With Free Comic Book Day just three days away, we continue our steady march towards HeroesCon 2009 today with another update to our Guest List!

Joining the list first of all today is STEVE EPTING, the incredibly popular artist behind books like Captain America, Avengers, El Cazador, and scores more–not to mention a prolific illustrator and digital painter. Steve is also a regular collaborator with fellow-guest Ed Brubaker–look for their upcoming series The Marvels Project this summer, redefining the early years of the House of Ideas!

Also new today is our old buddy SCOTT HAMPTON, who is as comfortable working in ink (Simon Dark, Batman: Gotham County Line) as he is in paint (The Life Eaters, Spookhouse). Scott’s an old buddy of ours and a great guy, so it’s always fun to have him back.

ALSO fun to have back this year will be ANDREW ROBINSON, the muscley writer-artist behind Dusty Star. Andrew’s also worked on Gen 13 and recently done a ton of high-profile covers for DC, including their “Faces of Evil” event, Superman, and Detective Comics!

Attending his very first HeroesCon this year is writer KEITH R.A. DECANDIDO, who’s currently writing Farscape for BOOM! Studios, as well as recent Star Trek: Alien Spotlight, and tons of novels set in the worlds of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, and more.

And returning this year from NC-based Tsunami Studios are GARRY MCKEE and JASON WALKER. Both have worked on numerous RPG and CCG games, including Warhammer 40K CCG and Legend of the Five Rings (Garry) and City State of the Invincible Overlord and Scarred Lands (Walker).

Okay, more to come–and don’t forget Free Comic Book Day on Saturday!

We’re starting off the week with a bang–just added to our HeroesCon 09 Guest List is an impressive group of creators from the Silver through the Bronze Ages… and of course they’re all still working today! Check it:

NICK CARDY is our best buddy; kind of like the “favorite uncle” of HeroesCon. He’s as popular with fellow guests as he is with his many fans, and why not? Nick’s career goes all the way back to the beginning of the Silver Age itself, with work on DC titles including Aquaman, Bat Lash, and Fight Comics–and most notably on Teen Titans. Nick’s covers and interiors have influenced entire generations of cartoonists, and he’s as sweet as pumpkin pie in person!

GARY FRIEDRICH, the creator of Ghost Rider, returns to HeroesCon this year. Besides his work on Ghost Rider, Gary was a Marvel bullpen writer and editor from the mid-60’s through 1978, and worked on pretty much everything, including X-Men, Iron Man, Captain America, and Sgt Fury and Nick Fury: Agent of Shield!

Another popular guest at HeroesCon for years and years now is another notable formal Marvel bullpenner–ROY THOMAS was Marvel’s first Editor-In-Chief after Smilin’ Stan, and had popular runs as writer on books like Avengers and Conan the Barbarian. And besides his Marvel work, he also worked on DC books including All-Star Squadron. These days Roy is writing most of the Marvel Illustrated series of books, as well as editing Alter Ego at TwoMorrows! Note that Roy is only able to attend the convention on Saturday, June 20.

WAYNE VANSANT is probably best known for his work on The Nam, one of the most offbeat and well-loved books of its time. He’s also contributed to Dark Horse’s Two Fisted Tales and Medal of Honor, as well as Semper Fi.

Last this week is ROD WHIGHAM, whose career began in the 80’s on GI Joe. He’s also worked on Justice League, Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Punisher, and dozens more!

Okay–more updates on the way. Welcome to the working week!

Well heckfire–after last week’s hurly-burly update-per-day pace, it seems downright sedentary to only make two updates to the HeroesCon 09 Guest List this week. On the other hand, between the two of them, they total 18 people! I’m going to make this quick, as I still have to get the Heroes Hotline sent AND print up a bunch of Free Comic Book Day flyers to take around town over the weekend. It IS, after all, a week from tomorrow!

But for now, CHECK OUT these SWEET PEEPS:

ERIC CANETE is the artist behind books like the hit End League, Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin, and a ton of others, including design and storyboard work on the Ben 10 Cartoon Network show. Be sure and welcome Eric to his first HeroesCon!

OTIS FRAMPTON is the creator of the Oddly Normal series of graphic novels, as well as the non-Marc-Deering half of a podcasting team!

CHRIS GIARRUSSO is no stranger to HeroesCon attendees, attending I think his 3rd or 4th this year. You probably know Chris from his several Mini Marvels books for Marvel Comics, as well as his own G-Man!

JASON LATOUR lives in our very neighborhood–when you’re not catching him browsing the rack on Wednesday afternoons, you can catch him as the artist on The Expatriate, as well as the writer of the upcoming Loose Ends!

BUDD ROOT is practically in our neighborhood, and another frequent Wednesday visitor to the shop. He’s also the creator of the cult-favorite Cavewoman series!

GREGG SCHIGIEL is also returning to HeroesCon this year. Besides working on What If? and Disney Adventures Magazine, Gregg is also the writer and artist of the Spongebob Squarepants comic in Nickelodeon Magazine!

Also joining the list today are our buddies in Tsunami Studios–there are a few more Tsunami-ers still to confirm, but I thought I’d point out these guys. And they’re located right here in good ole North Carolina to boot! Ah, my home state… Oh! Anyway:

STEVE BIRD has worked on a ton of books, including Robin, Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul, Blue Beetle, and Hard Time.

RICK KETCHAM is a name synonymous with quality, inking all over the place for all the major publishers. Recent work includes Runaways, GI Joe, Robin, and The Dresden Files!

ERIC LAYTON, a force to be reckoned with, has worked on Hexen Hammers, GI Joe, Kyle XY, Ex Machina, and more!

Last but not least, JOHN “WAKI” WYCOUGH is known for his work on GI Joe, Transformers, Dr Who, and a ton of others. Be sure and welcome Tsunami back to HeroesCon!

And have a great weekend!

Today is Friday, and marks the fifth consecutive day this week that we’ve posted a GIANT addition to our HeroesCon 09 Guest List–and we’re going out with a bang this week, with EIGHT new names!

MARK TEXEIRA is no stranger to HeroesCon, and one of our most popular guests. Heck, half the time when we can’t find staff members, they’re in the office listening to “Tex” tell stories while he works on someone’s drawing! And his entrances to our Annual Art Auction, usually with the paint still drying on a piece he’d just finished onstage, are always dramatic! If you’ve never met Tex before, you’ve probably read some of his comics, including Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, Black Panther, and many more.

Also new to the list today is returning guest BRIAN PULIDO, the co-creator of Lady Death and founder of Chaos! Comics. Brian has recently been working in movies, having just written and directed The Graves. He’ll be premiering an exclusive Lady Death HeroesCon variant for you collectors!

And that’s just the start of this addition! G.W. FISHER returns to HeroesCon this year, with recent work on Shadowhawk and Intimidators!

TOM FLEMING is a prolific painter and regular guest of ours, with work in magazines like Heavy Metal and Vampirella Quarterly, and illustrations for World of Warcraft and numberous card sets!

LEO LEIBELMAN is attending his first HeroesCon this year. He’s worked in illustration and art for years, with work in Heavy Metal, Savage Sword of Conan, Turok, and more!

STUART SAYGER is the creator of the Shiver In The Dark graphic novel, as well as a ton of Vs Card System cards, and Lego Bionicle production art!

STEVE SCOTT is attending his second HeroesCon this year–his recent work includes X-Men Forever and She-Hulk, as well as Marvel Adventures Hulk and Marvel Adventures Avengers!

LOUIS SMALL JR is another fixture at HeroesCon. You can catch him in the pages of Vampirella/Lady Death, Sirens of the Cinema, and multiple Marvel and DC trading cards!

Big week next week, as we continue to flesh out our massive list–over 70 new names since April 1st!–and get ready for Free Comic Book Day on May 2nd!

Rolling right along! Just added to the HeroesCon 2009 Guest List is up-and-coming publisher BOOM! Studios, along with three of their biggest creators: Mark Waid (Irredeemable), Roger Langridge (Muppets), and Michael Alan Nelson (28 Days Later). And, since three names just isn’t enough these days, we’re throwing in a couple of first-timers, Detective Comics‘ Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs!

MARK WAID is an incredibly popular and prolific writer (like I have to tell you), with past work including Kingdom Come, breakout runs on Flash and Fantastic Four, and recent work on Amazing Spider-Man and Supergirl. His new BOOM! title Irredeemable was an instant sell-out, with a second print already on the way.

ROGER LANGRIDGE is not only the creator of the Eisner and Harvey nominated Fred the Clown, but he also is behind the new Muppet Show comic that sold out in about 30 seconds. AND BOOM! is doing a Muppet Show HeroesCon exclusive, with a new cover by Langridge just for us! Did you hear that, Rusty?

MICHAEL ALAN NELSON is the writer of numerous books for BOOM!, including Hexed, Fall of Cthulhu, and 28 Days Later. He’s making his very first trip to HeroesCon, so we hope you’ll be extra sweet to him!

ALSO making his first trip is Detective Comics penciller DUSTIN NGUYEN! I love this guy’s art almost as much as his first name–check out the cover to the upcoming Batman: Streets of Gotham at left… sweet! Besides that and his current gig on Detective Comics, Dustin’s also worked on Wildcats 3.0, Authority, and more.

He’s joined by his occasional collaborator and inker, DEREK FRIDOLFS, who is inking Detective and Streets of Gotham, and in the past has worked on Green Lantern Corps, JLA, Immortal Iron Fist, and a ton of other!

I think it was Billy Idol who once said, “…with a rebel yell, MORE! MORE! MORE!” One can only presume that he was gazing into the future at the HeroesCon 09 Guest List, which is growing by leaps and bounds with each passing day!

Today we’ve added a whopping NINE new names, hailing from the worlds of all-ages comics, newspaper strip comics, and in a few cases, both!

JIM AMASH is an old buddy of ours and an inker par excellence–besides inking a ton of different Archie comics like Sonic Universe, Jughead, and Veronica, he also works on the Spider-man newspaper strip’s Sunday edition, and is one of the editors at Alter Ego Magazine!

JUNE BRIGMAN is currently drawing the Brenda Starr newspaper strip, and has also worked on Supergirl, Alpha Flight, Star Wars, and more!

TERESA DAVIDSON is an inker working primarily for Archie Comics, on Sonic Universe, Veronica, Sabrina, and many more. She’s also worked for Disney, Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse!

IAN FLYNN is not just the writer of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe, but one of our most regular customers in the store! AND you can meet him on Free Comic Book Day, coming up on May 2!

STEPHANIE GLADDEN has drawn for pretty much everybody, and including books like Powerpuff Girls, Flintstones, Sweatshop, Simpsons Comics, and more!

DAVE MCDONALD has worked in comics and television for years, most recently as the creator of Hamster Sam Comics!

ROY RICHARDSON has worked for pretty much every major publisher, on books including Captain America, Iron Man, Flash, and Tomorrow Knights, which he co-created. These days he works with June (his wife) on the Brenda Starr newspaper strip!

JIM SCANCARELLI is another one of our best local buddies, and a Charlotte treasure. He’s the cartoonist behind Gasoline Alley, the longest running newspaper strip ever!

Last but not least is DON SHERWOOD, whose credits go all the way back to the 1960’s, on books and strips including Dan Flagg, Sgt Preston of the Yukon, The Partridge Family, and his recent graphic novel, I Love A Mystery!

It seems like lately I spend my entire day coding additions into our HeroesCon 09 Guest List, not to mention writing these breathless blog posts. But how in the WORLD can I not sound breathless when announcing these seven guys all at once?! Each of these guys is a member of our little (growing) HeroesCon “family”, and each deserves their own announcement, but the crazy number of guests we have this year demands speed! So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, may I present:

MARK BROOKS‘ star continues to rise, with interiors in books including Amazing Spider-Man, Dark Reign: Young Avengers, and covers all over the place!

Besides co-creating Perhapanauts (with Craig Rousseau) and Tellos (with Mike Wieringo, TODD DEZAGO has also written for Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, Impulse, JLA, and many more!

CRAIG HAMILTON is preposterously popular artist, both within and without comics circles. Look for upcoming work from him in Fables, as well as past work in Sandman, Starman, and more!

GEORGES JEANTY‘s bio lately reads “Buffy, Buffy, Buffy”–Georges is the artist of the cult-favorite Buffy The Vampire Slayer comic series. He’s also recently done covers for Nightwing and Manhunter stories for DC Comics!

PHIL NOTO has one of the most recognizable styles in comics, most recently on display in Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom, Infinite Horizon, Jonah Hex, and many more!

JASON PEARSON has long been a fixture at our show, and is probably best known for his creator-owned series Body Bags, which recently saw the publication of a new story in Body Bags: One Shot. Jason also is a prolific cover artist, often associated with Spider-Man.

Last but not least, DEXTER VINES is one of the most sought-after inkers in the industry, often working on high-profile “event” comics like Civil War and the recent white-hot Wolverine “Old Man Logan” story. He’s probably most closely associated with penciller Ed McGuinness, especially for their work on Superman Batman and The Hulk.

Whew! Okay, more to come–tomorrow we’ll be announcing a slew of all-ages artists and writers, and later in the week a big publisher announcement!

Another week of HeroesCon 2009 Guest List updates begins! This week we start out with near-to-my-heart Indie Island, welcoming back Top Shelf Productions to HeroesCon! Top Shelf has been a central part of Indie Island since long before its creation in 2005, and in many ways laid the groundwork and made it possible! That’s why it’s particularly pleasurable for me to announce the addition of four of their biggest creators to our Indie Island list:

MATT KINDT is the award-winning creator of the Superspy book, as well as its predecessors, 2 Sisters and Pistolwhip! He’s got another book coming out later in the year from Dark Horse, but I’m not entirely sure it’s okay to announce it yet, so you’ll have to ask him about it at the show!

ANDY RUNTON is certainly no stranger to HeroesCon, one of our most regular and well-loved guests. Especially well-loved by fans of Owly, the extra cute, extra popular all ages book he writes and draws!

Speaking of cute and popular, CHRISTIAN SLADE is the creator of the Korgi series from Top Shelf, and is making his first ever appearance at HeroesCon this year. Be sure to welcome this prolific illustrator and now cartoonist to Charlotte!

And lastly but leastly: while ROB VENDITTI is only half as cute as Andy Runton, he’s twice as popular lately–Rob wrote the graphic novel The Surrogates, which is being made into a movie starring Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames, set for release later this year. Seriously, if you’ve ever met Rob, you know it couldn’t happen to a sweeter guy. In the next couple of weeks or so I’ll be sitting down to interview Rob, so we’ll see what HE has to say about it then.

But for now, welcome to these Top Shelfers! And of course, there are a ton more announcements on the way–tomorrow, more of our HeroesCon “family”, as well as another publisher!

Are you kidding me? This is the FOURTH big update we’ve made to our HeroesCon 2009 Guest List this week! For a total of twenty-six new names on the list! And that’s nothing–next week we’ll likely be adding more than thirty new names, so get your boogie shoes strapped on now: HeroesCon 09 is going to be IMMENSE!

Today’s big update includes movie mogul STEVE NILES, whose 30 Days of Night you may have heard of, as well as the upcoming Freaks of the Heartland, directed by Pineapple Express and Snow Angels director David Green! Steve is also the writer of books including City of Dust, Criminal Macabre, and the recent Epilogue!

Steve is joined by fellow returning guest STEPHANE ROUX, who makes his second trip to HeroesCon this year! Hailing from France, Stephane has made quite a name for himself over here as a comics artist, with work on Birds of Prey, Supergirl, Action Comics, She-Hulk, and a ton more! He was also the big star of last year’s Art Auction, netting the largest single amount paid for any piece!

But that’s not all–also new to the Guest List today are:

ROBERT ATKINS, the artist of IDW’s new GI Joe series, and a member of North Carolina’s own Tsunami Studios! Robert has also worked on Ultimate Fantastic Four, She-Hulk, and much more!

REILLY BROWN is making his first appearance at HeroesCon this year–you’ve probably seen his work on Marvel’s Cable Deadpool, Hulk Vs Hercules, New Warriors, and more. Be sure and give him a warm welcome this June!

SHAWN CRYSTAL, on the other hand, is no stranger to HeroesCon. Besides his duties as a professor at SCAD, he’s also more recently been doing art for Deadpool!

ANDY SMITH is also no stranger–heckfire, he’s one of our most regular store customers! His star is really rising lately, as artist on Dean Koontz’s Nevermore, Superman Confidential, Stormwatch Phd, and more–not to mention his how-to-draw books, including Drawing Dynamic Comics!

SARAH WILKINSON is a sought-after artist, with dozens and dozens of trading cards to her credits for pretty much every company, as well as recent cover art on the Dark Delicacies comic!

Whew! Okay, more to come next week! Have a great Easter and Passover, everyone!

You can tell we’re gearing up for HeroesCon when we start making Guest List updates EVERY DAY! It sure is going to be crowded this year! But this week we’ve been trying to extra-officially confirm a lot of our closest “family”-type guests, the delicious candy center of the vast and nougaty exterior of HeroesCon. While I hate to announce all these guys together in one big post–this is like a who’s-who of some of our favorite people in the world, and I’d prefer to make a great big fuss over each of them–the stack of announcements I need to make is growing all the time! So, without further ado, the lords and ladies of three of comics’ finest art studios:

GAIJIN STUDIOS is like royalty at HeroesCon, and with good reason–check out this lineup they boast–

CULLY HAMNER is the artist of the upcoming Question backup in Detective Comics, written by Greg Rucka. He’s also recently received accolades as the artist of Black Lightning: Year One, as well as an exclusive contract with DC Comics.

LAURA MARTIN has colored, well, about everything. Her resume reads like a most-popular-ever list of comics: Astonishing X-Men, Secret Invasion, The Stand, Authority, Planetary… you get the idea. Swank!

BRIAN STELFREEZE is the only person ever in my life to take the time to (sniff!) teach me to moonwalk. Of a less tender nature, he’s the influential artist and generally chatty dude behind The Ride, GunCandy, Matador, and about a bajillion Batman covers over the years.

KARL STORY is, all joking aside, one of the best inkers working in comics, period. The number of actual inkers working in comics dwindles all the time, but Karl is pretty amazing to watch, which you will be able to do in a couple of months. Some of his higher-profile jobs include Ultimate X-Men, Number of the Beast, Tom Strong, Ocean, and Nightwing.

DOUG WAGNER is the smiling writer of the crew, with books including The Ride, The Ride: Die Valkyrie, and the upcoming Hammer Sound! He’s also one of the higher-ups with our buddies over at 12 Gauge Comics!

And, while he’s no longer technically a Gaijin-er, TONY SHASTEEN has got the stink of that office all over him still, so I’ll announce him with these other dudes (and Laura). HeroesCon attendees might know Tony first as the artist of the recent Rosario Dawson co-created O.C.T., and thus one of the people in the corner of the frame in about ten billion photos of Rosario that got taken at HeroesCon in 2006 and 2007. BUT more recently he’s been announced as the artist of the upcoming Stephen King’s The Talisman adaptation, as well as Final Crisis: Secret Files.

JOLLY ROGER STUDIO of Macon Georgia is ALSO extra royal at HeroesCon, and like Gaijin, extra Georgian. Though many stupendous stars have been part of Jolly Roger over the years, these days it’s largely centered around:

TONY HARRIS, the Grand Buccanneer of HeroesCon, and a prolific cover artist, as well as artist of the hugely popular Ex Machina, Starman, and the Mark Millar-penned War Heroes. Busy busy!

JD METTLER somehow looks even more like a pirate, due in large part to a mighty moustache. He’s a well-known colorist both working with Tony and on his own, on books including Ex Machina, Spider-Man: With Great Power, and Conan.

But wait–there’s also THE BLVD, the home studio of already-on-list John Paul Leon, as well as new additions:

BERNARD CHANG, who gets some of the funniest pictures taken of him each year. When he’s not cracking photographers up, he’s also been a former Disney Imagineer and artist on Wonder Woman, Superman, and Deadpool, among a bunch of others.

TOMMY LEE EDWARDS is either a talented illustrator who does a ton of high-profile work for movies like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, OR a talented cartoonist who’s drawn Marvel: 1985, The Question, and Batman. Or both. It’s both, actually.

Jeez! That took a lot out of me. I’m going to go have a cool refreshing lemonade with Shawn and Seth and get my strength back. But I’ll be back tomorrow with–I’m not kidding–ANOTHER addition to the list! Good gravy!