JUSTIN’S PICK :: DC SUPER POWERS 8 INCH RETRO ACTION FIGURES: Comics are the peanut butter to merchandising’s jelly. There is something archly appealing about seeing our favorite characters rendered in three dimensions, and that impulse has spawned a cavalcade of…stuff, spanning generations. Now, two generation-defining toy lines – Mego and the Super Powers Collection – get melded in this new series of figures by the Figures Toy Company. Heroes has always been a comics-first establishment, and that principle will always guide us, but these figures….THESE FIGURES…were too cool to resist. And with gift season soon upon us, there’s a character in this selection to please the frothing fanboy in YOUR life (that’s if the staff doesn’t snap them all up first!).

RICO’S PICK ::MULTIVERSITY: PAX AMERICANA: Grant Morrison and his most perfect collaborator Frank Quitely reunite to bring you this alternate earth tale of Charlton heroes The Question, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Nightshade and Peacemaker. Sounds like a mini Morrison/Quitely one issue stab at Watchmen done their way and it should be interesting.

ANDY’S PICKS: So broke, yet so happy…..the stuff of which Holiday gift lists are made.

CASANOVA COMPLETE ED HC VOL 01 LUXURIA| $29.99
For all fans of the writing of Matt Fraction as well as the magical art of Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, this edition of the First series starring superspy extraordinaire Casanova Quinn is required reading. Come for the story and art and stay for all the clever cultural references!

DUST COVERS THE COLLECTED SANDMAN COVERS HC NEW ED| $49.99
The new edition of the collected Sandman covers all created by the always innovative Dave McKean features annotations and a new short story by the Endless’ own Neil Gaiman. Innovation is an understatement; here be Gems!

TEEN TITANS A CELEBRATION OF 50 YEARS HC| $75.00
I don’t know what is collected in the Teen Titans 50th Anniversary, but DCs recent track record of solid Anniversary anthologies suggests this book will be worth a peek and maybe a purchase.

EC GEORGE EVANS ACES HIGH HC| $29.99
Does anyone draw airplanes better than the late great George Evans? Heck no! And the new Fantagraphics EC spotlight does this craftsman’s work proud. Outstanding comics presented in rich detail laden black and white.

All these volumes are choice but if I could only choose two (one? Shirley, you jest)…
SILVER SURFER EPIC COLLECTION TP WHEN CALLS GALACTUS| $34.99
Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #49, #55, #57-60, #72 and #74-77 – plus material from FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #48, #50, #56 and #61; FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL (1964) #5; and TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #92-93.
I would gladly exchange my hard earned tender for this Silver Surfer collection; the stories found within show off the mid-sixties Lee, Kirby and Sinnott magic as they managed to turn the comic world on its collective ear month in and month out. Glorious and more fun than any other book around.

Lastly and certainly not leastly
ART OF MODESTY BLAISE SC| $39.99
Modesty Blaise is the most fun, the most intelligent and most importantly the most consistent daily newspaper adventure strip of the past 40 years. Look through this gem of an artbook that features all 5 of Modesty’s great illustrators and then pick up any–ANY!!!- Modesty reprint volume that Sir Justin of Crowsely stocks on the bulging shelves of Heroeshire. Every single volume is great. I swear!

ANDY’S PICK :: ZENITH PHASE ONE: Before there was Animal Man, Doom Patrol, New X-Men, The Invisibles, Seven Soldiers of Victory, Batman & Son, Final Crisis, and Multiverse, there was Zenith. Grant Morrison along with designer Brendan McCarthy and artist Steve Yeowell created the first selfish Gen-X Superhero as rock star. Originally published in England in 2000 AD, between 1987 to 1992, ZENITH has not been reprinted for decades and that huge gaping absence in the era of classic reprints ends today. Back in the day, I was one of the few, lucky few in the colonies to read it and if memory serves, it is a marvelous read. Don’t miss it.

RICO’S PICK :: DRIFTER #1: Drifter is a new science fiction series from Image Comics written by Ivan Brandon (Men of War) with art by Nic Klein (Captain America). Abram Pollux has crash landed on a very dangerous planet. What will he need to do to survive? I don’t know but I’m going to find out this Wednesday just like you.

Celebrate the release of “Behold the Dinosaurs” with us and author Dustin Harbin.

Saturday, November 29th from 2PM – 4PM

We will have copies of the book on hand. This event is free and suitable for all ages! Bring your entire Dino-loving family!

More info on the book from publisher Nobrow here.
http://www.nobrow.net/16393
“Introducing a brand new large format Leporello from American artist Dustin Harbin.

Can you name over 100 Dinosaurs off the top of your head? Do you know which of them came first? Which were the tallest and longest and which were the smallest and shortest? Which of them travelled by land and sea, or sky? Well if you don’t know, Behold! the Dinosaurs! will get you well on your way there, with over 100 of the most awe-inspiring dinos and a handful of other prehistoric creatures that leap, crawl, run, fly, swim and slither from one side of this 4 metre concertina to the other, right up to the point where… well, you know.

Dustin Harbin is well known in the alternative comics scene for his Diary Comics series published by Koyama Press. Dustin’s work has also appeared in Casanova, Seconds and the Hic & Hoc Illustrated Journal of Humor. He lives in North Carolina in the United States, just east of the region formed when the Ur-continents of Baltica and Laurentia collided, throwing up the Appalachian Mountains near the beginning of the Devonian Period. His favourite dinosaur is – of course – the Stegosaurus.”

This is one of the hardest posts I’ve ever had to write. It is with shock, disbelief and great sadness that I share the news that Jeremy Dale has passed away. Jeremy came to HeroesCon about 10 years ago and promptly won the quick-draw contest. The next year he was a working professional and a regular in artist alley. He and his wife Kelly became part of the extended Heroes family. He was talented, funny, supportive, hard-working and way too young. Linda and I, along with the entire Heroes crew, send love and hugs to Kelly and all of our comic family friends that knew and loved Jeremy. He will be missed. Rest in Peace Jeremy. – Shelton Drum

JUSTIN’S PICK ::  THE HUMANS #1: When this book was solicited, it appeared to be more of the genre mash-uppery we’ve come to crave from Image Comics. “Planet of the Apes meets Sons of Anarchy” was my small mind’s trifling conclusion. Imagine my surprise when The Humans #1 turned out to encompass a far more broad range of reference points. Steeped in the exploitative iconography of 70s cinema and lacquered (liquored?) with an appropriately underground sensibility, this book’s as entertaining as it is unclassifiable. The back cover by bountiful Benjamin Marra sums things up nicely, and it’s also hand-lettered, which always sends my heart aflutter. Take a bow, Keller/Neely/Collantes…you’ve crafted a thing of gritty beauty.

HEATHER’S PICK :: ELEKTRA TP VOL 01 BLOODLINES: Until this recent series, my knowledge of Elektra was limited to the Daredevil movie starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner.  I can’t even claim to have seen the solo movie.  Neither of those movies are a good ad for just how awesome and bad ass Elektra is in the comics.  This new series is a great  ad and the release of the first trade paperback is an excellent time to give it a read.  Written by Haden Blackman and drawn by Mike del Mundo, the art is gorgeous and the story is interesting with no prior knowledge needed.

 Bonus Pick: Rocket Raccoon #5: Are you reading Rocket’s stand alone series? If you said no, then why the heck not? This book is super fun and super funny and you are missing out if not picking it up monthly! BTW: This issue is drawn by the founder of last month’s InkTober, Jake Parker.

Don’t forget, Tomorrow at 1PM, BATMAN HEROES DISCUSSION GROUP!

It’s about time that the Heroes Discussion Group turns its critical eyes upon Bill Willingham’s Fables. The series will conclude in about six months when they complete their 150th regular season issue.

The challenge in front of Discussioneers United is… which volume should we select?
Keep in mind, in order to make things flexible for folks new to Fables, we’d like to pick a story arc that does not give away the big plot reveals especially the identity of The Adversary.

I spent the last few weeks re-reading the series and here are my recommendations:
The March of the Wooden Soldiers (includes The Last Castle one-shot)
1001 Nights of Snowfall (Yes, we did that at the con a few years ago with Mr. Willingham, but we spoke more about the over-all series instead of this wonderful GN)
The Great Fables Cross-Over
Fairest in All the Land GN
Babes in Toyland

All of these books are just bursting at the staples with story-points, terrific concepts memorable characters and enough sub-text to make for a truly satisfying afternoon. So please take a moment and cast a vote as to what book you’d like to see spotlighted (spot-lit?) Even if you aren’t sure you can make it, but feel strongly about the series, please vote. We’d love as much input as possible.

We will schedule at the end of November or beginning of December as soon as you’ve selected the book. If you’ve never read Fables, this is an ideal time to give it a try. If you have watched Once Upon a Time or Grimm, why not check out the far superior source material for these two network TV shows?

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