We know you’re super excited about this weekend’s big Holiday Sale/Store Signing Jamboree, but we thought we’d redouble your excitement a little bit by announcing today that Bill Willingham has signed on for next summer’s HeroesCon 2010! Shelton will know better than me, but unless I miss my guess, Bill hasn’t been to HeroesCon at least since he was working on Elementals back in the day. If even then! I know he hasn’t been here since HeroesCon ’96 (my first as an employee), so either way, get excited!

For the three of you who aren’t aware of Bill’s work, he’s the writer and creator of the hit Fables series, as well as co-writer of its spinoff Jack of Fables, and more!  What newer comics readers might not know is that Bill is a full-on cartoonist as well as a writer–his series Elementals was pretty hot back in the 90’s. These days he’s written all over the place, including notably on DC’s Day of Judgment, Justice Society of America, and a ton of others.

But it wouldn’t be like us to announce just ONE name, would it? In fact, I’m looking at a long list of a couple dozen names Shelton has given me, enough that I’ll need to break it up into 3 or 4 separate updates! Also officialized this week are some of our favorite Charlotte-area cartoonists, pretty much all of whom are regular shoppers in our store for you Wednesday customers! They include upcoming Loose Ends creative team Chris Brunner and Jason Latour, Night artist Buddy Prince, Cavewoman creator Budd Root, and Dean Koontz’ Frankenstein artist Andy Smith! And of course, you can meet those last two this Saturday at the big 4-person store signing, all part of our Holiday Sale! More details here!