As the Charlotte Minicon closes in we want to take this time to spotlight some of the wonderful guests who will be in attendance. Most of the guests are Heroes event regulars but there are a few new names on the list. We asked each of them three simple questions and we got some awesome responses. Not only are these creators witty and charming but they are also incredibly talented. Just take a look at their artwork and you will see what I mean. I am sure that all of you are excited to get some convention sketches from these talented Charlotte Minicon guests!

The first person we are spotlighting today is someone you are certain to recognize, Andy Smith. Most recently he has been doing the art for WWE Heroes and X-Men Forever 2. You might also be familiar with his work on Stormwatch: PHD, Superman Confidential, 52 and/or WildCats.

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Andy Smith: I’d have to say that my X-Men Forever work is the high mark on the list! Just being able to work with a legend of the status of Chris Claremont was a thrill! And being able to draw some of my favorite characters from the X-Men when I was first starting my career was just awesome.

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
AS: Now if I had that crystal ball I could win the lottery! I’m doing some work for Marvel right now for their licensing department. I can’t really say much more about it though. From there we’ll just have to see. I’m teaching at UNCC again this new semester as well.

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
AS: Honestly it is one of the conventions I look forward to every year. I’m so glad Shelton brought it back. It’s right in my backyard I get to relax and not be too overwhelmed by people. It’s just a nice small hometown show where I always have a good time! And of course hanging out with Budd Root for the day is always a plus! We talk football non-stop!

Next up we have Chrissie Zullo who is an artist on the rise. Since her breakout success with Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love she has been gaining more fame and notoriety. She is a must have on anyone’s I-need-to-get-a-commission-by-this-person’s list!

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Chrissie Zullo: 2010 was a huge deal to me because it was my first year of interior work. I was able to do the covers for Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love, as well as interiors for the first time for Madame Xanadu and Fables #100.

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
CZ: More Cinderella! She’s back and better than ever.

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
CZ: I love this show because it’s a great size and you can get away with some great deals. I snagged Marko Djurdjevic‘s cover run issues of Daredevil a couple of years ago for a steal, as well as grabbing some free posters. It’s also great for getting to hang out and talk to some great artists. And it’s in an awesome building to boot.

This will be the first Charlotte Minicon for our Special Guest Chris Stevens who first burst onto the scene working for UDON Entertainment. His recent work includes cover work for Skullkickers and Thor. He also made a big splash at the 2010 HeroesCon Annual Art Auction.

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Chris Stevens: I did my first Marvel covers in 2010. My second cover was recently released as a t-shirt. Very cool stuff. That may be career and not creative, but I’m never proud of my work, so I can’t think of anything.

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
CS: More Marvel covers I hope. I plan to keep providing covers for Skullkickers too. Hopefully catch up on my commission list.

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
CS: Sorry to say this will be my first time at Minicon. Been going to HeroesCon since ’92 though. I get some points for that, right?

Our last spotlight for today is Bridgit Scheide. She is a relative new-comer to the comic’s scene with her self-published book Kindle and her webcomic Brother Nash. You can check out her deviantART page for more examples of her work!

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Bridgit Scheide: Early this past year I self-published a comic called Kindle, which is a single issue introduction to a graphic novel I’m working on. It’s been a huge learning experience for me, but a very exciting one as well. I’ve been hopping around comic conventions in NC, which has been a lot of fun. I’ve also been working on a webcomic called Brother Nash, which is a 30 page script I wrote as a sort of creative break from Kindle. After a year or so of working with graphite I really felt like I needed a project where I could ink and color something for a little while (and draw trucks, apparently?).

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
BS: In 2011, I’ll shortly finish up Brother Nash #1: Roadkill and release it as a single issue.  I’ve also been scheming with Chrissie Zullo and we’ll be collaborating on something killer for HeroesCon 2011, so be on the lookout for that! It’ll be my third year at HeroesCon – it’s my favorite con for sure. I’m also continuing work on Kindle, though I’m actually changing its name to The Kindle Kind, with the intention to save from confusion with the popular electronic device and all of the lame jokes which accompany that. Haha!

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
BS: This is actually my first time at the Charlotte Minicon. I’m pretty stoked! And seriously, pony rides?! How good does this get?!

Green Lantern is practically everywhere these days! The movie, starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, is scheduled to hit theaters later this year. The Blackest Night crossover was a smashing financial success. The upcoming crossover, War of the Green Lanterns, looks to be another bestseller. It seems like the popularity of the comics are fueling the hype for the movie, and vice versa.

Wouldn’t it be cool if there was one place you could go to for all your Green Lantern news? Well look no farther than Welcome to Coast City! Our wonderful customer Matt “Rapier” Rape is doing the world a huge service by compiling everything Green Lantern onto one convenient website. It has news about the movie, reviews on the comics and information about merchandise (action figures, costumes, etc.). Stop by to get your daily green fix!

The Charlotte Minicon is only a few weeks away! We want to take the coming weeks and introduce you to our guests (or perhaps re-introduce you to our guests). We asked each of them three simple questions and got some awesome responses. Not only are they funny and charming guys but they are also super talented artists! Just look at those examples of their work (please check out their websites to see more examples)! We hope you still have some Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket cause you are going to want to get some convention sketches from these talented comic creators!

First up we have Budd Root who is well known for his work on Cavewoman. He is one of the premiere “good girl” artists working in the industry today.

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Budd Root: I’m most proud of taking a HUGE chunk out of the commissions I owe. And they’re not half bad, either!

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
BR: You can look forward to the best HeroesCon book I’ve ever done (full of finished commissions), wrapping up a Cavewoman storyline and a creepy WEREWOLF story I’m doing with Buddy Prince!

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
BR: Fond Memories are simply hanging out with great friends and getting a crapload of Chris Bachalo books from a “dollar-box”! The most interesting thing was a guy wanted to move into my driveway & be my apprentice. I gave him Andy’s address!!!

Next on the list is Jason Latour. He is definitely a name you will need to know for 2011. If you aren’t familiar with his work on Daredevil: Black and White #1 or Scalped #43, you may recognize his Daredevil from our HeroesCon postcards.

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Jason Latour: The stories I drew in DAREDEVIL: BLACK & WHITE #1 and SCALPED #43.

I went into those projects with immense hopes and seemingly well laid plans, but in the end when the sun was rising over the horizon line, it was the last scene in Jaws. It all boiled down to  throwing something in the monster’s mouth and hoping it explodes. A much messier business than I’d hoped for… but hey, I killed a couple of sharks. That’s somethin’.  I measure manhood in sharks killed.

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
JL: Coming in the immediate future is the back up I drew for WOLVERINE #5, which is the conclusion to the Wolverine Goes to Hell storyline. It also re-teams Jason Aaron, Rico Renzi and I. Whatever you do, don’t read that comic backwards.

In February NOCHE ROJA the 180-page Vertigo Crime OGN I did with Simon Oliver, is released. It’s basically the bulk of my printed work to date.  I’m eager to see that reach the world.

LOOSE ENDS, the  four issue crime series I wrote, with art by Chris Brunner and color by Rico Renzi, is shaping up well. Fans of good bbq, beautiful girls and pop art should like that one equally. I’m sure those guys will expound upon that but I couldn’t be more proud of it.

Beyond that I’ll do my best to remain mysterious for now. You may see me pop up in an expanded role at some places I’m familiar with.  I can say that 2010 ended up being a big year for me publishing wise and I’m going to work hard to better that in 2011.

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
JL: There was a time when the Dollar Bin guys asked us if Luke Cage could be cut by a Light Saber. My brain still hasn’t reconstituted from that one.

My fondest convention memories in general always revolve around stuff like that, riffing about absurd things.  The intimacy of the show really provides that opportunity. It’s a place I feel comfortable and at ease. It’s definitely a  Shelton Drum run show in that respect. Fans and creators first. I’m looking forward to it.

The last guest left to spotlight (for today at least) is Rich Barrett. He is currently working on his creator-owned graphic novel Nathan Sorry which he is serializing on his website. You can read it a page at a time as he finishes and posts it.

Heroes: Creatively, what are you most proud of from 2010?
Rich Barrett: This was my second year of publishing my graphic novel Nathan Sorry online as a weekly webcomic. I’ve received a lot of encouraging reviews for it and have grown my readership a lot in 2010. I appeared at HeroesCon this summer which was my first major comics convention and I’ve made the transition into digital publishing by releasing installments of Nathan Sorry on the Graphic.ly iPhone and iPad apps.

H: What can we look for from you in 2011?
RB: I’m only about a third of the way through my graphic novel so I’ll continue to focus on it in 2011 and put up at least a page a week online. Plus I’ll be releasing more installments in print, digital and potentially even eBook.

H: Do you have any interesting or fond memories from a past Charlotte Minicon?
RB: Last year’s Minicon was my first convention and I learned a lot from it while also just having a lot of fun. I think my favorite memory was when my wife brought my 2 year old daughter who thought the stage was for her rather than for Francesco Francavilla and proceeded to do a series of dances in front of his table.

This, the fourth and final category, was definitely the hardest for me to compile. There are so many awesome ongoing series being published right now that it was nigh impossible for me to choose just ten. For the most part the series that I picked are brand, spanking new. I guess those stood out to me the most because they are fresher than longer running ongoing series. Some of the runners-up include House of Mystery, Fables, Zatanna, Buffy, Muppet Show and Fantastic Four. There was no question about what #1 would be, but the rest of them were difficult to rank. I would love to hear what your favorites of 2010 were, so let me know in the comments section!

1 ) Thor The Mighty Avenger

2 ) American Vampire

3 ) Sixth Gun

4 ) iZombie

5 ) Stuff of Legend

6 ) S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel)

7 ) Darkwing Duck

8 ) Black Panther The Man Without Fear

9 ) Detective Comics

10 ) Action Comics

Hello again and welcome to the third installment of Shawn’s Favorites of 2010! This category is for my favorite mini-series that either began or ended in 2010. There were a ton of minis that just barely made the cut, I’m looking at you Baltimore Plague Ships. There were just too many awesome mini-series that came out last year and it was difficult to choose just 10 that were my favorites. Here are the ones that made the list, ranked in order with #1 being my absolute favorite.

1 ) Daytripper

2 ) Joe The Barbarian

3 ) Marvelous Land of Oz

4 ) Mystery Society

5 ) Avengers Children’s Crusade

6 ) Strange Tales II

7 ) Meta 4

8 ) Strange Science Fantasy

9 ) Heralds

10 ) Cars Adventures of Tow Mater

Want to let all your internet friends know that you are coming to the Charlotte Minicon? Want to help spread the word about the Minicon? Well you are in luck cause we have a nifty banner for you to use on your website or blog! Click on the above image for a slightly larger version of the banner! Thank you to everyone for your help and support. See you there at the Palmer building on Saturday, January 22! Did we mention that there will be pony rides?

Welcome back to my list of favorites from 2010! This is the category for best comic collection of new material. It could be a trade paperback, a hardcover or a digest-sized book. The only thing is, it has to be all-new material. This was a tough category for me. There were so many awesome books that came out in 2010. If I look back on this in a week or so I might think differently but right now these are my top 10 favorites. Again, I ranked them in order of most-favorite to least-most-favorite. My list is highly debatable so if you disagree with me let me know what your favorites are. Here we go!

1 ) Afrodisiac HC

2 ) Set To Sea HC

3 ) Duncan The Wonder Dog TP

4 ) Loverboy TP/HC

5 ) Crogan’s March HC

6 ) Return of the Dapper Men HC

7 ) Bodyworld HC

8 ) Richard Stark’s Parker The Outfit HC

9 ) Scott Pilgrim vol 6 Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour

10 ) Neil Young’s Greendale HC

As we say hello to 2011 I am looking back on 2010. This is the first of four posts listing my top 10 favorite comics of 2010. Allow me to clarify things a bit. My top 10 lists are highly subjective and so instead of calling them the best I decided to call them my favorites. Plus, I feel like I haven’t read a lot of the books that would be considered the best of 2010 (like Wilson, X’ed Out and Market Day). I kept my list to books that I bought and I kept the list true to my taste. This category is for my favorite trades or hardcovers that collected previously released material. I included Adam Hughes‘s art book in this category because it does include previously published work and because the Original Content TP/HC category was overflowing with contestants. Each category is ranked in order from most-favorite to least-most-favorite. I really want to hear what your favorites are so please let me know in the comments section!

1 ) Wednesday Comics HC

2 ) Beasts of Burden HC

3 ) Batwoman Elegy HC

4 ) Muppet Show On the Road TP

5 ) Mouse Guard Legends of the Guard HC

6 ) Simon and Kirby Superheroes HC

7 ) Cover Run The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes HC

8 ) Cinderella From Fabletown with Love TP

9 ) John Stanley Library Melvin Monster HC vol 2

10 ) Toy Story TP vol 1 Return of Buzz Lightyear

A sampling from the most recent Previews catalog of what looks like a winner in the month of March! All books are available for pre-order at your local shop (that’s us)!

War of the Green Lanterns – Well here it is the next big Green Lantern thing.  A crossover between all three Green Lantern ongoing books: Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Emerald Warriors.  If you’ve been reading any or all of these books since Brightest Day started you can put together what puts the Corps at civil war with one another. If not, this crew is pretty good at catching up the audience for the big story (i.e. Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night).  Day-glo punches will abound!  Pgs 68-70

Jimmy Olsen #1 – This has been a most excellent back-up running in Action Comics the last few months.  With the back-up program kyboshed at DC they’ve done the service of collecting all that material with the unpublished strips here in this nifty 80 page one-shot.  Crazy, quirky, and always ready to swerve delightfully with its cliffhangers, this is a gem to look forward too. Pg 93

Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker #1 – Joe Casey, bless his heart, is never afraid to be ambitious and never afraid that he’ll fall short on what he’s trying to say.  Dude has Ben 10 money and therefore carte blanche to make whatever comics he feels like.  With Mike Huddleston (vastly underrated), he takes on the waning years of a former patriotic superhero…like Dark Knight Returns and Captain America, just as violent and with way more sex.  It’ll be fascinating to see what he has to say about America and age among other things. Pg 168

Daniel Clowes’ Mister Wonderful: A Love Story – First serialized in the New York Times Magazine Daniel Clowes’ new story is finally collected here with new pages.  The story centers around your usual hopeless case Clowes protagonist and his blind date and the things they go through on that trying date.  It’s Clowes and if you’ve read Clowes you know what this is going to read like and if you haven’t why not give this a shot?  Pg 303

New Character Parade GN – Johnny Ryan is as raw and nasty as comics get. This is a new collection of his gag strips which will surely be as nasty, mean, and on-point in what it is saying as his past material.  I love it. Pg 303

Venom #1 – I’m surprised I am putting this here.  Kudos to Rick Remender for finding a new hook to the character, a black-ops weapon of the extreme variety, and God bless him for putting Tony Moore on it who draws monsters good and junk.  Remender did X-Force right, of all things, so he may be the savior of 90s properties here in the 2010’s. Marvel Pg 1

Fear Itself: Prologue – Comics didn’t hit the 100,000 orders mark a bunch of times this year and so comes the return of the line-wide event.  Ed Brubaker and Scot Eaton are kicking it off with a set-up one-shot set in WWII and about the Red Skull.  Marvel Pg 16

Captain America #615.1/616 – Of the slew of Captain America stuff hitting for the movie and the character’s 70^th Anniversary, it’s the main book that appears to have the most interesting material.  #615.1 is another of Marvel’s jumping on point issues with art by the amazing Mitch Breitweiser who was born to draw Cap.  Then #616 is a 104 page monster 70^th anniversary spectacular and it appears entirely new material by smorgasbord of really talented folk and a Travis Charest cover that’s so beautiful you’ll cry. Marvel Pgs 22-23

Annihilators #1 – Break it down:  the cosmic universe of Dan Abnett and  Andy Lanning is continuing here in a mini-series that’s half a 22-page story staring the likes of the Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Billy, and Quasar and half a 22-page story starring Rocket Raccoon and Groot (who are awesome).  The book retails for $4.99 and when you break that down into its two halves that’s $2.50 an issue for two very high quality products.  Veerrrrry nice. Marvel Pg. 42

Happy New Year to everyone out there in internetland! We wanted to make sure that each of you knew the holiday store schedule and shipping schedule, so one more time here it is:

HOLIDAY STORE HOURS
New Year’s Eve
Friday, December 31st: 10am – 6pm
New Year’s Day
Saturday, January 1st: 1pm – 6pm

BOOK SHIPPING SCHEDULE
Completely normal! Books will arrive in the store on Wednesday throughout the holidays!

As the year draws to a close we are a little nostalgic here at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find. It was a year of changes and transitions. We saw our Creative Director Dustin Harbin move on to a full-time career of cartooning. While we miss him we are happy that he is so successful. We also saw Shawn Reynolds become Shawn Daughhetee and transitioned from Store Manager in Charlotte, NC to Events Coordinator in Greenville, SC. Also, after having worked in the store since birth, Shelley Drum took her rightful place as Store Manager. There are also rumors of Heroes hiring Rico Renzi but as of yet those are unconfirmed.

Besides the staffing changes the store was busy with conventions, store signings and day-to-day operations. Here are a few of the stand-out events from 2010: Jim Rugg Afrodisiac Tour store signing, Charlotte Minicon, Free Comic Book Day, Super: The Fine Art of Comics gallery show at Twenty-Two, Steve Niles store signing, HeroesCon 2010, Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting store signing and almost a dozen Heroes Discussion Group meetings (Walking Dead, Scott Pilgrim, Pluto and Blankets just to name a few)!

Even with all of the awesomeness of 2010, 2011 will undoubtedly be busier and better. Prepare yourselves for the craziness! We are ready! Are you? Mark your calendars for the Charlotte Minicon on Saturday, January 22, the beginning of The Savannah Collection Heritage Auctions on February 24, Free Comic Book Day on May 7 and HeroesCon on June 3 – 5. As always stay tuned to the blog and the newsletter for up-to-the-minute updates! See you next year!