Well, in case you’ve been trying to access our website for the last 24 hours or so OR e-mail any of us, you probably had no luck. BUT everything is good to go now–and good thing, too; look what was in all the DC books that came out today:

Oh yeah! Just as a reminder, DC Comics will be set up at the show this year, which is more or less what all the small type says. I can’t be sure, but it MIGHT say that you need to purchase your 3-day advance passes super-quick, OR it might point out that we’ve opened up a very limited number of small press tables for sale, which you should also jump on super fast. OR BOTH!

UPDATE: Okay, everything’s cool now–sorry for any inconvenience!

Yes! But you’d better hurry! We’re in Hall A of the Charlotte Convention Center this year, instead of Hall C like the last few years. Hall A is about 20,000 square feet bigger, which means that we have a few small press tables available for sale! So if you missed the original cut off, now is the time to jump on the wagon!

So for a super-limited time, you can call in your order to us at 704.375.7462, or fax the form with your charge info to 704.375.7464. It’s so late in the game we’re leery of suggesting you mail us checks, but if you live in or around Charlotte, just bring those badboys in and we’ll set you up in-person-style.

Also of note: I’ve been locating the existing Small Press tables, but those are tentative, and will likely change in the next week or two. I’m getting some e-mails about them, but don’t stress yet! They should be pretty firm by the end of the weekend. Okay back to work!

Guest List updates on a Sunday? Well, we’re in that time of year when we’re working pretty much nonstop on the convention. In fact, we’re so swamped, I don’t have the time I’d like to spend talking about each one of these awesome creators like I normally do, so I hope none of them will feel slighted. Half of them are old buddies (Keron, pictured above, Randy Green, J. Chris Campbell and Rob Ullman), and some are brand new (Ian Sattler, Jonathan Gray). But I’m in crunch time, so for the full rundown visit the HeroesCon 09 Guest List where you can find links to their individual sites and sate your curiosity like crazy!

New today are:

DUANE BALLENGER (EATS, Wide Awake 666)
J. CHRIS CAMPBELL (Ancient Age, Wide Awake 666, Zigzag)
BRIAN CUNNINGHAM (DC Comics editor)
KERON GRANT (Son of Vulcan, Iron Man)
JONATHAN GRAY (Sonic the Hedgehog, Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories)
RANDY GREEN (Fathom, Teen Titans, Tomb Raider)
NATE LOVETT (Xombie: Reanimated, Sketch Magazine)
BILL NEVILLE (Explorers, The Tick)
IAN SATTLER (DC Comics Senior Story Editor)
ROB ULLMAN (Traffic & Weather, Atom Bomb Bikini)

Good gravy! Okay, more to come, plus a couple of big announcements for tomorrow!

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve finalized the HeroesCon 2009 Host Hotel, which will once again be the sumptuous Westin Charlotte! This year’s HeroesCon rate will be $109/night, and is active now, so click this link to go and make your reservations on their site, or you may call them at 1-866-837-4148 and ask for the “HeroesCon” or “Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find” rate!

NOTE! As in previous years, rooms may sell out for particular nights, but we will be expanding our reserved block as we go, so keep trying! We will announce on our blog when the rooms have OFFICIALLY sold out, and until then there will likely be rooms added on a weekly basis.

If you’ve never stayed at the Westin before, it is a luxurious hotel which includes the famous “Heavenly Beds”–worth the price of admission alone–gym and pool facilities, a full service restaurant and hotel bar, and is right across Stonewall Avenue from the Charlotte Convention Center, making it incredibly convenient!

Either way these rooms are not going to last long, so grab your room quick! We’ll be announcing further hotel deals with the next week or so!

I told you we had a bunch of big news this week! Brand new to the HeroesCon Guest List as of a few minutes ago is a guy you may have heard of once or twice if you like comics… a guy I like to call CHRIS CLAREMONT! Holy mackerel, right? I’m not sure, but I think the last time Chris was at HeroesCon was back in the 80’s, but Shelton will know better than I would.

Chris will be promoting his new book X-Men Forever, which more or less picks up from where he left off with X-Men #3 way back when! Not only that, the book is bi-weekly, with the first issue by amazing Tom Grummett! I’d explain further, but I’m pretty sure Chris can explain it better himself when you meet him at HeroesCon in just a few weeks!

Oh, but that’s not all–also new this week is Kabuki creator DAVID MACK, who’ll be appearing with his buddy Brian Michael Bendis. I’m still puzzling over where to put THOSE lines, but we’ll figure something out. Besides his work on Kabuki, David is also adapting Philip K. Dick’s Electric Ant into comics this summer with Marvel Comics.

But wait I’m STILL not done! Also new today are:

AL BIGLEY, an artist and educator who’s worked on Sonic, Batman Animated, Geminar, and the upcoming Tao Boy, not to mention a how-to book, Drawing Comics Like A Pro. AND Al’s a Charlottean!

RYAN BODENHEIM is returning this year–you may have seen his art in Wolverine, Black Panther, or in Red Mass For Mars, written by fellow guest Jonathan Hickman.

Hey, what about TOM FEISTER? Another old buddy of ours, these days Tom is a cover artist for GI Joe Origins, as well as having worked on Warriors: Jailbreak and the bajillion-award-winning Ex Machina.

Okay! Still more news to come before the weekend. See you after I grab a quick sandwich and splash water in my face!

I never thought I could actually enjoy a comic book that follows the adventures of the Punisher in the regular Marvel Universe.

I was a big fan of Garth Ennis’ Max Comics version of Frank Castle; his take was pure — gritty, dark, violent and as realistic as a funny book can get. So the idea of the big guy with the skull on his chest running around with superhuman superheroes just seemed silly. And yes I know that’s how he started out — back in the pages of Spider-Man — but after Ennis amped up the real-world elements, I just couldn’t see the point of going back to “Fantasy-land.”

My trepidation about the wackness of a Marvel U.-based Punisher was realized when Matt Fraction launched his super-duper edition a year or so ago. Fraction played the book for laughs, but the lack of seriousness made it hard to care about the stories. Ultimately, it didn’t work.

These days, however, there’s another Punisher comic on the stands; this one is written by Rick Remender and the art is by Jerome Opena. And this one is actually good.

From a story standpoint, Remender’s approach to Castle is similar to Ennis’ … in that he’s stripped the character down to his purest form. The dialogue is sparse and to the point. His actions are portrayed as deliberate and methodical. His emotions don’t register. This isn’t the Punisher played for laughs. This is a “normal” guy on a mission to murder some abnormal bad guys. (It’s particularly cool how the Punisher uses some iconic Marvel-style weapons to battle a cadre of villains.)

From an art standpoint, Opena renders everything in a gritty, rough, shadowy style — and that further helps to ground situations that could easily turn ultra-fantastic. Honestly, Opena is one of the best artists drawing comics today. I can see this guy moving to more high-profile Marvel books soon. For now, you can enjoy his handiwork in these blood-soaked pages.

WHOA check out that big bright logo! Hot on the heels of last week’s announcement of DC Comics return to HeroesCon, today we added Marvel Comics to the list as well. Oh yes that’s right! They’ll be bringing editors, doing portfolio reviews, and be set up in force at this year’s HeroesCon 09! And coming with them is the first name on the list of guests we added today–check it out:

C.B. CEBULSKI is pretty much Marvel’s top talent-scout and occasionally an editor, AND he’s a writer on books like X-Men Fairy Tales, War of Kings: Darkhawk, and his own Wonderlost. Eat that, Renaissance Men!

SEAN FORD is an alumnus of the esteemed Center for Cartoon Studies, the creator of Only Skin, and one of the editors of the Sundays Anthology.

SANFORD GREENE is one of our good buddies, and a sweet dude. On top of that, he’s pencilled books including Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, Marvel Adventures: Superheroes, Wonder Girl, Legion of Super Heroes, and last year’s Methodman graphic novel.

STEVE SAFFEL is not just a friend of ours, but we work him to death every year helping out as well. It’s not like he hasn’t got enough to do–Steve was the editor of last year’s Spider-Man: The Icon book, and the brand new Best of Simon & Kirby volume, both from Titan Books!

RICHARD THOMPSON is the creator of the incredibly acclaimed Cul de Sac, which just failed to win this year’s Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society. Oops! Richard is also the proprietor of Richard’s Poor Almanack, which runs in the Washington Post on Sundays!

CHRISSIE ZULLO is a Charlotte resident AND the cover artist on a forthcoming super-secret Fables limited series. If you want to know more you’re gonna have to show up at the convention and ask her yourself–she won’t even tell US!

Whew! Okay, all those announcements that I referred to last week are pretty much happening today and tomorrow, so buckle up everybody! Tomorrow there’s a HUGE guest who hasn’t been to HeroesCon in a bajillion years, plus more super-studs.. phew! I’m running out of exclamation points. Oh wait–and are you wondering about the HeroesCon host hotel rate? Tomorrow! I PROMISE!

Hey if you haven’t already seen it, I did an interview with Tim O’Shea of the Robot 6 team over at Comic Book Resources. Although Tim didn’t ask me any questions at all about a) whether I was single; b) my top 5 desert island CD’s; or c) if I could spell Bill Sienkiewicz’s name without having to look it up, it was a fun interview and Tim is a nice guy. Check it out right here and drop a comment about how excited about HeroesCon you are!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Memorial Day is Monday, May 25 and as a result books will ship THURSDAY instead of WEDNESDAY. You have officially been warned! If you come by Wednesday you won’t have new comics but you will have us and our sparkling personalities and razor sharp wit. And Matt will be there trying to get you to buy Umbrella Academy!