I know I already announced that the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) is setting up at their very first HeroesCon this year, but yesterday I was listening to the Indie Spinner Rack podcast, where they mentioned the recipient of the money they’ve been raising for a scholarship.

Let me back up and hit some key points really quick, just so we’re all on the same page: first, Indie Spinner Rack is a great podcast, maybe my favorite one (although those Dollar Bin guys sure are friendly). Last year they published the Awesome Anthology, the proceeds of which they had solemnly vowed to give to a deserving student at CCS. The book itself is sold out from Diamond, although hopefully I can get Charlito and Mr. Phil (the show’s giggling hosts) to sell us some for the store. It’s pretty great, too, with TONS of good work from people you’ve never heard of, and some people you have heard of.

So I’m listening to the new ISR podcast yesterday, and after some very nice words about Indie Island, they get into the meat of the podcast, which is to actually call up the recipient of the award and inform them that they’ve won. Apparently they put together a nominating committee of school faculty and others, and then they all talked about it and chose… Chuck Forsman!

Wait, who?

Which is what reminded me that I forgot to ever announce the addition of three CCS students (including one newly minted scholarship winner) to the Indie Island roster. Ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely hope you’ll warmly welcome Chuck Forsman (Snake Oil, Sundays anthology), Alex Joon Kim (Walled City, The Bird & The Bear), and Sean Ford (Only Skin) to their very first Heroes Convention! They’ll be joining Joseph Lambert on the list, whose minicomics we still have a few of in our little minicomics rack.

CCS is becoming THE premiere school for budding cartoonists of the do-it-yourself self-publishing school. It includes faculty and special guests including James Kochalka, Steve Bissette, James Sturm, and a ton more, and is turning out some of the most accomplished creators publishing new work today. I’m personally really excited to be welcoming these guys to Charlotte, and hope that you are too!

We’re getting a ton–hold on, let me use all caps–a TON of e-mails and phone calls about the Westin being sold out. This is not correct: THE WESTIN IS NOT SOLD OUT. As far as I can tell, it looks like they are telling people on the phone that our block of reserved rooms has sold out–what they’re referring to is a very small group of rooms set aside early, possibly just as a sort of placeholder or courtesy. In fact, the number of rooms we set aside when the contract is finalized will be much larger. Shelton is calling his contact at the Westin numerous times each day to get this thing wrapped up, and with luck everything should be a “go” by next week some time.

In the meantime, thank you very extra much for your continued patience, and especially for your support of HeroesCon! We hate that there’s this hiccup in the middle of such a phenomenal runup to what will be our biggest show ever, and are working like gangbusters to get it all sorted out for you.

WHEN THE RATE IS ANNOUNCED: I will send out a special edition of the Heroes Hotline before I announce it anywhere else. If you’re not already getting our weekly newsletter, I strongly suggest that you sign up for it if you want to be notified on this hotel thing. More than likely I’ll announce that rate here on our blog later that day.

Yes yes! There is a metric ton of news in the offing, so I suggest you keep your peepers peeled over the next couple of weeks. Kicking it off today is the announcement that we’ll be consolidating many of our all-ages creators (those who are into the idea, anyway) under the banner of a new special section of HeroesCon, tentatively titled the Kids Love Comics Garage.

Organized around the “Kids Love Comics“group of creators–who travel the country speaking at cons, schools, and libraries, promoting literacy through comic books–the new section will be (at least for now) one of the “islands” that Artists Alley is divided into at the show. I think around 9 tables or so. The Kids Love Comics group is always really popular with kids at shows they do, and we got to see it first hand at last year’s Baltimore Comicon. John Gallagher, one of the cartoonists behind the NASCAR Heroes comic book and Buzzboy, has been working with us to create the new section, and it should be really great, not just for kids, but for families or anyone who likes good all-ages comics.

But who are these mysterious creators? Well, that brings me to the other announcement: today we added a whole slew of all-ages creators to the HeroesCon 08 Guest List, most of whom are part of the Kids Love Comics group, including:

JIMMY GOWNLEY, creator of Amelia Rules, and recent 4-time Eisner nominee. Congratulations, Jimmy!

JOSH ELDER, of TokyoPop’s Mail Order Ninja and Batman Strikes!

JOHN GALLAGHER, artist of Buzzboy and NASCAR Heroes–wait, did I already say that?

RICH FABER, of Buzzboy and Roboy Red fame, and

SCOTT SAVA, of Dreamland Chronicles and The Lab.

ALSO joining this new section will be TIM RICKARD, creator of the hit Brewster Rockit comic, returning to HeroesCon this year! This promises to be a really great way to show off our family-friendliness–we’ve always been big into getting young readers into comics, so we’re pretty excited about this new part of HeroesCon. Hope you are too!

Huzzah, huzzah! I’ve got a ton of news to announce today, so I’ve got to type quick, but this is too exciting to skip: new to the HeroesCon 08 Guest List today are Mice Templar creators Michael Avon Oeming and Bryan J.L. Glass. The Mice Templar has been a big hit in the store, and builds on the already impressive bodies of work of both of these guys.

Mike, who’s been to almost as many HeroesCons as I have, is also the artist on the super-popular Powers, as well a gajillion others. He’s also written a ton of books, including the whole Thor: Disassembled story a few years ago; Bastard Samurai, Hammer of the Gods, and a bunch more.

Bryan has worked with Mike before on Ship of Fools and Quixote, and also wrote the Marvel Comics adaptation of Magician: Apprentice. He’s attending his first HeroesCon, I believe, so make sure and be nice!

Also new to the Guest List today is up-and-comer Taki Soma, artist of You’ll Never Die; not to mention numerous pieces of art for trading card properties including Lord of the Rings and Heroes! Welcome to all three to an already HUGE HeroesCon!

This from Tom Spurgeon, the well-respected creator of the Comics Reporter blog, which you should read each morning, every morning: people who have purchased air tickets through ATA Airlines may be out of luck.

If you hadn’t heard already, this is a smallish airline that just declared bankruptcy on Wednesday, and it sounds like there is little recourse for ticket-holders. I only mention it in case you did buy ATA tickets already and haven’t heard the news yet. I’d heard on NPR that there’s little chance of getting refunds, unless your credit card company is good about that, etc. ATA has clearly shut the door on that idea. Crazy, no?

Also, while I’m on the subject of travel, tickets, et cetera: We’re receiving a lot of increasingly strident questions about when our Westin host hotel rate will go “live”. I’m informed by Shelton that it looks like it is just over the horizon, possibly as early as next week. When it goes live for reservations by HeroesCon attendees, I’ll announce it through a special edition of the Heroes Hotline newsletter, so make sure you’re on that list!

Great Horny Toads! This is one of our biggest updates yet, and there are still 3 or 4 names waiting in the wings I can’t announce yet. Crazy! There are so many of them that I’m just going to jump in, so hold on tight: the following six (!) names have just been added to the HeroesCon 08 Guest List:

MICHAEL LARK! We’ve been trying to get this guy forever, and at long last the stars have correctly aligned themselves! While you probably know him best from his work on Daredevil and Captain America, he’s also the guy who drew the incredibly well-liked but tragically underselling Gotham Central, not to mention the old Terminal City series (x2) way back in the last century! I’ve never met Michael, but I’ve heard a LOT from other artists and fans about what a sweet guy he is, so he should be a perfect match for HeroesCon!

ERIK LARSEN! The publisher and co-founder of Image Comics, and creator of Savage Dragon, returns for (I think) his third straight HeroesCon! Erik has turned into one of our most popular guests, not only because of his long history in comics, from his heady days at Marvel to his current helming of Image; but maybe moreso just because people like talking to him. Giggles galore from the Image booth when Erik’s in the house. Or hizzy, if you prefer.

RYAN OTTLEY! What? Not satisfied with getting Robert Kirkman to his first HeroesCon, we decided to drive Invincible fans berserk and score the artist Ryan Ottley to boot! Ryan is a super artist–check out his blog to see what looks like a dizzying creative output; not just his work on comics, either, but apparently he’s a relentless sketcher, with tons of pretty funny stuff up there.

RAFAEL KAYANAN! From his work as an illustrator on the Spider-Man Broadway show to comics work including Conan and Star Wars, plus upcoming work for Devil’s Due on a comics adaptation of R.A. Salvatore’s Drizzt character, Rafael is a busy man. But not too busy to meet you!

JOHANNA DRAPER-CARLSON! Johanna’s long been a friend of ours, and runs the excellent–and monstrously profific–Comics Worth Reading blog. If you haven’t read it before, it’s a pretty refreshingly ecumenical blog, covering mainstream and indie stuff, and a TON of manga. She’ll be accompanied by her husband and former Legion of Super-Heroes editor KC CARLSON, but he comes mainly just to hang out and have a good time, so you’ll have to bring Columbo with you to find him. “Ah, pardon me, Mr Carlson…” That was my Columbo impersonation. Good, no?

As promised, this year’s HeroesCon Event Schedule is going to be filled to overflowing by the time of the convention, with each day crammed with can’t-miss panels. Why, you ask? When you factor in the INCREDIBLE number of guests we’ve got already, not to mention exhibitors, dealers, and publishers from all over the country whose booths you’ll be browsing, plus an overstuffed schedule, how can you help but buy a 3-day pass? There’s no way you can get all the HeroesCon you need in just one day. Clever, no?

On to this week’s schedule additions: Tom Spurgeon of the excellent Comics Reporter site is attending his first HeroesCon this year, and he’s informed me that he’ll run as many panels as I’ll let him, despite my warnings that this number will be a high one. He’s got some primo ideas, too, so I will definitely be working him to the bone. New to the schedule this week:

• THE CREATIVE HOUSEHOLD panel featuring Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick, Stuart and Kathryn Immonen, and Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer.

• COVERING COMICS: Criticism, Reportage, and Gossip, featuring Tom Spurgeon, Matt Brady, Dan Nadel, Johanna Draper-Carlson, and Heidi MacDonald.

• CONVERSATIONS: Jaime Hernandez & Evan Dorkin, interviewed by Tom Spurgeon.

• RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY IN COMICS, featuring Sammy Harkham, Kevin Huizenga, and Tom Spurgeon.

You can find full descriptions of each of these panels, plus the rest of the 2008 Event Schedule, right here! This is just the tip of the iceberg, too–as I type, I’m looking at a huge list of prospective panels I’m working my way through.

Just to let you peeps know right quick–I’ve just added those two Indie Island promo shirts, which I just can’t quit talking about, to our Promotional page, along with handy Paypal links that allow you to avoid talking to us completely!

This is not only to make it easier for you to buy the shirts–although that helps; we really want as much of your money as we can get, honestly–but as a beta test for future potential use. We’ve got a lot of old promo stuff lying around–Shelton hasn’t thrown away anything with a HeroesCon logo on it since–well, ever. So if any of you guys out in Blogtasia use those Paypal links, please let me know how it works, if there are any problems, etc.: dharbin[at]heroesonline[dot]com. For serious! And in the meantime, enjoy the shirts!

Huzzah, huzzah! Big updates today across the board in HeroesCon news. So big it’s taken me most of the day to get into position to deliver these updates into the world. So, without further ado:

New to the HeroesCon 08 Guest List today are Secret Invasion and Thor inker Mark Morales. Mark is a familiar sight for HeroesCon attendees, but we’re happy to see him getting these super high-profile projects. With luck he’ll share some of his paycheck with us when he hits it REALLY big.

Also brand new today is another HeroesCon mainstay, our buddy Ford Gilmore of Illuminati Entertainment. Ford is not only a writer, with credits including Thundercats and his own The Hollow horror novel series, but a movie producer as well! Well hello, Hollywood!

And today we’re also adding two new exhibitors: returning to HeroesCon this summer will be Image Comics, coming all the way from California to set up at the show! This will no doubt be a huge year for them, with big Image studs like Invincible writer Robert Kirkman on the list, and we’re happy to have them back.

And also returning this year is CGC, the industry-standard grading company that has turned the idea of comics grading on its ear! While they WON’T be doing “on-site” grading at the show–apparently it’s monstrously time-consuming, and people spend the whole convention waiting in line–they will be accepting books for grading back at CGC HQ. So you can save yourself some shipping by bringing books you want to get graded to HeroesCon!

And the other big update today is a brand new homepage for Heroes Convention! Including recent updates, quick reference info, and a snapshot of prominent guests and exhibitors coming to the show, this is the homebase for all things convention-related! Check it out right here!

Whew! A couple of our appearing exhibitors wanted HeroesCon banners for their sites to show the love, but we didn’t have any in their sizes, so I had to whip them up. The one above, in good old 468 x 60 pixel size, was made so that our buddies at The Dollar Bin podcast out of South Carolina could help spread the word.

The tall one, weighing in at a hefty 160 x 600 pixels, is for Mirage Studios, who publish the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics, and who are extra super nice guys, which is just how we like them.

If you’d like to use these to spread the word yourself, please feel free to grab them–all we ask is that you make the image link to this URL: http://www.heroesonline.com/heroescon.html, and that you not use them in conjunction with anything really objectionable–we’re a family convention, after all. Just click on the image to see the full-sized version, which you can right-click to “save as” or option-click if you’ve got a Mac, or what-have-you. You can find more banners on the Promotional page of our website!