Hc Logo Rgb
This weekend’s big event is definitely HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC — and The Beat will be there. This is our only non-local con appearance this year aside form San Diego, and we can’t wait. Shelton Drum throws a good old fashioned comics convention with a laid back vibe that have made it a favorite for years and this year should be no exception. The guest list includes every one from Al Feldstein to Nicholas Gurewitch, with stops for Adam Hughes, Jaime Hernandez and Darwyn Cooke.

Hc08 Ii-Banner Langridge

HeroesCon is also notable for Indie Island, an enclave of indie publishers and cartoonists from Bryan Lee O’Malley to Evan Dorkin to Laura Park. At MoCCA we were shocked by the number of indie guys who closed their conversations with “See you at HeroesCon!” but Bodega, PictureBox, AdHouse, Buenaventura and Sparkplug will all be there.

We’ll be on THREE panels as follows:
FRIDAY

12.00 PM– NOON
COVERING COMICS: Criticism, Reportage, and Gossip | Room 219
The digital age has allowed a deeper understanding of comics criticism and reporting than has ever been possible before. Tom Spurgeon of the Comics Reporter moderates this discussion featuring some of the leading lights on the comics journalism scene, including Heidi MacDonald of The Beat, Tim Hodler of the Comics Comics magazine and blog, Matt Brady of Newsarama, and Johanna Draper-Carlson of Comics Worth Reading. From industry reporting and journalism to criticism and good ole gossip, this is sure to be a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the comics news!

[Oh boy, wonder what everyone will talk about?]
5.00 PM
TORI AMOS’ COMIC BOOK TATTOO | ROOM 207
Heidi MacDonald moderates a panel of cartoonists, writers and artists hand selected by Tori Amos to reinterpret her music into sequential art. Features previously unseen images exclusively from the forthcoming book from Image Comics!

SATURDAY
1.00 PM
THE FUTURE OF PODCASTS IN THE MEDIA | Room 213A
Heidi MacDonald of The Beat moderates this panel featuring a who’s who of comics podcasting talent: Jimmy Aquino of Comic News Insider, Charlito and Mr. Phil of Indie Spinner Rack, Brian Christman and Adam Murdough of Comic Geek Speak, and most likely a bunch more guests from our Podcast Arena!


Our schedule is dwarfed by Tom Spurgeon’s, as he is seemingly moderating almost every panel…but they all sound so great!

We have a few picks in the jump, but…really they all sound great. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this weekend HeroesCon is the place to be.

FRIDAY
1.30 PM
STATE OF THE INDUSTRY DISCUSSION | Room 207
The Comics Reporter’s Tom Spurgeon moderates what’s sure to be one of the most fascinating conversations of the weekend, in this roundtable discussion featuring artist and Image publisher Erik Larsen, DC Executive Editor Dan Didio, artist and DRAW! MAGAZINE editor-in-chief Mike Manley, writer/artist Jimmy Palmiotti (COUNTDOWN, JONAH HEX), and writer and Boom! Studios Editor-In-Chief Mark Waid.

SATURDAY
12:30
THE NEW ART COMICS | Room 219A
From critical favorite hits like MAGGOTS and POWR MASTRS, to prominence in influential anthologies like KRAMER’S ERGOT, “art” or “abstract” or “out” comics are pushing the boundaries of the avant garde in comics. Join Tom Spurgeon of the Comics Reporter as he sits down with Picturebox publisher Dan Nadel, KRAMER’S ERGOT editor Sammy Harkham and publisher Alvin Buenaventura for a frank discussion of this leading edge of art in comics!

4.00 PM
E USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS: EC COMICS PANEL
Part 2: A Chat With Al Feldstein (and Friends)
Ben Towle and Craig Fischer host an in-depth interview with Al Feldstein, EC artist and writer and MAD MAGAZINE editor extraordinaire! Along for the ride is a pair of celebrity funsters—FRED THE CLOWN and FIN FANG FOUR cartoonist Roger Langridge and CUL DE SAC comic stripper Richard Thompson—ready to roast and grill Feldstein about The Lighter Side of Editing America’s #1 Humor Magazine!

SAUNDAY

1.00 PM
CRAFT IN COMICS: Jaime Hernandez, Jim Rugg, and Frank Santoro in Conversation | 213A
Less a conversation on materials and techniques and more a conversation on ideas and beliefs, this panel will focus on tradition and innovation in composition and drawing for comics. From Jaime’s insistence on not using photographs as reference in his comics to Jim’s clarity of composition and Frank’s careful color choices, there are countless tenets of craft that are largely underappreciated by readers. This panel will investigate these ideas and attempt to illuminate and outline them in a lively conversation led by Frank Santoro.

1 COMMENT

  1. Comic Related (http://www.comicrelated.com/) will be doing round the clock coverage of HeroesCon starting the evening of June 19th and running through a final wrap report on the 23rd. I invite you to stop by and check out a mountain of photos and coverage. We’ll be sharing news as it breaks and offering nightly podcast wrap reports on June 20th, 21st and 22nd.

    Cheers,
    Chuck

  2. Would love to be in on that Tori Amos Comic Book Tattoo panel, but unfortunately I live thousands of miles away.

  3. I really, really have to do this con one year.

    I’m sure I could gain millions and millions of Deposit Man fans out there in the Charlotte, N.C. Or is that a million to one chance? Anyway I get the two confused.

    For now, I should make plans for the Dragon Con- since my paid vacation is going to fall on that date.

    ~

    Coat

  4. It’s a great convention! Big enough, with lots of cool artists, writers, and everyone is so gosh darn polite in Charlotte!

    Oh, and I saw Colleen Doran’s Comic Book Tattoo … erm… I mean, her ARTWORK for Comic Book Tattoo, and It. Is. FABULOUS! She masters another style fearlessly! 9781582409641 for the regular, 9781582409665 for the deluxe.

  5. I’ll be there in the Big Head Press Booth, #1119. My only regret is that there will be so many cool panels I’ll have to miss because I’ll be busy selling copies of ROSWELL, TEXAS and our other books..

  6. We’ve only heard great things about Heroes Con over the last few years, so we’re super pleased to be at Indie Island this year.

    It’s quite a jaunt (from Phoenix) but we’re excited to check it out first hand.

    If you like friendly monsters, come see us at booth 833.

  7. sphinx…there will be SEVERAL podcasts going on. Heroes gave a bunch of us a few tables to set up shop. COMIC NEWS INSIDER will be doing interviews all over the floor, at our tables, maybe in the bar, etc. :) and we always do a big post convention wrap up.

  8. I was really dissapointed in Heroes Con. It was my first time there, but it was one of the most unorganized bits of chaos that I have ever seen. The Roy Thomas panel was really sad and thats basically what I drove 3 hours from Durham to see.
    Other than really good bargains on comics in the dealer room, I was not impressed. I can get good bargains on ebay. There are really no excuses for the lack of organization either. The convention has been going for what..10 years? Maybe more? I started going to the San Diego con in 82 or 83 up until 99 when I moved to Durham. While it wasnt as slick in the early eighties as it is now, those early days were way, way more organized than the chaotic slapdash mess that I saw in Charlotte.
    The TwoMorrows booth and the Dynamite Entertainment booth were apparently being run by someones kids. I didnt see a single rep from either of those two booths friday or saturday. Sunday I didnt even see the Dynamite booth, it apparently vanished without a trace. Several of the Panels I attended didnt have micraphones! The placement of the panels in relation to where the dealer room was, that was really insane.
    Last thing, this “friendliest Con ever” bit of nonsense. If you are going to run a convention that unorganized and willfully sloppy, you’d better be friendly. I think I’d rather be entertained and suffer bad manners.