Have you heard about this book yet? Judging by the way the Free Comic Book Day issues flew out of the store  you have! Did you know that Loose Ends is a creator-owned Southern Crime Romance comic and the 3 guys that made it all live in Charlotte? Well, you do now. Jason Latour, Chris Brunner & Rico Renzi have poured their blood, sweat and tears into this 4 issue series and to celebrate the release of the 1st issue we are hosting a signing at Heroes next Wednesday, July 13th. The guys will be in the store at two different times that day, 1st from 12PM to 2PM and again from 5PM to 8PM. As an added bonus, we will be giving away a limited edition, 2 color, silk screen poster to anyone buying a copy of Loose Ends #1 (regular or variant sketch cover, while supplies last). So, mark it on your calendar and we’ll see you next Wednesday!

We hope you’re having a great holiday! To celebrate, Heroes is opening our shiny new web store for you, our loyal blog readers. Click the image above to visit the store now. Today we are offering items that were previously only available at HeroesCon 2011! Why not purchase a Fighting American T-Shirt for yourself or a friend to celebrate our nation’s independence? Check it out, let us know what you think, and please let us know if there are other items you’d like to see in the web store. Have a good one and don’t blow your fingers off people!

Another Free Comic Book Day has come and gone. While we are compiling our FCBD Photo Report, we’d like to thank everyone that came out on Saturday.  You guys make this event a pleasure. Whether you came to pick up some free comics, dig through our incredible 25₵ and $1 comic boxes, get a great sketch from your favorite creator, or just shop in our store, it was a delight to serve you all. Thanks also to all the great creators who donated their time; we love having you guys here and we will see you again in less than a month at HeroesCon! Which brings us to the massive guest list update that the title of today’s blog post suggests!

We are very happy to announce that Neal Adams will be attending HeroesCon 2011! Neal is a living legend known for bringing a realism to superhero comics that didn’t exist before his arrival. Illustrating classic comics like Green Lantern #76 (pictured), Strange Adventures (creating the definitive look for Deadman), and many more, Neal went on to be DC’s primary cover artist during the 70’s. He later went on to found Continuity Comics and most recently he is writing and illustrating Batman: Odyssey at DC Comics.

Scott Hampton’s gorgeous work was recently seen in the pages of Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead. Try to catch Scott painting on our art stage for the Annual Art Auction.  He always creates something spectacular!

Painter Erik Jones has quickly made a name for himself in comics with his gorgeous covers for books like Hack/Slash, Witchblade, and Unkown and is currently doing covers for the new Elric series.

Heidi MacDonald is the brains behind the fantastic comics news site The Beat. Always insightful and informative, she has guided the site through it’s many incarnations while remaining a great resource to the comics industry and it’s fans.

David Mack is an Eisner-nominated and New York Times bestselling painter, writer, and cartoonist behind Kabuki, The Shy Creatures, numerous Daredevil arcs, and much more.

Writer Ben McCool has been doing tons of work lately, namely Memoir, Captain America: The Korvac Saga, and Choker.

Chris Moreno’s work has appeared in Zombie Bomb 4: Dark Daze, Disney’s Toy Story for BOOM! Studios, The Minions of Ka from Arcana, and Paul Jenkins’ Sidekick from Image Comics.  His creator-owned character, Sanz Pantz: Ninja Platypus appears in the Popgun anthologies from Image.  His other comics credits include Alien Inventor, World War Hulk: Frontline, Dracula vs. King Arthur, Monkey in a Wagon vs. Lemur on a Big Wheel, The Last Sin of Mark Grimm, the webcomic Super Frat, and Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales.

Jeff Parker is no stranger to regular HeroesCon attendees or anyone that’s read a Marvel comic in the last few years for that matter! Since the success of his creator-owned The Interman, Jeff has gone on to write Hulk, Thunderbolts, Agents of Atlas and many other titles. One of my personal favorites is Mysterius the Unfathomable, with artist Tom Fowler.

We’re excited to welcome Tim Sale back to HeroesCon this summer. Besides extraordinarily popular books like Batman: The Long Halloween and Spider-Man: Blue, Tim also did the paintings (with Dave Stewart) for the Isaac character on the television series Heroes.

Also added today:

Jason “Spyda” Adams- sculptor

Josh Adams- creator of In the Garden of Steven: the tale of Adam, Eve & Steve, artist on House of Mystery #13.

Scott Hanna – inker of titles such as Detective Comics, Amazing Spider-Man, Nova and many other Marvel and DC comics.

Norman Lee – inker of titles such as X-Men, Namor, New Mutants, DCU Online Legends and many more.

Mike Lilly – artist on books like Black Terror, Annihilation Conquest: Quasar, Vampirella, Punisher, and Batman.

David Malki! is the author of the celebrated comic strip Wondermark, which repurposes illustrations and engravings from 19th-Century books into sarcastic, silly, and surreal collage-style comic strips. In 2008, the Wondermark book Beards of our Forefathers was nominated for the Eisner Award — the highest honor in comics — for “Best Humorous Publication.” He’s also the co-editor of the sci-fi anthology Machine of Death, which became a surprise bestseller in 2010 thanks to an innovative grassroots marketing campaign.

J.D. Mettler- colorist on Ex Machina, The Talisman, JSA, War Heroes, Down, and many more.

Bill Neville- artist and co-creator of the Explorers

Joe Pruett – Desperado Publishing

Jim Starlin – writer/ artist on titles like Dreadstar, Breed, Batman, Silver Surfer, Death of Captain Marvel and many more.

Gary Reed- is the author of many titles with the most notable being Saint Germaine, Renfield, Raven Chronicles, and Baker Street.

Sara Richard- artist on Zombie Bomb and sketch cards for Marvel’s Dangerous Divas and Betty Page.

Art Thibert- inker on titles such as Ulitmate Spider-Man, X-Factor, X-Men and many more.

Wayne Vansant- artist on The ‘Nam

Alexis Ziritt- creator of Rudo and Mekano Turbo. Founder of Fistful Apparel.

Free Comic Book Day is tomorrow and the weather man has promised an absolutely gorgeous day! Heroes has a few last minute giveaways and incentives for all of you true believers out there. In local news, VisArt Video is offering a free movie rental to our first 30 customers that spend $15 dollars or more tomorrow. And the neighborhood fun doesn’t stop there! Jackalope Jack’s has informed us that anyone presenting their Heroes FCBD receipt will receive 20% off on their meal TOMORROW ONLY! Help support our local businesses while you enjoy a beautiful spring day filled with comics, art and fun! You can also pick up a pre-screening ticket for the new movie Priest, a TokyoPop production next Thursday or Bridesmaids, starring Kristen Wiig this Tuesday. These tickets are extremely limited so be sure to ask for them when you get to the register! Just say “I saw it on HeroesOnline!”

It’s time for Free Comic Book Day 2011! If you’ve been to Heroes for FCBD in the past you know it’s one of our biggest events of the year, and this year is no exception!  We’ll be open at our regular time of 10 a.m. and will have tons of Free Comics for you to pick up including a special HeroesCon Green Lantern Special Edition.  Take a look at all of this year’s free comic offerings!

2000 AD, Amazing Spider-Man, Atomic Robo & Friends, Avatar Last Airbender & Star Wars Clone Wars, Baltimore & Criminal Macabre, Bongo Comics Free For All, Captain America  & Thor, Civil War Adventure, Darkness 2 Prequel, Darkwing Duck & Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, Deadliest Sharks & Prehistoric Predators, Elric: Balance Lost, Geronimo Stilton & Smurfs, Green Lantern Flashpoint, ICE & Loose Ends, Inspector Gadget, Intrepid Escapegoat & Stuff of Legend, Jake the Dreaming, James Patterson: Witch & Wizard, John Stanley Summer Fun, Kung Fu Panda & Richie Rich, Locke & Key, Misadventures of Adam West, Mouse Guard & Dark Crystal, MTG Path Planeswalker II Preview, Oni Rated Free For Everyone, Overstreet Guide to Collecting Comics, Pep Comics Betty & Veronica, Silver Scorpion, Sonic the Hedgehog, Spontaneous, Super Dinosaur Origin Special, The Tick, Top Shelf Kids Club 2011, Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, Worlds of Aspen, Young Justice & Batman: Brave and the Bold Super Sampler.

This year we’re also happy to be one of the few stores to offer the first ever Sketch Charlotte: Free Comic Book Day Anthology!  This anthology features contributions from many of our talented local friends and customers. Sketch Charlotte’s own Eraklis Petmezas and Bridgit Scheide will be on hand to sign the anthology and some of their own quality books! They are just two of the talented creators that will be in attendance along with:

Chris Brunner – Co-creator of the FCBD offering LOOSE ENDS from 12 Gauge Comics. Artist on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, cover artist on Boondock Saints and Nola

Ian Flynn – Writer on Sonic the Hedgehog including the FCBD issue and the upcoming Mega Man from Archie Comics

Sanford Greene – Creator of 1000 and Rotten Apple. Artist on Wonder Girl, Method Man, and Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man

Cully Hamner – Co-creator of Red. Artist on The Question, Blue Beetle, Batman: Tenses, The Ride, Daredevil, and Green Lantern: Mosaic

Jason Latour – Co-creator of the FCBD offering LOOSE ENDS from 12 Gauge Comics. Artist on Wolverine, Captain America, Iron Fist, and Daredevil

Laura Martin – Color artist on The Rocketeer, Astonishing X-Men, Planetary, Secret Invasion, Thor and The Stand

Eraklis Petmezas – Creator of Mr. Lune and Last Cigarette

Rico Renzi – Color artist on the FCBD offering LOOSE ENDS from 12 Gauge Comics, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Wolverine, Frenemy of the State, and Captain America. (I’ll mostly be making sure the real guests stay hydrated!)

Budd Root – Creator of Cavewoman

Bridgit Scheide – Creator of The Kindle Kind and Brother Nash

Chris Schweizer – Creator of The Crogan Adventures

Andy Smith – Artist on X-Men: Legacy, WWE Heroes, and Superman Confidential

Brian Stelfreeze – Artist on Wednesday Comics, Jonah Hex, Batman: Shadow of the Bat, Matador and Domino

Matt Wilson – Color artist on the FCBD offering CAPTAIN AMERICA/THOR: THE MIGHTY FIGHTING AVENGERS, Y the Last Man, Phonogram, Thor the Mighty Avenger, and Wolverine

Please remember to be respectful of these folks! They are taking time out of their schedules and time away from their paying jobs to be here for all of us!

In addition to the talented artists who will be on hand to sketch and sign their work we’ll have lots of great bargains available for you on Saturday.  If you’ve been to our store in recent weeks you’ve noticed our fancy new redesign which moved the art books up front where the manga formerly was, and vice versa.  Instead of putting our overstock of this great manga collection in storage, we will be selling them outside at ridiculously low prices!  We also have over 100 long boxes of books that we’ll be selling for $1 and 25¢!  That’s over 25,000 comics to pick through and find books you might be missing from your collections!  Join us this Saturday for great comics, artists, and bargains!

It’s almost that time of year again for Free Comic Book Day! FCBD at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find is one of the biggest FCBD events in the country. Not only do we have tons of free comics for comic book fans of all ages, we also invite a bunch of great creators who will sign your comics and do quick sketches for you! This year we’ll be hosting :

Chris Brunner – Co-creator of the FCBD offering LOOSE ENDS from 12 Gauge Comics. Artist on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, cover artist on Boondock Saints andNola.

Ian Flynn – Writer on Sonic the Hedgehog and the upcoming Mega Man from Archie Comics.

Sanford Greene – Creator of 1000 and Rotten Apple. Artist on Wonder Girl, Method Man,and Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man.

Cully Hamner – Co-creator of Red. Artist on The Question, Blue Beetle, Batman: Tenses, The Ride, Daredevil, and Green Lantern Mosaic.

Jason Latour – Co-creator of the FCBD offering LOOSE ENDS from 12 Gauge Comics. Artist on Wolverine, Captain America, Iron Fist, and Daredevil.

Laura Martin – Color artist on The Rocketeer, Astonishing X-Men, Planetary, Secret Invasion, Thor and The Stand.

Rico Renzi – Color artist on the FCBD offering LOOSE ENDS from 12 Gauge Comics, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Wolverine, Frenemy of the State, and Captain America. (I’ll mostly be making sure the real guests stay hydrated!)

Budd Root – Creator of Cavewoman.

Bridgit Scheide – Creator of The Kindle Kind and Brother Nash.

Chris Schweizer – Creator of The Crogan Adventures.

Andy Smith – Artist on X-Men Legacy, WWE Heroes, and Superman Confidential.

Brian Stelfreeze – Artist on Wednesday Comics, Jonah Hex, Batman: Shadow of the Bat, Matador and Domino.

Matt Wilson – Color artist on the FCBD offering CAPTAIN AMERICA/THOR: THE MIGHTY FIGHTING AVENGERS, Y the Last Man, Phonogram, Thor the Mighty Avenger, andWolverine.

Sketch Charlotte – Several artists from this local sketch group will be on hand and word has it they are self-publishing their own FCBD anthology with Heroes being one of the few place you can get it!

Wow! NOTE that free sketches are at the discretion of the artists, and are not guaranteed.

So, mark that date on your calendar folks! Saturday, May 7th at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find will be a good time and you won’t want to miss it!

Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find will be out in force at the Raleigh Comic Book Show this Sunday, April 10th! We will be set up with great comics including modern back issues, a great selection of Silver Age books and more. Our friends Andy Smith (WWE Heroes, Dean Koontz’s Nevermore, Superman Confidential), Budd Root ( Cavewoman), Chris Brunner (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Boondock Saints, Loose Ends), Jason Latour (Captain America, Daredevil, Loose Ends), and Rico Renzi (Yo Gabba Gabba!, Stumptown, Loose Ends) will be making the trip with us too. I’ve even heard if you come by and say the password to Chris, Jason, or Rico that they might be able to let you flip through a preview of their new series Loose Ends. See you there!

What’s the best way to spend a rainy Saturday?? With plenty of cookies and comic books!

The Heroes Discussion Group met this past Saturday to discuss Daytripper– the ten issue mini-series by Brazilian twin superstars Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba.

God bless the ladies at the Sunflour Bakery…homemade fig newtons and snicker-doodles the size of your hand? Thank you sir, may I have another?

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.

Khary Randolph is an artist who isn’t easy to pin down. With sequential art, editorial illustration, toy design, and animation work on his resume, Randolph has shown the type of versatility needed to succeed in today’s marketplace as a commercial artist. With two books hitting shelves this week, Starborn #3 from BOOM and Charismagic #0 from Aspen, his work will be more visible than ever to comic fans. We recently had an opportunity to talk with this talented artist about his career and upcoming work.

Rico Renzi: Your work has appeared all over the place from animation to illustrations for ESPN the Magazine. Would you say you are a full-time comic artist right now?

Khary Randolph: For the first time in my career, yes I can say. All I’m doing is drawing comics right now, all day every day. It’s a pretty crazy time in my life.

RR: Are you working on Starborn and Charismagic simultaneously?

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