Heroes Convention
Heroes Convention | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Genre | comic book |
Venue | Charlotte Convention Center (1995–present) |
Location(s) | Charlotte, North Carolina |
Country | USA |
Inaugurated | 1982 |
Attendance | 40,000 (2016)[1] |
Organized by | Shelton Drum/Heroes Aren't Hard To Find |
Filing status | for profit |
Website | Official website |
Heroes Convention, or HeroesCon, is a comic book convention that takes place in June (often over Father's Day weekend)[2] in Charlotte, North Carolina. The convention has been held since 1982 and is one of the oldest and largest independent comic book conventions in the United States. The convention has a history of charitable work, donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Charlotte Firefighters Burned Children's Fund.[3] HeroesCon is organized by Shelton Drum, owner of Heroes Aren't Hard To Find, a comic book retailer just southeast of downtown Charlotte.
HeroesCon focuses primarily on comic books, almost to the exclusion of TV, movies, and video games seen at most other major so-called comic book conventions.
Annual events include the "Quickdraw Contest," in which artists create drawings on the spot for prizes; and an art auction.[2]
History
Shelton Drum had been running an event called the Charlotte Mini-Con, a one-day event held at
.The 1984 convention featured Stan Lee as its guest of honor,[8] and since then each year of the convention has had an array of famous guests. Due to a death in Drum's family, the event was not held in 1986.[3] Joe Quesada has appeared at the convention frequently since 1992, first as an artist, then as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. George Pérez has also been a frequent guest of the show over the years.
Since 1995, the convention has taken place at the Charlotte Convention Center.[8] The 1995 edition attracted 9,000 attendees,[10] and featured guest Todd McFarlane, who signed over 2,000 autographs at the show.
The 1998 show was the first stop on the "Trilogy Tour" II, which included Jeff Smith, Charles Vess, Linda Medley, Mark Crilley, Jill Thompson, and Stan Sakai.
In 2005, HeroesCon debuted "Indie Island," a section of the convention dedicated to
The 2010 show hosted the closing ceremonies of the comic-themed art show Super! The Fine Art of Comics (curated by Shelton Drum), on display at the Charlotte gallery Twenty-Two.[6]
The 2012 Heroes Convention — the 30th anniversary show — was held June 22–24 and featured special guest Stan Lee.[9]
Heroes Convention has experienced tremendous growth, as attendance has increased to around 35,000 by 2015.
The 2020 and 2021 HeroesCon were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
Controversy: Wizard World Atlanta
In 2005,
References
- ^ a b "Heroes Convention (June 2016)".
- ^ a b c Hargro, Carlton. "Best. Convention. Ever," Creative Loafing (June 17, 2009), p. 25.
- ^ a b Heroes Convention Charlotte - HeroesCon: History, Retrieved Feb. 7, 2017.
- ^ Brown, Hillary. "My Weekend at HeroesCon or, Why I Missed AthFest for a Comic Book Convention," Flagpole vol. 22, #26 (July 2, 2008), p. 9.
- ^ Spencer, Jason. "Festival grows with comics Heroes, villains: This convention's for you," Spartanburg Herald-Journal (June 3, 2010).
- ^ a b Hargro, Carlton. "Revenge of HeroesCon". Creative Loafing (June 2, 2010), p. 23.
- ^ Hargro, Carlton. "Home is for Heroes," Creative Loafing (June 18, 2008), p. 39.
- ^ a b c d Howard, Natalie. "Our Hero," Creative Loafing (May 2, 2007), pp. 24-26.
- ^ a b Bishop, Bart. "Heroes Comic Con celebrates 30th anniversary," Spartanburg Herald-Journal (June 21, 2012).
- ^ a b c d e Fernandez, Don. "Comic book hero: Little guy slays threat from weighty Wizard," Atlanta Journal-Constitution (August 13, 2005), p. A.1.
- ^ "Fans marvel at comic book icon Stan Lee".
- ^ "HEROESONLINE :: HeroesCon 2017 :: Complete Guest List". www.heroesonline.com.
- ^ Souther, Karla. "HEROES CONVENTION UPDATE 4/24/2020 :: LOOKING FORWARD TO 2021," Heroes Aren't Hard to Find website (April 24, 2020).
- ^ "Heroes Con & Wiz Atlanta, Drum's Not Changing Dates" Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine. Comic-Con.com. July 22, 2005.
- Fraction, Matt (July 22, 2005). "EDITORIAL: Matt Fraction on HeroesCon/Wizard World Competing Conventions". Comic Book Resources.