Holy Cow, tons of new names for the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List today, including a bunch of old friends. David Mack is of course the bajillion-time Eisner-nominated and New York Times bestselling painter, writer, and cartoonist behind Kabuki, The Shy Creatures, numerous Daredevil arcs, and much more. He’s also one of our favorite guests–not only is he a WORKHORSE, showing up before the show opens and usually one of the last to leave each day, but he’s immensely popular with fans. Even if you’re not interested in meeting David in person, just hanging out near his table and watching him do somersaults and stand on tables and just generally act out is pretty funny.

No less talented, but much more understated, is Stephen King’s The Talisman artist Tony Shasteen. Tony is a sweet dude and impeccably coiffed, the guy is like a Paul Mitchell commercial. Many HeroesCon attendees probably met Tony in 2006 and 2007 when Rosario Dawson was a guest at the show, promoting Occult Crimes Taskforce, which Tony did the art for. Remember Tony? Guys? Well he’s still cool even without Rosario Dawson sitting next to him, trust me.

But that’s not all! Also new today is a laundry list of guests, just check out all these names:

Will Allred is the writer behind Bloodfire Studios Diary of Night. Greg Baldwin and Dave Guertin work together as CreatureBox Studios on books including Thoughts, Scribbles + Madness and Palindrome Robot Supply. Danny Donovan is one of the creators behind the Kogoshii comic from Zuda Comics, as well as the Honor Brigade comic among others. Micah Harris is the writer of Lorna, Relic Wrangler and the Heaven’s War graphic novel.

Cat Staggs is a prolific trading card artist who’s worked on like every trading card set ever, including Star Wars Galaxy and the new Iron Man II sets. And last but not least is colorist Matt Webb, who worked on John Byrne’s Next Men and Danger Unlimited back in the day, and these days often collaborates with fellow guest Joe Staton! Phew! So many great additions to the list!

Brand new today is an IDW-tacular update to the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List! Returning to HeroesCon this summer is our main man Steve Niles, who’s probably best known for 30 Days of Night, which he created with fellow guest Ben Templesmith back in the early days of now-major publisher IDW. Besides spawning a whole line of 30 Days Of Night comics, the original comic was adapted into a major motion picture, with the sequel Dark Days coming soon! Steve has also worked extensively for pretty much every major publisher, on books including Batman: Gotham County Line, Simon Dark, Freaks of the Heartland, and a ton more.

Joining Steve will be first-time guest Bob Schreck, one of the most influential and recognized editors in comics. Bob is probably best known recently for conceiving and overseeing the “All Star” line at DC, but he’s been a major figure in comics for over 20 years. From working at Comico in its heyday, to Dark Horse, then co-founding Oni Comics, then DC… whew!  These days Bob is Senior Editor at IDW Publishing, and is writing his very first comic there, the forthcoming Jurassic Park! Bob is sure to be a popular guest, not just with fans but with pros. Also returning this year is fellow IDW-er Jeff Webber, the director of the company’s e-publishing line. Jeff is a sweet dude and runs a mean panel–be sure and check out what IDW has planned for e-publishing–with the advent of the iPad this year, this is sure to be a huge new sector in comics!

Lastly but not leastly this week, our old chum Sarah Wilkinson returns to HeroesCon this year. Besides being a prolific illustrator and trading card artist for properties like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Spider-Man, Sarah is mondo popular as a convention guest and sketch destination. Be sure to get on her list early or you’ll cry salty tears all weekend!

Okay, more guests on the way tomorrow–we’re swamped this week getting our Free Comic Book Day announcements and advertising squared away, but there’s tons churning behind the scenes!

Rounding out our week of FOUR updates to our HeroesCon 2010 Guest List, today we announce a bevy of all-ages friendly guests to the show. Franco Aureliani is half of the team (with artist Art Baltazar) who do the multiple Eisner-winning and New York Times bestselling Tiny Titans series from DC, and will be making his first ever trip to HeroesCon this summer! Franco and Art are also the creators of their own Patrick the Wolf Boy series! He’ll be accompanied by his studiomate (and also first-timer at HeroesCon) Jamie Cosley, who does the Nobody Likes Tony Pony comics, as well as Big Honkin’ Bug Nut. Which is a hard to beat title for anything, you’ll of course agree.

Joining Franco and Jamie in our ever-growing section of kids-friendly creators at HeroesCon is our old friend Marcus Hamilton, who handles the art chores on the daily Dennis the Menace newspaper strip. Marcus is a local-boy-done-good–after years assisting Hank Ketcham on the strip, he took drawing the dailies after his death and has been doing them ever since! He’s also one of the sweetest guys you could hope to meet!

Returning to HeroesCon this summer is Michael Dooney, who has been doing cover and interior art for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics for years as part of Peter Laird‘s Mirage Studios. He’s also a toy designer for properties including TMNT, Star Trek, and Star Wars!

Many HeroesCon attendees and customers in our store will be familiar with Ian Flynn, the writer of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe, and creator of the Young Salem miniseries. Ian is a sweet dude who LOVES to talk Sonic, so bring your trivia hats, because he’s ready.

And while he’s not technically an all-ages creator, we round out our update today with Gary Kwapisz, who worked for both Marvel and DC in the 80’s and 90’s, including titles like Conan and The Punisher. These days he’s working on stories for History Graphic Press including Civil War Adventure!

Joining the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List today is fan-favorite cover (and sometimes interior) artist Greg Horn, who is known for his stylized cover ladies, especially for Marvel Comics. But more recently he’s been doing more DC stuff, including Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps variants, Wonder Woman, Justice League: Rise and Fall, and many more. But he’s been doing covers forever, notably on Marvel titles like She-Hulk, Ms Marvel, and more recently Dark Avengers.

Also new today are a ton of creators who work with longtime writer and editor Renee Witterstaetter, who is often identified with fellow guests Michael Golden and Mark Texeira. Renee has been working in comics since the 80’s on titles like Superman and She-Hulk. More recently she’s been co-produding the “Creators Chronicles” series of DVD’s, spotlighting popular comics artists like Mike and Tex, as well as George Perez, Bill Sienkiewicz, Joe Jusko and more.

Joining Renee are artists Steve Scott (Magick, Exiles, Marvel Adventures: Hulk), Leo Leibelman (Heavy Metal), and Creators Chronicles co-producer Robin Dale. These guys practically have their own little island in Artist Alley these days. And they’ll be joined by longtime guest and Art Auction favorite Buzz, who beside being an in-demand pinup and commission artist, has worked on comics including JSA, Atomika, and Vampirella.

Whew! Still tons more creators to announce–stay tuned!

New today to the HeroesCon 2010 Indie Island list: my super homey Paul Maybury, artist on the uber-acclaimed Aqua Leung and the forthcoming Act-I-Vate strip-turned-book Party Bear. Paul might do the best con sketches ever, they’re pretty nuts. I mean NUTS. I wish I had more money, I swear I do, because I would give it to Paul.

Also new is first-timer Ed Brisson, proprietor-in-chief of New Reliable Press, and publisher of the awesome You Ain’t No Dancer anthology, as well as Jan’s Atomic Heart and the brand new Horribleville, by fellow HeroesCon guest KC Green. Very excited that Ed is making the trip all the way from Vancouver for the show this year–be sure to stop by his table and make it worth the trip for him!

More updates coming tomorrow and Friday, including a fan-favorite all-ages artist AND  fan-favorite cover artist! Stay tuned!

We’re kicking off about 1,000,000 guests we have lined up to announce this week with two old buds and one new bud. First off is Brian Pulido, the energetic co-creator of Lady Death, Evil Ernie, and tons more characters, as well as the founder of Chaos! Comics! Brian doesn’t limit his scope to just writing comics though–he also wrote and directed the feature film “The Graves,” has earned the Defender of Liberty Award from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and is on the Hero Initiative‘s fundraising board. Look for his upcoming Lady Death ongoing, coming this fall.

Also new this week is our chum Eric Layton, who is moving across the aisle this year from his old digs in North Carolina’s Tsunami Studios to Georgia’s Jolly Roger Studios. His credits include Dean Koontz’ Fear Nothing, Ex Machina, and Hexxen Hammers.

And joining the HeroesCon Guest List for the first time is Chris Roberson, who has written a bajillion novels, but might be more recognizable to comics fans for his recent comics writing on titles like Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love, iZombie, Jack of Fables, and more! He’ll be set up with Bill Willingham and Chrissie Zullo in Artists Alley, so it’ll be one-stop shopping for Fables fans!

Okay! That’s just Tuesday–pretty sure we’ll be adding names every day of the week this week, so buckle up!

Guess who’s coming to HeroesCon this summer–

Well no, not him exactly, but pretty close. Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy and artist on books like Batman: Gotham By Gaslight and Cosmic Odyssey, will be returning to HeroesCon this summer! Mike is one of the most respected and influential creators in comics, Hellboy is consistently one of the best and most critically acclaimed comics on the rack. While there are many Mike Mignola duplicators, there’s only one original, and you can meet him in Charlotte this June!

Oh man, I just realized–with Guy Davis sitting right next to him, we may need to reinforce the concrete in Artists Alley to make sure the floor can withstand the weight of all those fans. Super exciting news–Shelton’s been working on this for a while; I know he’s extra excited about having Mike back in Charlotte!

The second of three updates to the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List this week, holy cow! And a big one at that–new to the Guest List today is uber-fan-favorite artist Kevin Maguire, whose work on titles like Justice League International, Formerly Known As The Justice League, Metal Men, and many more has cemented his reputation as the go-to artist for rubber-faced comedy. Pretty sure this guy is going to have a ridiculous line and sketch list at the show, if he’s doing sketches. I’m presuming he will, but we’ll leave that up to him.

Also new this week is Jose Marzan, Jr., the inker on super-popular Y: the Last Man, Jack of Fables, House of Mystery, and a bunch of others.  Jose has inked over just about everyone over his 24-year career, including Adam Hughes, Mike Wieringo, and John Romita Sr.! I believe this is his first appearance at HeroesCon, and he too can most likely expect a healthy line–I think Y: the Last Man is one of the most popular series Vertigo has published in years, second only to Fables!

The only line new guest Jeff Parker can expect is probably one composed of parole officers and mimes, but if you can fight your way through them you can meet Jeff, who’s one of our very favorite people in the world, and a former North Carolinian. Jeff writes Agents of Atlas, the just-finished Underground, Mysterius the Unfathomable, and a ton of others. He’s left NC behind to be a member of the world-famous Periscope Studios in Portland, but we’re happy to have him back all the same, even if it’s just for a visit.

Okay! Still another update to go this week, and it’s a doozy!

Yes! New to the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List today is one of our faves and an old friend, Ron Garney! Ron has been the very definition of “fan favorite” artist for years and years, with popular runs on series like Captain America, X-Men, Hulk, and many more. More recently he’s been on titles like Amazing Spider-Man, Skaar: Son of Hulk, and Wolverine: Weapon X, plus working on movies including I Am Legend. Busy busy! We’re super-stoked that Ron has the time to make it back to HeroesCon this summer.

Another old chum who’ll be returning this year is NC-native Chris Kemple, who first gained exposure in the 90’s as part of North Carolina’s Artamus Studios, which also included Rich Case, Mike Wieringo, and Jeff Parker. Chris’s work has seen print in Fallout, Negative Burn, and more–these days he’s writing and drawing his own Red Vengeance graphic novel.

You may have heard about a little comic book called Amazing Spider-Man #583, which featured President Barack Obama on its cover and was one of the best selling comics of the last decade. If you were one of the bajillion people who bought one of the 5 or 6 printings of the comic, you can get it signed this year by artist Todd Nauck, who will also be a guest at HeroesCon! Heck, feel free to bring your other Nauck books, which include Spider-Man Clone Saga, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Young Justice, and Teen Titans Go, among others!

Alright! More announcements on the way this week, so stay tuned!

Oh wow.

This summer, one of the biggest names in comics will be appearing at HeroesCon 2010—Rob Liefeld! From hot X-artist to Image co-founder to Internet comics-community darling/firebrand, Rob’s done pretty much everything in his career in comics. His credits are sort of insane, with X-Force, Youngblood, New Mutants, Cable, and the upcoming Prelude to Deadpool Corps just the tip of the iceberg. His art style is much discussed online, and whether you’re a fan or a not-fan, pretty much everyone who’s ever met Rob personally will agree that he’s one of the most affable, friendly guys in comics, not to mention hard-working.

Good thing too–he’s sure to have some wicked long lines, which we’re already figuring out how to handle. Most likely similar to how we handled the Bendis/Brubaker/Fraction/Claremont lines last year.

And get this–remember how last week I was talking about a “big announcement” for this week? Believe it or not this wasn’t it–Shelton sprung this one on me yesterday in a staff meeting. But we were so excited about it we decided to go ahead and announce it today, while we double-dot our i’s and triple-cross our t’s for the other big announcement. Next week yo!