The fun doesn’t end after our Spider-Gwen #1 Release Party. Join us for more fun and live music at Snug Harbor with special guests Married With Sea Monsters and Junior Astronomers! Don’t miss your chance to see these bands in this intimate setting. Married With Sea Monsters has been working on some new “Mary Janes” songs and this will be your first opportunity to hear them!

Doors at 9PM / $10 Advance Tickets

Married With Sea Monsters became a sensation with their cover of The Mary Janes song “Face It Tiger” featured in Edge of Spider-Verse #2 from Marvel Comics and featuring the debut of the Gwen Stacy Spider-Woman!

Local post-punk heroes Junior Astronomers always bring the ruckus!

Along with the opening week of the Football season and the beginning of the new school term, each year September also brings us Banned Book Week. It is an annual reminder of our freedom to read.

Banned Book Week is officially scheduled Sept. 21 – 27 but there are a variety of events that will occur throughout the month. BBW is sponsored by local libraries, independent retailers along with a supportive legion of readers all over the world From the Banned Books Website: “BBW was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982 according to the American Library Association. There were 307 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2013, and many more go unreported.”

Each year, the American Library Association (ALA) publishes a Top Ten list of Frequently Challenged Books. This year’s list (published in April) includes the # 1 Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series for offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence. The list is rounded off with Jeff Smith’s Bone series at #10 for political viewpoint, racism, and violence

“This year we spotlight graphic novels because, despite their serious literary merit and popularity as a genre, they are often subject to censorship,” said Judith Platt, chair of the Banned Books Week National Committee.

At this past summer’s HeroesCon, Prof. Craig Fischer created a panel that focused on the history of the Comic Book Defense League Fund as well as a roundtable about the local issues an NC school had with Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. This will be posted at the Dollar Bin site later this month. www.thedollarbin.net

Locally, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Libraries are offering dozens of Banned Book Week events—everything from Art contests to Reading groups. To see all of the events in your area go to: www.cmlibrary.org/programs/

This year, Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find is doing their part to support this noble and important movement.  Warehouse Manager Seth Peagler and Heroes Discussion Group leader Andy Mansell will be appearing at a number of branches this month to discuss Banned Books:

Seth will join UNCC Professors Robert Campbell (Graphic Design) and Dr. Erik Waterkotte (Print Media) to discuss the importance of comics and graphic novels and how they are susceptible to censorship. Audience: Adults, Teens (12-18) 9/18/2014 at 6:00 PM: Morrison Regional near South Park.

Andy will lead discussions at the following branches on why comics are particularly vulnerable to challenges and focus on some of the more frequently challenged titles.

9/18/2014 at 6:00 PM: Scaleybark  Audience: Teens (12-18), Adults, Seniors

9/24/2014 at 2:30 PM: Independence Regional   Audience: Teens (12-18)

9/25/2014 at 5:00 PM: Mountain Island Audience: Teens (12-18), Adults, Seniors

We hope to see you there and remember, reading is one of our greatest gifts. Never take it for granted!

Our pal John Hairston Jr. is featured in the current issue of Charlotte Magazine! To celebrate that fact and to give all of our out-of-town guests a chance to see John’s art in person we have extended his solo show, 1962: The Age of Marvels! The paintings that are on display in the store are available for purchase in our web store along with other Heroes exclusive comic books, prints and t-shirts. Please stop by our store and feast your eyes on John’s gorgeous paintings!

Land sakes! Is it the weekend already?! How’d that happen?!
Well, regardless of whether or not I fell through a worm-hole sometime on Wednesday evening, I hope that everyone has been taking advantage of the lovely weather and the break in the heat we’ve had over the last few days. The weekend is already upon us, and if you haven’t already made plans to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather then maybe it’s time you did!

If you were looking for something that’s family friendly, fun and, best of all, FREE to do this weekend, then let me suggest you join us at the Common Ground Festival! The Common Ground Festival is an all day event that will take up the length of Thomas Avenue between Central Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue in Charlotte on Saturday, August 25th. The festival begins at noon and will last until 11pm Saturday night. There will be live music, food, drinks, local artists, craftsmen and local vendors, including everyone’s favorite comic-shop, Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find!

We’ll be setting up a couple of Heroes booths at the event, and we plan to bring an assortment of Heroes goodies to give away and sell! We’ve also invited some of our favorite artists to come hang out with us at our booths throughout the day, so be sure to stop by and say “Hello!” You never know who might be dropping in!

John Carpenter’s classic remake gets a back story this year. Set in the ice of the Antarctic, scientists find ‘the Thing ‘ which soon becomes….them. 

And we’ve got tickets to a pre-screening on Tuesday, October 11th! So be sure to get one while they last! Just drop into the store and mention this post.

HeroesCon staple and recent Charlotte MiniCon guest Sanford Greene always has many diverse projects in the works.  One of the most interesting is a Gallery exhibit of his art coming up later this month.  If you’re in or around the Columbia, SC area, make it a point to stop by and check out some of Sanford’s energetic originals.  The event takes place on Thursday, February 24 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Ponder Art Gallery at Benedict College in Columbia, SC.  In addition to seeing Sanford’s art, the event will also feature music from DayClean (www.daycleanduo.com) and soul singer Fayth Hope (www.faythhope.com).  The event is being hosted by Preach Jacobs (www.mobettasoul.com).  For more information about the event, check out Sanford’s website (www.sanfordgreene.com).  Don’t  miss this opportunity to support a  talented artist and longtime friend of Heroes.

We love to brag about our customers especially when they are as cool as Joe Keller! Keller is the writer and director of the new short film Artifacts which is premiering at the Neighborhood Theater Saturday, January 15 at 2 pm. Special guests Bat Regurgitator will be on hand to perform Soul, the theme song from the film.

Here is the synopsis for the film direct from Keller himself:

“Photographer Clayton Ardubon leads a life of indulgence comprised of women and success. But no amount of either can satisfy the hole at the center of his life. That is, until Marion, an ex-lover from his youth, shows up unexpectedly at a showing. Fueled by an insatiable curiosity and a longing for days gone by, Clayton tracks down Marion. But his search leads to Marion’s daughter, Paige; a rebellious youth who opens the door to an unexpected love affair as dangerous as it is sincere.”

Check out the trailer for Artifacts on YouTube to get you pumped to see the short film! For more information visit the Artifacts website. It is full of behind the scenes info, cast and crew listings and trailers! I highly recommend that you make it out to support this wonderful up-and-coming filmmaker!

Artifacts Short Film Premiere with live performance from Bat Regurgitator
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Doors open at 2 pm
Neighborhood Theater
511 E 36th St.
Charlotte, NC 28205

The Mint Museum Uptown will open its doors to the general public October 1, 2010 with a ribbon cutting at 5 pm. Events start Friday at 5:30 pm and end Saturday at 5:30 pm. That’s right, the uptown location will celebrate its grand opening for 24-hours! Admission on Friday is only $10 to non-members while members get in free. Starting at 2 am on Saturday admission is free to everyone! They have a wide array of events to keep everyone entertained, from Curator’s Spotlights to music to live demonstrations. You can view the full list here! Plus, you get to be one of the first to view the new location and their new exhibitions including Contemporary British Studio Ceramics: The Grainer Collection and New Visions: Contemporary Masterworks from the Bank of America Collection.

The Mint Museum Randolf location remains open with a primary focus on Ancient and Native American Art, Decorative Arts and Historic Costumes. The Uptown location will have the American Art, Craft + Design and Contemporary Art collections. Please see The Mint Museum website for more information about exhibitions, directions and parking.

Mint Museum Uptown Grand Opening Celebration
Friday, October 1 at 5:30 pm thru Saturday, October 2 at 5:30 pm
500 South Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28202

One of the best artists working in Charlotte right now is John Hairston, Jr. His work reminds me of John-Michel Basquiat but more dynamic and accessible. They have similar aesthetic sensibilities particularly with their graffiti elements and paint drips. Basquiat explored themes of iconography and race using imagery from literature and high art. Hairston explores similar themes but uses images from popular culture. Same ideas, different lens.

Hairston’s new art show, Children of the Atom, opens tonight at the Baku Gallery. It is superhero themed and features all new works. If you bring school supplies you get a limited edition Children of the Atom print. Hairston deserves a lot more press than he gets, but I was glad to see that Creative Loafing did an article about this show. He seriously deserves a lot more attention and praise. His work is amazing. Do yourself a favor and spend an evening in NoDa admiring the art work of John Hairston, Jr. That way when he blows up, and he will, you can say that you knew him way back when.

Children of the Atom
Art Show Opening Reception
Friday, September 3 from 6 to 10 pm
Art on display until October 3

Baku Gallery
3200 North Davidson St
Charlotte, NC 28205

De’Angelo Dia will perform at the McColl Center Friday, August 20 as part of the Closing Reception for current Artists in Residence. Dia’s work explores stereotypes of race and gender using photography and performance. It is difficult to describe his complex body of work. I highly recommended you go and see his work for yourself and draw your own conclusions about what his work means. I must admit, we have some incredibly talented customers.

The McColl Center
721 N. Tryon St.
Charlotte, NC 28202

The Closing Reception will be from 6 to 9 pm and Dia’s performance, Negritude Movement, will begin at 7:15 pm.