Today is Friday, and marks the fifth consecutive day this week that we’ve posted a GIANT addition to our HeroesCon 09 Guest List–and we’re going out with a bang this week, with EIGHT new names!

MARK TEXEIRA is no stranger to HeroesCon, and one of our most popular guests. Heck, half the time when we can’t find staff members, they’re in the office listening to “Tex” tell stories while he works on someone’s drawing! And his entrances to our Annual Art Auction, usually with the paint still drying on a piece he’d just finished onstage, are always dramatic! If you’ve never met Tex before, you’ve probably read some of his comics, including Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, Black Panther, and many more.

Also new to the list today is returning guest BRIAN PULIDO, the co-creator of Lady Death and founder of Chaos! Comics. Brian has recently been working in movies, having just written and directed The Graves. He’ll be premiering an exclusive Lady Death HeroesCon variant for you collectors!

And that’s just the start of this addition! G.W. FISHER returns to HeroesCon this year, with recent work on Shadowhawk and Intimidators!

TOM FLEMING is a prolific painter and regular guest of ours, with work in magazines like Heavy Metal and Vampirella Quarterly, and illustrations for World of Warcraft and numberous card sets!

LEO LEIBELMAN is attending his first HeroesCon this year. He’s worked in illustration and art for years, with work in Heavy Metal, Savage Sword of Conan, Turok, and more!

STUART SAYGER is the creator of the Shiver In The Dark graphic novel, as well as a ton of Vs Card System cards, and Lego Bionicle production art!

STEVE SCOTT is attending his second HeroesCon this year–his recent work includes X-Men Forever and She-Hulk, as well as Marvel Adventures Hulk and Marvel Adventures Avengers!

LOUIS SMALL JR is another fixture at HeroesCon. You can catch him in the pages of Vampirella/Lady Death, Sirens of the Cinema, and multiple Marvel and DC trading cards!

Big week next week, as we continue to flesh out our massive list–over 70 new names since April 1st!–and get ready for Free Comic Book Day on May 2nd!

Rolling right along! Just added to the HeroesCon 2009 Guest List is up-and-coming publisher BOOM! Studios, along with three of their biggest creators: Mark Waid (Irredeemable), Roger Langridge (Muppets), and Michael Alan Nelson (28 Days Later). And, since three names just isn’t enough these days, we’re throwing in a couple of first-timers, Detective Comics‘ Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs!

MARK WAID is an incredibly popular and prolific writer (like I have to tell you), with past work including Kingdom Come, breakout runs on Flash and Fantastic Four, and recent work on Amazing Spider-Man and Supergirl. His new BOOM! title Irredeemable was an instant sell-out, with a second print already on the way.

ROGER LANGRIDGE is not only the creator of the Eisner and Harvey nominated Fred the Clown, but he also is behind the new Muppet Show comic that sold out in about 30 seconds. AND BOOM! is doing a Muppet Show HeroesCon exclusive, with a new cover by Langridge just for us! Did you hear that, Rusty?

MICHAEL ALAN NELSON is the writer of numerous books for BOOM!, including Hexed, Fall of Cthulhu, and 28 Days Later. He’s making his very first trip to HeroesCon, so we hope you’ll be extra sweet to him!

ALSO making his first trip is Detective Comics penciller DUSTIN NGUYEN! I love this guy’s art almost as much as his first name–check out the cover to the upcoming Batman: Streets of Gotham at left… sweet! Besides that and his current gig on Detective Comics, Dustin’s also worked on Wildcats 3.0, Authority, and more.

He’s joined by his occasional collaborator and inker, DEREK FRIDOLFS, who is inking Detective and Streets of Gotham, and in the past has worked on Green Lantern Corps, JLA, Immortal Iron Fist, and a ton of other!

I think it was Billy Idol who once said, “…with a rebel yell, MORE! MORE! MORE!” One can only presume that he was gazing into the future at the HeroesCon 09 Guest List, which is growing by leaps and bounds with each passing day!

Today we’ve added a whopping NINE new names, hailing from the worlds of all-ages comics, newspaper strip comics, and in a few cases, both!

JIM AMASH is an old buddy of ours and an inker par excellence–besides inking a ton of different Archie comics like Sonic Universe, Jughead, and Veronica, he also works on the Spider-man newspaper strip’s Sunday edition, and is one of the editors at Alter Ego Magazine!

JUNE BRIGMAN is currently drawing the Brenda Starr newspaper strip, and has also worked on Supergirl, Alpha Flight, Star Wars, and more!

TERESA DAVIDSON is an inker working primarily for Archie Comics, on Sonic Universe, Veronica, Sabrina, and many more. She’s also worked for Disney, Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse!

IAN FLYNN is not just the writer of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe, but one of our most regular customers in the store! AND you can meet him on Free Comic Book Day, coming up on May 2!

STEPHANIE GLADDEN has drawn for pretty much everybody, and including books like Powerpuff Girls, Flintstones, Sweatshop, Simpsons Comics, and more!

DAVE MCDONALD has worked in comics and television for years, most recently as the creator of Hamster Sam Comics!

ROY RICHARDSON has worked for pretty much every major publisher, on books including Captain America, Iron Man, Flash, and Tomorrow Knights, which he co-created. These days he works with June (his wife) on the Brenda Starr newspaper strip!

JIM SCANCARELLI is another one of our best local buddies, and a Charlotte treasure. He’s the cartoonist behind Gasoline Alley, the longest running newspaper strip ever!

Last but not least is DON SHERWOOD, whose credits go all the way back to the 1960’s, on books and strips including Dan Flagg, Sgt Preston of the Yukon, The Partridge Family, and his recent graphic novel, I Love A Mystery!

Instead of just reviewing one comic book this week, I wanted to take some time to recommend a few different titles:

Dark Reign: Hawkeye No. 1 — A few reviews ago, I talked about how I liked my comic book villains “bad” — not misunderstood monsters or anti-heroes. Well, I guess writer Andy Diggle and I are on the same page because his Dark Reign: Hawkeye limited series chronicles the adventures of the gleefully villainous Bullseye (who’s currently dressed as Hawkeye). Diggle pulls out the stops to show Bullseye committing a bunch of atrocities on innocent and not-so-innocent bystanders — the results are both heinous and hilarious.

Superman: World of New Krypton No. 2 — I’m fairly engrossed with Superman: World of New Krypton. The latest and second issue, written by Greg Rucka and James Robinson with art by Pete Woods, is a little thick on the subject of Kryptonian culture, but there are enough mysteries percolating about the storyline to keep my interested. And I must admit, I appreciate the hole Rucka and Robinson are digging for Clark; if the creative team keeps going on this path, I’ll more than likely stick around to see how everything gets resolved.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl No. 2 — The only reason I’m reading this limited series is to find out who becomes the new Batman. Based on the way things are rolling — and from reading Previews and a few comic news websites — I think I have it figured out. So, basically, I want to see if I’m right. Is the story or art in this comic any good? The art has its good and bad moments, and the writing, by Tony Daniel, is good enough to make me stick around to the last issue of this three-part series.

Destroyer No. 1 — I’ve already said how much I love Robert Kirkman’s writing in this space and his work in this Marvel/Max limited series doesn’t disappoint. The art, by Cory Walker, is on-point as well. Both the drawing and the writing is crafted with such economy — Kirkman using the least number of words and Walker using the least number of lines — that everything comes across effortlessly.

Every Wednesday we count down the 5 most interesting and noteworthy comics or graphic novels coming out for the week.

5. 100%
By Paul Pope
DC Vertigo
$39.99 | 256 pgs

Following up on their hardcover treatment of Heavy Liquid a few months back, Vertigo continues their repackaging of their Paul Pope library with 100%, arguably his most popular and acclaimed book. If you’ve never read any of Pope’s stuff, this is a good place to start. It’s a sexy and stylish cyberpunk drama set in 2038 following the lives of six interconnected New Yorkers. Pope’s style is a fusion of Japanese and European styles and has made him not only popular with us comics people but with commercial advertising and NY fashionistas as well (check out the work he’s done for Diesel if you haven’t already).

There’s some sketches and some new material included in this new printing.

4. THE DYLAN DOG CASE FILES
Written by Tiziano Sclavi; art by various
Dark Horse
$24.95 | 680 pgs

Though most American comics readers have probably never heard of Dylan Dog, this Italian comic, first published in 1986, has been a huge success in Europe and is soon to be made into a motion picture called Dead of Night starring Brandon (Superman) Routh. Dark Horse is releasing the first English version of this series in a decade by dropping a 680 page brick on us complete with a new Mike Mignola cover.

Dylan Dog is an ex-cop and paranormal investigator living and working in London. He is accompanied by his partner, Groucho, looks exactly like Groucho Marx and his former boss, Inspector Bloch, who acts in the skeptical Skully role of the non-believer in all things supernatural. What makes Dylan Dog interesting is his numerous hangups. After losing
his wife he wears the same outfit all the time, he’s afraid of bats and heights and is claustrophobic and he seems to have an Oedipus complex in that he is constantly falling in love with women that resemble his dead mother.

Check out a preview here.

3. ADVENTURES IN CARTOONING: HOW TO TURN YOUR DOODLES INTO COMICS
By James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost
First Second
$12.95 | 112 pgs

There’s a lot of how-to books out there for aspiring comic creators but none quite like this. Aimed at a much younger audience than theory books like Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics, this new book teaches kids cartooning skills within the context of a story in which a princess tries to make a cartoon but doesn’t think she’s good enough to do it. The cartoons are light and kid-friendly but the information it passes on is useful for artists of any age. It’s written by James Sturm (Golem’s Mighty Swing) who is the founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies. With this book he collaborates with two newcomers and former students of his, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost.

Read a little preview here.

2. RAMPAGING WOLVERINE #1
Written by Joshua Fialkov, Christopher Yost, Robin Furth, Ted McKeever; art by Paco Diaz Luque and Ted McKeever
Marvel
$3.99

Back in the ’70’s Marvel put out an black and white magazine called Rampaging Hulk that I actually have fond memories of (though if I were to re-read it now I’m sure it wouldn’t seem as great as it did then). It featured out-of-continuity Hulk stories that were slightly more mature in hopes of pulling in the audience of the popular TV show of the time. I guess with the new Wolverine movie coming out you could say that might be the thinking behind this new magazine-sized comic that borrows everything from that Hulk book including the adjective.

There are three stories included in this first issue and the creative teams are a bit unusual for a Wolverine comic. Joshua Fialkov is the writer of the acclaimed series Elk’s Run and Ted McKeever is known for his creator-owned sci-fi books like Metropol. I think Wolverine battles pirates in one of these stories which seems topical right now though I think they are of the South Pacific rather than the Somali variety.

If you’re love for Wolvie is so strong that a magazine-sized black and white comic just won’t be enough of a fix for you than this is your week. This is not the only Wolverine comic hitting the stands by any stretch of the imagination. You’ve also got Wolverine Noir #1 in which Wolverine is re-imagined as a hard-boilded detective in 1930s New York. Wolverine: Logan written by Lost and Y: The Last Man writer Bryan K. Vaughan with art by 100 Bullets artist Eduardo Risso and of course the latest issues of Wolverine proper and Uncanny X-men.

1. 100 BULLETS #100
Written by Brian Azzarello; Art by Eduardo Risso; Cover by Dave Johnson
DC Vertigo
$2.99 | 32 pgs

This is it, the final issue of the excellent crime/conspiracy thriller 100 Bullets. They always said it would aptly end at the hundredth issue and here it is. Myself, I’ve been holding off on reading the last few story arcs until this whole thing came to an end so that I can go back and start re-reading the whole epic tale from the beginning to try to sort through all the twists and turns. If you haven’t read any of it yet than take this new release as a sign that it’s time to start at the beginning. In fact, I’d expect some nice hardcover collections to start hitting pretty soon, so maybe hold off a little bit longer.

A book that started off pretty unassumingly about a mysterious man who shows up offering various people a briefcase containing everything they need to get revenge on the person that ruined their life slowly built into a complicated web of a story about assassins, secret organizations and Manchurian Candidate-style hypnotic suggestion. Brian Azzarello writes with the tough guy flair of crime writers like Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy. Eduardo Risso illustrates it all with drenching, black shadows and expressionistic gestures. Dave Johnson captures the essence of each chapter succinctly in an intriguing cover image. They were an amazing team and you know what? None of them ever missed an issue.

STILL, THERE ARE ALSO THESE…

ALEX TOTH GOES HOLLYWOOD
This might be a little hard to find but it collects works adapted from Hollywood and television properties by the great master, Alex Toth. Stuff like Roy Rogers
HERBIE ARCHIVES VOL 3
The third and final volume of these golden age reprints
ESSENTIAL DAZZLER
Reasons this is essential: Paul Chadwick is credited as one of the creators in this volume. Reasons this may NOT be essential: Every story has Dazzler in it.

It seems like lately I spend my entire day coding additions into our HeroesCon 09 Guest List, not to mention writing these breathless blog posts. But how in the WORLD can I not sound breathless when announcing these seven guys all at once?! Each of these guys is a member of our little (growing) HeroesCon “family”, and each deserves their own announcement, but the crazy number of guests we have this year demands speed! So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, may I present:

MARK BROOKS‘ star continues to rise, with interiors in books including Amazing Spider-Man, Dark Reign: Young Avengers, and covers all over the place!

Besides co-creating Perhapanauts (with Craig Rousseau) and Tellos (with Mike Wieringo, TODD DEZAGO has also written for Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, Impulse, JLA, and many more!

CRAIG HAMILTON is preposterously popular artist, both within and without comics circles. Look for upcoming work from him in Fables, as well as past work in Sandman, Starman, and more!

GEORGES JEANTY‘s bio lately reads “Buffy, Buffy, Buffy”–Georges is the artist of the cult-favorite Buffy The Vampire Slayer comic series. He’s also recently done covers for Nightwing and Manhunter stories for DC Comics!

PHIL NOTO has one of the most recognizable styles in comics, most recently on display in Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom, Infinite Horizon, Jonah Hex, and many more!

JASON PEARSON has long been a fixture at our show, and is probably best known for his creator-owned series Body Bags, which recently saw the publication of a new story in Body Bags: One Shot. Jason also is a prolific cover artist, often associated with Spider-Man.

Last but not least, DEXTER VINES is one of the most sought-after inkers in the industry, often working on high-profile “event” comics like Civil War and the recent white-hot Wolverine “Old Man Logan” story. He’s probably most closely associated with penciller Ed McGuinness, especially for their work on Superman Batman and The Hulk.

Whew! Okay, more to come–tomorrow we’ll be announcing a slew of all-ages artists and writers, and later in the week a big publisher announcement!

Another week of HeroesCon 2009 Guest List updates begins! This week we start out with near-to-my-heart Indie Island, welcoming back Top Shelf Productions to HeroesCon! Top Shelf has been a central part of Indie Island since long before its creation in 2005, and in many ways laid the groundwork and made it possible! That’s why it’s particularly pleasurable for me to announce the addition of four of their biggest creators to our Indie Island list:

MATT KINDT is the award-winning creator of the Superspy book, as well as its predecessors, 2 Sisters and Pistolwhip! He’s got another book coming out later in the year from Dark Horse, but I’m not entirely sure it’s okay to announce it yet, so you’ll have to ask him about it at the show!

ANDY RUNTON is certainly no stranger to HeroesCon, one of our most regular and well-loved guests. Especially well-loved by fans of Owly, the extra cute, extra popular all ages book he writes and draws!

Speaking of cute and popular, CHRISTIAN SLADE is the creator of the Korgi series from Top Shelf, and is making his first ever appearance at HeroesCon this year. Be sure to welcome this prolific illustrator and now cartoonist to Charlotte!

And lastly but leastly: while ROB VENDITTI is only half as cute as Andy Runton, he’s twice as popular lately–Rob wrote the graphic novel The Surrogates, which is being made into a movie starring Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames, set for release later this year. Seriously, if you’ve ever met Rob, you know it couldn’t happen to a sweeter guy. In the next couple of weeks or so I’ll be sitting down to interview Rob, so we’ll see what HE has to say about it then.

But for now, welcome to these Top Shelfers! And of course, there are a ton more announcements on the way–tomorrow, more of our HeroesCon “family”, as well as another publisher!

Are you kidding me? This is the FOURTH big update we’ve made to our HeroesCon 2009 Guest List this week! For a total of twenty-six new names on the list! And that’s nothing–next week we’ll likely be adding more than thirty new names, so get your boogie shoes strapped on now: HeroesCon 09 is going to be IMMENSE!

Today’s big update includes movie mogul STEVE NILES, whose 30 Days of Night you may have heard of, as well as the upcoming Freaks of the Heartland, directed by Pineapple Express and Snow Angels director David Green! Steve is also the writer of books including City of Dust, Criminal Macabre, and the recent Epilogue!

Steve is joined by fellow returning guest STEPHANE ROUX, who makes his second trip to HeroesCon this year! Hailing from France, Stephane has made quite a name for himself over here as a comics artist, with work on Birds of Prey, Supergirl, Action Comics, She-Hulk, and a ton more! He was also the big star of last year’s Art Auction, netting the largest single amount paid for any piece!

But that’s not all–also new to the Guest List today are:

ROBERT ATKINS, the artist of IDW’s new GI Joe series, and a member of North Carolina’s own Tsunami Studios! Robert has also worked on Ultimate Fantastic Four, She-Hulk, and much more!

REILLY BROWN is making his first appearance at HeroesCon this year–you’ve probably seen his work on Marvel’s Cable Deadpool, Hulk Vs Hercules, New Warriors, and more. Be sure and give him a warm welcome this June!

SHAWN CRYSTAL, on the other hand, is no stranger to HeroesCon. Besides his duties as a professor at SCAD, he’s also more recently been doing art for Deadpool!

ANDY SMITH is also no stranger–heckfire, he’s one of our most regular store customers! His star is really rising lately, as artist on Dean Koontz’s Nevermore, Superman Confidential, Stormwatch Phd, and more–not to mention his how-to-draw books, including Drawing Dynamic Comics!

SARAH WILKINSON is a sought-after artist, with dozens and dozens of trading cards to her credits for pretty much every company, as well as recent cover art on the Dark Delicacies comic!

Whew! Okay, more to come next week! Have a great Easter and Passover, everyone!

You can tell we’re gearing up for HeroesCon when we start making Guest List updates EVERY DAY! It sure is going to be crowded this year! But this week we’ve been trying to extra-officially confirm a lot of our closest “family”-type guests, the delicious candy center of the vast and nougaty exterior of HeroesCon. While I hate to announce all these guys together in one big post–this is like a who’s-who of some of our favorite people in the world, and I’d prefer to make a great big fuss over each of them–the stack of announcements I need to make is growing all the time! So, without further ado, the lords and ladies of three of comics’ finest art studios:

GAIJIN STUDIOS is like royalty at HeroesCon, and with good reason–check out this lineup they boast–

CULLY HAMNER is the artist of the upcoming Question backup in Detective Comics, written by Greg Rucka. He’s also recently received accolades as the artist of Black Lightning: Year One, as well as an exclusive contract with DC Comics.

LAURA MARTIN has colored, well, about everything. Her resume reads like a most-popular-ever list of comics: Astonishing X-Men, Secret Invasion, The Stand, Authority, Planetary… you get the idea. Swank!

BRIAN STELFREEZE is the only person ever in my life to take the time to (sniff!) teach me to moonwalk. Of a less tender nature, he’s the influential artist and generally chatty dude behind The Ride, GunCandy, Matador, and about a bajillion Batman covers over the years.

KARL STORY is, all joking aside, one of the best inkers working in comics, period. The number of actual inkers working in comics dwindles all the time, but Karl is pretty amazing to watch, which you will be able to do in a couple of months. Some of his higher-profile jobs include Ultimate X-Men, Number of the Beast, Tom Strong, Ocean, and Nightwing.

DOUG WAGNER is the smiling writer of the crew, with books including The Ride, The Ride: Die Valkyrie, and the upcoming Hammer Sound! He’s also one of the higher-ups with our buddies over at 12 Gauge Comics!

And, while he’s no longer technically a Gaijin-er, TONY SHASTEEN has got the stink of that office all over him still, so I’ll announce him with these other dudes (and Laura). HeroesCon attendees might know Tony first as the artist of the recent Rosario Dawson co-created O.C.T., and thus one of the people in the corner of the frame in about ten billion photos of Rosario that got taken at HeroesCon in 2006 and 2007. BUT more recently he’s been announced as the artist of the upcoming Stephen King’s The Talisman adaptation, as well as Final Crisis: Secret Files.

JOLLY ROGER STUDIO of Macon Georgia is ALSO extra royal at HeroesCon, and like Gaijin, extra Georgian. Though many stupendous stars have been part of Jolly Roger over the years, these days it’s largely centered around:

TONY HARRIS, the Grand Buccanneer of HeroesCon, and a prolific cover artist, as well as artist of the hugely popular Ex Machina, Starman, and the Mark Millar-penned War Heroes. Busy busy!

JD METTLER somehow looks even more like a pirate, due in large part to a mighty moustache. He’s a well-known colorist both working with Tony and on his own, on books including Ex Machina, Spider-Man: With Great Power, and Conan.

But wait–there’s also THE BLVD, the home studio of already-on-list John Paul Leon, as well as new additions:

BERNARD CHANG, who gets some of the funniest pictures taken of him each year. When he’s not cracking photographers up, he’s also been a former Disney Imagineer and artist on Wonder Woman, Superman, and Deadpool, among a bunch of others.

TOMMY LEE EDWARDS is either a talented illustrator who does a ton of high-profile work for movies like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, OR a talented cartoonist who’s drawn Marvel: 1985, The Question, and Batman. Or both. It’s both, actually.

Jeez! That took a lot out of me. I’m going to go have a cool refreshing lemonade with Shawn and Seth and get my strength back. But I’ll be back tomorrow with–I’m not kidding–ANOTHER addition to the list! Good gravy!

I haven’t been thrilled with Marvel’s Black Panther title since writer Reginald Hudlin took over the comic a few years ago.

Although, to be fair, I probably wouldn’t have been happy with the work of any writer who followed up Christopher Priest’s run on the Panther’s solo series.

For those who never had a chance to read the Priest-helmed Black Panther, let me just say it was brilliant. I would even dare to say that it was “Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman good.” Yeah — THAT good.

During that series, which ran for more than 80 issues (I think), the Panther was remade from a sometimes-bumbling supporting character into an enigmatic, powerful and ultra-competent leading man.

Then along came Hudlin … who basically took Priest’s revitalized Panther and wrote a few lackluster stories based around the cat-tastic hero. Which brings us to the latest issue of Black Panther. I like it.

Yeah I know I just bashed the guy’s work on the book. But since the series was relaunched with a new No. 1 three months ago, setting the stage for a new female Panther, things have improved.
Hudlin has assembled a great cast of characters, and he’s given them some interesting conflicts to resolve. The dialogue is crisp and witty — yet still in character. And the mystery surrounding the new lady Panther is surprisingly intriguing and doesn’t seem as contrived as I initially feared.

Another great, well probably the best, aspect of the new Panther series is the art by Ken Lashley. Where did this guy come from? While not perfect, his work is lush, yet lightly stylized; it strangely seems to marry the best elements of Jim Lee and Keith Pollard. I hope he sticks around a while.

And speaking of sticking around, I’ll do just that for this new iteration of the Black Panther. Let’s hope it takes a while to start sucking.