We’re putting more effort into building an amazing schedule this year than ever before–by the time of the show, there are going to be so many must-see events that the schedule will end up being as much of an attraction as the guests and exhibitors!

To that end: just added to our 2008 Event Schedule is “The Nicholas Gurewitch Fellowship“, an interview with the crazy-famous creator of The Perry Bible Fellowship. I had a chance to hang out with Nick a little bit at last year’s SPX, and he was awesome, so put together with my own awesomeness, this promises to be an AWESOME(squared) interview. Oh, I forgot to mention that I’d be doing the interviewing–fortunately, this will be one of the only events that I’m running, leaving the bulk of any thinking and erudition to people much more qualified.

The interview is scheduled for 2.00 pm on Saturday, June 21, but NOTE! all times and locations are subject to change with nearly no notice. You can check out the current up-to-date schedule right here!

That’s right–it’s spring, and people are starting to confirm left and right for this year’s HeroesCon. All signs point to our biggest guest list ever, period, far and away, holy crud what a lot of people! But good gravy, this makes 12 people just this week! Returning to HeroesCon this summer will be Karl Kesel, known not only as a writer but as a prolific inker, and a frequent collaborator with the late great Mike Wieringo, not to mention fellow guests Mark Waid, Todd Dezago–the list goes on. From Fantastic Four to Daredevil to Spider-Man to Superman, there aren’t many characters Karl hasn’t had his inky fingers all over!

Oh yeah! As hinted at previously, we’re pleased to announce the addition to our HeroesCon 08 Guest List of Mirage Studios! Helmed by Peter Laird, the co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this will be (I think, Shelton can confirm) the first official appearance at HeroesCon by Mirage. Peter is also the man behind the ENORMOUSLY influential Xeric Foundation, which provides the generous Xeric grants that have started a TON of careers, including guys like Adrian Tomine and Tom Hart, not to mention Sam Hiti, the oft-recommended-by-me author of Tiempos Finales and referee of Fistacuffs.

And Peter’s not coming alone! Mirage is setting up in force with a gang of dudes including Jim Lawson, Michael Dooney, Dan Berger, Steve Lavigne, and Eric Talbot–good Lord! It’s hard to imagine someone not familiar with the Turtles; people forget that it was TMNT that launched the “black & white explosion” of the 80’s, and explosion that also included already existing books like Love & Rockets, Cerebus, Yummy Fur and a ton of others. In fact, I had a hard time deciding whether or not to seat Mirage in Indie Island, but in the end I decided that they were just too big these days. Ah, the price of success!

A lot of old friends added to the HeroesCon 08 Guest List this week, including two of our oldest and closest friends, Tony Harris and Phil Noto. Casey Jones noticed that they weren’t on the list earlier in the week, and after a flurry of e-mails containing expressions like “What?!” and “Avast!“, the situation has been rectified! We expect a lot of these kinds of additions, as busy writers and artists notice that they haven’t confirmed yet, so there are sure to be a lot of announcements coming up throughout the spring!

Tony Harris is, of course, the highly reconizable artist behind big fan-favorite hits like Ex Machina and Starman, not to mention the current Spider-Man: With Great Power miniseries. Phil Noto is a hugely popular cover artist, not to mention interiors on the current Infinite Horizon, a re-imagining of Homer’s The Odyssey. Phil and Tony both are hugely generous parts of our annual HeroesCon Art Auction, usually doing original paintings on stage throughout the weekend, which then command four figures at the Auction itself.

Also new to the guest list this week is Heidi MacDonald, one of the leading lights of the comics journalism scene, and the writer behind Publisher’s Weekly’s The Beat column. Heidi joins The Comics Reporter‘s Tom Spurgeon and Newsarama‘s Matt Brady on our list; although I just noticed as I typed this that Matt’s not on the list. See what I meant before? I’ll check on that and get back to you next week!

And rounding out this week’s additions to our HeroesCon 08 Guest List are returning friends Kelly Yates (Amber Atoms, Tellos), and Matt Webb (E-Man: Idol, Femme Noir). These guys are no stranger to HeroesCon, and are both popular stops for people collecting sketches and original art!

More announcements next week, including some really great panels, plus a big addition of a certain big studio to the Guest List. Here’s a hint: the aforementioned Casey Jones shares a name not only with the famous engineer in the Grateful Dead song, but also a certain grim vigilante who hung out with some sewer reptiles…

We’ve been hinting around about this forever, but finally it’s official! Just added to the Indie Island guest list are “power couple” Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O’Malley! You may have met Bryan at the store signing he did here last fall, right after Scott Pilgrim 4 came out, but if not, now you’ll be able to meet him with a few thousand other people in the background. This will be Hope’s first time doing anything Heroes-related, except for meeting me a couple of times at different conventions both hither and thither. And she’s still coming! Her star is on the rise like CRAZY lately, not just for her Gray Horses and Salamander Dream books, but also a forthcoming title from Simon & Shuster, and who knows what else after that. Phew!

Regardless, this will be the first HeroesCon for both halves of this husband/wife comics machine–which advances our plan to have all of comics’ famous couples in attendance. Why just off the top of my head I can name Bryan and Hope, Stuart & Kathryn Immonen, Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick, Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer… I know there are a bunch more, but my brain stopped working.

But wait, there’s more! Also attending their very first HeroesCon/Indie Island this summer are indie up-and-comers Matt Bernier and Hilary Florido! We just today got a box full of Matt’s sweet mini- (actually maxi–they’re kind of big for minicomics) comics in the mail, including Out of Water and Potato Autopsy. He’s also had work in the Awesome! Indie Spinner Rack Anthology and Critical Citadel. Hilary’s books include The True Heart, The Girl’s Guide To Stuff, and Ofuro.

Be sure and welcome all four of these guys to their first HeroesCon! Which, fortunately, is going to be the best one ever, which should make a good impression. Another guest list update this Friday!

Man, who is this goober? But boy, those shirts look great! These are the only two we got, just to proof, and I quickly snatched them for myself. It looks like we’ll have them available for sale Thursday or Friday, so mark your calendars! The top shirt is by Jim Mahfood, and the bottom (modeled by me in true “Dre Day” style) is by Alec Longstreth, who I’m sure really loves early 90’s gangsta rap. You’re welcome, Alec!

Both shirts look AMAZING, even better than I thought they would. Hats off to our friends at Contagious Graphics, who really do first-rate work, and were extra helpful throughout the process of getting these set up.

If you’re seeing these for the first time, a quick review: they’re the first two of a planned series of 6 total shirts, each featuring the art of a different Indie Island guest. Once we have them in hand, they’ll sell for $20 apiece, plus $5 if you need it shipped within the continental U.S. These are very limited, so if I were you I’d get yours as soon as possible! If you like, I am keeping a little waiting list for when they show up, so feel free to post that you’d like one, especially if we actually know you, which will give your place on the waiting list a little more weight should fights break out.

What, already? Things aren’t slowing down, and the number of e-mails in my box each morning concerning the show seems to double every week. New today on the HeroesCon 2008 Guest List are returning guests Christian Beranek–co-founder of Silent Devil Studios and writer behind Se7en: Lust and Willow Creek from Zenescope–and Clay & Susan Griffith, the husband-and-wife writing team behind It Came From Beneath The Sea… Again and issues of The Tick.

And attending his very first HeroesCon this summer is Jason Howard, artist behind The Astounding Wolf-Man, written by fellow guest Robert Kirkman! Be sure and make all of these creators welcome this June–and stay tuned for ANOTHER big announcement late this week for Indie Island! I don’t want to go into details yet, but let’s just say that fans of Canada will be excited…

Just added to our HeroesCon 2008 Event Schedule is the Avengers Assembled! panel. Assembled! is the Van Plexico-edited book examing the history and mythos of the Avengers. Rare for a non-Marvel book, the book has received high accolades from Avengers alums including inker Bob Almond and editor Tom Brevoort–it doesn’t hurt that all proceeds from the sale of the book go to the Hero Initiative, the charity devoted to supporting aging comics professionals.

The panel will feature a number of celebrity guests (to be announced) and their discussion of the book, the Avengers themselves, and more. Plus it will culminate in the live presentation of the books’ proceeds to date to the Hero Initiative, which is sure to be exciting. For more info check our Schedule page! Also be sure to check out Van’s Avengers fan site, and of course the Hero Initiative!

REQUIRED READING for anyone who is planning to purchase space in Artists Alley for this year’s Heroes Convention: we are about to sell totally out, an unprecedented 4 months before the convention itself. There are a teeny tiny few tables left, near the back corners and side walls of the convention center, but at the rate they’re selling, these will likely be gone by the weekend. So consider this an eleventh-hour warning of the sellout, just to give you a last-minute chance to get in on the biggest convention we’ve ever put together.

There is a contingency overflow plan being discussed, but nothing I can announce yet, and nothing you should depend upon actually coalescing. Smart money says buy now–no table space is reserved without FULL payment!

You can find all the pricing and forms at our Small Press page. The easiest way to get confirmed is to call us with a charge card at 704.375.7462; otherwise you can download the form and mail it in with a check.

We’ve been busy in the store for the couple of weeks with a big reorganization project, which I think Todd is going to say more about elsewhere–BUT the announcements have been backing up, so forgive me if I jam a bunch of blog posts into one many-headed mammoth monster post.

So, Heroes Convention continues to swell its already giant guest list, with a big addition of 7 names today. I’ll divide them into two groups; first the mainstream guests, and then the indie guys. On the mainstream side:

WILL ALLRED is the writer of the upcoming Diary of Night from Bloodfire Studios, with artist and fellow guest Gene Gonzales. This is his first HeroesCon, although he assures me he’s enjoyed the convention before as a fan.

RYAN BODENHEIM is the artist on the upcoming A Red Mass For Mars from Image, with writer and fellow guest Jonathan Hickman. You may have seen Ryan’s work elsewhere in Wolverine and Black Panther. This is also his first HeroesCon.

MICHAEL EURY, on the other hand, is no stranger to HeroesCon. As the editor of Back Issue Magazine, he’s a regular guest, buddy of ours, and North Carolina resident. Trifecta!

On the Indie Island side of things, today saw the addition of DEREK M. BALLARD, the super popular illustrator and designer behind a multitude of t-shirts for companies including Threadless and Royal Stock, sexy comics in magazines like Screw and Giant Robot, and his very own comic, BURN!

MIKE BERTINO is the L.A. based cartoonist behind the recent Pinwheel book, as well as a prolific painter and designer.

MIKE HUDDLESTON has been on the scene forever, but has somehow never been to HeroesCon before. Consider your Mike Huddleston drought ended: the artist behind The Coffin, Deep Sleeper, and Mnemovore will make his first Charlotte appearance this summer.

And lastly, new to the Indie Island list is TENDER LOVING EMPIRE, the Portland, Oregon based screenprinter, music maker, and comics publisher! Whew! That’s a lot of peeps! I’d say more, but I have to make another few posts right after this one, AND get that dad-blamed Heroes Hotline all done! See you in just a second!