimate story of first love, do not let the sheer size of the book intimidate you; it is a fast-moving enjoyable read with fabulous page design and clear-cut story-telling.

2) Book of Genesis by R. Crumb

One month later, we invite you to join us on Tuesday (note the day!) April 6th when we will dissect and discuss the powerful and challenging Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb. Moderator Andy Mansell is studying up on some Biblical History and we are certain this will be our most exciting and most talked about discussion group to date.

3) Astro City: Confession

Then on Thursday (note the day) May 13th– in order to wet your whistles for HeroesCon, we return to the super-hero genre to discuss Astro City: Confession by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson. Readers who visit Astro City never leave that wonderful town. We envy those of you who have never read any of these books; you are in for a big treat! These are super-hero comics created by artists who love superheroes. This will be big time fun.

4) Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall

Then we have an exciting surprise for you. We will be having a special meeting of the Discussion Group disguised as a Panel at HeroesCon. By popular demand, we will analyze and discuss the Anthology: Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall. And seeing as how it’s taking place in the middle of HeroesCon, don’t be surprised if a special guest or two shows up to join in the discussion!

5) The Complete Pluto Series

Lastly– and certainly not leastly–we have a special surprise for all manga fans. On Tuesday, (again, note the day) June 29th, we will get past our post-convention exhaustion by hunkering down to discuss the landmark Japanese series Pluto by Naoki Urasawa. No, not just the first volume; but rather we intend to discuss the 8 volume series in its entirety! More details as we get closer!

So here is a quick re-cap:

Thursday March 4 – Blankets

Tuesday April 6 – Genesis

Thursday May 13 – Astro City: The Confession

Heroes Con – Fables 1001 Nights

Tuesday June 29 – The Complete 8 Volume Pluto

All of these books are available from Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find for a Special 10% discount. But remember–in order to take advantage of the special price, you need to mention the Heroes Discussion Group Discount when you check out.

We look forward to seeing you! Watch this space for more details and reminders as each event gets nearer. In the meantime, pick up Blankets and Genesis; you’ll be glad you did!

Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
By Bill Willingham with illustrations by Steve Leialoha
DC Vertigo 400pgs $22.99

I will try to address the questions that everyone asks themselves when they think about buying this book:

• Is this a good place to start if you’ve never read Fables?
• Does Bill Willingham have the chops to sustain a large novel?
• As a Fables fan, is it a must-read?
• Would the story have been better suited as a graphic novel?

And my answers are No, No, Yes and Yes.

Bottom line: Fables is a love it or hate it book and I love both Fables and its companion monthly Jack of Fables.  They are the first comics I read every month without fail.

After eight years, I still get excited for every issue.  Those that dislike Fables (at least the people I’ve spoken to) blame the tone and the writing; they are unable to suspend their disbelief long enough to enjoy the elaborate plots and multitude of characters.

Regarding the novel itself; the first twenty-odd pages of Peter and Max are quite successful; Bill Willingham explains the nature of the Fable worlds and how they affect our mundane (Mundy) world.  I sat back smugly and thought that every Fables nay-sayer should be reading these pages and getting the gist of the series.

But then things go down-hill rather quickly.  Willingham writes the novel in the too-clever-by-half fairy-tale style used rather successfully (depending on whom you ask) by Neil Gaiman. Unfortunately for Willingham his prose style comes off oft-times coy and at times annoying.

Throughout the course of this 400 plus page novel, Willingham juggles three narrative threads.  The framing device concerns Peter Piper in today’s world heading out for a show-down with his long-estranged and violently dangerous older brother Max.  This story is inter-cut with the two separate flash-back stories of Peter Piper and his older brother Max in the homelands and how they cope with the tragedies of war and invasion by the armies of the Adversary.

Willingham handles the present day tale with excitement, suspense and tantalizing hints of tales to come in the current Fables Universe.

However, It is with the two back-stories where the novel goes horribly wrong.  Am I being a little dramatic here? No.  The two most crucial scenes in the book—the dark change to Max’s psyche and then much later on, a reunion of two lovers are so mishandled they disrupt the entire novel.

In each case, I found myself standing on the edges of the anti-Fables camp.  My disbelief could not be suspended; both of these sequences are major plot points and they are the keys to the success or failure of the entire plot.

The reader gets the feeling that Bill Willingham knows nothing about how teen-agers speak or feel. The budding love story between Peter Piper and Bo Peep (yes, that Bo Peep) seems as though it was written by a man who never had a school boy crush.  Later on, there is an ill-devised “meet cute” that sinks the entire plot-line for good.

Even a rather exciting conclusion does not make amends for these narrative sins.

Don’t get me wrong: A lot of the novel is quite good; the tale of Max as the Pied Piper of Hamelin reminds us of why we love Fables.

In fact—after the awful start, most of Max’s story-line is quite engaging; but I had to force myself to mentally dismiss or at least over-look the ill-conceived beginning.

Peter’s back-story is something else all together.  Willingham works over-time to give the Fables “Peter” his Fables due and it comes off as hackneyed and silly.

One of the great conceits of Jack of Fables is that the book’s title character embodies every single “Jack” that appears in fairy-tales—Bean-stalk, Giant Killer, Frost, O’ Lantern, B. Nimble, & Jill etc.  In the context of the comic it makes complete sense—he is the Jack of the Tales.

Willingham tries to do the same with Peter.  But none of the Peter tales (save one) are worthwhile and as a reader, we can feel the presence of the author as he goes out of his way to manipulate the plot just to add another nursery rhyme to Peter’s burgeoning resume.

It all comes down to Willingham’s lack of craft as a prose writer.  But, it is very possible this could have worked effectively as a graphic novel.  Think for a moment of the most crucial moment in the run of Fables where we learn the true identity of the Adversary and over the course of five pages he re-caps his rise to power.

Willingham and his artist pull off this improbable tale because they knows their craft; the words told us part and the pictures supported those words. And it works–we buy into it.

But imagine those same scenes fleshed out in novel form; that huge improbable tale would have crashed under its own weight.  Peter and Max crashes almost every time it has the opportunity to soar.  It is too bad; Willingham is a terrific storyteller, but the prose novel is most definitely not the venue for his stories.

Thanks for listening; do you disagree?  Let me hear ya!

On Saturday afternoon, the Heroes Discussion Group met for the lucky thirteenth time to discuss David Mazzucchelli’s new book, Asterios Polyp.

Because of the number of participants–there were over 20 in attendance!!—we held the meeting across the street at Jack’s.  We decided to sit outside.  This created a variety of obstacles: the length of the table, the oppressive August heat and the growing number of cars racing loudly up and down Seventh Avenue.

But we prevailed and the two and a half hour conversation proved to be well worth the effort. Here is a just brief list of what we covered:

The subtext of narrative: Mazzucchelli‘s use of Greco-Roman myths (Orpheus and Odysseus), literary allusions (The Secret Sharer and others) and classic comics (Krazy Kat, Dick Tracy and Sandman). We examined the role of the numbers 3 and 2 within the story.

We discussed the importance of the characters Asterios encountered and how they helped the hero on his journey.

We spent a good deal of time discussing Mazzucchelli’s artistic technique.  The book’s use of page layout, panel placement, word balloon and color choice to portray character, show emotion, illustrate change and enhance subtext.

Finally, we discussed the final scenes in the book.  There were many ways to analyze the end of our hero’s journey and to Mazzucchelli’s credit, each hypothesis was valid and especially worthwhile.

There were several topics we barely touched on: the role of Noguchi the cat, faith versus logic, the role of architecture in daily life. If you have not read the book yet, we strongly urge you to pick up a copy.  You will not be disappointed!

We want to publicly thank everyone who attended.  I felt as though we could have talked about Asterios for another few hours.

If any of you want to discuss any of these topics now, please do so.

Watch this space for upcoming announcements regarding our next Discussion group! 

On Monday night, the Heroes Discussion Group met to discuss the highly-lauded graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.

The conversation flowed fast and furious; there was a decisive split between the attendees as to the merit and the success of the work.

Some found the memoir a genuinely engaging slice of life; others had problems with narrative issues caused by Satrapi’s short-comings as a cartoonist.

We explored how she presented life in Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution. The Old Fart moderator added some historical color by describing how the average American teen felt when the American Embassy in Iran was seized.

A substantial amount of time was spent discussing the author’s teen-age years spent alone in Europe far away from her parents and her culture.

The conversation went on far longer than we anticipated. We had to stop at 8:00pm to give us enough time to screen Persepolis, the animated film adaptation of the books.

By the time, the film ended, it was close to 10:00pm and we decided to continue the discussion on line here at our favorite site.

If you have read the books or viewed the movie, we invite you to join us. The questions may range from general discussion about the graphic novel itself to comments about the film to an analysis of the adaptation from comic to cartoon.

To start: there were strong disagreements about the first 100 pages of Persepolis II that detailed the author’s teen-age years spent in exile in Europe.

One of our participants—Heroes unofficial and incredibly talented photographer Vy Tran—Face-booked me (a verb is coined!) yesterday and stated:

“I was a little disappointed at how a couple of the folks at the discussion were giving the author flack because the problems she dealt with in the second half of the book “weren’t a big deal” and were “stupid.” Dusty even said, “Everyone deals with stuff like that.” But I’ll submit to you that the problems she dealt with during her time in Europe WERE a big deal BECAUSE everyone goes through stuff like that. “

What do YOU think?

by comic strip fanatic and general know-it-all Andy Mansell

My favorite memories from my childhood were the Saturday nights when my father would take me to the drug-store and we would buy the Sunday editions of all four major Chicago Newspapers. I had four, 12-page full color comic sections. It was heaven. This may be inconceivable for most of you under the age of thirty; but with the rise in classic comic strip reprints, the fondness for this great lost art is growing.

The strips were great–some adventure, some humor, some soap opera, but there were no superhero strips except perhaps the Phantom. Around the same time, I purchased a Batman 80 Page Giant for a precious quarter and lo and behold there was a reprint of a Dick Sprang style Batman Sunday page from the 40s!

My mind reeled—I sat down and drew my own fantasy Sunday Section with a full page Hourman, a full page Doctor Fate—in the style of Prince Valiant—an Aquaman vs. Sub-Mariner battle strip and a full page Fantastic Four. This was my childhood fantasy—my first “collectors” dream.

With the Sunday strips dying a slow painful death—even though we strip fanatics hold onto them for dear life—DC has decided made a bold step forward to bring my dream project to life! (They must have found the letter that I wrote to Julius Schwartz back in 1970!)

Thus Wednesday Comics was born—and you must read it for several reasons:

1. You will get to experience the joy our parents and grandparents felt every Sunday morning. In the Charlotte Observer, there are no less than 8 (8!!!) comics on a single page. DC gives you a single strip per page like the way it was back in the 30s and 40s. Nirvana!

2. The creators take full advantage of their format. Some explore the size with challenging results. Some stick to the traditional grid.

3. And the Flash Comics duo of half page features uses every old strip convention to create something refreshing and new!!—you have to read it to believe it!

4. Although they are all ‘hero’ strips, the results are wide and varied.

5. If you are a fan of current comics, the list of writers and artists reads like a veritable all-star roster: Azzarello, Busiek, Gibbons, Palmiotti, Kubert(s), Didio and Gaiman-just to name a few!

6. If you are more intrigued by a contemporary or “Indy” slant, you have Paul Pope tackling Adam Strange and Kyle Baker taking Hawkman to new heights (sorry–I had to)

7. The Gibbon/Sook Kamandi strip is told in the format of Prince Valiant. For me, this page alone is worth the price of admission! (Yes, it blows my Dr. Fate clear out of the water!)

8. Unless I am mistaken, we will finally find out who would win the epic battle: Krypto or Streaky

9. Best of all, you will finish the book (paper?—PAPER!!) and you will anxiously await next week’s edition. That was the sole job of the newspaper cartoonists back in the day.

10. Finally–It is only $4.00

Try it! Buy it!! Don’t wait for a couple of issues to come out. Don’t wait for a trade collection. These comics are meant to be read once a week in one sitting. So select your breakfast cereal of choice—I’ll take Fruity Pebbles —and enjoy!

So how on earth can we possibly top the last three discussion groups?

In the past few months, we had Matt Fraction join us for a dissection of Iron Man.

Then we had an in-depth analysis of the Umbrella Academy.

Finally we had our infamous panel-by-panel discussion of Brave and the Bold #4 with Mark Waid and George Perez at HeroesCon.

Well how about this to start off the post-con season: come to the store on Monday July 27th at 6:00pm, and we will discuss Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel about growing up in Iran: Persepolis.

Topic will include:

• The author’s use of cartoon-y art for extremely serious topics
• Looking at the story as a whole or as two separate graphic novels combined
• How do readers from the West relate to Islamic society?
• How reliable is our narrator?
• and many, many more…

If you have not read the book, you are in for a treat. It is impossible to read the book without some emotional attachment; so come by and tell us about it — or just come by to listen– participation is NOT mandatory.

Ater we have spent an hour or so discussing the book and it’s influences we will turn off the lights and watch the animated film adaptation of the book right in the store!

Once we have finished watching the award-winning movie, we will retire across the street for libations and a discussion that will focus on the adaptation of the book into the film, including:

• What worked and what did not?
• We can discuss scenes that were added or removed or combined from the original graphic novel
• Could the movie have been more successful in CGI or even as a live action film?
• We can discuss the success or failure of other comic related movies

and/or

• We can have a round-table about adaptations in general:
• How do we view the films if we’ve already read the book?
• Can films be judged on their own merit without citing their source material?
• and a whole lot more…Trust us — this conversation could go on into the wee hours.

This will be a unique and exciting discussion–all we ask is that you read Persepolis prior to July 27th. A previous viewing of the film is not necessary

If you cannot make the early 6:00pm start time, please plan to arrive by 7:30 pm when we will promptly start the film!

So come one, come all, tell your friends!!

We will see you at 6:00pm on Monday July 27th and remember, you can purchase Persepolis at Heroes and receive a 10% DISCOUNT– all you need to do is mention the Discussion Group Discount when you are checking out!

by Andy Mansell

• That we have the greatest group of volunteers in the history of Comic Cons! There are too many of you to name individually but you all know who you are!! God bless you!!
• That HeroesCon is the greatest, family friendly Convention in North America
• That Jeff Smith went above and beyond for his fans all weekend long!.
• That Adam and team from the Dollar Bin are LIFE SAVERS (repeatedly!!). GO to their website early and often!!!
• That when Shelley Drum says “Jump”, we say, “Out of what window?”
• That Dustin Harbin defines ‘grace under pressure’ [editor's note: NOT!]
• That I would gladly pay money at any time to listen to Dapper Phil Southern talk about anything and everything—a hoot and a half!!
• That the lovely blue-haired Karla has THE toughest job in Charlotte during Con Weekend
• That Trey and Michaele ought to quit their day jobs and open an Art Gallery
• That when years from now–we in Charlotte–will be able to say that we were the first to identify Roger Langridge as the greatest cartoonist of this new-ish century.
• That Jim Scancarelli, Marcus Hamilton and June Brigman combine to create a fascinating panel discussion. I hope they are all back next year.



• That if we are ever allowed to do a Panel-by-Panel comic discussion again, we will need at least three hours to get through a standard comic book
• That the Quick Draw keeps getting bigger and better every year. It is one of the Heroes Con highlights
• That the best costumes were Mary Marvel (adult) and Nova (kid)
• That Shawn Reynolds and Seth Peagler rock and are THE ROCKS!!
• That Sunday at 3:30 pm is the time to buy up graphic novels.
• That Vee is a fabulous photog
• That the Information Booth is the most fun place to be on Father’s Day Weekend.
• That I want my daughter to attended SCAD when she gets old enough. Their booth was hopping!
• That if any of the film channels show Irwin Hasen: A New York Life, you will need to TiVo it and not miss it. when we were not laughing out-loud at his outrageous stories, we were tearing up at the sad moments in his long life
• That the “Coolness Scale” has a new barometer; from this point on we rate coolness by 1 (for the least cool) to Matt Fraction who is the equivalent of a TEN PLUS
• That Chris Claremont has a lot to say about many things non-mutant
• That you have to take comments on Twitter with a grain or two of salt
• That I am sure I am forgetting someone or something–Sorry!!!
• That I can’t wait for next year!!
• And finally:
• That Shelton Drum is truly the Grand Master of Fandom. Once you enter into the Heroes Realm, you are part of his family forever
• And AMEN to that!!!!

Photo by Vy Tran. Check out her whole set of HeroesCon picks here!

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!

written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Adam Kubert and Scott Williams

I am going to make the assumption that virtually all of you have read these two issues. This is the kind of book everyone buys even if they do not regularly read Batman. Just in case: I need to post the words SPOILER ALERT, because this review has to examine the ending of the story.

My initial reaction to the story was one of complete disappointment. From what I’ve been reading in blogs and hearing from customers in the store, the general consensus seems to agree with my initial assessment.

It is impossible to read this story without comparing it to the final Mort Weisinger/Julius Schwartz era Superman tale, “Whatever Happened to Man of Tomorrow?” The Alan Moore story was an instant classic. It was the end of an antiquated era that sorely needed to be put to rest. Because of it, the story was able to evoke deep emotions in the reader as it it treated its subject matter as if it was the death of a very dear old friend.

Therefore this two-part Batman story–with its title, timing and the use of the literate British superstar writer –begs for comparison to the well established Superman classic. It would be impossible for any story to come close to Alan Moore’s triumph from 20-odd years ago. Thus my initial reaction to the story was a complete let down.

I felt the two issues led me too far in too many directions and culminated in an unsatisfactory finale. It left me feeling cold and almost angry. But I had this nagging feeling that I must be missing something. I am not a blind faith fan of Neil Gaiman; but I cannot deny that he is a very clever writer and he has a huge reputation to uphold. So even though I was disappointed upon my initial reading, I had to assume that there is more to the story than originally met my eye.

And sure enough; a second reading proved to be quite rich and satisfying. The plot is simple: Bruce Wayne/Batman is watching his own wake with a mystery woman whom we were all either hoping or dreading will be revealed as Death from Gaiman’s Sandman. We learn in the second issue, it is Bruce Wayne’s mother who has been assigned the role of his spiritual guide.
The story ends with Bruce Wayne coming to the understanding that he is Batman, he is destined to be Batman and the only way Batman’s story can ever end is with his death. But…. the story can never end.

Regardless of how many times you re-invent the character, one thing will always remain: Batman is at heart a boy’s revenge fantasy. He must always succeed because he is stronger and smarter than every other human. He can overcome any adversity and win the day for the greater good–just like a hero should.

Gaiman uses the wake to delightful and rather inspiring ends. Admit it, any of the one and two page stories of Batman’s demise would have made an incredibly fitting coda to Bruce Wayne’s four color life–Batgirl and the Bomb, Harvey Bullock and the kid, the final physical and mental victory over the Joker. There are several more within the story’s framework and each one comes close to affecting the reader in the same satisfying manner as the special moments within Moore’s final Superman tale.

The two stories that get the majority of page-time show that Batman could never settle down and receive that well deserved happy ending. Catwoman’s tale shows us the Batman’s life is tragic and cannot withstand a romantic relationship. This is a very moving, chilling and perverse tale of obsession. It is a terrific tale and climaxes in a surprising way.

Even better is the story of Alfred and the role(s) he plays in Batman’s life. This is a very clever tale that shows above all that Batman’s story will continue to be twisted and manipulated away from the original boy’s revenge fantasy concept into something else, either silly and antiquated—like the Caped Crusader from the 40’s to the 60s—or something violent and “realistic”, like the Dark Knight of the 70s to the present. Batman will be nothing but a pawn of the actors and writers who pull his strings and the audience who determines the extent of his popularity.

The story’s wrap-up is a bit of a challenge. The shape of the Bat signal morphing into the hands of a new born is absolutely inspired and the final image of a new mother’s joy upon looking at her infant son successfully masks –for the briefest moment –the true “reality” of the Batman character. But Gaiman makes it clear that this is not going have a happy ending. Batman will not retire to suburbia like Superman. Martha Wayne’s joy cannot equal Superman’s wink; hence the original feeling of anger and disappointment.

But Gaiman is reaching for something more, something richer, something darker and something that is NOT happy. Batman is the absolute dark reflection of the Christ figure. Instead of dying for our sins—which the previous 40 odd pages publically offered the readers—Bruce Wayne is destined to remain alive in tragedy and torment to entertain us over and over and over.
No matter who is drawing him, no matter who is writing him, no matter who fights temporally for the right to wear the cowl, Bruce Wayne will always be the little boy kneeling in a filthy alley surrounded by blood and bodies and a broken strain of pearls. Forever.

Bruce Wayne is in hell and God help us, as readers of his exploits, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

This is truly an excellent comic book and deserves multiple readings. I wish we could have scheduled this book as a future discussion group, but with the convention coming up quickly, I have to use the Review as our forum in its stead.

Do you disagree with this assessment? Please respond and let us hear about it. Thanks for reading!

The Heroes Discussion Group is back!! We are returning to the main-stream and this time we are Invincible!

Please join us on Monday March 9th at 7:00pm when we will be discussing the Invincible Iron Man #1-7 available from Heroes in both single back issues or as a recently released hardcover collection.

We will examine what makes the story work so well; potential topics will include (but are NOT limited to):

• How the creative team tackles the trick of showing emotion on our fully masked protagonist

• Could an Iron Man exist in the real world?

• How much has this most recent take on Iron Man been influenced by the movie or by the Ultimate version?

• Does the cross-over in Issue 7 detract or improve the stories finale?

• Should super-hero stories be published in independent story arcs instead of an on-going series?

Then we have a HUGE surprise for you!!

MATT FRACTION, writer extraordinaire will join us via Conference Call and he will field our questions. Matt is an old friend (he worked at Heroes as a counter jockey years ago!) We will do our best to keep the call to Iron Man, but if a question or two about Iron Fist (or any other book on Matt’s impressive resume) sneaks in, I’m sure not going to complain and I bet you won’t either!

Topics I’d love to ask Matt:

• His working relationship with everyone from editor to letterer on the book

• What is the deadline pressure like?

• and countless others

So please join us for this exciting event!! Remember the Invincible Iron Man Collection 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 March 9th at 7:00pm!! It will be fantastic!