Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes
OPEN NOW – Sept 4!

DISCOVERY PLACE SCIENCE

Media Contact: Sarah Wheat | swheat@discoveryplace.org

CHARLOTTE, NC (March 15, 2023) – Following the smash success of its engagement at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes is about to land at Discovery Place Science. This will be the exhibition’s only stop in the Southeast and the last stop in the U.S. before heading to Europe. Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes features more than 300 original artifacts, including some of Marvel’s most iconic costumes, props and original art, much of which has never before been put on public display.

The exhibition tells Marvel’s story in comics, film and other media and commemorates 1939’s seminal Marvel Comics #1—the first-ever appearance of Marvel’s Super Heroes—as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This exhibition has drawn widespread acclaim from audiences and press alike.

“We are beyond thrilled to bring this incredible blockbuster exhibition to our community,” said Catherine Wilson Horne, President & CEO of Discovery Place. “This is Discovery Place Science’s first post-pandemic exhibition of this caliber, and it is a true showstopper. The title speaks for itself, and we can’t wait to welcome fans from Charlotte and beyond to experience Marvel like never before.”

“Our show begins with the origins of the Marvel Universe and moves through to the present day, giving a chance to see some of the rarest and most precious objects from the past 80 years of pop culture history and pointing toward the future with work from some of today’s foremost creators,” says curator Ben Saunders about the exhibition, which is produced by Semmel Exhibitions, Marvel Entertainment, and MoPOP.

Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes traces the story of the company and its influence on visual culture while also uncovering the narratives of individual characters such as Captain America, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Doctor Strange, giving insight into how Marvel has influenced and drawn inspiration from the ever-changing tides of popular culture; tracing how their stories have responded to historical events and addressed wider issues such as gender, race and mental illness; and honoring pioneering creators such as Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko, whose imagination made Marvel into the endlessly expansive fictional universes we know today.

“Marvel transformed the idea of the Super Hero in the 1960s—and beyond—by ratcheting up the visual spectacle, emotional dynamism and philosophical sophistication of the action-adventure comics genre,” says Brian Crosby, head of Marvel Themed Entertainment. “Marvel has always been a reflection of the world outside your own window and one of its most compelling messages has always been that anyone—regardless of race, religion or gender—can be a Super Hero.”

Breathtaking artifacts thrill collectors and casual fans alike, immersive set pieces and interactive installations bring the comic book world to life, and the visual aspects of the exhibition are accompanied by an immersive soundscape created by acclaimed composer Lorne Balfe. Visitors will enjoy the opportunity to travel through the mysterious mirror dimension of Doctor Strange; get up-close glimpses at concept sketches, props, and costumes from Marvel Studios blockbusters; pose for selfies alongside life-size representations of Black Panther, Spider-Man, and other characters; see the original art from some of Marvel’s most notable comics; and even step into Tony Stark’s lab to test the capabilities of the Iron Man armor for themselves.

The exhibition has been curated by an outstanding team that includes three scholars of comics – Benjamin Saunders, Matthew J. Smith and Randy Duncan, all of whom are university professors and experts in their field. Renowned comics writers and editors Annie Nocenti and Danny Fingeroth also contributed their time and knowledge to create a fully-formed picture of the Marvel phenomenon.

About Discovery Place Science
Discovery Place Science is the leading hub for science learning in the Carolinas—dedicated to the exchange of ideas, scientific exploration and creative expression to stimulate innovative problem-solving and learning. The Museum brings relevant, contemporary science to life through groundbreaking exhibitions, interactive educational programming and hands-on activities. Located in Uptown Charlotte at 301 N. Tryon Street, convenient parking is available in the Museum’s parking deck—the Carol Grotnes Belk Complex—at the corner of Sixth and Church streets. For more information about Discovery Place Science, call 704-372-6261, visit discoveryplace.org, or connect with Discovery Place Science on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

THANK YOU!

We Appreciate Each And Every One Of You.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

We Will Be Open On Christmas Eve, December 24 from 10AM-6PM
We Will Be CLOSED On Christmas Day
We Will Reopen On Sunday, December 26 from 1PM-6PM

Santa must have been some-what disillusioned or at the very least pre-occupied this Holiday season, because I landed quite an unexpected haul this year.  My stocking runneth over with all kinds of comic book goodies.  Here is a just a brief summation of my first official time on the Nice List:

Marvel Masterworks The Inhumans Volume 1— a gorgeous reprinting of the Lee/Kirby Inhumans back-up series for Thor, followed by the short but fabulous Kirby and then Neal Adams(!) runs from the gone-but not-forgotten Amazing Adventures.

The Late, Great Joe Simon.

Simon and Kirby Library: The Superheroes-– this book– by itself– is a must have for all comic fans, The complete Fighting American, 3-D man and Stuntman (whoa!) are worth the price of admission.  But my copy was signed by the late, great Joe Simon, by our pal and series editor Steve Saffel (Happy Birthday, Steve!) and also by Neil Gaiman who wrote the Intro. Dang–I hope Santa isn’t on the Heroes mailing list because if he reads this he will realize his mistake and make a surprise January visit to replace this gem with some socks or maybe a nice scarf.

The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all-time.  This book is the result of a poll taken by over 1000 professional cartoonists.  It is a great book!  I have spent the last few days scouring Netflix and amazon in search of these celluloid classics. (#1 is What’s Opera, Doc)   Thank God that Heroes is the kind of Comic Shop that offers a variety of books like this in addition to their ample stock of Usual Suspects!

An Iron Man Spatula from Williams-Sonoma.  It makes Waffles that have Zero Trans(istor) Fats. Also, Captain America/Spider-man/Hulk Head cookies from Sur Le Table. My wife (a civilian!) claims all three cookie heads tasted the same, but I know the Cap Cookies were the tastiest!)

Christmas is always so much more fun when you get Comic related gifts!

So my question for Heroes United (sounds like a Soccer team doesn’t it?) is–

Share with us:  What did you get this Uncanny X-mas???

If you are looking for something to do this Friday night might I direct your attention to the Milestone and our friends the Junior Astronomers. They put on a rocking show and if you can’t catch them this go round definitely put them on your radar. Also playing are The Lo and Beholds, La Strada and Marco Pollo. Doors open at 8 pm and the show starts at 9 pm. Tickets are $6/$8 and it is an 18 and up show. The Milestone is a Charlotte institution and must be visited at least once. But be warned! It is not a place for the weak-hearted and you might not want to use their restroom.

Shelton sent me a note about our customer Hick’ry Hawkins, who besides being one of the few customers or ours who regularly sports a great big cowboy hat with a black leather biker jacket, is also a local musician. Turns out that Hick’ry wrote a song called “Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find” which sounds suspiciously like the name of a certain friendly neighborhood local comics shop. I was going to upload the song here for you, but it turns out the file is a million times too big to upload to our little ole blog.

But listen! You can can check ole Double-H out yourself tomorrow at Puckett’s Farm, opening for the Straight 8’s. Who knows, maybe you’ll see old Sheltonious out there too! If you can’t make it, don’t despair–there’s plenty of music at Hick’ry’s MySpace page.

Do you like Seth Peagler, our Warehouse Manager and taciturn Hero? Sure we do!! Do you like to rock out for totally free? You know that’s right!! Are you a fan of musical genres including “Americana,” “Jazz,” “Rock,” “Blues,” and “More?” What are you kidding those are my top 5 musical genres in exactly that order!!Well, you are going to be pleased as punch when you enjoy Seth’s band American Motel, which is playing tonight at the Borders Morrocroft location, next to the “Taj Ma-Teeter” palatial Harris Teeter over by Southpark Mall. What? You don’t live in Charlotte and aren’t familiar with all these landmarks? You should already be in your car making the road trip, not reading blogs!!

Most of us will be there, if you like hanging out with us. And if you don’t, I believe there is enough seating for you to comfortably avoid us! Especially Shawn, who is on this new broccoli diet. Gross, Shawn! Okay see you there!

Whew! Man we are running around like crazy, but I wanted to update you on a couple of things before I get away from easy internet access. I’m super rushed though, and as I type in my air conditioned office, Seth and Shawn and our staff are sweating through load-in, so my guilt commands that I hurry up so I can join them. ??? Uh, guilt, that basically sounds like a terrible idea, but okay…

ITEM! All locations are up on our site, and are just as up-to-date as I could make them. You can find Guest, Small Press, and Exhibitor locations up there, including an updated list of the few cancellations we’ve had, in the sidebar at the right of the Guest List page.

ITEM! Just a reminder to all advance ticket holders: we will be allowing you on the floor 30 minutes in advance of the show opening times, as a thank you for your early patronage. This is ALSO a reminder to exhibitors, small press, and guests, who should definitely be sure to be ready for the crush 30 minutes early this year! We will be adjusting the time these people can get in as well.

ITEM! Ben Towle and Craig Fischer host an awesome in-depth look at the career of Steve Ditko. Check it:

You can read all about it on our Event Schedule page, which is ALSO updated!

ITEM! Ben and Craig are not the only ones who are BRINGING IT to HeroesCon. Our man Brian Pulido is bringing a special HeroesCon edition of Lady Death #1 and a new Lady Death print! Brian will be selling these at his booth in Artists Alley, which I do believe is booth #832.

Be sure you go by and say hi to Brian, AND/OR catch him moderating the Hero Initiative panel at 3.30 on Friday, which will feature fellow Hero Initiative board member George Perez!

ITEM! But what about BOOM!, who is also bringing it? They’ll have like 40 billion exclusive HeroesCon covers this weekend, including an Irredeemable #3, a Muppets foil cover by HeroesCon guest Roger Langridge, and a Farscape cover as well! And I feel kinda sure that I forgot one or two, too, so you’ll have to visit them at Booth 514/613 to get the full rundown!

Okay, hopefully I’ll be able to make another update before things get even crazier… but we’ll see. Any latebreaking news will be in the Heroes Hotline, which will go out first thing in the morning, bright and early!

SURROGATES trailer in HD

Oh yes! HeroesCon guest Rob Venditti is blowing up! The Surrogates film, adapted from Rob and Brett Weldele’s graphic novel, comes out this fall! While we’re not really into the whole Hollywood-at-comics-conventions kind of thing, we’re happy to do it this way, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy than Rob!

Check out our pal Tommy Lee Edwards, who beyond being an amazing AMAZING artist on comics like Marvel: 1985 and more, is also a bigtime illustrator who’s worked for Lucasfilm among a ton of other high-profile clients. Tommy Lee is once more participating in the Ride For Kids program this year, which benefits the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. We love Tommy Lee and hope you can help, or pass this along to help get the word out. From TL’s e-mail:

“Giving my time as a motorcyclist is my way of showing support for those families battling every day with childhood brain tumors.

Last year, hundreds of North Carolina bikers and I traveled the Triangle area and contributed to a national fundraising total of $4.5 million. With generous donations from friends and family, I was able to personally deliver $9,350. This total earned me the title of “Champion Fundraiser”. Along with that honor, I will be leading this year’s ride as we strive to beat the 2008 total and get even closer to a cure.

The 2009 Ride for Kids is next weekend, May 3rd, and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation needs your help.

DONATE NOW to sponsor my ride
http://www.firstgiving.com/edwardsillustration

Our primary source of donations in 2008 came from teaming up with Lucasfilm. We shipped a limited-edition Star Wars print, illustrated and signed by me, to anyone donating a minimum of $30. I’ve been unable to gather the resources in time to offer the same incentive for donors this year, but have planted seeds for 2010.

For this year, I’ve decided to go for a wild blitz-week of fundraising. We have one week to raise as much as possible. The cut-off is May 1st. So if you can, please donate today.

You can visit my firstgiving website to make a donation. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to make a contribution to our fundraising efforts. Large or small, anything helps. And please don’t feel any pressure to donate at all. Many of you may not be in a position to do so, or chose to put your funds toward a separate charity.”

From our chums at the Movies At Crown Point theatre, we bring you a little quickie contest themed around this weekend’s Watchmen film premiere:

Movies At Crown Point will be holding 2 midnight showings of the movie this Thursday night at, well, midnight. To help spread the word, they’ve given us 5 passes to do with what we will, and we thought we’d have a little Watchmen-themed contest. Answer one of the trivia questions below to win a pair of passes, OR the bonus question for the fifth pass. DISCLAIMER: many of you will know the answer, so I will pick a winner randomly from the entries I get. PLEASE DON’T answer the question in the comments below, for obvious reasons.

E-mail your correct answers to me at dharbin{at}heroesonline{dot}com. Okay, let’s do it!

QUESTION 1 (good for 2 free passes):
What is the name of the artist (NOT Dave Gibbons) credited within the story for the art on the “Tales Of The Black Freighter” story?

QUESTION 2 (good for 2 free passes):
What was the occupation of Dr. Manhattan’s father?

BONUS QUESTION (good for 1 free pass):
What was the name of the paper that Rorschach sent his final journal to?

Okay! I’ll take correct answers until noon tomorrow (March 5), and winners can pick up their passes here in our store after that time! I’ll announce them here!