This year HeroesCon is proud to display the first published comic strip art from Bill Watterson in nearly twenty years! Watterson completed his inimitable Calvin and Hobbes strip in 1995, and has since remained largely private in his life and art. If you happened to read Stephan Pastis‘ popular Pearls Before Swine strip this week, you may have noticed that Pastis employed a guest artist, billed as a second grade girl named Libby, to help him with three strips. Astute readers speculated about the true identity of the guest artist, and today the Washington Post revealed it to be none other than the legendary Bill Watterson!

In conjunction with Chris Sparks and Team Cul de Sac, we are happy to be bringing all three Watterson and Pastis strips to Charlotte to display at HeroesCon, June 20 through 22 at the Charlotte Convention Center. The art will be displayed on the convention floor all weekend, at our Drink and Draw event on Friday night, and at Saturday night’s Art Auction.   We’ll also be hosting a panel on Friday, June 20 where fans will get to hear the story of how this remarkable art was produced, how it came to be featured in Charlotte, and the part that Cul de Sac cartoonist Richard Thompson plays in all of it.

The three strips produced by Watterson and Pastis will be auctioned off in the coming months, with all proceeds from the sale going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. This charity works closely with our good friends at Team Cul de Sac, for whom we host our annual HeroesCon Drink and Draw charity event. More specifics regarding the auction of these pieces will be available at HeroesCon, here on our site and at Team Cul de Sac‘s page in the coming weeks.

HeroesCon is the only place anyone will be able to see the rare Watterson and Pastis original art in person before they are auctioned off. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for comic and art fans across the country, and we are humbled and honored to be bringing it to Charlotte.

HeroesCon takes place June 20 – 22 at the Charlotte Convention Center. The Bill Watterson and Cul de Sac panel takes place Friday, June 20 at 5:30 at the convention center.

The HeroesCon Drink and Draw event takes place on Friday, June 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hilton Center City atrium. HeroesCon’s first Drink and Draw event was in 2011, modeled after the Drink and Draw Social Club founded by comic artists Dave Johnson, Dan Panosian and Jeff Johnson. That event and every one since has raised money for Team Cul de Sac, the organization founded in honor of Cul de Sac cartoonist Richard Thompson that raises money and awareness for Parkinson’s Research.

The HeroesCon Art Auction will take place on Saturday, June 21 at 8 p.m. in the Providence Ballroom at the Westin.

For more information on all things HeroesCon, stayed tuned to www.heroesonline.com. If you have any questions regarding the Watterson and Pastis exhibit in Charlotte, contact Seth Peagler at seth@heroesonline.com or through the Heroes store at 704.375.7462. Additionally, you can contact Team Cul de Sac’s Chris Sparks at teamculdesac@gmail.com for further information.

If you’re attending HeroesCon next weekend, we want to remind you of what has become one of the highlights of recent year’s cons – our Drink and Draw event.  Inspired by the original Drink and Draw Social Club (founded by Dave Johnson, Dan Panosian and Jeff Johnson), this is a laid back event where anyone can sit down, have a drink, and create art alongside countless comic artists and fans.  The great thing about the Heroes’ Drink and Draw is that much of the professional art produced is auctioned off that night at the event itself, with all the proceeds going to charity.  Amateur artists can also enter their work into art contests that night, with the possibility of winning art supplies and products from our friends at Jerry’s Artarama, Prismacolor, and Artograph.

For the third year in a row we are happy to be donating all of the proceeds to Team Cul de Sac, a fantastic group that raises money and awareness for Parkinson’s research.  The Heroes family became aware of this organization when our friend Richard Thompson (the brilliant cartoonist behind the critically acclaimed Cul de Sac strip) was diagnosed with the disease.

Team Cul de Sac’s founder Chris Sparks has assured me that he’s bringing some incredible items to auction off at the Drink and Draw and throughout the con, including gems like an Art Spiegelman signed/sketched copy of Maus and Bill Watterson signed editions of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes and the Team Cul de Sac book. He’ll also be bringing original art from the likes of Mark Tatulli (Lio), Patrick McDonnell (Mutts), Jim Borgman (Zits) and more to auction Friday night.  Bidding on the signed/sketched Maus edition will take place all day on Friday at Team Cul de Sac’s table, and resume and conclude at Drink and Draw.  Similarly, you can bid on the signed Complete Calvin and Hobbes at Team Cul de Sac’s table, with bidding concluding at our annual Art Auction that night.  These are truly rare items, and HeroesCon might be your only opportunity to pick them up.

This year’s Drink and Draw will be at a new location, the Hilton Charlotte Center City.  As with past years, the event kicks off on Friday at 7:30 and lasts until there’s no one left drawing.  In addition to being one of our host hotels, the Hilton is close to the Convention Center (at 222 E. 3rd St.), and has spacious indoor and outdoor bars that will make this year’s Drink and Draw our largest to date.  Another new element at this year’s event will be live music provided by Jack the Radio.  They’re a Southern-Indie band from Raleigh comprised of several comic fans and artists, and we know they’ll add to the experience.

The Drink and Draw event hearkens back to HeroesCon’s long tradition of charitable involvement.  If you attended the Con in past years, you might remember the numerous blood drives and work with the Firefighters Burned Children Fund.   The Drink and Draw offers everyone who comes to the Con an opportunity to kick back and create some art in a fun atmosphere.  Make it a point to be at the Drink and Draw, pick up one of these remarkable pieces, enjoy the comics community at large, and most importantly, raise money for a worthy cause.

Due to a great response from his fans, Stan Lee has extended his HeroesCon visit again! Not only are there more opportunities for fans to meet Stan now, he will be giving another talk on Sunday now! Here is Stan’s slightly modified signing schedule with 2 chances to see him on a panel in one weekend! Get your True Believer passes now, only a few hours left to purchase advance passes!

Saturday:

• 9:30 AM – VIP photo session (advance pass and all VIP in 30 min prior to public)
• 11:30 AM – VIP autograph session
• BREAK
• 2:00 PM – Regular photo session
• 3:30 PM – Regular Autograph session
• 5:00 PM – “An Hour With Stan Lee” Panel
• 6:00 PM – Convention closes

Sunday:

• 10:00 AM – Photos (VIP pass holders in 1 hour prior to public to be in Stan Lee line only.)
• 11:30 AM – Autographs
• BREAK
• 1:00 PM –  Photos
• 3:00 PM “Stan Speaks” Panel
• 4:00 PM Autographs

Because YOU demanded it, and because you sent a million emails to both us and Stan asking for it, Stan Lee will be extending his stay at HeroesCon until Sunday afternoon!

That’s right! The response to the True Believer pass was so strong that Stan didn’t want to disappoint anyone that wanted to meet him and get an autograph or a photo taken with him! All VIP pass holders will have 2 days of opportunity to meet Stan “The Man” Lee!

Below is the full signing and photo schedule. If you were thinking about getting a True Believer pass, do it now. They are still on sale, but obviously for a limited time!

Saturday:

• 9:30 AM – VIP photo session (advance pass and all VIP in 30 min prior to public)
• 11:30 AM – VIP autograph session
• BREAK
• 2:00 PM – Regular photo session
• 3:30 PM – Regular Autograph session
• 5:00 PM – “An Hour With Stan Lee” Panel
• 6:00 PM – Convention closes

Sunday:

• 10:00 AM – Photos (VIP pass holders in 1 hour prior to public to be in Stan Lee line only.)
• 11:30 AM – Autographs
• BREAK
• 1:00 PM –  Autographs

Thanks to the great response we received from you guys, we are going to have our first HeroesCon Fun Run this year! Join us Saturday morning on June 23rd for exercise, friends, and fun! We’ll be meeting outside The Westin, Stonewall St side  at 7:00 AM. We’ll be accepting donations (after we cover printing costs) on behalf of the Hairy Cell Leukemia Research Foundation to fund research into the causes, diagnoses, and treatment of hairy cell leukemia, the disease that took the life of the great Dave Stevens. For your donation you will receive a HeroesCon Fun Run shirt with art by Eric Canete! Eric has even offered to do portfolio reviews for any aspiring artists willing to run, details here!

You don’t need to make a donation to run, but we sure would appreciate it and so would the foundation. You also don’t need to run to donate or get the shirt! Shirts will be available for pre-order for a VERY limited time (we need to get them to press!) So get your orders now! We will do a very small overprint of a few sizes to have the day of the run. We will not be shipping shirts, they will only be available the morning of the run! Thank you! Your generosity is appreciated!

Last chance for Advance 3-Day passes to HeroesCon 2011 that is! HeroesCon 2011 starts in 5 days! The deadline for purchasing these will be Tuesday, May 31 at 9:00 PM EST. Advance 3-Day passes entitle you to early entry every day of the convention (at our discretion). Every year we also give an signed and numbered print to advance pass holders and this year is no different! The 2011 incentive print features art by master of the macabre, Bernie Wrightson! Feast your peepers on a teaser of the art for this year’s print above. NOTE:  Prints are not guaranteed to be ready for pickup until possibly Friday evening or Saturday as Bernie has to sign over a 1000 of these bad boys when he gets into town. So, if you see Bernie, just say thank you and go easy on the handshakes!

In other convention news, we are working round the clock to get all of our small press listings up on the site and ready for our program books. Thank you for your patience! We are a small staff running a BIG convention and we are going to make sure everyone that attends the show this year has the time of their lives!

Table assignments for professionals, Indie Island and exhibitors are now up on the site, check them out! We can’t wait to see you all in just a few days!

Plan your weekend at HeroesCon, our complete event schedule has been posted!

Super crazy INSANE late night last night finishing the program book for this year’s HeroesCon, and thus finalizing all the little bits and pieces that go into it. The good thing about that is that all those little bits and pieces are finally finalized, including these guys:

COMPLETE EXHIBITOR LIST

COMPLETE EVENT SCHEDULE

LOCATIONS FOR GUESTS

LOCATIONS FOR SMALL PRESS

hmm, is there anything else? Well just to remind you that you need to buy

TICKETS

on or before Monday, May 31, if you want to get one of these exclusive signed and numbered 11″ x 17″ prints by Mike Mignola F-R-E-E. That is cheap at twice the price, sports fans, just look at this beauty: