We’re happy to welcome Mark Waid back to HeroesCon in 2014!  Mark’s been to our con many times, but it’s been a few years since his last visit.  In that time, he’s brought a swashbuckling Daredevil back to popularity, and taken Bruce Banner in a new direction over in Indestructible Hulk.  He also wrote Dave Stevens’ beloved character in Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom and in the current Rocketeer/Spirit: Pulp Friction miniseries.  Before that, he wrote just about every character for every publisher, including acclaimed work on Flash, Irredeemable, Fantastic Four, Impulse, Kingdom Come, Captain America, and more.  And if that’s not an impressive enough resume, Waid also worked as an editor for both DC and Boom Studios, and is a co-founder of the digital comics site Thrillbent.  Waid is both encyclopedic and prolific, and we’re excited that he’ll be with us next summer.

HeroesCon 2014 will take place June 20-22.  Stay tuned to this very blog for all of our upcoming guest announcements.

SETH’S PICK :: HEROBEAR AND THE KID: THE INHERITANCE #1: With the behemoth that is Heroes’ first ever warehouse sale looming on the horizon, I’ll have to keep my staff pick short this week.  Kaboom Studios has thankfully brought Mike Kunkel’s timeless all ages story back to the masses.  Though The Inheritance is essentially a reprint of Kunkel’s fabled first Herobear miniseries, those issues are hard to come by.  In addition to a nice new printing, Kunkel provides new material for this reprint.  Between Kunkel’s animated art and nostalgic stories, there’s plenty to enjoy in these books.  If you do read this book and somehow remain unmoved, your heart might indeed be made of stone.

SETH’S PICK :: WINTER SOLDIER VOL. 4 TPB:  After writing and drawing books for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Vertigo, and 12 Gauge, our friend and neighbor Jason Latour landed the task of taking over writing duties for Ed Brubaker on Winter Soldier.  Alongside artist Nic Klein, Latour offered a smart and funny take on the man formerly known as Bucky. The pair also introduced memorable new cast members like Robards and Electric Ghost, both of whom further defined the Winter Soldier and his world.  Latour and Klein’s run received due acclaim, and though the series was ultimately cancelled (you know Marvel will relaunch it closer to the next Cap movie), their work was a fine addition to the character’s storied history.  This collection gives you an idea of what can happen when like minded creators get paired on a book that makes perfect sense for them to collaborate on.  It’s also, more importantly, an example of good and entertaining comics.

“Why don’t you guys ever have a warehouse sale?”  It’s something we’ve heard from countless customers over the years, and it’s finally happening over Labor Day weekend!  The sale will take place over four days from Friday, August 30 – Monday, September 2.

“What exactly makes this a warehouse sale?”  As you know, we buy comic collections all the time, and we’ve bought so many in recent years that we just don’t have the space to keep them anymore.  With multiple warehouses overflowing, it’s time to let our customers pick through what we’ve accumulated.

“What can I expect to find at the sale?”  For starters, we’ll have nearly 100,000 comics under tents in front of the store ready for you to dig through.  Do the math – that’s nearly 300 long boxes of comics!  As the sale goes on prices will get lower, but the selection will be smaller. We’ll have big deals right from the start, but as usual, the more you buy, the cheaper the cost.  We’ll also have a plethora of trade paperbacks on sale, reduced prices on HeroesCon prints through the years, and more!

“What are the hours for the sale?”  It will officially kick off Friday evening around 6 p.m. and go until MIDNIGHT!  Saturday it will begin at our normal opening hour of 10 a.m. and go until MIDNIGHT!  Sunday we’ll open three hours early at 10 a.m. and go until MIDNIGHT! And Monday, we’ll open at 10 a.m. and go until dark, or until everything’s gone, whichever comes first.

We’ve had lots of sales over the years, but trust me – you’ve never seen one this big.  Start getting your back issue list together and get ready for this gargantuan event!

Just for the sake of reminding you, here are the times for the sale:

Friday, August 30: 6 p.m. – MIDNIGHT

Saturday, August 31: 10 a.m. – MIDNIGHT

Sunday, September 1: 10 a.m. – MIDNIGHT

Monday, September 2: 10 a.m. – DARK (or until everything’s gone!)

Come celebrate the holiday with us, and pick up some great deals in the process!  See you Labor Day weekend!

SETH’S PICK :: COLLIDER #1:  Many of you have heard that Vertigo is launching several new titles over the next few months.  While this isn’t newsworthy in and of itself, what’s significant is that many of these new books bear little resemblance to the types of books Vertigo has produced in the past.  Think less grim and gritty, and a little more colorful.  Since it’s Vertigo, though, you can anticipate the same intelligent storytelling that you’ve come to expect.  While Collider isn’t the first of these new series to hit shelves (100 Bullets: Brother Lono and American Vampire are already out), it’s certainly the most obvious indicator of the publisher’s new direction.

Simon Oliver‘s thoughtful script deals with a scenario in which the concrete laws of physics we’ve all lived under start going haywire.  Reading the first issue, I could tell Oliver had done considerable research, but still wisely made it a character-driven story.  Oliver’s heady ideas are bolstered by the remarkable work of artist Robbi Rodriguez.  I’ve long been a fan of Robbi’s work, from Maintenance through his creator owned tour de force Frankie Get Your Gun.  In the past, I’ve used cliches like ‘kinetic, dynamic, fluid’ to describe his work.  Those words all still apply, but more than that, Collider reminded me of his strength as a storyteller.  None of the panels are wasted, and even when the script calls for a fairly mundane scene (like that cabby at the end of the first issue), there’s life in them, and a moving forward of the story, even if just in the gradual change of a character’s expression.

The other half of the art team is Heroes’ own Rico Renzi.  As with Loose Ends (his creator owned book with Jason Latour and Chris Brunner),  here Rico reminds you how important coloring can be to a book.  Like Loose Ends, Collider has its own defined palette, but one that is uniquely its own.  Aside from looking unlike any other Vertigo book you’ve ever seen, the colors in Collider are executed in a way that makes sense in a story where the laws of physics are no longer what they were.

It would be a mistake if I didn’t also include a mention of Nathan Fox‘s cover art.  It’s always frustrating when you see an incredible cover on a book where the interior art doesn’t remotely resemble it.  Fox succeeds on Collider because he’s creating pieces that fall right in line with the art and colors of the book’s creative team.  Not only does Fox maintain the aesthetic tone established by Rodriguez and Renzi, but he expounds on it.  On the first issue’s cover, you get an image that seamlessly fits into the story.  From script to art and colors to cover, Collider signifies how good comics can be when you have a creative team moving together in a unified, focused manner.  If Collider represents the new Vertigo, we’ll all be enjoying some quality new comics over the next year.

Heroes is proud to welcome Justin Crouse to the position of Store Manager!  Justin has been a valuable staff member for the past three years.  Like many employees over the years, Justin was a customer for some fifteen years before he worked his way up from HeroesCon volunteer to full fledged staff member.  In addition to being an endless source of humor for staff and customers alike, Justin has a wide range of comic tastes – his favorites include  Howard the Duck, Savage Dragon, Bulletproof Coffin, Captain America, Asterios Polyp and Black Hole.  Justin’s also a talented artist, with his work appearing in several anthologies and self-published comics in recent years.  He values the aesthetics of the form, and, like the rest of us, unabashedly loves comics.

As store manager, Justin will handle all comic ordering, which means if you have any requests for specific items or variants, or would like to change your Previews orders, you’ll need to contact him at [email protected].  He will also be helping to coordinate volunteers for HeroesCon 2014.

We are very excited to have Justin as our new store manager, and hope you’ll also welcome him.  After the success of this year’s HeroesCon, we’re all reinvigorated and ready to bring you an even better comic shop and convention in the coming year.  Great things are happening at Heroes, and we hope you’ll continue to join us along the way.

SETH’S PICK :: THE REASON FOR DRAGONS HC: I’ve been anticipating this new Archaia book since first hearing about it.  Chris Northrop and Jeff Stokely (of Boom’s excellent sci-fi/western Six Gun Gorilla) tell the story of a teenage loner who stumbles upon the ruins of a Renaissance Fair and meets an aging man in a knight’s garb.  The quixotic man believes himself to be a literal knight hunting a nearby dragon.  The book then takes on elements of ’80s coming-of-age tales.  There’s been a good bit of advanced buzz for this graphic novel, garnering comparisons to The Fisher King and interest from the film industry.  With its mix of literary writing and kinetic artwork, I’m betting that this will end up on at least a few ‘best of the year’ lists.

SETH’S PICK :: HALF PAST DANGER #3:  There are several interesting titles out this week (Batman ’66 #1, Paul Pope’s Death of Haggard West, The Love and Rockets Companion, Seagle and Kristiansen’s Genius, Brandon Graham’s Walrus), but I’m opting to bring Half Past Danger to your attention.  This action adventure series from IDW is pretty straightforward, but very much a breath of fresh air.  It’s essentially an adventure series, but in the first two issues has already delivered on its promise of Dames, Dinosaurs and Danger.  It features all of those elements (and ninjas!) set against the backdrop of World War II.  More than that, it’s executed wonderfully by writer/artist Stephen Mooney and colorist Jordie Bellaire, who is quickly becoming to colorists what Francesco Francavilla is to cover artists.  This series feels like it was produced by people who love old action and adventure comics and films, and doesn’t shy away from displaying its exuberance.  Best of all, this is the perfect kind of comic to offer you a break from the big, shiny summer events of  super hero books.

SETH’S PICK :: LOST CAT HC:  I’ll admit that my first cursory assessments of the works of Norwegian cartoonist Jason weren’t favorable. I didn’t initially see the brilliant storytelling behind the deceptively simple artwork.  Had I actually sat down to read some of his works, I would’ve seen the greatness sooner.  Now I’m happy to say that I’ve read just about everything  by this cartoonist, and am always excited when he releases a new book.  Jason is widely regarded for his shorter works, so the real selling point of Lost Cat is that it’s a lengthy 160 page story.  It has the trappings of a detective story, but will certainly have some of the pathos and characterization that set Jason’s work apart from others. It should also be noted that this book was translated by the late Kim Thompson.  Kim did many great things for comics over the course of his life, but his translations of works by Jason are among my favorite of his contributions.  Thanks to him, numerous works from talented European cartoonists were introduced to an American audience, and that will resonate among cartoonists in this country for decades to come.  If you missed Craig Fischer’s fine remembrance of Kim on the Heroes Blog a few weeks ago, I’d encourage you to check it out HERE. 

SETH’S PICK :: SATELLITE SAM #1: I contemplated picking the glorious Mickey Mouse Color Sundays vol. 1, but figured Andy Mansell would do a much better job of churning up excitement for it.  Then I realized that Satellite Sam debuts from Image this week, and thought it best to remind our readers of that.  It’s a collaboration between Matt Fraction and Howard Chaykin, and is set in the Golden Age of television. Fraction’s something of a film and T.V. history buff, so this makes me think it’ll be tonally closer to Casanova than his Marvel work.  Toss in the fact that he’s working with a legend like Chaykin, and you too might see the potential of this new book.  To summarize, we have two versatile creators telling a story about a murder mystery set against the backdrop of fifties era entertainment.  At the very least, that should warrant a thorough read.  Don’t forget it on your trip to Heroes this week!