SETH’S PICK :: ABE SAPIEN: DARK AND TERRIBLE #1: If you’re at all familiar with the Mignola-verse of characters, you know Abe Sapien’s story is as intriguing as Hellboy’s.  And while you could say that Abe has been largely about a creature trying to hold onto his humanity, in recent years Mignola and company have further mutated the fish-man.  Now he looks less like a man with gills, and more like a relative of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.  Fitting, since the Earth has literally gone to hell over in B.P.R.D.  Now, courtesy of Dark Horse, Mignola, Scott Allie, Sebastian Fiumara and colorist extraordinaire Dave Stewart, we get an all new ongoing series featuring Abe.  It’s a fish-man fighting monsters, travelling the ruined Earth, and trying to make sense of what he was and is.  They had me at fish-man.

We have some great HeroesCon 2013 guests to announce today! Heroes Convention is in Charlotte, North Carolina, June 7-9 2013. Get your 3 day passes today! The full guest list (so far) is here.

PHIL NOTO – Artist: Ghost, Avengers: The Origin, Wolverine and Jubilee, Birds of Prey

MARK BAGLEY – Artist: Fantastic Four, Avengers Assemble, Ultimate Spider-Man, Thunderbolts

SL GALLANT – Artist: GI Joe, Torchwood, Shrek, Monsters vs Aliens

BRYAN JL GLASS – Writer: Mice Templar, Quixote, Ship of Fools, Thor & Valkyrie

KHARY RANDOLPH – Artist: Charismagic, Spider-Man, Starborn, Spawn, Hellboy, New Mutants

SARA RICHARD – Artist: Womanthology, Zombie Bomb, Marvel’s Dangerous Divas Sketchcards

BRANDON SEIFERT – Writer: Witch Doctor, Doctor Who, Hellraiser: The Dark Watch

DAVE WACHTER – Artist: Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem, The Guns of Shadow Valley

NOLAN WOODARD – Colorist: Insufferable, 28 Days Later, The Eighth Seal, Irredeemable

CHRISSIE ZULLO – Artist: Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, Creepy, Fables, Madame Xanadu, Hack/Slash

RICO’S PICK :: EAST OF WEST #1: Years ago I was sitting in a movie theater watching some coming attractions/previews/trailers/long commercials/whatever you want to call them. A preview for the Italian Job remake came on and a couple of quick shots into it I was sold. Tiny cars racing through Italy with the drivers pulling off some sort of heist? Sounds good to me! The trailer continued for 2 or 3 minutes after that though during which I was un-sold. I never saw the Italian Job remake because I saw too much of it in that trailer. Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin and Rus Wooton’s new book East of West, all of Hickman’s non-Marvel books for that matter, don’t suffer from this over-selling of content. Hickman reveals very little about projects before they come out and in an comics community of endless spoilers and asking creators what they are working on next before their current projects even hit stands, I respect that. I trust these creators to make a good comic or better. If not, I only bought one issue. More often than not though, Hickman delivers.

Happy Friday! Who wants to hear about another great bunch of guests attending HeroesCon 2013?! You do!

Heroes Convention takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 7-9 2013. The full guest list (so far) is here.

KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY – Artist: X-Treme X-Men, X-23, Captain Canuck

RICK BURCHETT – Artist: Batman Adventures, Superman Adventures, She Hulk, Blackhawk, and Lady Sabre

JIM CALAFIORE – Artist: Aquaman, Exiles, Gotham Underground, Leaving Megalopolis

BRIAN CLEVINGER – Writer: Atomic Robo, 8-Bit Theater

SCOTT WEGENER – Artist: Atomic Robo, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Cow Boy

SCOTT HEPBURN – Artist: Orchid, Star Wars, Dr. Horrible

KEVIN MAGUIRE – Artist: Justice League, World’s Finest, Batman Confidential, Captain America, X-Men

DREW MOSS – Artist: Colonized, Zombies VS Robots, Outlaw Territory

MARCUS TO – Artist: Red Robin, Batwing, Cyborg 009

ROBERT WILSON IV – Artist: Knuckleheads, Panels for Primates, Poster Artist

The time has come once again to rally the troops for the most action packed weekend of our entire year. HeroesCon 2013 is coming up fast and we can’t do it without the invaluable contributions of our volunteers.

If you’ve ever wanted to get involved with the machine behind the scenes at your favorite comic convention or are looking
for an opportunity to enhance your weekend, consider signing on to our team! Offer any time that you think you can spare and help us make this year’s HeroesCon the best yet.

In 2013, the room is going to be the largest we have ever had, so the number of volunteers we need has grown as well!

To volunteer for Heroes Convention 2013, just click the link below to fill out the volunteer form. If you have volunteered in the past or have already contacted us about volunteering this year, we will still need for you to fill out the form. This way we can have accurate contact info for everyone as well as confirmation that you will be joining us this year.

We can’t wait to hear from you!

Please list days/times you are available to volunteer: Friday, June 7: 7am – 12am; Saturday, June 8: 7am – 12am; Sunday June 9: 9am – 8pm: *

Happy Friday comic fans! The week almost slipped by without a HeroesCon 2013 Guest List update! We can’t have that! Check out these great guests that will be joining us in Charlotte June 7-9 2013 and get your 3 day passes today! The full guest list (so far) is here.

BUZZ – Artist: JSA, Vampirella, Atomika

JOEL CARROLL – Writer/Artist: Cuttle & Chirp, Skullkickers, Topaz, Flight

MIKE CHOI – Artist: X-Force, X-23, Astonishing Thor, Fantastic Four

GEOF DARROW – Artist: Hard Boiled, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, The Shaolin Cowboy, Deadpool

LOGAN FAERBER – Artist: Re-Pro-Duct, Adventure Time, Death Face

GEORGES JEANTY – Artist: Buffy, Green Lantern, Superboy

CHRIS KEMPLE – Writer/Artist: Red Vengeance, Fallout, Negative Burn, Fantastic Worlds

AARON KUDER – Artist: Superman, Green Lantern: New Guardians, Avenging Spider-Man

RON SALAS – Artist: Existence 2.0/3.0, Dracula: Company of Monsters, Comic Twart

DAVID WILLIAMS – Artist: X-Men: First Class, GI Joe, Incredible Hercules, Hulk & Power Pack

ALL HAIL (a FILM without) DOROTHY

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,  and those opinions are valid, but let me be crystal clear here… in the case of OZ, the Great and Powerful, those great and powerful movie critics are (for the most part) wrong, wrong, wrong.  This is a film that delivers pure movie magic and provides some much needed myth-remaking for the next generation of film aficionados.

Now there is not a snowballs chance in the Impassable Desert that anyone over a certain age can watch the film without comparing it to the 1939 classic musical, The Wizard of Oz.  Instead of creating a pastiche or homage to that Technicolor treasure, director Sam Raimi and his writers take Victor Fleming’s vision of L. Frank Baum’s magical world and infuse it with a new vitality.  Apparently, there are many viewers out there who believe strongly that there are some things that should never be tampered with.

And here is where I disagree.  I grew up watching the WoO and loving it, but the older I got, the weirder the experience became.  The Munchkins made me extremely uncomfortable. The poppies/snow business was always more than a bit strange.  Dorothy was not a little girl no matter how hard MGM tried to corset the great Judy Garland down to size.  What gave Dorothy the right to the ruby slippers?  Did the Wicked witch of the East die intestate?  And Glinda—what was her deal—and the helium she used to float her bubble really affected her speaking voice.  A classic is a classic, but times change.  To younger eyes the MGM Oz looks old fashioned and really fake.  My daughter feigned any interest in the original and today, whenever I catch the film,  I see the tragic fate of Judy Garland unfold in front of our eyes.

I can’t help thinking that most critics did not give the new movie a fair shake for the following reasons… (more…)