Comic Proportions

Well folks, here we are at the last day of the annual HeroesCon comic book convention — here in sunny (and hot as hell) Charlotte, N.C. What good stuff is going on today? I've picked a few things that shouldn't be missed:

12 p.m. — ED BRUBAKER & STEVE EPTING IN CONVERSATION Room | 217A — The guys who killed Captain America (and the guys behind The Marvels Project) sit down with Newsarama's Zack Smith to, as the Heroes Web site says, "discuss their collaborations" and more. Should be fun getting  inside the minds of these murderers!

PANEL BY PANEL: George Perez, Mark Waid, and Brave & The Bold #4 | Room 213BCD — Also going on at noon is this extra geeky event: Legendary artist George Perez and star writer/editor Mark Waid walk through a comic they created — panel-by-panel. Wow. If you're a interested in the process behind comic book creation, this is must-see con programming.

THE LONGBOX UNVEILING | Room 217BCD — Making its debut to the general public for the first time, The Longbox digital platform promises to revolutionize the world of digital comic distribution. Hey, the world is going digital; this may be the "killer app" for the comic book industry. Come see and find out.

1 p.m. — "THE CARTOONIST: Jeff Smith, Bone, and the Changing Face of Comics" Documentary Screening | Room 217BCD — You've got to be on hand to see this new documentary all about artist/writer Jeff Smith. Nuff said.

1:30 p.m. — HISTORICAL COMICS | Room 217A — Creators like Jason Lutes (Berlin), Matt Kindt (Superspy) and more sit around to talk about the creation and implications of comics that deal with historical events.

3 p.m. — FRANK CHO AND BRANDON PETERSON IN CONVERSATION Room 217A — Artists Frank Cho and Brandon Peterson talk about drawing and such. Comic artists in training should definitely come and take lots of notes.

MARVEL: X-MEN | Room 217BCD — Also at 3 p.m., come hang out with X-Men writer Matt Fraction one mo' time and hear what evil things he has planned for the "children of the atom."

Had a chance to check out Marvel Comics' Dark Reign panel, which — as the title suggests — was all about the Dark Reign story line running through a ton of Marvell books these days. At the panel, which featured writers Bendis, Fraction and Hickman, a few announcements were made about new stuff coming this fall. Stuff like:

• A series of one-shots called "Dark Reign: The List." These one-shots deal with Norman Osborn (the villain sometimes known as the Green Goblin who now effectively runs the Marvel Universe) wanting to finally deal with a number of "problems" floating about the Marvel Universe (like, as Bendis said, "Why has no one killed the Hulk?"). The one-shots will apparently team writers like Bendis, Fraction and Hickman with big-time artists who aren't doing monthly books right now. For example, Fraction is writing an Uncanny X-Men one-shot drawn by Alan Davis. And there's a Punisher one-shot drawn by John Romita Jr.

• Ares is getting a new limited series in October.

• Echo, last seen in New Avengers, is coming back in the Spider-Woman series, which has been delayed because of the motion comic currently in production.

For waaaaaaaayyyyyy more on this panel, visit check out the story on Newsarama.

So, here we are at the second day of Charlotte's gigantic celebration of comics and pop culture. I'm chilling in my spacious one-bedroom apartment at the moment, getting ready to hit the Charlotte Convention Center (that's, you know, the site of the whole thing). So what cool things are schedule to take place today? Here's what I'll be checking out:

NOON — ALTER EGO PRESENTS: CHARLTON COMICS RETROSPECTIVE | Room 216 — If you are a fan of the Watchmen comic, you should get some insight on the characters that inspired that work of art. Legends like Dick Giordano and Roy Thomas will be on hand.

1 p.m. — DC NATION | Room 213BCD — Editors Ian Sattler and Brian Cunningham and a bunch of DC creators come to evade questions and tell a bunch of jokes. Well, maybe they might answer a few direct questions.

1:30 p.m. — JEFF SMITH CBLDF SIGNING | BOOTH 557 — Hey, Jeff Smith, the artist/writer behind Bone and RASL, is great. Come see him in the flesh.

2 p.m. — MARVEL: DARK REIGN | Room 217BCD — Say what you want about Dark Reign (I actually like Dark Avengers, so there.) but how many opportunities do you have to see writers Brian Michael Bendis and Matt Fraction (and more) in the flesh?

MINICOMICS: The Best Little Comics In The World | Room 217A — Also at 2 p.m., learn everything about the cool industry within the comic book industry known as minicomics. Creators like Drew Weing, Josh Latta and more will be on hand.

3 p.m. — A IS A+: A STEVE DITKO CELEBRATION! | Room 213BCD — This panel dedicated to the work of Spider-Man co-creator should be fun, especially because their screening a documentary about Ditko at the event.

3:30 p.m. — HERO INITIATIVE SIGNING: George Perez — I'm a huge Perez fan and you should be, too.

4 p.m. — GUY DAVIS INTERVIEW | Room Room 217A — Here's your chance to get in the mind of prolific artist Guy Davis (used to love his Sandman Mystery Theatre stuff).

8 p.m. — HEROESCON ANNUAL ART AUCTION | Westin Providence Ballroom — HWrap up your day with this cool annual event and chill with some comic creators.

Still here at HeroesCon, reporting on all the goings on. I just left the panel hosted by Marvel Comics, where they made several announcements about upcoming projects. Now I'm at the DC panel. So far, they've announced:

• Starro the Conqueror is the big villain behind R.E.B.E.L.S. (Is anybody reading this book?)

• James Robinson and Mark Bagely will apparently be the new creative team on JLA.

• More pain in store for the Teen Titans. (Man, I do NOT like what they're doing with this book.)

So far at the Marvel panel, they've announced:

• A new ongoing Brother Voodoo series

• A new Dr. Strange series called Strange

• A new Moon Knight series

• Electro's coming back to Amazing Spiderman

• New MAX series called Starr: The Slayer

More on the way ...

OK, sitting here at HeroesCon ... it's like 1 p.m. and the place is already slammed.

I'm just now sitting at my first panel — the Marvel Comics panel. I've been at my booth for most of the day editing non-comic related stuff, so now I get to see what's what with the geek material.

Also, I'm hungry as hell.

OK, the panel is getting going. Check my tweets for blow-by-blow on all the panel goodness.

So, HeroesCon is preparing to crush Charlotte, like, tomorrow. Check the Heroes Web site and you'll see all kinds of news about the Con. But, something I'm really excited about? Yooo ... Herb Trimpe is coming!

Trimpe, if you didn't know, is a legendary Marvel Comics artist. I guess his most famous work was drawing the first appearance of Wolverine, but I actually like his wackier stuff (see pic from Shogun Warriors on the left).

Much, much, much more HeroesCon stuff on the way ...

If you love comic books and live in or around Charlotte, I'm sure you know that HeroesCon returns tomorrow (that's Friday, June 19, y'all).

And, actually, with the way the convention is growing, it seems to be transforming into a destination for fans across the nation.

This year promises to be a big year for the show; I wrote a big story about it this week, where I outline all 10 coolest things poppin' off this year. So, go read that.

Creative Loafing will be at HeroesCon 2009 all weekend, and I'll be blogging and tweeting the latest news, announcements, photos, videos and random weirdness from June 19-21.

So check this blog all weekend, and see my Twitter updates at clclt.com/arts.