Oh man you guys. You guys you guys, whoa. Indie Island is shaping up to be basso profundo this year for sure, I’m really excited about it. REALLY excited, and that’s saying something.

So, adding to last week’s initial Indie Island list announcement, including some sweet HeroesCon stalwarts and some brand new titans of the webcomics world, this week we add another stalwart and two more webtitans (I just made up “webtitans,” fyi, just so you know). Check them out:

RYAN NORTH, a snippet of whose Dinosaur Comics web comic you see above, is one of the earliest and most successful of the webcomics practitioners. He’s also like 40 feet tall, so he’ll be easy to pick out in Indie Island, towering 40 feet in the air with a bunch of people around his table buying books and t-shirts and all the other bajillion things he sells, smiling all the while like a red-headed towering Buddha.

KC GREEN is someone whose comics I only twigged to in the last 6 months or so, mainly through Twitter, but man those things have grown on me. As usual, I’m the last to discover anything. KC is only like 22 or 23 or 15 or something, but the second book collection of his comic Gunshow is coming out this year, and I love it. You are going to love it as well, if you don’t already. Get ready for Love!

LIZ BAILLIE is a dynamo, a comics making dynamo, festooned in her bright pink tie and her vest. A fancy little dynamo. She’s a self-made star of the minicomics scene, originally through her strip My Brain Hurts, and currently with her new comic Freewheel. I’m working on getting her Punchbuggy Tour compatriots MK Reed and Gabby Schulz to come with her; if it works, HeroesCon 2010 will be the last ever stop on the tour! Or so I’m told. So basically it would be totally historicals.

BUT GUYS WAIT LISTEN: I have STILL ANOTHER “webtitan” (remember I made that word up, it’s mine) lying in wait for announcing next week, and possibly another several after that. Plus some sweet

Brand new to our HeroesCon 2010 Guest List this week is Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich, who has been a popular guest over the last couple of years. Gary was tied to practically every Marvel title at some point in the 70’s, most notably on Ghost Rider, X-Men, and Iron Man among many many others. Gary’s joined by another person famliar with Iron Man and 70’s Marvel properties–Austin Janowsky worked on Iron Man: The End and Red Sonja to name just two, as well as art on Stanley the Snowman.

Today we’re also adding a couple of prominent all-ages comics creators, including NASCAR Heroes writer and Kids Love Comics co-founder John Gallagher. His creator-owned book Buzzboy is super popular, and he’s currently at work on a new GN entitled “Zoey & Ketchup.” He’s joined by artist Dan Parent, whose worked all over the industry, but probably most famously on Archie titles like Betty & Veronica, Archie & Friends, and a bunch of others. Not to mention Barbie for you Barbie-holics out there (Seth).

Last but certainly not least today is our good buddy Jim Scancarelli, the writer and artist behind the Gasoline Alley newspaper strip, the longest running comic strip… ever, I think. Pretty sure. Anyway, Jim’s a super classy guy and always a lot of fun to talk to, whether at HeroesCon or just hanging out in the store. He’s got more stories than the Brothers Grimm, except his stories end happier and feature guys like Charles Schulz and Milt Caniff.

Oh my goodness! In our first published Indie Island Guest List, today we added three titans of the webcomics scene, oh lordy lordy, super exciting!

Kate Beaton is the creator of the Hark! A Vagrant! webcomic, and one of the fastest rising stars in comics these days. I think she started doing it like, two years ago or something? These days she’s ridiculously mobbed at conventions, to the point where I’ll definitely need to think hard about where to seat her, so that her neighbors don’t get huffy if her lines are in their way.

Anthony Clark probably wouldn’t get huffy–he’s a pretty sweet guy. PRETTY SWEET. He’s also the man behind Nedroid comics, a web strip featuring the very understated (and impeccably well-written) hijinks of Beartato and Reginald. And some other guys. This is turning into one of my favorite comics lately, I’ll admit. Here’s one of my recent faves. Anthony is also the colorist on the comics of–

Christopher Hastings, who does the bizarrely, insanely popular Dr. McNinja comic. If I have my internet comical history right, I think Dr. McNinja was one of the early success stories in the world of online comics. We are delighted to be riding on the coattails of this success, signifying as it does that–by dint of Mr Hastings very presence in Indie Island–the whole darn thing is going to be one massive success.

And returning to HeroesCon is one of our most loyal and earliest adopters, Danielle Corsetto. She does the also preposterously popular webcomic Girls With Slingshots, a new book of which just came out, I do believe. I know she’s been mailing them to her readers practically by the crateful.

But hold the phone, Sister Susan! Man cannot live by webcomics alone! Also new to our roster today are returning studs of the minicomics scene, including J. Chris Campbell (Attic Bugs, Zig Zag), Jason Horn (Ninjasaur), Joe Lambert (Sundays, also designed our righteous 2009 Indie Island shirt), Alec Longstreth (Phase 7) and Shannon Smith (Small Bible)! Whoa! 9 new names in one day–well, it is the holiday season after all. I’m super excited–this year’s Indie Island is going to be the biggest and most diverse one yet, which is going to be great. For you.

Whoa-ho! Joining us for his first ever HeroesCon in 2010 is star penciller Mike McKone, veteran of a ton of high-profile titles like Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Teen Titans, Exiles, and tons more. It’s almost easier to list what this guy hasn’t worked on, his list of credits is pretty ridiculous. This dude is a WORKHORSE, and a much-requested guest, so we’re glad to have next summer.

ALSO new to the Guest List today is a guy with the coolest first name in comics, and the second-coolest person to wear that name: Dustin Nguyen is the artist on Batman: Streets of Gotham, and has also worked on Detective Comics and Superman Batman, as well as outside of Gotham City on books like WildC.A.T.S. It may just be that sweet first name, but I lovvvvve Dustin’s art, especially his amazing watercolor covers. Plus he’s a crackup in person, as we learned last summer when he attended HeroesCon for the first time. He told me he was taken aback by the quality of the art people were doing for our art auction, and promised to really dial it up this year. What??? If you were here for our 2009 Art Auction, Dustin donated 3 pieces, one of which he did onstage and was just incredible. Maybe he’s going to sculpt something next year? I can’t imagine how he’ll top himself.. but that’s one of those good problems I think. Check out this piece he did onstage:

Okay guys! Have a great weekend, and those of you, well pretty much anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard, enjoy the snow! Next week will see the first iteration of our Indie Island guest list, and I’ve got some really amazing names to announce, so get excited!

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement of Ben Templesmith‘s addition to the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List, today we’ve got a massive addition of returning guests!

Returning to HeroesCon in 2010 will be industry legend Michael Golden (The Nam, Micronauts) and Mark Texeira (Wolverine, Ghost Rider). These guys have become favorites at the show over the years–Mark’s 11th hour donations at the Art Auction, usually held aloft by volunteers blowing on still wet paint, always make a splash, and Michael is as big a draw among other artists as he is among fans!

Also returning in 2010 are the fine lads of North Carolina’s Tsunami Studios, including star penciller Randy Green (Teen Titans) and inker Rick Ketcham (Runaways, Uncanny X-Men), plus Steve Bird (Robin), Brian Shearer (Doctor Who), and John “Waki” Wycough (GI Joe)! I’m sure we’ll be adding more Tsunami names in the near future as well–there are a ton of these guys, I think they’re breeding or cloning or something.

Okay, one more Guest List update for the week tomorrow, then next week we’ll roll out our initial Indie Island guest list, including a bunch of first-time big name indie types! Super exciting!

Oh yes! We’re super excited to announce that Head Aussie-In-Chief Ben Templesmith has signed on to be a guest at HeroesCon 2010! You know him as the artist behind Fell, 30 Days of Night, the writer and artist of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse and Welcome to Hoxford. His newest book is the upcoming Choker, with writer Ben McCool.

Ben was one of our early confirmations for our 2009 show, but the vagaries of international residency forced him to cancel at the last minute, so we’re glad to have him back! Ben assures me that he will be in the country all next year, and will be swinging two bats at HeroesCon. We were emailing back and forth about odds and ends, seating and so forth, and I mentioned that I’d probably seat him off kind of semi-by-himself somewhere, to keep his line from blocking a whole section of Artists Alley.

He said, “If I have a huge line I will be severely humbled sir,” which might have just been humility; while I’ve never met Ben face to face, he seems like a pretty sweet guy. But I suspect he is not prepared for the kind of full-on COMICS show HeroesCon is, not to mention all the original art junkies that come each year–he’s gonna be swamped!

ANYWAY. I have a laundry list of people to add still, so you’ll likely see another (and much larger) update tomorrow, but I wanted to get the news out today! Get excited!

It’s been years since we’ve had our chum Billy Tucci as a guest at HeroesCon, so we’re super-excited to welcome him to the 2010 Guest List this week! I can’t remember when he was here last, although I do remember he was a guest at the first HeroesCon I worked, in ’96. That was the year we had the basketball goal set-up, and all day Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti and Billy were playing pickup games with fans and staff. So, besides creating the cult-favorite Shi and the recent DC series Sgt Rock: The Lost Battalion, Billy may also have a mean outside jumper! You can ask him yourself next summer!

Also joining next year’s Guest List is the smilingest dude in comics, Señor Francesco Francavilla, whose massive output lately has included Zorro, Garrison, Scalped, Sorrow, Frank Frazetta’s Dracula Meets The Wolfman, and a ton more. Jeez slow down Francesco! Seeing him every summer is a real treat, he and his lady are great guests and always take the time to give us a kind word–is it bad that we love it? Whatevs, whatevs.

But wait there’s more! Also new this week are Animal Mystic creator Greg “Dark One” Williams, whose new series Paleo Pirate is coming from his own Void Comics company! Kevin Sharpe (God of War, Resident Evil) also returns to the Guest List–and like I say, this is just the start.  I have at least 20 more names I’m working through–more to come next week, once we have our massive Holiday Sale/Signing behind us.

But before I let you go, I can’t resist using these Billy Tucci pencils I found while hunting Shi images online. Enjoy!

We know you’re super excited about this weekend’s big Holiday Sale/Store Signing Jamboree, but we thought we’d redouble your excitement a little bit by announcing today that Bill Willingham has signed on for next summer’s HeroesCon 2010! Shelton will know better than me, but unless I miss my guess, Bill hasn’t been to HeroesCon at least since he was working on Elementals back in the day. If even then! I know he hasn’t been here since HeroesCon ’96 (my first as an employee), so either way, get excited!

For the three of you who aren’t aware of Bill’s work, he’s the writer and creator of the hit Fables series, as well as co-writer of its spinoff Jack of Fables, and more!  What newer comics readers might not know is that Bill is a full-on cartoonist as well as a writer–his series Elementals was pretty hot back in the 90’s. These days he’s written all over the place, including notably on DC’s Day of Judgment, Justice Society of America, and a ton of others.

But it wouldn’t be like us to announce just ONE name, would it? In fact, I’m looking at a long list of a couple dozen names Shelton has given me, enough that I’ll need to break it up into 3 or 4 separate updates! Also officialized this week are some of our favorite Charlotte-area cartoonists, pretty much all of whom are regular shoppers in our store for you Wednesday customers! They include upcoming Loose Ends creative team Chris Brunner and Jason Latour, Night artist Buddy Prince, Cavewoman creator Budd Root, and Dean Koontz’ Frankenstein artist Andy Smith! And of course, you can meet those last two this Saturday at the big 4-person store signing, all part of our Holiday Sale! More details here!

Wuxtry, wuxtry! Brand new on the HeroesCon 2010 Guest List today are husband-and-wife writing team Christos Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage! You probably recognize Christos’ name from comics like WildC.A.T.S., Avengers: The Initiative, and his forthcoming Vertigo Crime novel Area Ten, scheduled for spring of next year. When he’s not writing comics, he’s a fancy Hollywood dan, writing for shows like Law & Order: SVU and Numbers.

Ruth Fletcher Gage is somewhat newer to the comics world, but is collaborating with Christos on the upcoming Lion of Rora GN from Oni. She has also written for Law & Order SVU and Numbers, as well as The Breed and Paradox.  AND, for you other North Caroliniophiles (like me), she worked for Governor Jim Hunt back in the… wait when was he governor? The 90’s, as I recall.

ALSO joining the Guest List today are two lions of the trading card/painting world: Mark McHaley has become a favorite in Artists Alley, and has worked on a bajillion trading card sets for companies like Marvel, DC, Lucasfilm, and many more! Joe Pekar is a painter who’s worked on card sets including Spider-Man Archives and Marvel Masterpieces, as well as in comic books like Hexed, Grimm Fairy Tales, and more!

Huzzah! Joining our star-studded roster of star studs (and at least one studette, not to mention Shawn and Shelley) for our annual Holiday Sale and signing are Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love cover artist Chrissie Zullo and Cavewoman creator Budd Root! They join Olympus writer Nathan Edmondson and Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein artist Andy Smith in a store signing going on December 12 from 2 to 5pm, all a part of our big 2-day holiday sale that weekend (Saturday-Sunday)!

Our holiday sale has become legend in the area over the years, as not only a place to get ridiculous deals on back issue comics–especially with Seth building a brand-new, never touched by mortal man (Seth is immortal, natch) stock of $1 books–but a great place to pick up presents for that hard-to-shop-for friend or family member! Why, heavens knows we’ve got comics, graphic novels, mangas, back issues, statues, toys… all sorts of stuff. Plus Shelton will have a ton of trade paperbacks and hardcovers he’s been piling up for some good ole deep discounting. Why, it sounds like a downright jamboree to me! Heck, if you still can’t find a gift for that special (or let’s face it, not-that-special) someone, you can always buy them a 3-day pass to HeroesCon 2010! We’ve even got a fancy little voucher you can give them! Truly, we have thought of everything this year. See you there!