This past Monday we held another installment of our ever-growing Heroes Discussion Group, led as always by our main man Andy Mansell (perhaps making him our Main Mansell?). This was one of our biggest Discussion Groups ever, second only to the Watchmen discussion we held a few months ago. While we of course like to think it was of us, more likely it was due to the fact that we were joined via telephone by Iron Man writer Matt Fraction.

As we miss no opportunity to mention, Matt worked here years and years ago, before he achieved fame and fortune first as an animator and filmmaker, and more recently as a big-time comics writer. So it was extra-awesome to have Matt join our discussion of The Invincible Iron Man Volume One: The Five Nightmares. Andy (and us, here and there) quizzed Matt about his process, how he became a writer, and some of the ideas that went into the relaunch of Iron Man. Unsurprising to everyone there, it was awesome!

Facilitating said awesomeness, and recording it for future broadcast, were our friends from The Dollar Bin podcast, Adam Daughhetee and Brian Eison. Adam brought a tower of sound equipment, and patched our phone line right into it–Matt’s voice was pumping out of the speakers, and we were all miked so Matt could hear us. I’ll post a link here when the DB guys have the podcast available on their site, but I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you went and poked around on their site right now–it has a ton of reviews, interviews, and of course their regular show. Not to mention a TON of recorded panels from last year’s HeroesCon!

Okay–I took a bunch of photos, which you can check out either on our Flickr photostream, or roughly the last third of this Heroes Discussion Group photo set. Check it out!

by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato Jr.

Fans of the Avengers should be pleased these days — and that’s due to the fact that there are at least four ongoing Avengers-centric titles currently on sale at comic book shops.

Now, I say should be happy because, although there are multiple Avengers-related comics in the marketplace, not all of them are good.

I’m sort of bored with The New Avengers. It seems like these guys have been fighting the same villains and dealing with the same conflicts for 50 issues straight. I used to love The Mighty Avengers because it was most like what I used to love about the comic back in the day: big-time heroes and big-time villains; with Dan Slott at the helm, however, I’m not so excited. Hank Pym as the new Wasp? I’m not feeling it.

But while I’m not head over heels about the New or Mighty titles, I am enjoying Dark Avengers — and that’s a surprise.

When Dark Avengers was announced, I groaned. To me, it just seemed like a re-hash of the Thunderbolts. (Of course, I really liked Warren Ellis’ Thunderbolts.) But after reading the first two issues, I found myself hooked. Why? I think the team’s line-up is what makes interesting.

Look at it like this: the other Avengers have to live by their “heroic” code of conduct, and that sometimes results in some “blah” characterizations. The Dark Avengers on the other hand, are villains and psychopaths, so their personalities are over just naturally the top — and that’s fun. You never really know what the team’s members are going to do and you can always count on some great dialogue coming out of their mouths. Series writer Brian Bendis is clearly having a ball with this group of bad-guys-gone-good, and it shows on the page.

In addition, Dark Avengers is drawn by Mike Deodato, so it’s pretty to look at, too.

Buy the book. It’s good. Trust me.

Carlton Hargro is the Editor-in-Chief of Creative Loafing. Read more by Carlton at the Creative Loafing website.

This Monday we’ll be holding the next installment of our Heroes Discussion Group, hosted by the inimitable and indefatigable Andy Mansell. Yes yes, I know that Andy already posted all about it here, BUT I thought I’d draw a little extra attention to this one, as it’s a little special. Ladies and Gentlemen, I humbly present:

FOUR REASONS NOT TO MISS THE NEXT HEROES DISCUSSION GROUP:

1) We’ll be discussing one of the most popular and fan-favorite books of the last several years, The Invincible Iron Man Volume One: The Five Nightmares, by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca.

2) None other than super-writer Matt Fraction will be joining us via the modern miracle of the speakerphone, and will cheerfully submit himself to grilling by both Andy and you.

3) Adam Daughetee (I don’t think I spelled that right; what is that, Italian?) of The Dollar Bin will be in the hizzy as well, recording the whole thing for posterity. THIS MAY BE YOUR BEST SHOT AT IMMORTALITY (personal religious views notwithstanding)!!

4) I will be there as well, running the register for when you want to thank us for putting such an excellent evening together. You’re welcome!

But seriously, folks! This is sure to be one of our better attended Discussion Groups, and I know that Andy is working hard on his own arcane preparations, which he undertakes before each Discussion Group. And also before the Renaissance Festival. Anyway. Be sure to show up early to get a good seat!

by Carlton Hargro

Reading the Justice Society of America these days makes me sad.

I’m not sad because the comic (which stars the world’s first superhero team) is awful or anything, but because — as the issues tick away — Geoff Johns’ time as writer on the book is quickly coming to a close.

Johns is known as a comic genius right abuot now, especially when it comes to DC comics. He successfully revitalized Green Lantern, made Action Comics worth reading and soon we’ll see him work his magic (again) on The Flash. But the series that made him a superstar was the JSA.

Before Johns, no writer seemed able to make the JSA a viable property. I guess creators looked at these elder super dudes with cheesy costumes, corny names and sometimes lame powers and saw no redeemable value in this team of heroes. Johns, however, shoveled past the wack elements of the characters and discovered what makes them unique and interesting in the first place. I mean, anyone who can make a guy in a furry cat suit cool has got to be a genius.

Keep in mind, when Johns relaunched the JSA there were two other writers working on the book — David Goyer and James Robinson. But it didn’t take long for Johns to prove that he understood how to mix the right amounts of nostalgia, drama and up-to-date whiz bangs on his own.

Soon two new writers will take over JSA and I will give them a chance because I love these heroes. But I’ll miss ya’ Johns. You did the old boys good.

Holy Mackerel! When we agreed to have a special in-store signing with film director George Romero, we thought it would be a good way to promote the store to people who may be unfamiliar with us.

But JEEZ LOUISE, what a turnout! If you’ve ever been to one of our massive Free Comic Book Day shindigs, it was kind of like that, EXCEPT that all of those people were there to meet just one dude! Whoa Nellie!

The signing was part of the "American Zombie" film retrospective organized by The Light Factory, and in some ways sort of the lead-off event. Many thanks to Wendy, Juliette, Dee and the whole staff for putting on a great event and being able to adjust to some pretty wild challenges on the ground!

Read on for all the gory (get it? gory? zombies?) details at the Flickr set we’ve posted, containing over 60 photos!.

UPDATE! My man Russell Smith just sent me this short YouTube video in our store. Although he’s referring to a different “Dustin” in the video–MY directing idol is Russell himself. Check it:

reviewed by Carlton Hargro

It looks like writer Ed Brubaker has scored another winning series with the launch of his latest crime/superhero comic Incognito.

Incognito, a creator-owned comic published by Marvel’s Icon imprint, mixes the best aspects of the two genres by telling the story of a former super villain who’s currently in hiding in the Witness Protection Program — and as a result of being bored by his new life, becomes a hero.

Like some of Brubaker’s other crime books, such as Sleeper and Criminal, Incognito is filled with the requisite amounts of sex, violence, double-dealing, femme fatales and more. The story is a lot of fun and the art, by Sean Phillips, is as gritty as the writing. But as much as I love Incognito’s writing and art, I dig the text pieces in the back of each issue even more.

The first two editions of the series featured two prose-style history pieces that explained the past, present and future of pulp characters like the Shadow and Doc Savage. Now that may sound boring on the surface, but both articles are quick reads — short, but enormously informative.

The writers who Brubaker have assembled to craft these historical works thus far have managed to show the links between pulp books of the past and superheroes of today in a way that would be of interest to even casual comic fans.

Personally, I’ve always wondered about the origins of guys like Doc Savage, but I wasn’t stoked about the idea of sifting through some huge tome about him. After I’m done reading an engrossing book like Incognito, however, I’m more prone to just flip through a quick story.

And with the economy the way it is, I appreciate anything that extends my comic reading experience without extending the price.

Carlton Hargro is the Editor-in-Chief of Creative Loafing Charlotte. For more by Carlton, check out the Creative Loafing website.

Well, I said it briefly yesterday, but now I have said it in a much more longwinded fashion: Claudio Sanchez is a super-nice guy, the signing we hosted yesterday went almost impossibly smoothly, and everyone had a great time.I mean, check out all these peeps:

Okay, there are 40-something photos, most with wearisome descriptions and anecdotes, all yours for the viewing over at our Flickr site (I just noticed we’ve crossed 1200 photos!!). I sincerely hope you enjoyed them. I’m home sick today, and it was extra hard to think of anything to say when I was so busy pitying myself. The things I do for you!

Oh, but before I forget, for those of you who couldn’t come but want a piece of the action:

Before he left to go play last night’s Coheed & Cambria show at the newly named Bojangles Arena, Claudio kindly signed the rest of the “bloody” Kill Audio vinyl figures we’d gotten in for the event. If you’d like one of these tour exclusive fellas, drop Shelton an e-mail or call us at 704.375.7462 with your charge info to order one. We’ll probably charge you $5 or $6 or so, depending on where you live–and of course you can just pick one up in the store anytime, until they’re all gone. Okay–go drink in the photo report!!

by Carlton Hargro

I’ve always liked Nick Fury but never really liked a comic book starring Nick Fury.

For me, Fury was sort of like Dr. Strange — good for an occasional guest appearance, but not good enough to support a monthly comic book. Maybe it’s because, just like Strange has an almost limitless array of powers, Fury has a limitless supply of resources as the head of Marvel’s resident espionage organization, S.H.I.E.L.D.

But based on the quality of Fury’s latest title — Secret Warriors — I just may change my mind about Marvel’s No. 1 spy.

If you’re not familiar with the premise behind Secret Warriors (which is written by Secret Invasion architect Brian Bendis and Jonathan Hickman, of Image Comics fame), here’s the gist: Before Secret Invasion, Nick Fury figured out the Skrulls were hiding among us, so he created a team of heroes who weren’t known by the bad guys. And then helped beat up the bad guys. After Secret Invasion, Fury continues to lead his super team, but now he’s going against Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign, among other baddies.

So why does this Fury vehicle work where others failed? Well, first, instead of having Nick run S.H.I.E.L.D. and hang out with thousands of faceless agents, Hickman and Bendis have pared down his crew to just a handful of folks. Second, Hickman and Bendis can just plain write. Their characterizations are accurate; the dialogue is witty and entertaining; and the plot is engrossing and offers several real surprises. On top of all that, the art by Stefano Caselli is great … clean, yet detailed.

Bottom line: Buy Secret Warriors No. 1. It’s good … even if you don’t dig Nick Fury cmics.

Carlton Hargro is Editor-in-Chief of Creative Loafing Charlotte.

WHOA NELLIE!! I’ll be posting a longer photo report to our Flickr site later in the week, but I thought I’d give you a little teasie-poo real quick. Holy cow did a lot of people show up to meet Claudio Sanchez of Coheed & Cambria today, with a few of them waiting for us to open the doors at 10am–even thought the event wasn’t scheduled until 2.30!

Claudio Sanchez was a super cool dude is the short version–here we see him with Shelton and Shelton’s granddaughter Faith. I’ll expound on his coolness in my full report, but that’s the short version. Faith asked me how to spell “evil” earlier in the day, for a drawing she was doing. Ah, inspiration.

As I type, the band is about an hour or two from taking the stage at Cricket Bojangles Arena, and we hope they rock everyone’s faces right off. Before he left Claudio signed up a slew of the tour-exclusive Kill Audio vinyl figures, which we’ll be selling for $50 a pop while they last. Let us know if you want one! And look for that longer post later in the week!

Boy 2008 sure was stinky wasn’t it? That year deflated faster than a flan in a cupboard. But now it’s time to look ahead and see what there is to look forward to in the year 2009.

Muppet/Pixar Comics — Boom! Studios were able to gain the license to these properties and in March we’ll see the fruits of that labor. From the looks of the solicits they’ve gone top quality all the way with Mark Waid writing The Incredibles and Roger Langridge doing The Muppets (which I and fellow employee Matt Knapik are very excited about) Plus, they’re $2.99 for 24 pages of story, a great value in these harsh Dickensian times. Due in March.

Blackest Night — I’m as sick as anyone of events, I wrote an article about it remember? But Green Lantern has been probably DC’s consistently best book (and DC’s best line: GL Corps is equally good) so I have a lot of goodwill going into this more than I have had in probably any event ever. Should be out in early summer.

Wolverine: Weapon X — Wolverine is in way, way too many comics if they cut the amount of stuff he was appearing in by a 1/3 it’d still be a lot. So why is this on my list? I’m not much of Wolverine fan, I’m not really looking forward to the movie that this series is being launched alongside of (much like Fraction’s Iron Man book last year.) This is on my list because of Jason Aaron. Scalped is one of my favorite books and always on the top of my list of recommendations for customers. His Ghost Rider is ridiculously fun. And Aaron’s past Wolverine has been darn good. Out in April.

War of Kings — If my Blackest Night recommendation didn’t make me look like a hypocrite here I come with another event. It does seem that Marvel doesn’t have anything like a Civil War or a Secret Invasion this year and this crossover is regulated only to the cosmic Marvel books. The two Annihilation series, Nova, and Guardians of the Galaxy are among the best comics out there and this follows in that esteemed tradition. This will be super fun. Already gearing up to go but the main mini is due in March.

Flash: Rebirth — Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, and the return of a silver age DC character. It’s worked before. The Flash has been in a bit of a rut for a while and this should jump start the franchise and bring it back to prominence once again. Hitting the ground running in April

Bits and Pieces — Quick hits of other things coming ahead:

Ignition City — Described by Warren Ellis as Deadwood meets Flash Gordon so that’s a good sign. By Avatar in the Spring.

Superman Secret Origin — Origin stories are always kind of fun if a bit overdone but its done by the Action Comics team of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank so this should be good. Coming in Spring.

Secret Warriors — The preview in Dark Reign New Nation was good and Jonathan Hickman is always worth a look. Out in February.

Ultimate Avengers — Mark Millar returns to the Ultimate Universe with this follow-up to The Ultimates 1 & 2 sometime this summer.

Grant Morrison’s Batman — He’s due back sometime in the summer and one has to wonder where its gonna go now that well…Batman is dead. Who’ll be Batman and is Frank Quitely really doing the art like the internet says? We’ll have to see.