Check out our sweet HeroesCon Variant cover for Avengers Assemble #1! This variant will only be available through Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find. Pre-order yours today at our web store!

Cover art by Khoi Pham!

We can ship up to 6 books for same flat fee of $5 shipping.

All orders will ship Wednesday, March 14th when this book hits stands!

Issue synopsis: The Avengers Versus The *Brand-New* Zodiac! • One Of The Greatest Avengers Villains Of All Time Gets Reinvented For The Modern Age Just In Time For The Blockbuster Movie Event Of The Summer! • A Perfect Jumping-On Point Featuring The Cast Of The Summer Blockbuster But In Marvel Universe Continuity!

A longtime member of the Heroes Family has officially joined the staff! Please welcome Karla Marsh our new events coordinator! Let’s pass the keyboard over to Karla so she can tell us a bit about herself and what she’ll be doing for Shelton and Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find as our new Events Coordinator! -rico.

Karla then and now.

Some of you already know me, some of you know OF me, and some of you have never heard of me before in your life. For those of you who DO know me, you probably know that HeroesCon and I go way back, further back than I can remember, actually. I wasn’t even born the first time I attended HeroesCon, when my awesome brother (who is 13 years my senior) begged my very pregnant mother to take him to a brand spanking new comic book show called “Heroes Convention”, set somewhere in the great land of Oz known as Charlotte. My mother, being the saintly creature that she is, obliged, and thus the first of many pilgrimages from Lincolnton, NC to HeroesCon began. We attended every year after that, first as a family, then as a brother/sister duo, and finally I started attending solo, making Heroes a beloved destination every summer.

And here we are, 30 years later, and I haven’t missed a year yet. As I’ve grown up, so has HeroesCon. It’s gone from a small show inside a hotel ballroom in 1982 to one of the greatest comic book shows on the east coast, if not one of the greatest comic book shows in the world. I can remember marveling as HeroesCon expanded and exhibitors began to diversify, bringing more than just books, but apparel, statues and toys as well. I watched as, through the years, the books and toys of the day slowly turned into the sought-after treasures of the past.

So I guess this has been a long time coming. One day, almost eight years ago now, I walked into Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find and found something I couldn’t live without, the one and only issue of the very awesome Phil Southern, Heroes’ employee and the love of my life. Since 2005, I have been helping out behind the scenes at HeroesCon, registering exhibitors and assisting the convention in any way I could. It seems only fitting that now I should step into a role it seems I’ve been practicing my whole life to undertake and take on the job as Events Coordinator for Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find. I’m taking what has been a passion since birth, and dedicating my life to it. I’ll be taking the exhibitors under my wing and helping organize events at the shop as well.

So I have to say, “thank you” to the people who helped me get here. To my awesome big brother who raised me with a love of comics and cartoons, to Phil who helped me find ways to give back to the store I’ve loved for so many years, and to Shelton Drum…who gave me something to dream about all year long as a child…and who is giving me the opportunity to give something back, I THANK YOU!!!

Now, let’s get ready for the 30th Anniversary of Heroes Con!! It’s almost HERE!

Take a look at some of the talented folks setting up in our Artists Alley! If you purchased a table (not a booth) and you don’t see your name on that list please feel free to contact  me. Also, email me if you see any errors (mispelled name, broken/bad links, etc). I will take the blame if I made the mistakes but some of you need to work on your penmanship (you know who you are!)

Artists Alley is almost full so if you were on the fence, get down, go here, and email me your form. We will do our best to accommodate as many creators as we can but it is almost full!

Happy Presidents Day!! To celebrate, we have another big guest list update for our 30th Anniversary HeroesCon! HeroesCon 2012 is June 22-24 get your advance tickets today! Full guest list here.

• RYAN BODENHEIM – Artist: Secret, Halcyon, Red Mass for Mars
• SHAWN CRYSTAL – Artist: Deadpool Max, Dept. Coordinator for the Sequential Art Dept. at SCAD Atlanta
• JONATHAN HICKMAN – Writer: Secret, The Manhattan Projects, Fantastic Four, Secret Warriors, SHIELD
• DAVID MARQUEZ – Artist: Ultimate Spider-Man, Fantastic Four: Season One, Secret Warriors
• MARK MCHALEY – Artist: Voltron, Star Wars Sketch Cards, Indiana Jones Sketch Cards, The Socketeer
• BOB MCLEOD – Artist: New Mutants Forever, Rough Stuff, Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man
• NICK PITARRA – Artist: The Manhattan Projects, The Red Wing
• SCOTT SNYDER – Writer: Batman, American Vampire, Swamp Thing
• CHARLES SOULE – Writer: 27, Strange Attractors, Strongman
• CONNY VALENTINA – Artist: Published science fiction book cover artist, winner of 2003 Nat con National art award, currently writing and illustrating Tempest’s Reign
• NOLAN WOODARD – Colorist: 28 Days Later, Incorruptible, Irredeemable, Lady Deadpool

Another day, another big guest list update! Joining our guest list today are some familiar faces that we look forward to seeing each June and some folks who are attending their very first HeroesCon! Click here for our entire guest list and look for another announcement next week!

• BOB ALMOND – Inker: Stan Lee’s Guardian Project, Black Panther, Heroes For Hire, Warlock
• JAMIE COSLEY – Creator: Cody the Cavalier
• JEREMY DALE – Artist: GI Joe, Skyward, Mice Templar
• SHANNON GALLANT – Artist: GI Joe, Torchwood, Shrek, Monsters vs Aliens
• CHRIS KEMPLE – Artist: Red Vengeance, Fallout, Negative Burn, Fantastic Worlds
• BOB LAYTON – Artist: Iron Man, Hercules, Colony
• JEFF LEMIRE – Writer: Animal Man Writer/Artist: Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Nobody
• JOSE MARZAN JR. – Inker: Y: The Last Man, Jack of Fables, House of Mystery, The Flash
• JOE STATON – Artist: Green Lantern, E-Man, Dick Tracy, Scooby Doo
• TIM TOWNSEND – Inker: Wolverine and the X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man, New Avengers, Captain America
• LEE WEEKS – Artist: Daredevil, Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man
• BRETT WELDELE – Artist: The Surrogates, Spontaneous, Pariah, The Light

Happy Friday! Yesterday afternoon we put our initial Indie Island guest list on the site! There were some techinical difficulties but everything looks A-OK now (please let us know if it looks wonky in your browser). It’s a great start and we already have more great guests that need to be announced so look for more updates soon! Mark your calendars, June 22-24, 2012 is going to be a fantastic weekend!

Happy Friday! Yesterday afternoon we added 10 more names to our great and ever-growing guest list! We can’t wait for HeroesCon’s 30th Anniversary show!  How about you? 

• TIM CALLAHAN – Writer: Grant Morrison: The Early Years, CBR, Tor
• CLIFF CHIANG – Artist: Wonder Woman, Beware the Creeper, Human Target, Doctor 13
• TOM FOWLER – Artist: Venom, Hulk: Season 1, Mysterius the Unfathomable, MAD Magazine
• NATHAN FOX – Artist: Haunt, Flourescent Black, Zodiac
• SANFORD GREENE – Artist: Rotten Apple, Deadpool, Wonder Girl, Methodman GN
• SUNNY LEE – Artist: Gen 13, Wolverine, Superboy
• KEVIN MELLON – Artist: Heart, Lovestruck, S.H.I.E.L.D.
• CAT STAGGS – Artist: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, X-Men Archives and DC Legacy card sets
• JOE QUINONES – Artist: Wednesday Comics, Star Wars: Knight Errant, Amazing Spider-Man
• ROBERT WILSON IV – Artist: Knuckleheads, Laser Joan

Original comic art dealer Jason Schachter has assembled some of modern comics most talented artists under the banner of Essential Sequential.  We’re happy to announce that this stellar group of artists are coming to HeroesCon 2012! Mark your calendars and plan to be here for our best show yet! HeroesCon 30th Anniversary June 22-24, 2012!

Along with previously announced guest Tim Sale, Jason is bringing:

Mark Chiarello: Art Director for DC Comics, illustrator, painter (Star Wars), cover artist (Vigilante, Terminal City, Johnny Double), co-author of Heroes of the Negro Leagues, Artist of Batman/Houdini: The Devil’s Workshop

Peter Nguyen: Color Key Artist at the Academy Award winning Blue Sky Studios (Rio, Ice Age) , cover artist (Detective Comics)

Andrew Robinson: Creator or Dusty Star, cover artist (Conan, The Fifth Beatle, Starman, Hawkman)

Dan Panosian: Co Founder of Drink and Draw, artist (Conan Road of Kings, X-Men Origins: Sabretooth, and countless others)

Eric Canete: Animator (Tron, Aeon Flux, X-Men), artist (Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin)

Mike Choi: Artist (X-23, X-Men, Witchblade)

Reverend Dave Johnson: Eisner Award winning Cover Artist (100 Bullets, Punisher Max, BPRD, Deadpool), Co Founder of Drink and Draw

Allesandro Vitti: Artist (Captain America & Hawkeye, Secret Warriors)

Matteo Scalera: Artist (Valen the Outcast), cover artist (Irredeemable, Elric)

This Sunday Heroes celebrates the 35th Anniversary of the Charlotte MiniCon!  As part of the celebration we are honored to have artist Cliff Chiang appear as one of our featured guests.  Aside from being universally regarded as one of the nicest guys in the industry, Cliff’s also one of comics’ top illustrators.  Just take a look at DC’s new Wonder Woman series and you’ll see why.  We recently talked with Cliff about his appearance this weekend, and some of his recent work. Make sure to stop by the MiniCon this Sunday and welcome Cliff back to Charlotte!

Heroes (H):  Your collaboration with Brian Azzarello dates back to your time as an editor of 100 Bullets and your work together on DC’s excellent Doctor 13 stories.  What made Wonder Woman seem like the natural next step in your collaboration?

Cliff Chiang (CC): I’d been itching to work with Azz again ever since Doctor 13, but I had some longer projects that delayed those plans. When Azz called me about Wonder Woman, I realized it was a great opportunity to be creative and confuse people at the same time! I was in.

CC: As long as they’ll have us. We have some long term plans for the story, and I’d love to be able to see them though.

CC: We’ve got the exclusive MiniCon screenprint by me and Dustin Harbin, for a measly $10! Hopefully, I’ll get another image done for HeroesCon later this year. So much to do!

H: We’re glad you mentioned that! We’re happy that you’ll be back in Charlotte for HeroesCon this summer to help us celebrate our 30th anniversary.

Super (Fly) Mario for the What Not Blog

H: Whose idea was the What Not Blog?

CC: I think it was Reverend Dave Johnson’s brainchild. It’s inspiring to see such a diverse group of artists just messing around like that.

H: Where do you guys find the time to do these fully realized illustrations on top of your paying work?!

CC: It can be hard, but it is a lot of fun. I probably should do less-finished stuff and post more often, but sometimes I love an idea and wanna show some more care.

H: Finally, what are some of the comics that you’re most looking forward to seeing in 2012?

CC: Two things I’m looking forward to in 2012 are the conclusion to Loose Ends (I did not pay him to say that. -rico.) and the print version of Robbi Rodriguez’s Frankie Get Your Gun.

Thanks to Cliff for taking time to answer a few questions.  You can meet him and a slew of other great artists this Sunday at the 35th Anniversary of the Charlotte MiniCon!

Check out Cliff’s website and follow him on Twitter @CliffChiang

After each day of HeroesCon comes to an end the place to be is the Westin. Whether you just want to hang out in the lobby bar or you’re attending our Annual Art Auction the Westin is where it’s at.

Reservations at the Westin Charlotte are now open at the special HeroesCon rate of $119/night! We strongly suggest you reserve your rooms as soon as you can because although we have access to nearly the entire hotel, we sellout and fill the place every year. If you’ve never stayed at the Westin before, get ready for luxury, the place is NICE!

You can go to our Hotels page to see a complete list of area hotels we recommend, including the Westin; or just click right here to go right to the reservation page. If you have any problems, or if particular nights are listed as sold-out, please let us know so we can address that. They group the rooms in blocks so sometimes they’ll show up on the computer as sold-out, but Shelton has a magic wand to wave at that stuff.