We wanted to take this time to thank all the readers and critics of Creative Loafing who voted Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find the Best Comic Book Shop in Charlotte! It really does mean a lot to us to win this award. We work really hard to make Heroes an awesome store and it is nice every once in a while to get a little recognition for it. We love comics and we love our customers and we hope that enthusiasm shows! So stop by the store today to pick up your new comics from the best shop in Charlotte and while you are there pick up a copy of Creative Loafing and check out the other winners!

Former employee Dan Morris (pictured along with his lady Christa Newman) will be teaching two Advertising and Graphic Design classes this fall at the CPCC Harper Campus. These classes are open to the general public and there aren’t any prerequisites. Classes are held on Saturdays beginning August 21 and run till December 11. For admissions information check out CPCC’s admissions page.

The first class is listed under the Illustration Concepts category and is titled Drawing Words/Writing Pictures: Creating Comic Books and Graphic Novels. It will be taught using Matt Madden and Jessica Abel‘s book Drawing Words/Writing Pictures. Makes you wonder how they came up with the course title. This is basically a how-to class for comics. It will also cover some basics about comic history including important figures in the medium. During the class students will create several pages worth of comics. This is a class for anyone interested in learning the basics of how to create their own comics.

The second class is part of the Visual Narratives program and it is titled Constructing Visual Narratives: Comics, Graphic Novels and Picture Books. This class is a little more in depth than the previous one. Students will be focusing on how to tell a story through comics. They will learn about different approaches and methods of storytelling and how best to utilize the medium of comics to tell their narrative.  By the end of class students should be able to create their own mini-comics.

For a more detailed course description please take a look at CPCC’s Fall course schedule.

What happens when Hollywood decides to make a film based on one of the hottest comic series in recent years?  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World that’s WHAT! If you’ve followed any news from this past weekend’s San Diego Comic Con, you know Scott Pilgrim was the “Life of the Party!  The few fortunate fans to see the film in San Diego (including creator Bryan Lee O’Malley) were vocal in their praise of the film.  The final volume of the acclaimed graphic novel series SOLD OUT 100,000 copies in less that a week! EVERYBODY wants all the Scott Pilgrim they can get!

This special advanced sneak preview happens tomorrow night, July 28 at 7:00 p.m. That’s over two weeks before the film’s official release date of Friday, August 13!  How might you get one of these golden tickets?  Simply come in to the store today only, purchase all the items in your reserve bag and we’ll happily give you a pass which admits two people. We only have a very limited number of these coveted passes, so first come first serve and one per customer please!   When they’re gone, they’re gone.  If you’re a reserve customer who has already purchased everything in your reserve bag earlier in the week?  Just stop in today and mention that you read about this promotion on the blog, and you too will be on your way to the movies!  Remember, this is a Heroes Online Blog exclusive, and only applicable to our loyal reserve customers! Stop by the store today, grab your pass and see the film tomorrow night!

As we have mentioned several times, Shelley and I are headed to San Diego Comic-Con this week! I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that we are ridiculously excited to be going! Shelton is a wonderful boss for allowing us this opportunity. We will be leaving Wednesday morning at the crack of dawn because we wanted to get to San Diego with plenty of time to get our passes and make it to Preview Night so that we can get a lay of the land. Comic-Con’s schedule is packed full of crazy-fun panels and events and I am hoping to make it to at least one panel and the Eisner Awards. I will be taking my camera so be prepared for a full photo report when we get back!

Shelley and I have two requests of you, fine blog readers. One, if you are interested in any of the San Diego Comic-Con exclusives please email Shelley and let her know. Two, if you have any HeroesCon 2011 guest requests please email me. Please remember that Comic-Con exclusives are limited and you are not guaranteed to get the item you request. The same goes for guest list requests. That being said, we will do our best to make your requests a reality.

Don’t miss us too much! And be nice to the staff that we left behind. And most importantly, wish us luck as we prepare to stand in lines for the entire weekend!

UPDATE! In all my excitement I forgot to mention that Shelley and I might help answer questions during the I Can’t Write, I Can’t Draw, But I Love Comics! Panel. We aren’t an official part of the panel but we will be on hand to help answer retailer and convention questions. I seriously can’t believe I forgot about this! Here is the description from the Comic-Con website:

2:30-3:30 I Can’t Write, I Can’t Draw, But I Love Comics!— There are tons of jobs in the comics, animation, and gaming industries besides writing and illustration. Companies still need computer programmers, motion-capture actors, retailers, agents, development executives, and publishers. Learn how to get your foot in the door without spilling any ink. Panelists include Rudy Coby (Labman), Jacob Melvin (DreamWorks), Joseph Gatt (God of War), Derek Douglas (Digital Development Management), Steve Goldstein (Stubbs Alderton & Markiles), Matt Cohen (Killspace Entertainment), Jud Meyers (Earth 2 Comics), and Filip Sablik (Top Cow Productions). Moderated by science/tech journalist Susan Karlin (Discover). Room 24ABC

Heroes is busy with announcements this month! I guess we are making up for lost time due to HeroesCon. So away we go!

Jenny Bement helped us last year around convention time as an intern and we liked her so much we decided to hire her! She has been working for us for several months now and was an immense help with all of the build up to HeroesCon. If you came to the convention you may remember her as one of the many friendly faces at Pre-Registration. You may also recognize her as a barista at Starbucks where she works her magic with the coffee. She plans on regularly contributing to our blog so she can show off her fancy English degree. So everyone welcome Jenny to the team if you haven’t already done so!

And our newest hire is Justin Crouse. He also works at Lupie’s, which is one of our favorite restaurants. Monday is meatloaf night! You should get that some mashed potatoes and gravy, mac and cheese and finish it off with some banana pudding. Delicious! Justin was a volunteer at HeroesCon this year helping with the info booth and at the store and he impressed us with his hard work and enthusiasm. He helps us to process comics on new comics day, which is usually Wednesday.  So pick up your books on Wednesday and say “hi” and find out more about Justin!

As some of you may have heard, I am happy to announce that I am the new store manager at Heroes! I’m part of the second generation of Drum’s to work at Heroes and the first to be involved in the management team. I’ve officially been working in the store on and off for about seven years now. I’ve done most jobs associated with the store including warehouse organization, shipping, clerking and updating the website. Most significantly, I’ve run Pre-Registration and check-in for HeroesCon for the past 5 years and I’m excited to move into the next phase of my involvement in the store.

I’ve been interested in doing more with the store for the last few years. Shawn’s move into a new position presented a golden opportunity to join the management team. I will not only be handling weekly ordering for the store but will also be happy to process any special requests our customers may have! I’m confident that my already extensive exposure to and love of comics will be an asset in providing our customers with the kinds of products and service that they expect from Heroes.

Shawn, Seth, and I have already begun to scheme up new and exciting changes for the store and HeroesCon 2011. Shawn and I will be at the San Diego Comic-Con next weekend promoting HeroesCon! Stay tuned for updates on the Heroes Online blog!

As some of you know, I recently got married and moved to Greenville, SC. For a while I thought I was going to have to find a new job in a new town. But my fears were put to rest when Shelton generously offered me a brand new position within Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find. It was impossible to refuse such a wonderful offer. So as of this week I officially became the Events Coordinator for Heroes. I must admit that I am excited! My new job puts me in charge of organizing and promoting events such as HeroesCon, the Charlotte Minicon, Free Comic Book Day and store signings. Basically my job is to sell and promote the best comic book store in the world and the best comic convention of all time. What could be easier?

Shelton hired me in 2006 just two weeks before the convention where I was thrown into the fire but managed to make it through. I quickly worked my way up to store manager and held that position for two years. I was in charge of making sure the store ran on a day-to-day basis as well as organizing special events. Not only that, but I was also responsible for the basic organization of the convention. This past HeroesCon was one of the smoothest conventions I have ever attended and that makes me feel like all of my hard work paid off. I am sad to leave all of that behind but I look forward to all of the opportunities that will come with my new role.

I am eager to work more closely with exhibitors, pros and small press. I have some exciting plans that will only make HeroesCon bigger and better. I want to continue to cultivate Indie Island, discover ways to draw more attention to small press, diversify our exhibitor list, and widen our promotions. I strongly believe that I can do all these things and keep HeroesCon the family-friendly, comics-centric convention that we all know and love. My first big assignment will be to attend Comic-Con in San Diego and drum up excitement and guests for next year’s HeroesCon! My reading list ranges from Afrodisiac to Zatanna (and everything in between) and I intend on using my eclectic tastes and breadth of knowledge to talk to a wide range of creators and get them interested in coming to HeroesCon.

I am always open to suggestions and feedback and I would love to hear from you on how to make Heroes events even more awesome! Email me sometime!

Hey guys, it’s me, Dustin Harbin! I know we’ve been quiet lately, since HeroesCon and last week’s awesome Adam Hughes release party and signing. I’ve been going through this very site, slowly but surely and changing over everything to reflect HeroesCon 2011. While we haven’t nailed down exact dates, Shelton is working hard on it, and even though I don’t know the dates yet, I do know the 2011 part, so I went ahead and stuck that up there! I’m most of the way done sprucing things up, but I’m sure there are a few little bits I’ve missed, so I’ll be cruising back over it next week to clean it up just so.

The other thing I’ll be doing next week is teaching other people how to do the stuff I do, although they know most of it already. Once again, and for what must surely be the last time, I’m going to go paddle out alone into the world of freelance cartooning, and thus end nearly 15 years of working for good ol’ Shelton Drum, who has been like a second father to me all these years, and under whose employment I’ve learned pretty much every professional lesson of my adult life. I mean, I’ve worked here since I was 21, way back in 1996, when Marvel was getting ready to go bankrupt and Kyle Rankin was the new Green Lantern and everyone was complaining that the price of an issue of same had gone up to a buck-fifty.

While I’ll still be around, especially as we switch things around for a new era of awesomeness for the store and HeroesCon, it’ll be more as a cheerleader and occasional helper-outer than a member of the paid staff. If you need anything, I would direct you to Shelton or Shawn Daughhetee, who will be handling a lot of the con gruntwork I have for so long. Shawn is about as nice a person as you could ask for, way nicer than I am, so be nice to her too okay?

Okay, I gotta go and write the Hotline, so I’ll cut this short. But just let me say thank you very much to the staff who have endured my persnickety peculiarness and control-freakitude for so long, and also who have been awesome co-workers. Also thank you to my man Andy Mansell, who’s just amazing all over and who did a lot more than anyone gave him credit for on HeroesCon this year–a lot of why it went so smooth you can lay directly at his doorstep. If every comics shop had a customer like Andy Mansell, the direct market would be a lot healthier; or at least super friendly.

And thanks most of all to Shelton, who hired me when I was barely an adult, and who’s been patient with my stubborn refusal to become any more adult, and who has let me run with a lot of ideas that others might have balked at. A good dude, that Shelton, the rest of you could do a lot worse in a boss like him. Ha! Suckers! To the rest of you guys, I’ll see you occasionally browsing the racks at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find. And with luck next year as a guest at HeroesCon, provided my nascent cartooning career goes somewhere. Wish me luck!

“Man, I wish there was a way for me to hang out with Adam Hughes this weekend.”

How many times have we all heard or thought these very words? I myself have lost count–but rest easy, Friends and Neighbors. This very weekend, we have not one but TWO excellent opportunities for you to hang out with Adam Hughes, and we cordially invite you to take advantage of both!

First up, tonight at 7pm, we’ll be hosting a casual little party in our store, complete with snacks and drinks and Adam himself, plus a bunch of us and a bunch of you. We’ll have copies of Adam’s brand new art book: Cover Run: The DC Art Of Adam Hughes for you to peruse and ooh and ahh over and even buy (our favorite option). This is a rare opportunity to hang out with Adam (and us, don’t forget us) in a relaxed setting where you don’t have to race pell-mell across the convention floor to get into a long line or anything. Adam seems like a quiet, almost shy dude at first, but once he gets going he’s pretty hilarious. I give him full marks, you guys: definitely worth meeting.

After that, go to bed, kiss your husband or wife or children or dog goodnight, get some good sleep so that you can wake up tomorrow and come back for Adam’s signing, going on from 2-4pm! He’ll be signing his art book, but I bet he’d be okay with signing one or two other things if you felt like bringing them. It’s going to be a sweet book, a sweet night, and a sweet afternoon tomorrow–don’t miss it!

Some of you who may have been champing at the bit for the next meeting of the Heroes Discussion Group (I’m looking at you, Matt Plummer), especially considering Discussionator Andy Mansell‘s ambitious summer schedule, listen up! Due to tonight’s Adam Hughes super-cool party and tomorrow’s Adam Hughes super-cool signing, we’ve moved the next installment of the Discussion Group to Tuesday, July 20th at 7pm, so you have plenty of time to attend ALL of our special events! We know you are busy, after all.

PLUTO is super amazing, by the way. If you’ve never read a manga, this is an excellent one to start out on–an adult retelling of one of the “Greatest Robot” story from Astro Boy, Pluto is a nuanced genre tale that is manga at its finest. I enjoyed every minute of reading all 8 volumes, and looked forward to each breathlessly. There is SO MUCH stuff for Andy to talk about too, trust me–this is going to be one of the best Discussion Groups yet, even after Andy’s tour de force with Bill Willingham and the Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall discussion at HeroesCon. Don’t miss it!