First, two observations:

1) Everything in Charlotte, NC is new, shiny and either silver or white. It’s kind of like being on the set of that bizarre “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” TV show from the 1970s.

2) Speaking of centuries, we’re currently well into the 21st. A hotel’s charging for internet access is cheap and tacky. It’s a necessity, like hot water or climate control–not an indulgence like a minbar, or ordering a plate of waffles at 3 am. (And yes, I will whine about this again at SPX.)

As for the convention itself, folks in the small press “Indie Island” area seemed to agree that there was a marked improvement in activity, interest and sales Saturday afternoon. I’ve been keeping a list of stuff I’ve sold and if I have time, once things have wrapped up, I’ll maybe post a comparison with last year’s show and/or last year’s SPX–assuming I’ve got that info still around. More important than sales, though, was the general vibe that Saturday afternoon brought some people interested in the small press/indie stuff that was available. This year didn’t feature as many “power hitter” indie people like last year’s Los Bros Hernandez, Pete Bagge, etc. lineup, so the level of attendee interest in this area was a bit of an unknown. While I don’t get the vibe that people were moving tons of books, I was encouraged by the presence of a number of people I met who had come specifically to seek out some Indie Island folks and to hit the Top Shelf and Adhouse booths.

As is the case with most conventions where I’m a guest, I really didn’t get to do any panel-attending other than the one that I was participating in, the minicomics panel at 4:00. A friend who had gone to the Paul Hornschmeir panel told me that there were only a handful of people there, so I feared the worst going into our panel (along with Andy Runton, J. Chris Campbell, Jim Mahfood, Rob Ullman and moderator Dustin Harbin), but I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and the level of interest. I brought some “how to” handouts I nabbed from www.teachingcomics.org, Rob made a little 4 page sketch mini to give out, and Chris likewise had a freebie mini for folks who showed up. Additionally I brought the bulk of my minicomics collection so folks could get their mitts on the real deal as we took questions. Stuff like King Cat, Iron Clad, and the various works of Drew Weing, Eleanor Davis, Alex Longstreth, etc. made the rounds. The good folks from The Dollar Bin podcast recorded the whole thing, and I’ll link to that when it’s available. I ran into a guy after the presentation who had actually been to the Wizard show in Philly on Friday and who was ecstatic that there was a minicomics panel going on at Heroes. He mentioned that there was pretty much no small press/indie focus at that show–which isn’t surprising, but it was nice to think that, even given the general mainstream focus of Heroes, that it’s getting a bit of street cred for being indie-friendly relative to stuff like Wizard.

I missed the art auction in order to hang out with some friends of mine from Charlotte, but we all came back to the bar at 11pm or so to find the place totally packed with liquored-up con-goers spilling out into the lobby of the hotel. The place was still pretty hoppin’ getting on toward 1 am when we left.

My favorite memory of the day: as I walked back to the hotel in the afternoon, out of the windows of a passing SUV I heard “NERDS! NERDS! There’s nerds EVERYWHERE!”

My second favorite memory of the day: I saw a couple leaving the show; one was dressed as an imperial officer from “Star Wars,” the other as a Klingon from”Star Trek.” Truly these were “star-cross’d lovers.” Love will find a way, folks…

It’s too damn late for me to really put anything insightful (or really even coherent) together about the first day of Heroes con, but that won’t stop me from giving it the old college try…

There was a sizable crowd of folks lined up in the lobby of the Charlotte Convention Center when I arrived there a bit before ten in the morning, waiting for the doors to open at eleven. Heroes’ venerable con announcer, Dustin Harbin, got on the mic a few minutes before opening and gave an estimate of a thousand people lined up, which seemed like a ton–but, however many of them there were, they arrived on the floor somewhat gradually, as they all had to be funnelled through the single escalator that leads down onto the convention floor.

I was situated in Indie Island with the usual folks, as mentioned in my last post directly previous to this one, and much catching up and jabber-jawing commenced. With my series Midnight Sun changed from a serialized story to a one-shot graphic novel to come out at the end of this year, I found myself without much new to sell, so I expected things to be a bit slower sales-wise than usual, but other folks even without such caveats seemed to think that things were pretty slow today, even for a Friday. I wonder, though, if this is really just Heroes returning to its normal, relaxed state after the atypical Heroes/Wizard hoopla of last year.

The bar in the Weston was definitely the place to be post-show (and post-dinner), but in addition to that there was an official Heroes event in a nearby ballroom in the Weston with a band, an additional bar, and a showing of a movie associated with Rosario Dawson.

Former Winston-Salem resident and CCCG participant Jordan, who’s doing some coverage of Heroes for The Pulse, will likely have some far more substantive reporting on today’s goings on–he mentioned attending the Ghost Rider panel as well as the Paul Hornschemeier panel that went on toda, so keep your eyes on the internets.

Yep, it’s that time of year again, when comics goons of the Southland rise from their murky humid summer caves, cease “lookin’ at TV” for a bit, and head out to Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC!

First off, the props: to Philip Looney for the banner ad that I swiped from his blog, and also to Adam Casey, from whom I swiped the title of this post…

So, what’s the deal? I’ll be there hawking my wares all weekend Friday through Sunday at Indie Island table ii706:

So, that’s me there in the green table. Also, note nearby notables (in pink):

J Chris Campbell at ii708

Rob Ullman at ii704

That block there in the upper right hand corner will be home to… Chris Staros & Top Shelf, including Owly cartoonist and frequent Heroes guest Andy Runton. Also, Chris Pitzer & Adhouse Books at ii724… and3 Boys Productions at ii823 closing the CIRCLE OF DOOM!!!! (Ok, it’s a square actually)

I don’t know exactly where they’re gonna be on the floor, but you should also run–don’t walk–to go see Duane and Justin of Wide Awake Press, and of course the folks from Cute Girl Demographics, Josh “Rashy Rabbit” Latta and Brad “Pieway to Hell” McGinty.

Local illustrator Kyle Webster will be at sp-09 (not pictured in the above map, but easy to find in the back leftmost corner of the hall). He’ll be promoting his upcoming project Light Children.

Also, Saturday at 4:00 in room 211 several of the above-mentioned folks, myself included, will be discussing minicomics in a panel moderated by Heroes Con “wayward son” Dustin Harbin:

The Cartoonist: Minicomics–Did You For Real Make That Yourself?
Room 211

Minicomics are almost their own side thing, separate from regular old comics. But if you’ve been thinking of dipping your toe into the world of cartooning, there’s no better way to get some work out there without a lot of money, or a pesky old publisher. And who better to show you! A somewhat snaggle-toothed member of our staff sits down with J. Chris Campbell, Jim Mahfood, Ben Towle, and Rob Ullman–and almost certainly some surprise guests–for a discussion of how cool these little art objects are, and how you can make your own!

I’ll be bringing my usual crate o’ minicomics for folks to check out as well both at the panel and for anyone attending the panel that wants to stop by my table later to peruse at his or her leisure.

Drop them pork rinds and get yer ass to Heroes Con in Charlotte!

I was trying to find the proper spelling of “Trondheim” last night, so I checked First Second Books creators page and noted some interesting folks listed on the page, but unlinked and unpictured as yet.  Does this mean these folks have upcoming projects?  A few of note:

Brian Ralph

Richard Sala (Usually published by Fantagraphics)

Christophe Blain (Something new? If reprint/translation, no longer with NBM?)

Paul Pope (I think Adhouse had something in the works with him as well)

Jim Ottaviani

James Sturm (Whither  D&Q?)

Andrew Arnold (Former Time Magazine comics critic.  A comics crit book, maybe?)