We know you’re super excited about this weekend’s big Holiday Sale/Store Signing Jamboree, but we thought we’d redouble your excitement a little bit by announcing today that Bill Willingham has signed on for next summer’s HeroesCon 2010! Shelton will know better than me, but unless I miss my guess, Bill hasn’t been to HeroesCon at least since he was working on Elementals back in the day. If even then! I know he hasn’t been here since HeroesCon ’96 (my first as an employee), so either way, get excited!

For the three of you who aren’t aware of Bill’s work, he’s the writer and creator of the hit Fables series, as well as co-writer of its spinoff Jack of Fables, and more!  What newer comics readers might not know is that Bill is a full-on cartoonist as well as a writer–his series Elementals was pretty hot back in the 90’s. These days he’s written all over the place, including notably on DC’s Day of Judgment, Justice Society of America, and a ton of others.

But it wouldn’t be like us to announce just ONE name, would it? In fact, I’m looking at a long list of a couple dozen names Shelton has given me, enough that I’ll need to break it up into 3 or 4 separate updates! Also officialized this week are some of our favorite Charlotte-area cartoonists, pretty much all of whom are regular shoppers in our store for you Wednesday customers! They include upcoming Loose Ends creative team Chris Brunner and Jason Latour, Night artist Buddy Prince, Cavewoman creator Budd Root, and Dean Koontz’ Frankenstein artist Andy Smith! And of course, you can meet those last two this Saturday at the big 4-person store signing, all part of our Holiday Sale! More details here!

Huzzah! Joining our star-studded roster of star studs (and at least one studette, not to mention Shawn and Shelley) for our annual Holiday Sale and signing are Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love cover artist Chrissie Zullo and Cavewoman creator Budd Root! They join Olympus writer Nathan Edmondson and Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein artist Andy Smith in a store signing going on December 12 from 2 to 5pm, all a part of our big 2-day holiday sale that weekend (Saturday-Sunday)!

Our holiday sale has become legend in the area over the years, as not only a place to get ridiculous deals on back issue comics–especially with Seth building a brand-new, never touched by mortal man (Seth is immortal, natch) stock of $1 books–but a great place to pick up presents for that hard-to-shop-for friend or family member! Why, heavens knows we’ve got comics, graphic novels, mangas, back issues, statues, toys… all sorts of stuff. Plus Shelton will have a ton of trade paperbacks and hardcovers he’s been piling up for some good ole deep discounting. Why, it sounds like a downright jamboree to me! Heck, if you still can’t find a gift for that special (or let’s face it, not-that-special) someone, you can always buy them a 3-day pass to HeroesCon 2010! We’ve even got a fancy little voucher you can give them! Truly, we have thought of everything this year. See you there!

Well, it may be Black Friday over the rest of the country today, and we’re seeing tons of you guys coming into the store today… but we’re scheduling our huge annual sale this year to coincide with a sweet store signing! Coming up on December 12-13 will be our Annual Holiday Sale, with deals on pretty much everything in the store! From discounts on new comics and books, DEEP discounts on Shelton’s stock of marked-down trade paperbacks and hardcovers, toys, statues, and more.. it’s hard to think of something that WON’T be on sale.

Plus as usual we’ll have not only 50% off all regular back issues, but an enlarged, expanded, and untouched stock of $1 books courtesy of Seth Peagler. This has become one of the most popular parts of our events recently, and Seth works super hard on putting these stocks together and making sure there are tons of “gems” in there.

And we’ll be hosting a number of special guests, including Olympus writer Nathan Edmondson–Nathan will have advance copies of the Olympus trade on hand for you! Plus our buddy Andy Smith will be on hand, and we’ve got even more names to roll out over the next few weeks! So be sure and mark your calendars now–this will be a great opportunity to pick up some gifts for your comics-reading friends and loved-ones, and hey–we won’t argue if you want to pick up some things for yourself, too. Your secret is safe with us!

Don’t forget that TOMORROW is is the very first in a whole series of signings and appearances we’re planning to take place at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find throughout the fall, winter, and spring!

Tomorrow, November 7, from 1-3 pm, we’ll be hosting a special signing appearance by The Fillbach Brothers! These are the guys behind the insanely popular Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures digests’ art. They also created the Maxwell Strangewell graphic novel, Werewolves On The Moon (with Dave Land), and many more. They’ll be signing and sketching for just two hours–from all accounts they’re super friendly guys, and are big country music and Nascar fans, so they’ll probably have as many questions for us Southerners as we have for them!

Don’t miss the chance to come out and meet these talented creators! Especially if you or your kids are fans of Clone Wars –you know they are!

Coming up in just two weeks is the very first in a whole series of signings and appearances we’re planning to take place at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find throughout the fall, winter, and spring!

On November 7, from 1-3 pm, we’ll be hosting a special signing appearance by The Fillbach Brothers! These are the guys behind the insanely popular Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures digests’ art. They also created the Maxwell Strangewell graphic novel, Werewolves On The Moon (with Dave Land), and many more. They’ll be signing and sketching for just two hours–from all accounts they’re super friendly guys, and are big country music and Nascar fans, so they’ll probably have as many questions for us Southerners as we have for them!

We’ll be talking this up over the next couple of weeks, but don’t miss the chance to come out and meet these talented creators!