FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2021

SAFE SHOPPING GUIDELINES

People are getting vaccinated which is a TREMENDOUS STEP in the right direction!

Things are slowly inching back toward some degree of “normal”,
or at least toward a “new normal”.
Almost everyone on our staff has been vaccinated,
and we encourage you to do the same!

We are as excited as anyone to get back to that sweet pre-pandemic life, but we will continue to observe the following safety precautions as we begin to ease up on restrictions within our store.

We understand that Governor Cooper lifted the Mask Mandate for North Carolina earlier today.

However, at this time, we would like to exercise caution before we lift the mask requirement in our store.

Heroes will continue to maintain the following Safety Protocols for a safe shopping experience!

—

• We ask that EVERYONE (including staff) continue to wear a mask while shopping or working inside of our store.
  Even if you’re only coming in for ONE ITEM.
  No mask = NO ENTRY.
  If you do not have a mask, one can be provided to you. 

  We understand some of you will not want to wear a mask and, while we understand that is your personal preference, you will not be permitted in our store without a mask at this time.
  We appreciate your patience, understanding and consideration for everyone’s safety at this time. If you do not want to wear a mask, or if you would prefer not to come inside the store until we have lifted our mask policy, we are happy to arrange shipping for books.)

• We have increased the capacity of our store to 30.
  This number includes employees. 
  We will increase this number toward “Full Capacity” over the next few weeks as long as there are no surges in COVID cases in our state.
   
• We will continue to provide hand sanitizer for you to use upon entering and exiting the store.  
   
• Please be respectful of social distance while in our store.
  Please be courteous to your fellow customers and try to allow for at least five feet of distance between yourself and others. Let’s face it, it’s just GOOD MANNERS. 
   
• We will continue to sanitize and wash our hands as often as possible.  
   
• WE ASK THAT ANYONE WHO FEELS UNWELL TO PLEASE STAY HOME. (This includes our staff!)
  We can ship to anywhere in the United States and are happy to arrange a safe transaction for you! Just let us know!
   
• WE CAN SHIP!!
  We can ship to anyone, anywhere! If you’d like to send a Christmas Gift to a family member in another state, we can ship directly to them!!
  
  

• OUR HOURS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE:
  Monday-Tuesday & Thursday-Saturday: 10am-7pm
  Wednesday: 10am-9pm
  Sunday: 1pm-6pm 
   
• We will keep you posted to any changes to our guidelines as they happen.
  Please follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) or sign up for our Newsletter for regular updates! Please feel free to call us at 704-375-7462 or email us at HeroesArentHardToFind@gmail.com with any questions!
   

We appreciate your business and continued support!

– Your Friends at HEROES AREN’T HARD TO FIND 

SHIPPING INFORMATION:

We are happy to SHIP to anyone who would like make those arrangements at this time.
Here’s how to arrange that:

1. Please call our store at 704-375-7462 between the hours of 10am-6pm, or email us at heroesarenthardtofind@gmail.com with a list of books you would like us to ship to you.
   You can find the last 5 weeks of New Releases on our website here: http://www.heroesonline.com/new-releases/, if you need recommendations!
2. Shipping costs are based on weight.
3. If you would like to order comic-collecting supplies (ie: Comic Boxes, Bags, Boards, etc) to have shipped, we can do that too!
   Supplies are subject to shipping freight. You can find our supply options listed here:
   http://www.heroesonline.com/supplies/
4. We will invoice you via email for payment.
5. If you would prefer to make payment via PayPal, we can arrange that as well. Please call or email for details.
6. Please make sure that we have your complete and correct shipping address.
7. Enjoy your order!!

Heroes stand for Justice, and Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find stands with the BIPOC Community and the #BlackLiveMatter movement.

We must live by the code of the heroes whose stories we carry in our store, and stand for what is RIGHT.

Captain America fought the Nazis. The X-Men, Black Panther, and countless other titles throughout the years, have represented the fight for civil rights. 

HEROES IS ON INSTAGRAM!

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

We have so much #Batman in stock it’s hard to know what to show you!! Let us know which Batman collections or single issues you’re looking for!!! Email us at: Heroesarenthardtofind@gmail.com . . #underthewatertower #readmorecomics #BatmanTalesOfTheDemon @thenealadams #rasalghul #batmanblackandwhite #batmanga #jirokuwata

A post shared by Shelton Drum (@heroesonline) on Apr 14, 2020 at 2:06pm PDT

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Heroes has hundreds of DC Showcase, Marvel Essentials, Omnibuses and compilation volumes! Let us know if you see something you need! Call us between 10am-6pm or email us at heroesarenthardtofind@gmail.com #underthewatertower #readmorecomics #shoplocal #dccomics #marvelcomics

A post shared by Shelton Drum (@heroesonline) on Apr 10, 2020 at 12:06pm PDT

The Current Issue of PREVIEWS is available in our store! Pick up a copy today!

A HEROES “PREVIEWS-REVIEW”
with SETH, March 14 & 16!

Are you a new reserve customer curious about some of the events and storylines coming to your favorite comics this summer?
Would you like to have a three month head start in seeing what you might want to buy before it sells out? 

Are you a longtime customer interested in seeing behind the scenes of how Heroes orders new comics?

Next week we aim to answer those questions and many more as we dive into the catalog of PREVIEWS!
Join Heroes’ Operations Manager Seth Peagler on Thursday, March 14th from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. or on Saturday, March 16 from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. around the beautiful showcases in the back of our store for a fun discussion about what’s coming up over the next few months.

These are two free opportunities to learn how to make sure you get the comics you really want, and designed to work around your busy schedules.
You never know, we might even talk about the upcoming HeroesCon and some of the fun things we have planned for this year!

Thanks to everyone for making our 30th Anniversary HeroesCon so great! Here are some links to what others saw and did at the show. More memories and photos from HeroesCon 2012 to come! Please share your photos and links with us on our Facebook page! Thanks again and we’ll see you next year, June 7-9, 2013! If you miss your friends from HeroesCon please visit our store!

CREATOR RECAPS
Scott C.
Henry Eudy at Shannon Smith’s File Under Other
Cory Godbey
Josh Greathouse
Jason Latour
Brian Ralph
Christian Sager
Ben Towle & Part Two
Skottie Young

BLOGS & REPORTS & MORE
The Beat – HeroesCon proves Thirty is Fabulous
Bleeding Cool
CBR – When Words Collide
Charlotte Observer Interview with Karla Marsh
Chris Sims’ Jack Kirby themed sketchbook
CNN
Comics News Insider
Comics Reporter – Interview with Heroes Creative Director
The Comixverse
Good Girls Gone Geek
Life with Fandom
Patrick’s Tentative Ramblings
Staton, The Obvious

COMICBOOK.COM
Photo Parade
Fantasy Writing with Bill Wilingham, Scott Snyder and Adam Hughes
Coloring with Laura Martin
DC’s New 52
Wonder Woman

PHOTOS
Heather Peagler
Chris Pitzer/AdHouse
Patrick Sun

PODCASTS
Comic News Insider
Shut Up Nerds

VIDEO
Stack Exchange:
Joe Quinones & Maris Wicks
Kelly Sue DeConnick
Dean Trippe

Ah Free Comic Book Day—not just a day of avarice, it is also a day of trying new things and taking advantage of Shelton and Shelley Drum’s good nature and keen merchant instincts.

So what’s my point?  Beats me, but if you are still reading you will know that there are dozens of books on the shelf just begging to be read.  This is the time to take advantage of deep discounts and give some books a whirl…

Outside of our protected 4-color world, are you a fan of History? Horror Movies?  Classic Comedy?  Of course you are and FCBD is a day made just for you.

If you are like me (and if so, medication helps—I swear!) you catch yourself engrossed in programs on The Military Channel, The Science Channel, The Travel Channel and History International.  Well sir (or madam), there are a number of terrific graphic novels sitting on the IKEA Billy brand[TM]  shelves in the back right hand corner of the store.  Head over there—go on–I’ll wait.  OK, now take a look at any book by Joe Sacco—Palestine, Safe Haven Gorazde or Footprints from Gaza.  All are award winning and are gripping fusions of comics and journalism.

For a more intimate take on world travel try any one of Guy Delisle’s excellent travelogues:  Shenzhen (China), Pyongyang (North Korea), the Burma Chronicles and the most recent Jerusalem.   Any of these books can be read on its own and I promise they are all worth your time and money.

Horror fans stand tall and rejoice —remember there is more to life than young brooding hunkish vampires.  Try any graphic novel collection of John Constantine: Hellblazer.  They are self-contained, really entertaining and above all as scary as the back of the crisper in my refrigerator.  Try any of the collections written by comic heavy-hitters like Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis or Brian Azzarello.  My absolute favorites are The Fear Machine, Rare Cuts, Dangerous Habits, Haunted and Hard Time.

And don’t forget Hellboy/BPRD.  It is first and foremost a horror series. If you have not tried these titles, you need to get in there and start reading—you won’t stop at one.  Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is as good as you’ve heard.  For recommendations, why not ask Heroes own Seth and Phil—they will guide you well my son (or my daughter)

So now we’ve got you geographically informed and scared out of your wits– what about something funny—I mean really funny– to cleanse the old palette?   Earlier this year, I recommended Snarked by Roger Langridge and Sergio Aragones Funnies—those suggestions still stand– but let me also offer up any collection of Aragones masterwork, Groo, any volume of Little Lulu by John Stanley and above all else, Carl Bark’s Donald Duck—Lost in the Andes or The Barks Bear Book. We had a great discussion about Barks last week and I cannot recommend these comics more.  The Duck man’s life work improves with age.

So remember—FCBD is really an acronym for Try Something New—Something Different!

Heroes prides itself on the variety they offer at any given time.  Take advantage of the sale prices– You will be surprised and delighted by what you uncover.

It’s me! Your erstwhile Comic Strip and Golden Age fanatic reporting to you live from the Poorhouse.   I find myself in these somewhat Dickensian straits thanks to the quality and quantity of must-have reprints that were published over the past 12 months.  I tell ya, I was like a kid in a Comics shop–oh wait...

Whilst preparing this article I calculated that I had purchased 46 Collected editions over the course of the calendar year and 33 of them were Comic Strip collections.  All 46 books are gorgeous–they look great on the shelf and they are a joy to read and re-read and they function as text books of comic technique.

I realize the World Economy–like the Chicago Cubs– is in another “re-building year“, so in good conscience, I have reviewed all the reprint books I purchased & devoured this past year and I have listed below the creme de la creme–this is the stuff you really have to have:

• Mickey Mouse Vol 1 and 2 Race to Death Valley/Trapped on Treasure Island
• Walt and Skeezix Volume 5
• Carl Barks Donald Duck in Lost in the Andes
• Pogo Volume 1

But why these four?

Hyperbole is all but redundant on any Best-Of Lists.  Any apropos description– fantastic art/great pacing/fabulous cast of supporting characters/marvelous storytelling– comes off as tired and cliched.  I have spent the last two weeks trying to figure out why these four are the best of the year–why they mean so much to collectors on a gut level– here goes: (more…)

If superhero books in 2011 largely focused on both sweeping company-wide changes and numerous relaunches, what can we say about indie and genre books of the recently past year?  A few years ago the industry was rightly blown away by the genius work of David Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyp.  2011 didn’t necessarily have a single book that was hands down an instant classic, but if you had to choose one book that impacted the industry, it was Love and Rockets: New Stories volume 4.  Jaime Hernandez has been telling the story of Maggie and her friends in real time for over 30 years, always entertaining us with how he has chosen to develop his characters, always impressing us with his ever-focused art.  Volume 4 was one of the first times I can remember where creators and fans were open about how emotionally moved they were by a comic.  This is a tribute to Hernandez’s ability to tell stories that are not only practical and appropriate, but also unafraid to themselves be actively emotional in an unforced way.  If you’ve not experienced Love and Rockets before, you are doing yourself a great disservice.  This is genuinely one of the finest comics of 2011.

Elsewhere in “Indie” books of 2011 we saw the long awaited release of Craig Thompson’s Habibi.  A book nearly 8 years in the making, Habibi was a powerful statement from an artist who has spent his career constantly pushing his own boundaries and the boundaries of the comics form.  Standing tall at over 650 pages, Habibi exemplifies the work of a still hungry artist who is not content to fall into repeating patterns.  While Habibi was rightly controversial, any person would be hard pressed to walk away from reading the book without a greater sense of respect for Thompson as a creator and the potential of comics as a whole.

Unlike Thompson, Dan Clowes is an artist who has regularly released new comics every few years.  2011 was one of Clowes’ most prolific years to date.  Following up 2010’s acclaimed Wilson, Clowes offered up Mister Wonderful, which can be seen as a bookend of sorts to Wilson, or perhaps the flip side of the Wilson coin.  In addition to Mister Wonderful, Clowes released a deluxe, expanded version of his classic The Death-Ray, which contains one of the most interesting explorations of the superhero genre we’ve seen from a non-superhero artist.

Big Questions was finally released in a single format this past year.  Collecting all ten years and 600+ pages of work from Anders Nilsen, Big Questions is a great example of an artist’s development over a decade.  It’s also one of modern comics finest examples of the employment of fable as a commentary on humanity.  Nilsen’s magnum opus was always well received as it was released in single issue format, but there’s something about seeing and experiencing the completed book in a single published volume that makes you realize how significant the book is to comics of the past decade.

On the non-Indie genre side of things, one of the biggest stories of 2011 was the success of AMC’s Walking Dead t.v. series.  What does a t.v. show have to do with comics in 2011?  Suffice to say, the television adaptation and reworking of Image’s Walking Dead comic brought lots of new readers into comic shops, many undoubtedly for the first time.  I’m still surprised when someone comes into the store to buy a gift for a niece or nephew, sees a Walking Dead collection, and remarks ‘Wow, they made a comic of the show?’  Numerous people who realized the comics came first have subsequently made return trips to the store to continue reading Robert Kirkman’s monthly comics.  The Walking Dead phenomenon has brought up some interesting prospects for television and comics, and how the two mediums can work together to inform new audiences.

One of 2011’s other significant genre happenings had to be Mike Mignola’s decision to kill off his ever popular character Hellboy.  While Hellboy will continue in 2012 in the Mignola-penned and illustrated “Hellboy in Hell” storyline, the creator has spoken about how important it is to allow characters and stories to develop, change, and grow over time.  He has always made a point of stating that when characters in his books die, they stay dead.  It’s a testament to Mignola that he works hard to eschew creative stagnation by allowing ideas and themes to run their course.  One need only look at Mignola’s numerous other properties like B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, and the Amazing Screw On Head to see that his work always operates within this dictum.  Fans have been clamoring for more Amazing Screw On Head stories,but he won’t make them because he feels that he already achieved what he hoped to within the one book.  These books are also exemplary of how Mignola surrounds himself with quality storytellers and lets the characters progress in their natural state.  When a creator cares more about staying true to his characters and stories than he does about regurgitating material, the industry is all the better for it.

As with my post about superhero comics in 2011, there were just far too many indie and genre books to talk about here.  Many others made a big impact on readers and the industry as a whole.  So, what indie and genre books from 2011 really impressed you?  Did you discover a new creator whose works you’ve gone on to seek out?  With 2012 just starting, are there any big indie or genre books coming out this year that you’re excited about?  This is your blog too, and we’d love to hear your thoughts!