Oh yeah! As hinted at previously, we’re pleased to announce the addition to our HeroesCon 08 Guest List of Mirage Studios! Helmed by Peter Laird, the co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this will be (I think, Shelton can confirm) the first official appearance at HeroesCon by Mirage. Peter is also the man behind the ENORMOUSLY influential Xeric Foundation, which provides the generous Xeric grants that have started a TON of careers, including guys like Adrian Tomine and Tom Hart, not to mention Sam Hiti, the oft-recommended-by-me author of Tiempos Finales and referee of Fistacuffs.

And Peter’s not coming alone! Mirage is setting up in force with a gang of dudes including Jim Lawson, Michael Dooney, Dan Berger, Steve Lavigne, and Eric Talbot–good Lord! It’s hard to imagine someone not familiar with the Turtles; people forget that it was TMNT that launched the “black & white explosion” of the 80’s, and explosion that also included already existing books like Love & Rockets, Cerebus, Yummy Fur and a ton of others. In fact, I had a hard time deciding whether or not to seat Mirage in Indie Island, but in the end I decided that they were just too big these days. Ah, the price of success!