WBTV’s Carolina Camera gets behind the scenes with Shelton Drum and his comic collection
WBTV’sJohn Carter brought his Carolina Camera behind the scenes with Heroes own Shelton Drum to take a peek into Shelton’s vast collection of comic books that spans all generations. Shelton has been collecting comic books since he was 10 years old, and he has no intentions of stopping!
If you are looking for a specific comic, there’s a good chance Shelton might have it, and if you’re looking to SELL a collection of comics (especially from the 1970’s and earlier) there’s a good chance Shelton is looking to BUY them too!
You can stop by our store, Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find located at 417 Pecan Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204 any day of the week (except Thanksgiving and Christmas…we close TWICE a year!), or you can send an email to HeroesArentHardToFind@gmail.com or Shelton@heroesonline.com if you have comic collecting questions!
Our MANY THANKS to John Carter and his Carolina Camera for shining a light down the halls of comic-collecting!
Shelton and the Heroes Arenât Hard to Find crew are hitting the road for two shows this weekend!
Saturday, August 19
VA Comicon Show Hours: 11AM-4PM Admission: General Admission – $12.00, VIP – $20.00, Kids 12 & Under FREE RICHMOND RACEWAY 600 E Laburnum Ave Richmond, VA 23222
Sunday, August 20
Raleigh Comic Book Show Show Hours: 10AM-4PM Admission: FREE HILTON GARDEN INN – CRABTREE VALLEY 3912 Arrow Dr Raleigh, NC 27612
THE HEROES TEAM IS HEADING TO THE CONCORD CONVENTION CENTER THIS WEEKEND FOR THE
Sunday, August 6 from 10AM-5PM Tickets are $5.00 for Adults Kids 12 and Under = FREE
The Charlotte Comicon will be held at the EMBASSY SUITES CONCORD * CHARLOTTE â CONCORD CONVENTION CENTER 5400 John Q Hammons Dr. NW Concord, NC 28027
Featuring Comics, Toys, Costume Contest and MORE! We look forward to seeing you in Concord!
THE HEROES CREW IS ALSO HEADING TO ATLANTA THIS WEEKEND FOR THE ATLANTA COMIC CONVENTION
Sunday, August 6 from 11AM-5PM Admission: $5.00 Parking: $8.00
The Charlotte Mini-Con Returns Saturday, February 4, 2023
The Charlotte Mini-Con will return to the Grady Cole Center on February 4, 2023.
Featuring some of the ABSOLUTE BEST Vintage Comic-Book Dealers in the country selling a wide variety of Gold, Silver, Bronze and Modern Comic Books, as well as a small, but SPECTACULAR, Artist Alley and Artist Annex!
Children 16 Years of age and under get in for FREE with a paying adult!
— THERE IS A $10 PARKING FEE AT THE GRADY COLE CENTER — Parking fees are not included in ticket purchase
We recommend carpooling, or taking a Lyft or an Uber. You might also consider taking advantage of the Light Rail CityLynx Gold Line. There is a walkable stop located at CPCC: See More Info About the Gold Line Here
See a full list of Featured Guests, Artist Annex and Exhibitors on our website at:
Featuring some of the best comics dealers in the country, as well as a small but spectacular Artist Alley, as well as an Artist Annex featuring lots of great local creators! #CLTMINICON
The Wyndham New Yorker Hotel 481 8th Avenue at 34th St. New York, NY 10001 —
Saturday, December 17:Â 10am â 7pm
BUY TICKETS: General Admission â $30.00 VIP Early Admission (9am) â $85.00 Children Ages 10-14 â $15.00 Kids 9 and under â FREE!
If you’re in or around NYC this weekend, be sure to drop by and see the Shelton and Family! If you have a wish-list of comics or supplies you would like Shelton to bring, send him an email before he leaves on Thursday morning, and he’ll do his best to bring what you need with him!!
TASCHEN and Marvel Entertainment Announce âThe Marvel Comics Libraryâ; Fantastic Four Vol. 1. 1961â1963
Famous First Edition: First printing of 5,000 numbered copies
In 1961 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created The Fantastic Fourâa powerhouse super hero team revolutionary for their flaws and complexityâthat kicked the comic industry into high gear. This XXL volume from the Eisner Award-winning series reproduces the Fourâs first 20 stories and charts how it became in Leeâs words âthe worldâs greatest comic magazine.â
The First Family of the Marvel Age
The ultimate collection of the worldâs greatest comic magazine
Hoping to break out of a sales slump at Marvel in the early 1960s, veteran comic creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby hit on the idea of doing a super team. Kirby, who thought superheroes were due for a revival after 15 years of being pushed aside by romance, horror, and war comics, saw it as smart business. Lee just once wanted to âdo the type of story I myself would enjoy reading.â The Fantastic Four forever changed their careers, their lives, and the comic book industry.
Some of the most iconic moments in Marvel history are here, starting with Reed Richards, his girlfriend Sue Storm, his best friend Ben Grimm, and her little brother Johnny Storm crash landing their rocket after it has been hit cosmic rays and discovering they have been transformed into Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Thing, and the Human Torch in issue No. 1. They were emotionally complex characters, who werenât always sure whether their powers were a benefit or burden. Stories were set in New York City, not some fictional stand-in, and Marvel heroes regularly crossed over into each otherâs books. The art was dynamic and the writing conversational and engaging. Lee and Kirby were like the Lennon and McCartney of comic books. Where the talents of one ended and the other began was not always clear, but together one plus one equaled three.
Collected here in an XXL-size volume are the first 20 issues reproduced from the most pristine pedigreed original comics, which were cracked open and photographed in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company.
Featured alongside the comics is an in-depth essay by acclaimed Marvel writer Mark Waid, a foreword by former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, and original art, photographs, and other rarities. Welcome true believers to the Marvel Age of Comics.
The author
Mark Waid is a New York Times best-selling author who has written nearly two thousand comics and graphic novels over the course of his career. He has penned adventures for dozens of characters including Superman, Batman, the X-Men, Archie, and the Fantastic Four.
The contributing author
Mike Massimino, Ph.D, is a former NASA Astronaut who flew twice on the Space Shuttle to service the Hubble Space Telescope. He is a New York Times bestselling author, a Columbia University professor, an advisor at The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, a television host and expert commentator, and a motivational speaker.
The artists
Stan Lee (1922â2018) is known to millions as the man whose super heroes propelled Marvel to its preeminent position in the comic book industry. His co-creations include Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and hundreds of others. While the Chairman Emeritus of Marvel, he was also the Chief Creative Officer of POW! Entertainment, where he created numerous new characters and stories in areas including publishing, film, TV reality, stage, documentary, and multimedia.
Jack Kirby (1917â1994) was one of comicsâ most legendary and prolific artists whose notable co-creations include Captain America, Avengers, X-Men, Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Thor.
TASCHENâs extra-large format, close in size to the original artworks, reveal startling new details in the work of Marvelâs most acclaimed artists. For each title in the series, the most pristine pedigreed comics (from the collection of our own SHELTON DRUM!) have been cracked open for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Rather than recolor the original production artwork (as has been done in previous decadesâ reprints of classic comics), TASCHEN has attempted to create an ideal representation of these books as they were produced at the time of publication. Beginning with high grade, top-quality comics sourced with the assistance of the CGC, super-high-resolution photographs of each page were made as printed more than half a century ago, using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the eraâs inexpensive, imperfect printing. This included improved and balanced ink densities and color matching, proper registration of the four-color printing and correction of thick/thin lines resulting from the flexible plates âsmudging.â The end result is a finished product â as if hot off a world-class printing press produced without economic or time-pressure constraints â tailored for readers, fans, artists and collectors alike.
Each volume features an essay by a comic book historian alongside hundreds of photos and artifacts. The books use three different paper stocks, including an uncoated and wood-free paper exclusively developed for this series that simulates the feel of the original comics.
The first 5,000 copies of Fantastic Four Vol. 1 will be numbered and released as a âFamous First Editionâ. The book is also available as a Collectorâs Edition, limited to 1,000 copies featuring an aluminum print cover tipped into a leatherette-bound spine, foil embossing, and housed in a slipcase. Each book is individually numbered. The inaugural purchase of the Collectorâs Edition entitles the collector to the selection of a personal favorite number between 1 and 1,000 on a first-come-first-serve basis. This will also secure a preemptive right to reserve a copy with the identical edition number for all forthcoming Collectorâs Edition titles in âThe Marvel Comic Libraryâ.
The next title in âThe Marvel Comics Libraryâ series will be Captain America, scheduled for release in 2023.
Shelton granted exclusive and unprecedented access to some of his most prized and beloved comics, and art, to assist in the creation of this comics tome.
âWorking with TASCHEN and the CGC on these books has been an honor. The finished product FAR EXCEEDS any pre-conceived expectations I may have held! I just opened the box with the book, and I know the word might be overused, but it is FANTASTIC! The production quality is awesome. I love it!â
We have a few copies available for purchase in-store NOW, or you can order your copy to have it shipped today!
The Marvel Comics Library Fantastic Four Vol. 1. 1961â1963 Hardcover, 11 x 15.6 in., 10.48 lbs, 700 pages US$ 200.00 Famous First Edition: First printing of 5,000 numbered copies
Shipping is an additional $25.00 if you are unable to pick up in store.
Hardcover Available at Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find Starting on Wednesday, July 20th
$44.95
Please send an email to: HeroesArentHardToFind@gmail.com if you would like to reserve a copy,
or if you would like to order this item and have it shipped.
The following features content pulled directly from HeroInitiative.org:
[Los Angeles, California and Hunt Valley, Maryland] â Mike Grell, the prolific writer-artist who has long been associated with Green Arrow, has teamed the character with Batman and brought both of them to the cover of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #52âs exclusive Hero Initiative edition. The cover is colored by industry veteran Tom Ziuko.
Known for his early work on DCâs Legion of Super-Heroes, Grell created, wrote, and illustrated Warlord, and then his creator-owned series Starslayer and Jon Sable, Freelance. In 1987, he reinvigorated Green Arrow with the character-defining mini-series Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters and kicked off an 80-issue run on the ongoing series it spawned.
Gemstone Publishing and the Hero Initiative, the first 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to helping comic book creators in need, have teamed up every year since 2010 for the exclusive Hero Initiative limited edition of the Guide. The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #52 goes on sale July 20, 2022.
As with past collaborations between Gemstone and Hero, this version will be available only in a special hardcover edition, limited to 500 copies. There will be no soft cover edition of this version, and it will retail for $44.95.
The Hero Initiative Edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #52 will be available at Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find starting on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.
âSince we launched the Hero Initiative edition of the Guide with CBPG #40, weâve been honored to support this great charity and their incredibly worthy cause, helping comic creators in need. Weâve also been pleased to publish some truly wonderful covers from an impressive array of artists, all of whom have turned out inspirational work on Heroâs behalf. Mike Grell is now very deservedly a member of the great roster of Guide artists, and I suspect fans will be as excited by this one as I am,â said Steve Geppi, Chairman of Geppi Family Enterprises and President and CEO of Gemstone Publishing.
âAs Steve mentioned, since The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #40 in 2010, Gemstone Publishing has produced the limited edition Hero Initiative exclusive version of the Guide, and each year it has played a tremendous role in our fundraising efforts. The commitment of Steve Geppi and company to Hero has been sustained for more than a decade and has included some of the best cover artists in the business illustrating some of the greatest characters. That has clearly continued this year with Mike Grellâs distinctive take on Green Arrow and Batman,â said Jim McLauchlin, Hero Initiativeâs President.
Beginning with John Romita, Jr., Klaus Janson, and Dean White on CBPG #40, and continuing with John Romita, Sr., Tom Palmer, and Dean White (#41), Matt Wagner and Ryan Brown (#42), Terry Moore and Brian Miller (#43), Herb Trimpe, Tom Palmer, and Laura Martin (#44), Dave Johnson (#45), Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, and Tanya Horie (#46), Rob Liefeld and Ivan Nunes (#47), Joe Jusko (#48), Alan Davis (#49), Kevin Nowlan (#50), and Joseph Michael Linsner (#51), the industryâs top talent have provided covers for the Hero Initiative fundraiser edition.
The standard editions of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #51 feature Butch Guice and Brian Millerâs powerful take on Winter Soldier, Aaron Loprestiâs inspired version of the EC Horror Hosts (with its tribute to EC publisher William M. Gaines), and J.G. Jonesâ beautiful flashback to the Golden Age with The Black Terror. These are available in soft cover ($34.95) and hardcover ($44.95).
###
About The Hero Initiative
The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdayâs creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. Itâs a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment. Hero is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) charity. The Hero Initiative Limited Edition Hardcover version of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #52 is scheduled to go on sale Wednesday, July 20 through the Hero Initiative web store and at a limited number of Hero affiliate retailer stores, including Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find. This version will be available in hardcover only and is limited to 500 copies. The retail price is $44.95.
About Gemstone Publishing
Best known as the home of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, Gemstone Publishing was formed by Geppi Family Enterprises Chairman Stephen A. Geppi as a conduit for his efforts in preserving and promoting the history of the comics medium. Gemstoneâs product line includes The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide To Lost Universes, The Overstreet Guide To Grading Comics, The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comics, and The Overstreet Price Guide To Star Wars Collectibles, among others, Gemstone also publishes Scoop, a free weekly e-newsletter which looks inside the world of pop culture with a focus on auctions, toys, comics, posters, art and anything and everything pop culture.
was established in 1980 by Shelton Drum. Since then Heroes has grown into one of the premier comics specialty shops in the country, with a diverse product line, dynamic store layout, and friendly, family-oriented atmosphere. We're also the organizers of the yearly Heroes Convention.
