VA – Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find Exhibition

Press Release:

Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find: the Comic Art Collection of Shelton Drum
January 24 through June 29, 2014
Preview Reception: February 6 from 6-8 p.m.
United-Legard Galleries

Shelton Drum, owner of the Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find comic book store and founder of the renowned annual Heroes Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, brings William King Museum a vast array of original comic book art from his private collection. With the help of Neil Bramlette, founder of Bristol’s Out of Step Arts Collective, classic comics, private commissions, and original pages showcasing key artists from the 1950s and 60s as well as artists working today will be on display for the first time. Featuring comic arts past and present, this exhibit is full of recognizable characters that are sure to surprise and delight fans and newcomers alike.

William King Museum
415 Academy Drive Abingdon, VA 24210
276-628-5005

Charlotte MiniCon 2014 Con Report!

On Saturday January 25, 2014 the Charlotte MiniCon returned to the Grady Cole Center. With over 2,500 guests in attendance, comic book lovers of all ages came out to enjoy the day. Admission to MiniCon was free as always, though a donation of a non-perishable food item (even pet food) was encouraged. Five tons of food, in fact, was collected for the Second Harvest Food Bank, a local non-profit organization.

The MiniCon was founded by Shelton Drum in January of 1977. In 1980, Drum would go on to found Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find and the annual Heroes Convention, which is also held in Charlotte. Said Drum, “We did the MiniCon for a while and then focus shifted to Heroes. But we brought it back in 2007 and it has been growing bigger ever since.”

Founder Shelton Drum

The convention focuses primarily on comic books, highlighting the writers and artists that bring them to life. One such writer, David Pinckney, traveled all the way from Atlanta, Georgia to attend the single-day MiniCon. “I actually found out about it on Convention Scene’s website!” said Pinckney. He was there promoting his comic book, No West to Cross, which is the story of a female gunslinger, “…the first cowgirl in the wild west.” Interestingly enough, though published a year ago, Pinckney has never met any of the artists associated with his work. “I utilized websites like Pencil Jack and Digital Webbing to find artists to work with. “I have team members located in Nebraska, Florida; it’s pretty cool.”

Artist John Hairston, Jr. works on a portrait at MiniCon.

Someone else who drew a sizable crowd was gallery artist, John Hairston, Jr. from All City Studios. “This is my favorite environment,” said Hairston. “I’m among my people, if you know what I mean?” Hairston has been working conventions for 12 years. Painting free-hand on canvas at the MiniCon, he claimed he always knew he wanted to illustrate comic books, yet his work crosses the line into fine art. “I get a lot of commissions from a Con like this.” I, for one, could have stood and watched him paint all day!

Amberle Linnea and Kristin Jann Fischer.

It’s no secret that the cosplay scene in Charlotte is very impressive. Characters of every kind lined the stage at the Grady Cole Center to register for the costume contest, while Charlotte cosplay legend DJ Spider played that funky music. Fan favorites included Kristin Jann Fischer, who looked positively painted into her Black Widow costume, even going so far as to adopt a spot-on Russian accent as she chatted up the other guests as Natalia Romanoff. Amberle Linnea wowed the room with her homemade rendition of Hunger Games character Effie Trinket. Painstakingly piecing together over 1,000 tiny butterflies–including those on her eyelashes and body–Linnea laughed, “You should have seen me trying to ride in the car on the way over here. This dress doesn’t bend!” That’s dedication.

Charlotte MiniCon 2014

All in all, it was a fun day. The Grady Cole Center had plenty of upper deck seating for those needing to take a break. They also had a concessions booth set up in the lobby. Charlotte MiniCon was a shopper’s paradise. We know of various sports’ seasons, wedding season, award season and so forth. For me, the annual Charlotte MiniCon each January is a fantastic way to kick off my “convention season” of the new year. Up next for Shelton Drum and his crew will be their annual 3-day Heroes Convention June 20-22, 2014.

Photos courtesy Garrett Marks

NC – Free Comic Book Day 2013

Adam Hughes, Brian Stelfreeze, Tony Harris, Jason Latour, Cully Hamner, Francesco Francavilla, and many more sign at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find on Saturday May 4, 2013 for Free Comic Book Day!

Free Comic Book Day 2013 @ Heroes is going to be our biggest and best yet! Come out on May 4th to meet more great comic creators than we have ever had at this fun annual event! Also, it says it right there in the name but in case you missed it, there will be lots of FREE COMICS to choose from too! Check out our awesome guest list and save the date!

• CHRIS BRUNNER – Artist: Loose Ends, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, The Ride

• IAN FLYNN – Writer: Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man

• FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA – Writer/Artist: Black Beetle Artist: Captain America & Black Widow, Detective Comics

• SANFORD GREENE – Artist: Rotten Apple, Deadpool, Wonder Girl, Method Man GN

• CULLY HAMNER – Artist: Red, The Question, Detective Comics, Black Lightning

• JOHN HAIRSTON JR. – Painter

• DUSTIN HARBIN – Writer/Artist: DIARY COMICS, Nutted!, DHARBIN!

• TONY HARRIS – Artist: JSA: Whistling Skull, Ex Machina, Starman, War Heroes

• ADAM HUGHES – Artist: Before Watchmen: Doctor Manhattan, Fairest, Wonder Woman, Catwoman

• JUSTIN JORDAN – Writer: Legend of Luther Strode, Superboy, Deathstroke, Green Lantern: New Guardians

• JASON LATOUR – Writer: Winter Soldier, Loose Ends,Wolverine: Japan’s Most Wanted Artist: B.P.R.D., Django Unchained

• JACKIE LEWIS – Artist: Play Ball

• TRADD MOORE – Artist: Legend of Luther Strode, Legends of the Dark Knight

• ERAKLIS PETMEZAS – Writer/Artist: Last Cigarette

• JAY POTTS – Writer/Artist: World of Hurt

• RIDDLE – Cosplayer

• BUDD ROOT – Writer/Artist: Cavewoman

• ANDY SMITH – Artist: The First, Weapon X, Green Lantern, WWE Heroes, Flex and Tone

• BRIAN STELFREEZE – Artist: Domino, Matador, Batman: Shadow of the Bat

NOTE that free sketches are at the discretion of the artists, and are not guaranteed. So, mark that date on your calendar folks! Get here early on Saturday, May 4th at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find will be a great time and you won’t want to miss it!

Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find 
1957 E. 7th Street, Charlotte, NC 28204

Charlotte Minicon Kicks Off 2011

Press Release:

Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find starts the New Year right! We are proud to announce that the Charlotte Minicon will be Saturday, January 22, 2011 from 11 am to 5 pm. The show will be at the Palmer Building at Fireman’s Hall which is just half a mile from our store. We love having our Minicon at this cozy location and it is well worth the $3 admission price just to come and check out this cool, old building. If you are not familiar with the location, fear not, we will put up signs along 7th St. to help direct you to the event!

Our awesome guest list includes Rich Barrett (Nathan Sorry), Chris Brunner (Boondock Saints, Loose Ends), J. Chris Campbell (Zig Zag), Sanford Greene (1000), Dustin Harbin (Diary Comics #1), Jason Latour (Noche Roja, Scalped, Wolverine), Budd Root (Cavewoman), Bridgit Scheide (Kindle), Andy Smith (X-Men Forever 2) and Chrissie Zullo (Fables #100).

We are also pleased to announce our very special guest Chris Stevens! Stevens popped up on the radar doing illustrations for RPG’s and working with UDON Entertainment on numerous projects. He then made a splash in the world of sequential art with a pair of short stories that appeared in Image’s Popgun 2 and 3 anthology volumes. The shorts evolved into the new series, Skullkickers from Image. Stevens is the cover artist for the series and issue #1 has gone to a 3rd printing (that’s a lot of covers)! Stevens was a very popular guest at HeroesCon 2010, creating this gorgeous Captain America for our annual Art Auction. His work so impressed Adam Hughes that he had to go home with the piece! Special thanks go out to the one and only Patrick Sun for capturing an image of Cap before Hughes snatched it up. Please give Stevens a warm Charlotte welcome when you stop by his table!

In addition to our special guests there will be a room full of dealers from all over the Southeast selling their comic wares. Come by to dig for comics both new and old as well as other comic related items like toys! As a special bonus treat the Charlotte Minicon will feature pony rides (weather permitting)! All you have to do is donate at least $3 to the Latta Plantation Equestrian Center. Funds raised will go to erect a covered area at the center. I can’t think of another convention that can boast that they have pony rides!

We hope to see you Saturday, January 22, 2011 at this incredibly fun, family-friendly event!

Charlotte Minicon
January 22, 2011
11 am to 5 pm
Admission is just $3!
Palmer Building at Fireman’s Hall
2601 E 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28204

Heroes Con Welcomes New Guests & Old Friends

Press Release: Heroes Convention is preparing for one of the LARGEST Guest Lists in it’s 28 year history this June 4-6!  Pack your bags and gas up the car, because this will be one of our greatest shows of all time!  Making their First Appearance at Heroes Con this year are J. Scott Campbell, Brian Bolland, Humberto Ramos, Jimmy Cheung, and Rob Liefeld!  They’ll be joining the Heroes Con Family of regular All-Stars like Adam Hughes, Tony Harris, Frank Cho, Brandon Peterson, Mark Brooks, Tommy Lee Edwards, Phil Noto, Cully Hamner, and tons more!!

Long-time favorites like Ron Garney, Rick Leonardi, and Michael Golden are returning, as well as West Coast heavy-hitters like Mike Mignola, Tim Sale, Dustin Nguyen, Eric Canete, and Sean “Cheeks” Galloway.  It’s insane!!  Now we just have to figure out where to put everybody!  One thing is for sure, this all points to a stellar Art Auction on Saturday night!!