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!

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!

SURROGATES trailer in HD

Oh yes! HeroesCon guest Rob Venditti is blowing up! The Surrogates film, adapted from Rob and Brett Weldele’s graphic novel, comes out this fall! While we’re not really into the whole Hollywood-at-comics-conventions kind of thing, we’re happy to do it this way, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy than Rob!

Whoa Nellie! Did you see that headline? DC Comics is returning this summer to HeroesCon! For the first time in some years, DC will be setting up in force at HeroesCon, with editors, panels, and probably lots of swag and glimpses at the upcoming shape of the DC Universe! We’re super-DUPER excited about this, and have been trying to make it happen for awhile now–the stars have aligned! Be sure you let DC know that you want them to stay at HeroesCon in coming years!

And on the DC tip, fan-favorite artist Ethan Van Sciver will be appearing at HeroesCon as well this summer–Ethan has become a popular guest at the show over the last few years, and will know doubt have long lines once more this year with his work on Flash Rebirth and the big DC event, Blackest Night!

Oh, and there’s still another big publisher announcement to make, but I think I’ll save that one for next week when I have a few more details locked down. Let’s just say that it’s going to be a banner year this year!

New to the HeroesCon 09 Guest List today are six more awesome names–as we move into the last month before the show, the announcements are going to turn from new guests to new pieces of schedule, hotel announcements, and more, so keep your digital eyeballs glued to this site and the Heroes Hotline for all the updates.

But for now, check out these sweet peeps:

CULLEN BUNN returns to HeroesCon this year along with fellow guest Brian Hurtt. The two have collaborated on two The Damned series so far, with a third “Daughter’s Danse” on the way. Look for Cullen in Immortal Weapons, coming up from Marvel!

MICHAEL KRONENBERG is a writer and designer who has written for a ton of books including The Batcave Companion, Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu, and designed books like the recent EC Archives and more. He’s a regular contributor to TwoMorrows magazines including Rough Stuff and Back Issue.

BRIAN REBER is a colorist who’s worked for most of the big companies, most regularly for Marvel and DC on books like Captain Britain and MI-13, X-Men Legacy, Outsiders, and Runaways.

DURWIN TALON is an artist, editor, and professor. His comics work includes Beautiful Scars and Bonds, and he also edited the excellent Panel Discussion book focusing on a number of iconic comics creators and their approaches to their art.

GREG “DARK ONE” WILLIAMS is best known for his creation Animal Mystic. These days he’s behind Paleo Pirate, published by the new company Void Comics.

MATTHEW WILSON‘s color work has appeared in The End League, Gigantic, and Phonogram. Please help us welcome him to his very first HeroesCon!

Okay, more on the way! Stay tuned!

A quick post while working on a longer post for later this morning: we’re getting a lot of e-mails about the HeroesCon host hotel announcement. We are right on the cusp of making an official announcement, just crossing all the t’s and dotting all the i’s.

We will make that announcement first through a special edition of the Heroes Hotline, our weekly newsletter. If you’re not already receiving it, you can sign up here. If you’re already getting it, then you’re good to go.

Once we’ve announced it through the newsletter, about a day later we’ll announce it here on our blog. Note that I’m subtly hinting that you should totally be getting our newsletter. It’s the nazz. Okay back to the impending Guest List update! And the schedule is coming together–I’ll be posting the first parts of it tomorrow, including the much asked-about SCAD workshops!

Huzzah, huzzah! A new addition to the HeroesCon 09 Guest List to celebrate the week’s end–we’re what? about 5 weeks away now, so things are starting to get crazy around here. But we think we’ve got something extra special cooked up for you… in the meantime, feast your Internet eyes on these new guests:

PAUL AZACETA has had art in a bajillion different things lately, including BPRD 1946, Foolkiller, Potter’s Field, and Daredevil. This will be his very first appearance at HeroesCon!

JONATHAN HICKMAN returns to HeroesCon this year, having added a number of Marvel titles (Secret Warriors, Dark Reign: Fantastic Four) to his already fan-favorite list of credits (Pax Romana, Nightly News).

JAMES “DOODLE” LYLE is an old buddy of ours, and no stranger to HeroesCon. His donations to the annual Art Auction are often among the top bids of the night! Doodle has had work in Negative Burn, Doorman, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and many more.

Another chum is smilin’ RICO RENZI, one half of the Kickstand Kids (along with fellow guest Chris Brunner), and a totally studly color artist. You’ve almost certainly seen Rico on Perhapanauts or Killing Girl, and you should certainly check him out in the upcoming Loose Ends and Talisman.

ROBBI RODRIGUEZ also returns this summer. His sweet brush stylings are all over Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen, Maintenance, Hazed, and less recently on Hero Camp from Image.

And bringing up the alphabetical rear this week is legendary letterer JOHN WORKMAN, whose career in comics goes back over 40 years, and whose credits include Wolverine, Howling Commandoes, Heavy Liquid, Thor–pretty much everything. He’s often associated with his buddies in the Boulevard Studio. Welcome back!

Okay, more to come early next week, and soon we’ll be seeing the schedule come into focus! Have a great weekend!

Oh yes! New to the HeroesCon 09 Guest List today are Rantz Hoseley, the editor of the recent hit Comic Book Tattoo book from Image, AND Jason Levesque, the cover artist! While I believe Jason was at the show last year (although in stealth mode due to a last-minute appearance), this is he and Rantz’s FIRST “official” appearance at HeroesCon, and I hope you’ll welcome them with all the pomp and foofah that HeroesCon is known for.

Also new today is our man Andy Kuhn, who has worked all over the place during his career, most recently on the hit book Firebreather. He’s also been penciller on Marvel Team-Up and IDW’s The Easy Way. Welcome back, Andy!

Oh, and last thing–check out the image Roger Langridge did for our Art Auction! Fans of Doctor Who and The Muppets will go into paroxysms when they see this badboy–I’ve already had one request from a fan in the U.K. to be able to lodge a proxy bid at the auction!

Yes! We’ve been trying for years to get him, and at long last we can announce that JASON LUTES will be attending his first HeroesCon this summer! I sound pretty excited, huh? If you don’t already know, Jason Lutes is the critically acclaimed graphic novels Berlin and Jar of Fools, and a professor at Vermont’s Center For Cartoon Studies. He’ll be appearing with CCS alums Joe Lambert and Chuck McBuck in Indie Island, so be sure and welcome him!

Speaking of cartoon colleges, today we’re also adding a coterie of students from Georgia’s Savannah College of Art and Design, who are appearing together as “The Temple of Cartoon Mojo.” Their name, not mine, I promise. I KID, I KID!

And, while I haven’t quite decided whether he would fit best in Indie Island or with the superhero guys, today we also added first-time guest SCOTT WEGENER, artist of Atomic Robo! I have a feeling Scott is going to get mobbed by original art collectors for sketches, so if I were you I would race to his table Adam-Hughes-style first thing that morning!

Okay! More to come–don’t forget that Free Comic Book Day is going on ALL DAY tomorrow, with our 13 magical guests signing and sketching from 1-5! More info right here, yo!