Why is Father’s Day such a big deal for comic book and pop culture fans who live in and around Charlotte? Simple: The coming of America’s dad-centric holiday heralds the return of the massive, annual celebration of comic culture known as HeroesCon.
Started in the early 1980s by Shelton Drum — owner of the local comic retail shop Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find — as a small gathering of comic professionals and enthusiasts, HeroesCon has grown into one of the industry’s most respected conventions, complete with hundreds of guests, vendors and visitors. And this year may be the best edition of the event ever. Why?
Well, we perused the guest list, studied the schedule of events and talked to Drum himself to come up with the top 10 people, publishers and programs (in no particular order) that promise to make HeroesCon 2009 so great.
The guys who killed Captain America: Even if you aren’t a comic fan, chances are you heard about the death of the world’s favorite patriotic hero: Captain America. When the character was assassinated a little more than two years ago, his murder made waves in numerous mainstream media outlets — from CNN to the Wall Street Journal to the Colbert Report. Well, here’s your chance to meet the guys responsible for offing Cap — writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting; they’re in town just in time to shed light on the hero’s possible resurrection, and that’s news that Drum thinks will be hot. “I got a feeling everybody in the country’s gonna be wanting to know what the heck [Brubaker and Epting have] got to say about it,” says Drum, “so they’ll be there talking about it.” Catch the duo as they take part in a number of panel discussions, signings and more.
The Big Two: The two biggest publishers in the comic book industry — Marvel and DC — will both be in the house this weekend. For the uninitiated, these are the companies behind characters with household names (and films) like Wolverine and Batman, among thousands of others. The “Big Two” will visit town to host a ton of programming, including presentations that threaten to spill the beans on a bunch of upcoming projects. And they’ll be on the hunt for new talent, so if you have dreams of drawing that Rocket Racer graphic novel, bring your portfolio.
The dude who created Surrogates: Surrogates — the science fiction comic about a future where people experience life through robotic avatars — hit newsstands years ago, but it makes the jump to the big screen this fall in a film starring Bruce Willis. Wanna know more about the upcoming movie and the comic? Ask HeroesCon guest Robert Venditti, the writer behind Surrogates, when he’s front and center for a Friday panel.
Bendis & Friends: Best-selling scribe Brian Michael Bendis (the writer of hit comics like Ultimate Spiderman and New Avengers) makes a return to the Con after a long hiatus; it’s his first appearance since trading his indie-creator status to become a heavyweight over at Marvel Comics. Bendis will be joined at HeroesCon by a few of Marvel’s other biggest writers: Jonathan Hickman, who currently writes Secret Warriors and will soon take over Fantastic Four; and Matt Fraction, the creative mind guiding Uncanny X-Men (and who actually used to work for Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find). “The brain trust is in town,” Drum says. “Month in and month out, those are the guys … that steer the Marvel Universe.”
Jeff Smith: The award-winning artist/writer of the groundbreaking all-ages sword-and-sorcery book Bone, Jeff Smith, will be in full force at the Con. Keep an eye out for Smith — currently writing and drawing the quarterly science fiction series RASL — as he’ll be around all weekend signing comics, discussing his works at panel discussions and speaking at a screening of the documentary The Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, Bone, and the Changing Face of Comics … which, as you can guess, is all about Smith and his creations.
Boom! Studios Blows into town: Independent publisher Boom! Studios has been to HeroesCon before, but this year the company is riding high off the success of books like The Incredibles, The Muppet Show and Irredeemable. Boom! Editor-in-chief — and superstar writer — Mark Waid and Muppet writer/artist Roger Langridge will be in the building, and according to Drum, they’ll be bringing goodies — such as exclusive comics with special HeroesCon-only covers.
George Perez: Artistic legend George Perez isn’t exactly new to the Con — he was, after all, a guest at the very first HeroesCon — but he hasn’t been in a few years. And with his trademarked ultra-detailed drawing style, he’s a guy all comic fans need to meet. “He was hot in 1982, doing the Teen Titans, and whatever he does is still hot,” says Drum.
And A bunch of con favorites: Sure there’s a gaggle of special new stuff being featured at this year’s Con, but make sure you check out some of the programming that happens every year, such as: the Quickdraw Contest, which challenges artists to create drawings on the spot for prizes and to get noticed by industry insiders; the annual Art Auction, where fans can bid on pieces of original art not available anywhere else; Indie Island, a huge area on the convention floor that hosts some of the industry’s most talented independent comic creators; and waaayyyy more stuff.
HeroesCon runs from June 19-21 at the Charlotte Convention Center. For a complete list of guests, vendors, events and more, visit www.heroesonline.com.
Check out live coverage of HeroesCon June 19-21 on our new comic book blog, Comic Proportions.
This article appears in Jun 16-23, 2009.
