Sandman: Endless Nights

While I was preparing for our 6th Heroes Discussion Group which featured Sandman: Seasons of the Mist, I pondered whether Sandman was the most influential comic book of the last thirty years. Four years and twenty eight discussions later, I believe it to be true.  Do you agree?

For Halloween, please plan to join us for our 35^th Discussion group as we revisit Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series with the stand-alone anthology, Sandman: Endless Nights.

The afternoon will be rather exciting for a number of reasons, namely:

• This will be the first anthology we’ve tackled.
• We will examine the concept of comic book anthologies.
• Which stories worked and which did not.
• The differences (and similarities) between the realms of Despair and Delirium.
• How does Neil Gaiman adjust his storytelling to match the strengths of each artist he employs?
• Does this anthology work as a complete book or is it simply a group of stories about related characters?
• With a generation and a half of influence behind it, have Gaiman’s characters and concepts stood the test of time?

For those of you who have never read Sandman, I believe you are in for a treat.

Many love Gaiman’s comic work; but he has some very strong minded and vocal detractors.

Why not read the book, stop by the store on Saturday October 22^nd at 1:00pm and add your two cents to the mix?  We’d love to see you!

One thing is for certain; I promise you will not be bored.

And remember—just around the corner we have Love & Rockets followed by Planetary.

As usual, Heroes is offering a special 10% Discussion Group discount on Sandman: Endless Nights, but remember to mention it to the store clerk when you check out!

See you there!

A few years ago, the Heroes Discussion Group focused its insatiable energies on Persepolis—Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel about coming of age in Iran.  After we talked at length about the comic, we sat down in the back of the store, turned off the lights and watched the animated feature-length adaptation.

We were hoping to do the same thing with Dan Clowes‘ coming of age classic Ghost World.

HOWEVER…..

Unlike Persepolis, he 2001 film adaptation starring Thora Birch as the irrepressible Enid, Steve Buscemi as Seymour and Scarlett Johansson as Rebecca is a bit too R-Rated to show on the TV screens of a family-friendly store like Heroes–especially on a Saturday which is prime G and PG shopper time.

We apologize for this change in plans, but considering the overall situation, it is the only decision we can make.

So, please plan to join us on Saturday September 24^th at 1:00pm as we discuss  Daniel Clowes’ star-making Graphic Novel, Ghost World.

If you have seen the movie or plan to see the movie– fantastic. As we did with Scott Pilgrim, Walking Dead and V for Vendetta, if everyone has attending the discussion has seen the film, we will explore one of our favorite topics in Discussionland–adaptation.

But….

this is a Comic Discussion Group first and fore-most.  If you have not seen the film, but want to come to discuss the book, plan to attend.

Our topics will include:

• How is the story serviced by the medium of comics?
• Is Clowes’ depiction of teen age girls accurate and believable?
• Is the story universal or is it a product of its era?
• A discussion of the colors in the film versus the two tone world of the comic
• Clowes’ drawing style and how it affects the story and the readers

Fantagraphics has just published a Special Edition Hardcover Ghost World which Heroes is offering at the usual 10% Discussion Group discount.  Just don’t forget to mention the Discount when you check out.

We will see you on September 24^th at 1:00pm and remember to bring an open mind

• That Shelley Drum, and her Staff of Registration Booth Awesomeness featuring Jenny Bement, provided the perfect first impression to all of our Artists and Patrons
• That The Heroes Booth once again was the best at the Con. Seth Peagler and Phil Southern outdid themselves yet again!
• That Ben Towle and Craig Fischer are amazing!  Moebius and Blueberry Cake–genius!
• That  C.J. and Justin deserve special kudos for holding down the fort whilst the rest of us drank up all the weekend’s profits.
• That Steve Saffel, Dana Hayward and Dr.Scott Valeri are ROCKS who kept me (sorta) sane
• That we all owe the Lord Above a major solid for shifting the winds around for us on Sunday night
• That along with the aforementioned deity, I owe a major solid to Jimmy Aquino, Chad Bowers, Adam Daughhetee (OK, a few more than one solid!), Doug Merkle, Brandon Padgett, Shawn Daughhetee, Matthew Knapik, Chris Schweizer, Winslow Drum, DC’s Eddie Berganza, Vy Tran and Dustin Harbin! And Rico for all his fabulous ideas.Thanks guys’n’ gal.
• That Richard Thompson and Roger Langridge helped to make this one of the best weekends of my life!
• That The Comic Strip was an Awesome idea; I could have spent every moment of the Con roaming around there!  Let’s do it again next year!
• That after all those Subs, Calzones and Chick-Fil-A, I really need to eat a green vegetable–STAT
• That our stalwart Information Booth anchored by the always fabulous Charles Foesch and his partner, HeroesCon In-house Counsel, Heather McKinney is the place to be for fun and focus all weekend long.
• That each one of us contemplated–at least for a few moments– abandoning our current lives and joining Rusty Baily in Hawaii. ALOHA!
• That it should be said again and again, that the Art Auction Duo of Michaele Autry and Trey Alexander are the reigning MVPs of HeroesCon
• That Izzy Renzi is our new BFF and a whiz with the hole-punch.
• That every year, the Quick Draw remains the most delightful and (sometimes) heart-wrenching event at HeroesCon.  Don’t believe it?  Come by next year and see.
• That in addition to being the next up-and-coming Panel Moderator Extraordinaire, Doug “Rain Man” Merkle remains an excellent driver
• That Heidi MacDonald from The Beat rocks!  Thank you so much for all your effort and advice!  God bless ya!
• That I was proven correct by the Saturday morning panel discussion– Wednesday Comics was the most exciting publication of last year
• That Chris (Cinderella) Roberson speaks as cleverly and as wittily as he writes–and that is saying something!
• That collectively all of Charlotte will shed a tear or two when Chrissie Zullo departs for NYC

photo by Vy Tran

• That Darwyn Cooke is one of the most engaging conversationalists in the industry and
• That everyone who has not read The Hunter or The Outfit are doing themselves a major disservice
• That I will always have an extra special place in my pure fan-boy heart for Jim Scancarelli, Marcus Hamilton, Joe Staton, Mike Rhode, John Read, Irwin Hasen, Nick Cardy and Alex Saviuk.
• That I owe all the success of this years panels to my Dream Team- the multi-hued, multi-talented Karla Marsh, the always vivacious Pants (yaaaay!), the always colorful Val Staples and our tireless and brilliant friends–the crew from the DollarBin– Adam Daughhetee and his not so evil minions Devin and that Ted Tarver person
• That HeroesCon remains THE best and most family friendly Comic convention in the US today
• That everyone I’ve forgotten will please forgive me, I am still a tad shredded by all the weekend’s activity!
• That Rico Renzi is a beacon of calm leadership and innovative thinking in the midst of mounting (albeit controlled) chaos. Well Done sir!  Outstanding!!!

and finally

• That in the pantheon of the all-time Great Conventioneers, Store Owners and Comic Collectors, Shelton Drum’s place must be listed simply as “none higher “

See you in 385

What’s the best way to spend a rainy Saturday?? With plenty of cookies and comic books!

The Heroes Discussion Group met this past Saturday to discuss Daytripper– the ten issue mini-series by Brazilian twin superstars Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba.

God bless the ladies at the Sunflour Bakery…homemade fig newtons and snicker-doodles the size of your hand? Thank you sir, may I have another?

So, what exciting book should we tackle as a follow up to our last discussion of a 400 page adventure of a guy who works in a mail room and takes a plane trip to Michigan for Thanksgiving dinner? Well, how about a ten issue mini-series about a guy who writes obituaries for a South American newspaper?

No, really…

and get this… (it’s not even a SPOILER alert) the main character dies at the end of each issue! It’s Daytripper, the ten issue mini-series written and drawn by the team of Brazilian brothers Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. Imagine the narrative arc of a film like Citizen Kane but told in serialized comic form. Here is the best thing about Daytripper;  it is clever, concise, easy to read, easy to digest and really fun to analyze! (more…)

Heroes has been kind enough to let me moderate 28 Discussion Groups over the past 3 years. I have enjoyed myself immensely and I hope that those who have attended have found them worthwhile.

The most recent round table that focused on Chris Ware’s epic Jimmy Corrigan may very well have been my favorite discussion group to date.

A total of fifteen of us met on Saturday afternoon and the Charlotte weather was so agreeable we conducted our discussion outside across the street at the Philosopher’s Stone. In attendance were several of our Stalwart Discussion Group members (whom I want to take a moment and thank for their ardent support!): Shawn Daughhetee, Heather McKinney, Seth Peagler, Matt Knapik, Matt Plummer, Charles Skender, Mark Sullivan, Zack Kirchberg, Bobby Gemmell and Discussion Group Emeritus: Dustin Harbin.
(more…)

The Holidays have come and gone and we had our fun discussing Tintin, the pure love of comics and how our cartooning tastes have evolved from childhood to the present. It is now time to go back to some hard-core discussion and for that we turn our attention to Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware.

I suggest that after Maus and perhaps Watchmen, Jimmy Corrigan is the most important Graphic Novel published in the last twenty years. It was the success of Chris Ware‘s magnum opus that kicked opened the main stream book stores doors; the same doors that had been previously been cracked ajar by Art Spiegelman and Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons. From the critical and sales success of Jimmy Corrigan on, Graphic Novels came of age and were accepted by critics and book buyers alike.

But the question for our Discussion Group is: Why?
What makes this enormous book so special, so challenging, so exciting?
Is it just a matter of the reader being beaten into submission by Ware’s work ethic and design sense?
Or does Jimmy Corrigan achieve more?
Do we care about the characters?
Is it believable?
Are we able to escape into the book without being over-conscious of Ware’s line work, his page lay-out, his brilliant technique?

Please join us on Saturday, January 29th from 1 to 3 pm where we will tackle these questions along with an endless number of other topics. We will meet in the store but if everyone is willing, we will repair to the near-by bakery (YES!!) to enjoy some sweet treats and we delve deeply into this multi-faceted work.

Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth is available from Heroes for $19.95.  When you purchase the book, we offer the 10% Discussion Group discount– just remember to mention it when you check out.

We will see you there;  this is going to be terrific!

It has been a rather exciting and busy year for us at the Heroes Discussion Group. At our Annual Stock-Holders meeting at Heroes HQ in the Cayman Islands, we agreed that wanted to end this banner year by giving ourselves a well-deserved Christmas present. And what could be a better treat than to sit down and discuss the single most popular and beloved comic book series in the history of the four-color art form? None other than the world famous Belgian boy reporter–Tintin by the famed cartoonist extraordinaire Herge.

With the three mega-movies on the horizon, the Tintin juggernaut will finally conquer the American audience.  We want to make sure we sit down and examine and appreciate this seminal series before the civilians (you know who they are– some of us even live with some of them!) get their mitts on it. But which of the 7 volumes to tackle?? Believe me, any would have filled the bill nicely. Our fearful leader Shawn decided to run a poll to let Heroesdom Discussioneers vote for which volume to spotlight. With over half of the vote, the clear cut winner is Adventures of Tintin Volume 1 – which contains Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh and The Blue Lotus.

Please plan to join us in the back of the store on Saturday Afternoon, December 18 from noon to 2 pm for the Tintin Discussion Group!

Issues we hope to discuss will include:

Why the first 3 books?

Is this the desire/compulsion of most (if not all) comic readers for completion and continuity?

The art and storytelling in Tintin — what makes Herge‘s oeuvre the Primer for much of the past century’s Comics Literature.

How do we handle the near century old anachronisms and era (in)appropriate racial stereotyping?

What is the continuing appeal of the Tintin comic?

Why has the series escaped such mega-stardom in America while it is the single best selling comic of all time throughout the rest of the world?

How does Tintin remain as popular with young female comic readers without any sort of lead female character?

Most importantly:

Are the Thompson Twins actually related to one another

and

Can Snowy really speak?

The mind reels!!!!

So give yourself a well-deserved break from shopping, cleaning, cooking, eating and the general feeling of Holiday Stress and join us for an entertaining two hour oasis. We will meet in the back of the store on Saturday afternoon December 18th at noon. We will most likely head across the street to one of the local watering holes– Hey, this is a celebration for Rao’s sake.

The Tintin 3-in-1 volumes are available from Heroes for a low, low $18.99.  Don’t forget the Heroes Discussion Group 10% Discount which is available on Volume 1 provided you remember to mention it at check-out. For those of you who have not read any of the Tintin adventures– you will be clamoring to read the following adventures as well.  And all of these volumes make superb Holiday presents.  This is not me shilling for Heroes, I am just stating a fact of Comic book life.

See you there!

In recent months we’ve tackled video game obsessed twenty-something slackers , the Fantastic Four and Zombies. So what should we do for an encore? How about the The Three Paradoxes of Zeno of Elea and how they apply to the life and adventures of cartoonist Paul Hornschemeier?

What? you say you’ve never heard of Zeno of Elea and his paradoxes?  He was the cutting edge Philosopher of 5th Century B.C. Greece.  You know at least one of the Paradoxes– if you continue to travel half the distance to a goal; you can never reach it.

Yes, it is a bit mind bending– and the other two paradoxes are just as challenging– but at the same time the ideas behind the paradoxes frustrates, they make for quite an engaging theme for a semi-autobiographical cartoonist who is trying to deal with his past, his future and his writer’s block.

You all should know Paul Hornschemeier.  He is the award winning cartoonist of the terrific graphic novel Mother Come Home and the serialized Life with Mr. Dangerous that can found in the pages of MOME.

Don’t be put off by all this mention of Greek philosophy.  The Three Paradoxes is a witty multi-faceted and rather engaging graphic novel that just may be the perfect “gateway” book into the Indie Comics world. Hornschemeier loves making comics and it is shows on every page and in every panel. This is a true tour-de-force (Pardon my French).

The Three Paradoxes is a personal favorite of our fearless leader Shawn Daughhetee.  She has been dying to discuss this book ever since we interviewed the author at HeroesCon a few years ago.  I am in complete agreement with her enthusiasm.  I’ve re-read Paradoxes twice in the past week and I can’t wait to read it a third time.

So plan to join us on Monday, November 22 at 7 pm for The Three Paradoxes by Paul Hornschemeier.  the book is available from Heroes for the low, low sticker price of $14.95 and don’t forget to add (or subtract, actually) the 10% Discussion Discount; but–as always– you must mention the discount to the clerk at check out or suffer the Consequences.

See you in the back of the store on November 22nd; you won’t be disappointed!

And just wait ’til you hear what we have planned for our December Discussion Group.  It will be a gift that just keeps on giving!

What is it about Horror that compels so many of us? Why do we enjoy being frightened?

Far and away the best selling author for the past forty years has been Stephen King. Year in and year out, Horror movies continue to do consistently well at the Box Office. On television, The X-Files and Buffy are considered all-time classic series and remain influential to this day.
And then there is the fabulous, storied history of Horror comics, which reached new heights in the 1950s with the gruesome, trailblazing comic books published by EC Comics — books like Vault of Horror and Tales from the Crypt — that quickly invigorated a stumbling comic book business and then just as quickly came close to burying the entire industry for good. In the late sixties, Warren stepped up and produced their comic magazine line featuring Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella. Marvel followed suit in the mid-seventies with their Horror line that spotlighted its keynote feature — Tomb of Dracula.

Today, the Horror trend is stronger than ever. For the past couple of years the media have been overrun with Zombies and sensitive Vampires — and comic books are right in the thick of things. We thought it would be fun to discuss a quality Horror feature for Halloween.  But which book– there are so many? The ideal choice was almost unanimous.  Robert Kirkman‘s best-selling Zombie Saga, The Walking Dead.

Please join us on Saturday November 6th at 1:00pm as we sit down to discuss the first twelve issues.

• We want to find out why this series is more effective than the other Horror comics on the shelf.
• We will examine the challenges creators have in creating and maintaining suspense on the comic page.
• How much of its success is based on Kirkman’s talent in creating memorable characters?

Since Horror works on a number of levels, we will also look at the strengths and weaknesses of both comics and film and how they are able to convey terror by comparing the comic to the new Walking Dead TV series on AMC.
So we ask that you read the first twelve issues of The Walking Dead — available in the first Walking Dead hardcover or the first two Walking Dead trade paperbacks.

As usual, these books are all offered at Heroes at the Discussion Group 10% Discount–please remember to mention the discount when you check out! We also ask that you watch the premiere episode of the Walking Dead on AMC on October 31th at 10 pm. We look forward to seeing you — this is going to be a real challenging discussion, so load up on brain-food before you arrive.  And be ready because I plan to really pick your brain!

(Note: Thank you to everyone who voted in our poll! It was a landslide win for Saturday, November 6th from 1 to 3 pm!)