Local Heroes Comics

January 6th, 2012

2012-01-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to the first Local Heroes blog of 2012. We had a great holiday season and hope all of you guys did as well. We added a lot of new products over that last few months, and you guys seem to enjoy the comic and pop-culture related items, so we'll keep them coming. We really want this store to be a destination for comic book lovers, so if there is something you'd like to see, just let us know!

I'm not sure I've been more excited for comics as I am for the books that are coming out this year. It's no secret that I love creator-owned comics that tell original stories with obvious passion for the medium. Well, this year looks to be a great year for these types of comics! The book I'm possibly most excited for (and it's hard to pick one) is Saga, from Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Most of you know how I feel about Vaughan and his comics. Fun to read, intelligent and instantly accessible to just about anyone. I love to turn new readers onto comics with his books. Keep an eye out for this one in March, from Image.

Mark Millar brings back Millarworld in 2012 with a ton of comics paired with amazing artists. All-new series like Jupiter's Children (with Frank Quitely) Supercrooks (with Leinel Yu) and The Secret Service (with comic legend Dave Gibbons). Mark is a master of self-promotion and writes comics that are a blast to read. I'm really excited about the potential for these books, especially give the artistic talent he's amassed! Also keep an eye out for sequels to Nemesis and a Hit-Girl series.

Image is really publishing an amazing amount of really great comics and this looks to explode in 2012. With the aforementioned Saga, Thief of Thieves from Walking dead writer Robert Kirkman and Morning Glories writer Nick Spencer look great - look for it next month. The Strange Talent of Luther Strode started late last year and has been tons of fun - Kick Ass fans would love this book. Fatale from the the mighty Brubaker and Phillips (Sleeper, Criminal, Incognito) saw it's first issue last week and it's off to a great start. These guys are the best team of the last ten years. Jonathan Hickman has a couple of new books coming out from Image this year, and he was nice enough to come to Local Heroes - so support his comics! Check out an Image book next time you're here and let us know if you need a recommendation!

Things are settling down around here after all the holiday madness, but we did manage to hire a new employee. A lot of you have already met Mat, but introduce yourselves if you're here and he's working - he needs to get to know everyone!

We hyped so many good books at the end of last year that we were worried we might not be able to pick books of the month. Well, a couple of winners came out in the last couple of weeks that made it easy. Rocketeer Adventures from IDW and X-Schism from Marvel are our books of the month for January.

IDW (who publishes a lot of beautiful books) assembled a dream team of comic creators for this Rocketeer anthology. This book is full of great short stories from some legendary talent. Dave Gibbons, Ryan Sook, Mike Allred, John Cassady, Darwn Cooke, Gene Ha, Bruce Timm, Geoff Darrow, Tony Harris, Mark Waid - I could go on and on. Unfamiliar with the Rocketeer? This is a great chance to get acquainted with a great character!

Jason Aaron might be out favorite writer working in mainstream comics (plus he was our first ever big event). His comic book mojo is strong, and we can't get enough of his books. Having not read much X-Men stuff since Whedon's Astonishing run, we were a little weary to pick up a new X-Men story. Well, we did (obviously) and it blew us away. Instantly accessible for the lapsed X-Men reader and about as much fun as any X-Men comic we've read in a good long while. The story pits the X-Men again the new and improved Hellfire Club, but the challenge might be too much for Logan and Scott, as it forces a fundamental shift in opinion on what the X-Men are for. It doesn't end well for these two, but it's great to see how they get there.

Thanks for making it this far, and we hope 2012 is an amazing year for comic books and Local Heroes. We wouldn't have made it this far without you guys - so thanks!

-Greg

November 1st, 2011

2011-11-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

Comic Fans! We've missed you dearly, but would rather wait until we have something to say before we trick you into coming here to read up on Local Heroes. So much good stuff has been happening lately and so much cooler stuff is on the horizon, which we'll talk about right now!

Two months in and I don't think we can classify the new DC relaunch as anything other than a resounding success. So many great new books, and excitement about comics that we've never seen before. We're also happy to see so many new and lapsed readers coming into the store. You've asked what we think, well here are some of our favorites so far:

Batman: Scott Snyder (American Vampire) is killing it on this one.

Action Comics: Grant Morrison has a totally new take on the Man of Steel, and we love it!

Animal Man: Jeff Lemiere (Sweet Tooth) has made this book something special, the surprise hit of the bunch.

Aquaman: This book is funny, and Aquaman's a badass!

All Star Western: Jonah Hex in Gotham City - very cool!

Batman and Robin: Damian Wayne is such a little dickhead - and we love it!

Wonder Woman: Azzarello and Chiang is all we need to hear.

We also wanted to thank everyone who participated in our DC: The New 52 program for a chance to win a $200.00 Local Heroes gift certificate. Mark Westmeyer was the lucky winner and he couldn't be more excited. We're happy for Mark and hope he enjoys his free comics!

In case you missed the notice, the Christmas shopping season is already here, and Local Heroes will be holding its first ever Black Friday Sale! We figured comic fans need to save some coin too - here's the details:

Select graphic novels - buy one/get one FREE!

Comics by the pound! That's right, buy and read in bulk! Select comics will be $5.00 per pound, no limit!

All back issues - 60% Off!

All action figures - 30% Off!

All T-shirts - 15% Off!

This will be the biggest sale we've ever had and we're excited to be offering such sweet deals - get here early, we'll be open regular hours - 11-8.

We've been ordering all kinds of great new products for the holiday season, which should begin arriving in the next couple weeks. We've got some really great tumblers and water bottles with DC and Star Trek designs, cool Star Wars merch and more buttons, magnets and stickers. We're also really excited to start offering Lamp-in-a-box, really great lamps with vintage Marvel Comic characters and panels - be sure to check them out! We'll be sending out a series of gift guides in December, so keep an eye out for those as well if you need ideas for the comic lover in your life.

We'd also be remiss not to talk about our favorite books over the last couple of months - Petrograd, Sweet Tooth, Habibi and the newly released 100 Bullets hardcover - so many good books!

You might not know about my man-crush on Craig Thompson (no relation) or his breakthrough book, Blankets. I'm fond of both, and like most of his fans, have been waiting for his next book with baited breath. Well, it took seven years, but it finally showed up! Habibi is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read, and just on initial inspection, you know where that seven years went. I don't think I've ever seen a book so detailed or art so intricate. From the art itself to the lettering - right down to the page numbers - it's something to behold. The story follows two central characters in a mesh of modern and ancient times. They are separated and live a great portion of their lives alone, longing to be reunited, and finally are - but it's not how either of them imagined it would be. There is a very interesting mash-up of Christian and Muslim ideology that is reflected in the stories told by, and running concurrently with, the central characters. A love story at it's heart, Habibi is unlike any book we've ever read - check it out!

Books about the assassination of Rasputin and turn of the century Russia might not seem like gripping comic material, and we would agree with you. But in the right hands (Philip Gelatt and Tyler Crook) you get Petrograd, which is a fascinating and tense book about these heavy topics. This book reminds us a little of queen and country, maybe just because there are British spies in it, or maybe because it's equally well-written. The book follows British intelligence as they attempt to stop Rasputin from making friends with the Germans, and his murder is there best bet. A great book blending the best historical fiction and spy dramas, and beautifully illustrated with a tone that matches the period, Petrograd is good comics!

100 Bullets is in our all-time top three (don't ask about the other two - they change too much) favorite comics ever. We've hoped for years that one day Vertigo would release it in a beautiful oversized hardcover. It finally happened! Read this book, it's the best crime book and the best conspiracy book all in one.

For some reason, we let Sweet Tooth slip off of our radar after the first couple of issues. Well, we caught up in trade and damn, this book is really, really great. Jeff Lemiere (Essex County, Animal Man) writes and draws this book, set in a post-apocalyptic world where some people have begun to mutate into a human/animal hybrid. The story follows one such boy, Gus, who has antlers and is protected by his father, deep in the woods, where they hide from the rest of the world. When his father dies, he is happened upon by Jeppard, and they venture out of the woods together to face all the horrors of the outside world. Awesome stuff.

Well, that's all we this time. Be sure to take advantage of the sale and, as always, let us know if you need anything at all!

-LH (Greg)

September 8th, 2011

2011-09-12T11:51:00.001-07:00

Wow! It's been too long since we've posted here, and my mother is really on my back to write a new post - so here it is! So much exciting comic stuff has been keeping us busy in the last couple months - end of Summer comic movies, DC Universe relaunch and some store upgrades to make you like us even more.

The biggest news in comic books this year, hands down, is the all-new DC universe and relaunch of their entire line of superhero comics. We've seen two weeks of these comics and can say already that this effort has been a massive success! We've seen so many new faces and signed up so many new subscribers who are really excited for this new line of comics. Our hopes were high that DC's efforts would bring new readers into our hobby, and it appears to be working so far. Comics excitement in any form is a great thing, so hats off to DC for generating this much buzz.

Our favorite comics of this launch, so far, have been Justice League, Action Comics and Animal Man. Lee and Johns on Justice League feels like a great Summer superhero movie. Grant Morrison made Superman a folk hero and Sweet Tooth's Jeff Lemeire showed why he is one of the most talented new writers of the last five years. Great stuff. One of the books we're most excited for in the coming weeks is Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman. You might know Snyder from American Vampire and his awesome run on Detective Comics. Greg Capullo's art has never looked better, this combo is going to make for one awesome Bat-Book!

We've added a lot of really great new product lines over the last few months to resounding approval from you guys. Marvel Frenzies have been a smash hit, you can't resist the cute. I Heart Guts and Yo Gabba Gabba plush have sold out and been re-stocked. The Marvel and DC Comics plushies are great, we're almost out of the Star Wars deformed plush. We're glad you guys are digging this stuff and we'll keep bringing you comic related merch until we die.

A lot of you have asked about our annual Halloween Bash, and we're happy to announce that the Third Annual Local Heroes Halloween Bash will be held on Friday, October 29th from 8-11ish in the evening. Stop by the store for an invite!

We've missed a couple months worth of Books of the Month, but we did want to remind you about the books we chose and why, but we'll make it quick so we can get on to this month's picks.

Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine: Jason Aaron writes really fun superheroes.

Incognito: Bad Influences: Bruabaker and Phillips on more Incognito? Yes please.

Life With Mr. Dangerous: Cringe-inducing and voyeuristic look at an awkward love life.

B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs HC: This amazing series, in a handsome hardcover? We'll take two.

And that brings us up to date and onto September's books of the month! A lot of quality reads this month, but Jonathan Hickman's first FF collection and Green River Killer from Dark Horse are the clear winners.

We were pretty sad to see Steve Epting leave his legendary run on Captain America, but knew Marvel would put him to good use, and quickly. Teaming him with Jonathan Hickman on the Fantastic Four was a great fit, and his art here might be even better than his Cap work. FF takes over where the Fantastic Four ended, with the team dealing with the death of Johnny and still trying to be superheroes. Hickman's work on FF has already cemented its place in history, and this version seems like a fresh start. More family oriented, funny at times when Spidey gets in the mix and some genuinely shocking plot twists make this a really fun comic. Hickman and Epting are both at the top of their game, and this is an easy jumping-on point for those of you who might've never read the Fantastic Four.

True Crime from Dark Horse is something we can really get behind, and something they don't do often enough. While we generally prefer our Crime Fiction to be, well, fictional, this one grabbed us and we burned through it in a few hours. Washington's Green River Killer is one of the most famous serial killers of all time, believed to have killed over 70 women. The book is written by Jeff Jensen, whose father, Tom Jensen, was the lead detective on the Green River case. In 2003, after the capture of Gary Ridgeway, Tom Jensen spent 188 days interviewing Ridgeway. Jeff's novel follows his fathers career, work on the case over 15 years and subsequent dealings with the Green River Killer, after his capture. Illustrated in glorious black and white by Jonathan Case, whose art reminds me a little of Chris Samnee. Creepy and engrossing, Green River Killer is a fantastic graphic novel.

That's all we have for now, but don't forget, we're here to make Local Heroes your favorite comic store, so let us know if you ever need anything at all.

Thanks Guys!

-LH (Greg)

June 1st, 2011

2011-06-07T11:48:00.001-07:00

Wow! So much great stuff going on at Local Heroes and in the comic world this month. We've been super busy with Free Comic Book Day and our Jonathan Hickman appearance that we haven't had time for much else. Speaking of Hickman - he'll be here on the 18th - wow! We can't believe how fortunate we are to have a creator of his caliber in Norfolk to meet the fans, what a guy! Be sure to make it for the event on Saturday, the 18th!

Big news from DC Comics this week, as I'm sure most of you have already heard. They're relaunching every single one of their superhero books with new creative teams and updated characters, in an attempt to get new readers into their comics. A lot of you have asked my thoughts on this, and I'll tell you again, I think it can only be a good thing. The first time I walked into a comic shop and purchased a comic, it was a first issue. People like to start from the beginning, and most of these characters haven't been updated in 20 years or more. Anything that gets more people reading comics is a good thing, I think we can all agree on that. My hope for the DC relaunch is that they make fun comics, plain and simple. Fun comics are why we come back every week, so fingers crossed for nothing but good things from DC.

Free Comics Book Day was our biggest event ever, and a big thanks to everyone who made it out. It got a little crazy at times, but we gave away a metric ton of free comics and we hope you all had a blast - see you again next May!

A great summer for comic movies - we thought Thor and X-Men were awesome! Don't forget that Local Heroes will be at MacArthur for the midnight premier of Green Lantern, with tons of Green Lantern swag and free comics to give away - stay up late with us!

A lot of you have noticed that we've also added a lot of plush, novelties, movies, wallets and other super cool stuff to our inventory as of late. It's all been selling really well and we appreciate it. Don't forget to check the t-shirt board from time-to-time as well, as we get new shirts in every week! Our focus will always be on comics and graphic novels, but a little diversity makes the store that much more fun.

Books of the month were pretty easy for us this month, as two of our favorite authors had new work released. We'll get to those in a minute, but first, we never got to talk about our books of the month for May. We picked Uncanny X-Force from Rick Remender and SHIELD from the, Local Heroes appearing, Jonathan Hickman. Remender and Jerome Opena are writing the best X-Men book on the stands right now - hands down. Fun, beautifully illustrated, action packed and full of "oh shit" moments. Marvel let Hickman run wild with his totally original re-imagining of SHIELD as an organization with a secret history, dating back to Da Vinci and a battle with Galactus? Great stuff on both accounts - check them out!

Onto this month, we chose Chester Brown's Paying For it and Mystique from Brian K. Vaughan (finally collected in one volume).

Paying For It is Chester Brown's memoir about being a John. It might be the most honest and thought-provoking graphic novel I've ever read, as it covers topics from romantic love to the legalization of prostitution to how society views not only prostitutes, but the men who use their services. Brown is a fine cartoonist (Lois Reil, I Never Liked You) but I think he took a huge risk here, as this book will turn a lot of people off. Paying For it is funny at times and depressing at others, but engaging form start to finish. There is also a great appendix full of commentary from other creators, characters in the book, and extensive notes on prostitution from Brown, a great book.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love all things Brian K. Vaughan. From Y: the Last man to Pride of Baghdad to Ex Machina, the guy has never written a bad comic as far as I'm concerned. Mystique was some of his earlier Marvel work, and it holds up as well as any of the other books he's done. I think the appeal of Vaughan's work is that there so damn easy to get into, and Mystique is no exception. He takes a second tier X-Men villain, fleshes her out and makes her fun to read. Mystique needs protection from her enemies, and agrees to go to work for Charles Xavier, but not as an X-Man. She becomes one of Xavier's secret agents, for more politically sensitive assignments. The art in this volume can be a little rough at times, but it never detracts from the story, which is fantastic.

Once again, thanks for reading and even bigger thanks for keeping the doors open here, it means more than you'll ever know!

ntil next time...

-LH (Greg)

April 7th, 2011

2011-04-12T10:12:00.001-07:00

The greatest day of the year is upon us, friends. It's a national holiday for lovers of all things comic book related - Free Comic Book Day is right around the corner! We can't believe that this will be out third FCBD, and this one will no doubt be our biggest ever. Check out what we have on tap:

Free Coffee and bagels from Yorgo's in the morning
Free Pizza from Cogan's in the afternoon
Free face painting and balloon animals for the kids from 11-2
Door Prizes and giveaways all day
Sign up to win a $100.00 Local Heroes gift certificate
Best of all - FREE COMICS

Bring a friend or two and enjoy a great day of outreach, as we try to show everyone just how great comics are. We have a ton of comics to give away, and this year's offerings might be the best ever.

Free Comic Book Day also marks the announcement of our next in-store creator event. This one is pretty huge and we worked really hard to make it happen. We're unbelievably excited to blab about who it is -aaaarrrgggghh. OK, here's a one-word hint: Architect. That's all you get until May 7th!

Lots of great comics coming out this month. It seems like Image Comics if having a bit of a Renaissance lately with the release of so many great comics. Morning Glories, Chew, Nonplayer, Butcher Baker, Green Wake, Infinite Vacation - just to name a few. If you haven't given them a chance in a few years, look again, they're our favorite publisher right now and are making a host of really eclectic books.

The Eisner Nominees were also recently named, and there are a ton of really great books and creators on the list. A lot of these are under-appreciated, so in an attempt to get you to read more great comics - we're putting these on sale through June! All the nominees on our feature table will be 15% off, so give some amazing comics a chance!

Books of the month were a little easier this month, as two collections of some of our favorite comics from last year came out this month. Stumptown and Demo are the winners this month, you need both of these books in your life.

Stumptown come from perennial comics juggernaut Greg Rucka and newcomer Matt Southworth. Greg Rucka writes some of the strongest female leads in comics (Queen and Country, Whiteout, Batwoman) and lead character Dex is no exception. She's into the local casino boss for $18,000, and agrees to use her P.I skills to investigate the disappearance of her granddaughter. The attempt to get out of debt might cause her life to unravel further. Rucka tell a strong crime story and Southworth sets the mood and delivers the Portland scenery masterfully. A great comic - own it!

Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan have been working together for years, first collaborating on a Channel Zero story, Jennie One. They worked together again a few years back on the first volume of Demo, which was a previous book of the month. They're back together again and the chemistry between these creators is amazing. This volume is a little shorter, telling six unrelated stories, each with its own supernatural element. Cloonan turns in the work of her career, in our opinion. Beautiful brush strokes that match the tone of Wood's words perfectly. This book was made by people who love to tell stories, and it shows on every page.

Thanks again for making our dreams come true by shopping at Local Heroes, and for reading. We think you're pretty awesome.

Until Next Time,

-LH (Greg)

March 4th, 2011

2011-03-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Comic lovers! We're back this month to give you the update on all things Local Heroes. Lots of exciting stuff coming up in the next few months - Free Comic Book Day, new Local Heroes t-shirts, hopefully a creator event (which is killing me) and all the awesome comics and graphic novels you've come to expect. Also, don't forget to get on board for the Marvel Comics event of the year - Fear Itself! It looks pretty great, with all our favorite supes finally on the same page to fight the other team.

Things have been moving along here nicely over the last month or so. We just began planning what we hope will be our biggest Free Comic Book Day ever, so mark your calendars for the first Saturday in May, the 6th. We expect you all to be here! This year's line up of books looks particularly awesome, and we'll have even more free comics than ever to supplement the already massive amounts of freeness we usually have. It should be a great day and fun for everyone, so bring a friend or two and turn them on to comic books!

Our first band parody shirt sold out pretty quickly, and is by far the most requested t-shirt. Well fear not, my friends, we have an all new shirt in the works and they should be ready in April. All the same American Apparel goodness you've come to expect, with a design we think is pretty fantastic.

We had hoped to have a creator event for you guys in February or March, but we had some scheduling difficulties and had to start from scratch. Things are looking better for early Summer, and we hope to have an announcement in time for Free Comic Book Day.

We also wanted to mention that we are a drop-off location for the Harry Potter Alliance's book drive, benefiting Our House Families - a great charity. Drop off new or gently used books all month long, and we'll put them to good use.

We read quite a few really good books this month (as always). We did, however, manage to make our top picks for new graphic novels this month: Scenes From an Impending Marriage and Morning Glories.

A lot of you may be familiar with Adrian Tomine and his comic, Optic Nerve. It's one of the best indie comics of the last ten years and has led Tomine to other, more lucrative work with the likes of the New Yorker and bands like Weezer. It's been a while since new Optic Nerve, but in the meantime, he managed to put out this great collection of vignettes surrounding the planning of his wedding. These are great, especially for anyone who has ever been involved in the planning of a wedding. Very different from Optic Nerve, these stories are sweet and laugh-out-loud funny. This is one of those great comics that you want to give to someone who has never read comics before - and only ten bucks to boot!

Morning Glories received a ton of buzz over the last few months as the next big hit from Image Comics, in the vane of Walking Dead or Chew. We sold out of all of the issues so quickly that I never had a chance to read any of it. That was remedied with the newly released first volume, which I devoured. Morning Glories is one of the country's premier prep schools, and it just enrolled six new students who all share some very strange coincidences. They soon bare witness to some seriously effed up stuff going on at their school, and realize after it's too late that they are trapped with no one to help them, but themselves. The book has a bit of a "Lost" feel, with a lot of secrets we've yet to find out answers to. Nick Spencer is definitely the next big thing, already having been snapped up by Marvel comics with an exclusive deal. That won't stop him from doing awesome creator-owned books like this, thankfully, as all the buzz on this book is well-deserved.

Thanks for stopping by, as always, and we hope to see you guys soon!

-LH (Greg)

January 4, 2011

2011-01-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year comic lovers! Another year in business is as good of a reason as any to celebrate, and it's all thanks to you guys. Your love of the funny books makes this place possible, and we can't thank you enough.

2011 looks to be another fine year for comics and graphic novels, with some really great books on the horizon. There are a few we're particularly excited about. Battling Boy debuts this year from comic book madman Paul Pope, who never disappoints.
We've been waiting for Craig Thompson's new book from the instant we finished reading Blankets, and it looks like Habibi will drop sometime this year. 2011 see the return of Dark Horse Presents, a book which launched a lot of great comics. Robert Kirkman has a new book out this year called Super Dinosaur, which debuts on Free Comics Book Day - pretty awesome. And hopefully, more Parker from Darwyn Cooke, because we want the third volume right now!

We've been hard at work lately trying to line up some really awesome creators to come visit the store and drink our beer in 2011. It's harder than you might think, as they're a fickle bunch, these makers of comics.

Starting this month, after more than 25 years of same-day comic shipments to comic book stores, we'll begin to be treated as adults and will receive our shipments one day-early. This will give us time to check things in and maybe even read a book Tuesday night! We're pretty excited - and this also means that we will return to opening at 11:00 on Wednesdays for new comics! This change takes effect on Wednesday the 12th.

We read a hefty amount of the finest comics and graphic novels this month, and have come to the conclusion that the two best of the month are Thor: The Mighty Avenger and The Playwright.

Thor: The Mighty Avenger was unfortunately lost in a sea of lesser Thor releases, around the same time. Marvel typically goes heavy on any character for which they have a movie coming out, so there's plenty of books when said movie is released. This was unfortunate in this situation, because TMA was far and away the best of the bunch. Roger Landridge and Chris Samnee poured their hearts out on every page and made the most beautiful,fun and imaginative Thor comic I've ever read. A totally accessible Thor for anyone (the book is all-ages friendly), and easy to follow for someone who has never read a Thor comic. I think this one in particular has the wonder of a Stan Lee issue, without any of the cheesy-ness that accompanies. Samnee cements his position as a master cartoonist and storyteller, his art is top-notch here. Check this one out if you love a great superhero comic - you won't be sorry.

180 degrees from Thor is my other pick this month - The Playwright. Eddie Campbell (From Hell)and Daren White deliver a "dark comedy about the sex life of a celibate middle-aged man." The Playwright is wildly successful, but his career is the only area of his life where he sees any positivity. He is terribly awkward, quirky, soft around the middle and lacking any kind of social grace. Herein lies the hilarity as we're treated to an inside look at his quest to find love, or just get laid. A really funny book masterfully illustrated by veteran comic artist Campbell, The Playwright is well worth your time.

We hope 2011 treats everyone well and we look forward to seeing you all very soon - thanks for reading!

-LH (Greg)

From The Writer Of Morning Glories...

2011-01-07T10:10:00.001-08:00

This book looks amazing!

Local Heroes Holiday Shopping Guide and Books Of The Month, So We Don't Have To Write Two Posts!

2010-12-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

Hello again friends. No matter what deity or lack thereof you pay attention to, it's the time of year to give, and Local Heroes is here to help. We know a lot of times it's tough to get just the right thing for the comic lover in your life, but the Local Heroes Holiday Gift Guide Aught-Ten is here to help you through the process. Here we go:

Absolute Anything - These editions are the end-all be-all for any comic book fan. Oversized, slip cased, packed full of extras and behind the scenes goodness. DC knows what the discerning comic book fan wants and they've given it to them with these books. We have the Absolute Versions of Watchmen, All Star Superman, Green Lantern: Rebirth, The Dark Knight, Planetary, Justice, and The New Frontier in stock and ready to crush other family members and make you the winner this holiday.
Marvel Omnibus - Marvel takes their best work or great creative team runs and compiles them into the oversized omnibus. These are great for getting a whole lot of story in a really nice hardcover format. We have Omnibi (that's right) from Thor, Brubaker and Epting's excellent Captain America Run, Jason Aaron's Ghost Rider and Joss Whedon's amazing run on X-Men. Guaranteed to put your legs to sleep if read too long.
Hellboy Library Editions - A handsome bookcase needs handsome books, and I can think of few better looking collections than the first three volumes of Hellboy, by Mike Mignola. Dark Horse collected these fine tales into the Hellboy Library Edition - an oversized, cloth bound and covered version of this great series. No Hellboy fan should be without, and no festive season would be complete without stories about Demons.
Invincible Ultimate Collections - Invincible might be the best superhero book of the last five years, and like any deserving comic, gave itself the premier treatment with these Ultimate Collections. Extra large and chock-full of special features, these are the best way to read a really fantastic superhero book from Robert Kirkman, author of the Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead Compendium - If you haven't read The Walking Dead Yet, you're missing out on one of the best series on the shelves. This story of survival horror has yet to let our readers down. Now you can spread the love that is the zombie apocalypse with The Walking Dead Compendium, the first eight trades or 48 issues of the comic in one, bargain priced book. Nothing says "I Love You" like a shotgun blast to the face.
Really Nice Hardcovers - We've all wanted the really nice hardcover versions of our favorite books, but forced ourselves to wait for the softcover. Well, do the comic-lover in your life a solid and get them the good shit! We have beautiful hardcovers from Criminal, The Art of Jaime Hernandez, I Kill Giants, Chew, Jim Lee: ICONS, Wednesday Comics, Starman, Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, Fables, Wasteland, Iron Man and Ex Machina, just to name a very few.
The Collected Bloom County - Berkley Breathed is considered one of the greatest cartoonists alive today, thanks to to work he did on Bloom County. IDW has collected this ground breaking work into really great looking deluxe hardcovers - three so far! This will please any Bloom County fan in your life and make them think you actually pay attention to their interests.
Perry Bible Fellowship - We have a sign under this book that reads "it's one of the funniest books you'll ever read or you have no soul". We stand behind this statement. Give it to someone who thinks you don't have a sense of humor and show them who's boss.
The Complete Martha Washington - Need every Martha Washington comic, promo, one-shot, sketch, ad, charity piece, rough draft and guest appearance ever produced? You do indeed and you will find it in this gorgeous mass of Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons magic. Do yourself a favor and read it before you give it away.
Local Heroes Gift Certificates - Possibly the greatest gift in this or any other plane of existence. Give your comic loving special someone carte blanche to get anything they want. They'll appreciate that you care enough to not buy them something they hate. Win-Win.

Picks Of the Month!

All this reading goodness is no excuse to forget about two of the best books that came out this month.

This month was a little tougher than most, with so much good stuff coming out in time for the holidays. But we forced ourselves to make two picks, Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini's Last Days of American Crime and Charles Burns X'ed Out.

The US Government has invented and neuro-inhibitor, that once broadcast will make it impossible for any citizen to commit a crime. Career criminal Graham Bricke decides to pull off one last heist that will ensure he is well taken care of for the rest of his crime-free life. But when the heist gets rushed, he's forced to recruit untested talent in his quest for the last great payoff in American history. I've enjoyed Rick Remender's work since his early days on Black-Heart Billy, Strange Girl, Sea of Red, etc. I think he shines when doing creator-owned work, though his recent Marvel work has been pretty damn great too. I was unfamiliar with Greg Tocchini before this book, but will go out of my way to seek him out from now on, just beautiful stuff.

Charles Burns has the ability to creep me out like no other creator in comics. I'm not sure how he does it, but he immediately sets the mood in his work and leaves me feeling uneasy but immediately wanting more. The newly released X'ed Out is no different. Doug is a young man with a head injury who follows his dead cat into another decimated reality, populated by Lizard-men and other weird creatures. Doug’s regular existence is not much better. His home life is pretty disfunctional and he pines for a fellow student who has a crazy, abusive boyfriend. Doug's dream state invokes classic Tin-Tin themes and art style, and fans of Burns' Black Hole will appreciate the drama from Doug's everyday life. This is the first in a series and I can't wait to see where the story goes or recommend this book highly enough - get a copy!

That's all for this month, my friends. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to you all and thanks for reading.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

Our Buy One/Get One FREE Special For December...

2010-12-01T14:51:00.001-08:00

Nothing says "holidays" like a bowel disruptor. From comics legend Warren Ellis and Boys co-creator Darick Robertson.

November 3, 2010

2010-11-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

Greetings comic lovers! A lovely Fall is upon us here at Local Heroes, with great events, a giganto sale and some really fantastic comic books on the horizon. As you can see, we had a lovely Halloween party this year. It was bigger and better than last year's bash, with awesome costumes and plenty of free booze to go around. We saw a lot of great costumes, but the Local Heroes staff agreed that David and Stephanie Peters took the cake with their homemade Sin and Crossbones outfits straight out of Captain America. Great work guys! Check out our picture of the party on our Facebook page. We already can't wait for next year's party, so start planning your costume now!

Did we mention a sale? Starting at 1:00 on Wednesday, November 17th, we will hold our first ever 50% off sale on select (not everything in the store, sorry!) trade paperbacks, hardcovers and graphic novels. Our shelves are getting a little tight, so we need to make room. There are some seriously great books to be had here, and though it pains us to let them go so cheap, our loss is your gain. We're not sure how long these books will last,so stop by and grab a fun read on the cheap!

We're approaching our two year anniversary in December and are working on our next exciting in-store event for early 2011 - we can't wait to tell you guys what we have in store for you. Keep your ears open for details later this year.

So many good books this month, but there were a couple of stand-outs that I couldn't let pass without featuring. Without further ado, American Vampire and Parker: The Outfit take the prize this month, and you should own both of these books!

There has been a lot of buzz for a while about a comic book actually written by Stephen King. Once we heard it was going to be published by Vertigo, we were immediately sold. The book is beautifully illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque and co-written by Scott Snyder (they each tell a separate story). What surprised us the most is that Snyder's work is as good or better than King's. This book is tons of fun and follows Skinner Sweet, the first American Vampire, who's way more of a badass than his fancy European predecessors. King tells the tale of Sweet's early days and Snyder writes of his encounter with a young woman in 1920's Hollywood. Really great storytelling all around and not your typical Vampire tale. I have never been a Vampire fan, but I love this book!

Most of you probably already know about my man-crush on Darwyn Cooke, but that has nothing to do with the fact that he is one of the most original voices working in comics today. His last two major works have been adaptations/re-imaginings of Richard Stark's Parker crime novels. The second such book, The Outfit, was just released this month. Parker is a criminal, a man's man and no one you'd want to piss off. This volume finds The Outfit (a nationwide criminal organization) on the receiving end of Parker's wrath, after they try to have him killed. Darwyn Cooke is a hell of an artist, but he seems to shine when asked to illustrate mid-century America, as fans of The New Frontier can attest. This book is as good or better than the first volume and Cooke seems to take a few more liberties and add his personal touch with story and art this time around. Amazing stuff, get both books if you haven't already and then come talk to us about how great they are.

I think that's all for this month, my friends. Thanks for reading and we hope to see you all soon!

-LH (Greg)

Our Buy One/Get One FREE Special For October!

2010-10-04T14:17:00.001-07:00

Brian Wood brings the love for our Buy One/Get One FREE special for October. The second American Civil War is now and New York City is the DMZ. Relevant, political and brutal - get hooked!

October 1, 2010

2010-09-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hello again loyal readers! Comics have given us love and respect once again this month and we couldn't be more excited about things to come. Speaking of comics love, Local Heroes made it out to the third annual books in the park event at Town Point Park to spread the good word and give away a day's worth of free comic book goodness. The turnout was nice, the day was beautiful and we met a lot of really great people at our mobile location. They even had booze - so a win all around!

Lots of great comic happenings this month. Halloween is right around the corner - yay! - and Local Heroes will be hosting its second annual Halloween bash this month - ask us for details next time your here. Last years event was a lot of fun and it was great to see all the comic book related costumes. Don't forget that the greatest (hopefully) comic book to television adaption of all time airs on Halloween at 10:00 with the first 90 minute episode of The Walking Dead! What a great weekend.

Those of you who've been asking about new store shirts will be happy to learn that I just placed an order last month, so fresh new Local Heroes American Apparel tees should be in stock soon as you read this. We also have two really cool Walking Dead shirts on order and I'm really excited for these - it's been forever since they were available.

Local Heroes will also be holding it's first ever graphic novel clearance sale sometime this month. Select books will be 50% off, so it will be a great time to stock up on good books to read. Details to follow!

Books of the month were pretty easy picks this time around, due to the unbelievably awesome Wildcats 3.0 and the World's Greatest Superheroes.

You might have heard how excited I was for the first collection of one of the greatest superhero comic books ever, Joe Casey's Wildcats 3.0! I know what you're thinking - "Wildcats? Really?" I've never steered you wrong people and believe me when I tell you that this is as far from 90's bullshit Image comics as you can get. Casey took these characters and made them unbelievably cool and compelling to read. This Wildcats incarnation was part of the "Eye of the Storm" relaunch from Wildstorm, which brought us adult content books like Stormwatch: Team Achilles, Automatic Kafka and the phenomenal Sleeper. Wildcats 3.0 follows team leader Jacob Marlowe as he proliferates alien technology to the masses in his quest to make the HALO corporation the biggest and most powerful business in the world - by any means necessary. I love this book so much it hurts and can't wait to finally spread the good word now that it's here!

The second selection this month was almost another copy of Wildcats 3.0, but cooler heads prevailed and we chose The World's Greatest Superheroes from Paul Dini and Alex Ross. DC used to release these in oversized softcovers around the holidays and they are things of beauty, to say the least. I love a great Dini DCU story and all of these are ton of fun and beautifully illustrated by Ross. They were super hard to find, until this month's newly collected edition with all the volumes in one book! Great stuff!

Thanks again guys for checking in - we appreciate each and every one of you and hope to see you soon.

Comics!

-LH (Greg)

The First Walking Dead Trailer Looks Awesome

2010-08-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

We can't wait!

August 6, 2010

2010-08-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends, from the world's greatest comic store. It's been a crazy month here at Local Heroes, with flood waters, renovations, hour changes and great comics all happening at the same time!

We had some flood damage during the big storm, but thankfully, we didn't suffer any insurmountable damage. The water just kept coming and a customer and I were stuck here, with nothing to do but watch it come in the front and back doors! Thanks to said customer (Craig Nogosek)for all the help moving stuff around during the deluge, we would've fared much worse without his help!

Renovations had always been planned, so this seemed like as good a time as any. So after the flood clean-up, we moved right into worthless stage removal. The stage was ripped out, new floor laid, and room made for two new single-issue shelves and two new bookcases. Our comics can now breath a little easier with all this room! We hope you dig the new set-up and all the benefits it provides.

Speaking of changes, we're changing the time we open on Wednesdays to 1:00pm, in an effort to offer you better service. AS business as grown, so has the time it takes us to pick up, unpack and check-in all the merchandise each week. We hope the new time will allow you to walk in and find all the new comics shelved and ready to go!

Even though it's been a hectic few weeks - we still had time to read some really great comics. We went with one new and one oldish book this month. Matt Kindt's Revolver and Ben Templesmith's Wormwood: Gentlemen Corpse made the cut and are our books of the month for August.

Matt Kindt has had a really great track record of fantastic graphic novels the last few years, so I was extremely eager to read his newest offering from Vertigo - Revolver. The story centers on Sam, an everyman who hates his job, his boss, his girlfriend and is becoming increasingly annoyed with society in general. All this is immediately changed when he wakes up during the middle of the American Apocalypse and lives an entirely new life as the same man. Sam then begins to shift between this new world and the one he's used to, but with full realization of the transition. This book is strikingly original, fun to read and has a couple of great "oh shit" moments - even the way the pages are numbered is fresh and fun. A fantastic offering from Kindt, and if you dig this, be sure to check out some of his previous books - Super Spy and 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man.

I've long neglected to give Wormwood book of the month status, not because it isn't amazing, but because there hasn't been any new books in a little while. Well now all that gets remedied and should be a perfect time for you to catch up on the series. Templesmith has proven to be one of the most prolific and talented creators of the last decade, with works like 30 Days of Night, Fell, Singularity 7, Choker, Groom Lake and Welcome to Hoxford. Like a lot of the great writers of the last 20 years, Templesmith has a great sense of humour and a desire to tell stories that are just a little bit "off" from mainstream titles. Wormwood was one of the first times that he took on the role of writer AND artist, and he never missed a beat. The hero in Wormwood is a gentlemen worm with a serious love of alcohol who uses his powers to animate a corpse. He gets into all sorts of misadventures, hangs out in a strip club with his equally entertaining cast of supporting characters, fights demons, offends indiscriminately and uses his occult powers to make sure he wins the day. Pretty magical stuff, funny as shit and beautifully illustrated in Templesmith's unique style. If you're looking for a comic out of the ordinary, I can't recommend this one enough.

We hope you give these and other great books a chance this month, don't forget we're here to help you find great comics! Thanks for reading and let us know what we can do to make Local Heroes the best comic store it can be!

See You Soon.

-LH (Greg)

Our Buy One/Get One FREE Special For August

2010-08-09T13:56:00.001-07:00

One of the books that brought me back to comics - great stuff!

And The Goon Trailer Looks Awesome Too!

2010-07-24T10:27:00.001-07:00

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Walking Dead On AMC Might Change Our Lives!

2010-07-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Hopes Unrealistically High!

Our Buy One/Get One FREE Special for July!

2010-07-05T16:06:00.001-07:00

Feel free to ask me how awesome I think this series is, if you have a lot of time to kill.

Our Buy One Get One Free Special for June - Now With A Trailer!

2010-06-07T12:39:00.001-07:00

The New Scott Pilgrim Trailer Looks Amazing!

2010-06-01T15:26:00.001-07:00

May 13th, 2010

2010-05-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

What a great few months we've had here at Local Heroes. Free Comic Book Day 2010 was a rousing success and our best day ever. We saw tons of new faces, picked up lots of new subscribers and gave away boatloads of comics, free food and door prizes. We can't thank you guys enough for coming out and bringing your friends - it means a lot. We have a lot of great pictures from FCBD - check them out here!

Our two big winners for the Day were Tatianna Duero and Brian Weireter, who won the Ultimates Omnibus and Wolverine Omnibus, respectively. They were both pretty excited!

Spreading the comic book love didn't end on Free Comic Book Day. The following Thursday, we made it out to MacArthur Center for the midnight premier of Iron Man 2. We gave away tons of Iron Man related comics and tried to turn everyone on to how great comic books are, it was a great time and the movie was tons of fun.

In other exciting news, we finally broke 100 subscribers this month! We never thought we'd see the day, but it's pretty damn cool to have so many great customers to talk to every week - you guys make working here a blast.

There were so many great books released this month that I was, once again, hard pressed to pick two as books of the month. After receiving a fresh supply of Monsters, I knew this would be the first. After much deliberation, Jonathan Hickman's first Fantastic Four run won out for our second choice this month.

We first read ken Dahl's Monsters a few months back and pushed it on so many people, that it sold out quick and we weren't able to get any more in for a while. Now that that has been remedied, it gets book of the month treatment. I tend to rate books based many different criteria, but how hard it is to put down and how I feel afterward are two of the most important. Monsters was read in one sitting and I have never felt creepier after reading a book (in a good way). Dahl tells the story of a man infected with genital herpes and the guilt, paranoia, depression and regret associated with really any STD. It's brutal, funny at times, scary as hell, unflinchingly honest and informative, and one of the best books I've read in a while. I thought about it for days after, and hopefully you will too.

Jonathan Hickman is the most exciting new comic writer in the last five years. His work for Image comics was some of the most original comic work I've ever seen. Naturally, Marvel recognized his talent and put him to work making their comics better. I've really enjoyed is Secret Warriors book, but I think he really shines on Fantastic Four with Dale Eaglesham. Hickman seems to me to be a guy with a lot of big ideas. This doesn't usually translate into good comics, but he makes the transition seamlessly. Fantastic Four has rarely appealed to me as a comics reader, but with these two guys on the case - I'm all in. The first arc sets the tone as Reed attempts his biggest idea yet - to "solve everything". He brings the action, highlights the Four as a family unit and makes it fun to read - everything I want in a comic book. Those of you who dig his Marvel work should check out The Nightly News or Pax Romana from Image - equally great stuff.

Thanks again for reading guys and for making Local Heroes and exciting place to find great comics - we wouldn't be here without you!

-LH (Greg)

Avengers #1 This Week!

2010-05-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Four all-new Avengers books with top-notch talent start this Wednesday - we can't wait!

Brian K. Vaughan Brings The Science For Our May Trade Special!

2010-05-10T13:36:00.001-07:00

Nice!

The First Picture From The New Thor Movie

2010-04-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

Thor has a beard - awesome!

Free Comic Book Day 2010 Is Upon Us....and Other Happenings.

2010-04-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

Has it been a year already? FCBD 2009 was such a rousing success that we're hard pressed to top it, but that doesn't mean we're not going to try! Join us Saturday, May 1st for the freest day of the year! Free bagels and coffee, free pizza, door prizes and giveaways, 15% off all trade and graphic novels and best of all...FREE COMICS! This year's list of freebies looks even better than last years, so we're very excited. Check out the full list of comics at the Free Comic Book Day Website. See you all here on the 1st!

The week after, we'll be staked out at Regal Cinemas MacArthur for the Midnight Thursday and premier and Friday evening showings of Iron Man II. We'll be there spreading the comic book love and giving away all kinds of free Iron Man related comics. Chat us up if you see us there.

Lots of good happenings around the store lately. Business is great (thanks to you guys) and we've added a lot of t-shirts, magnets, buttons, stickers, toys etc for your buying pleasure. Anything to keep comic buyers happy! We've added a lot of great books to the 1/2 price trade bin - keep an eye out for those. Comics are great - bargain comics might be even better.

We'll keep things short this month and move right into books of the month for April. Our first pick this month comes from one of the most talented comic book newcomers in recent memory. Rafael Grampá hails from Brazil (which is not short on comic book talent) and stands out of the crowd with Mesmo Delivery. Grampá's artwork is nothing short of amazing, and his storytelling chops are top notch as well. Originally published by Richmond's own Adhouse Books, the new version of Mesmo comes from Dark Horse, where Grampá is set up to do his next insane comics work later this year. The story follows an Elvis impersonator and an ex-boxer as they deliver a truckload of questionable cargo. What unfolds along the route is a bloody, bare-knuckles showdown beautifully choreographed by Grampá. I can't tell you what a talent he is and you're sure to hear more about him and his work in the coming year. Until then, check out his blog. The words are Portuguese, but the pictures sure are pretty!

In honor of Iron Man 2, we chose the re-released deluxe hardcover of Warren Ellis and Adi Granov's Iron Man: Extremis. Warren Ellis is one of the most prolific and engaging writers of the modern age. I think his best work has often been outside of the superhero genre, but he really shines when writing Tony Stark. Ellis is a passionate student of science and he brings that technical sensibility to Iron Man and makes it believable. In Extremis, Tony is after a man who ingests a virus that turns him into a superhuman killing machine. The virus ends up taking its effect on Iron Man and makes one of the coolest changes to any Superhero character in recent memory. Action-packed, beautifully illustrated and tons of fun, Extremis is a great Iron Man comic!

As always friends, thanks for reading and for your continued support of Local Heroes. We want you to feel like this is YOUR comic store, so let us know what we can do to make that happen.

Talk to you soon.
-LH (Greg)

After Three Months In A Row Of Vertigo Books...

2010-04-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

High Hopes For This One...

2010-04-06T10:20:00.001-07:00

Don't Forget About Our March Trade Special!

2010-03-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

Possibly the best comic book of the modern age.

Things Have Finally Calmed Down Around Here...

2010-03-11T14:32:00.002-08:00

What a month! February saw our biggest month ever in terms of comics sold and store events. A ton of you guys came out for our one-year anniversary with Jason Aaron and we couldn't have been happier to see so many of you. The turn out for the day was phenomenal and the after-hours party was a lot of fun. Jason had a great time (or he lies well) and we were really impressed with what a great guy he is! He signed everything put in front of him and refused no reasonable request, truly a class act. We look forward to hosting a creator again soon and are already working on our next in-store appearance.

We met a lot of new people at our event and hope we can win you guys over with our selection and service. We love comics and want to spread the word about how fantastic they are. We also appreciate the support we've been given over the last year and wouldn't be here without such great customers.

March sees the addition of some new shelves and products. We recently added t-shirts and you guys seem to enjoy them. We'll be getting in some really cool DC Comics stickers, magnets and buttons - so keep an eye out for those. We also added (possibly) our last magnificent IKEA shelf for subscribers, so now's the time to sign up and secure yourself a piece of this coveted real estate.

Lots of cool happenings in the comics world. This is going to be a fantastic year for comic movies with Iron Man, The Losers, Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim all being released. Now is the time to read up on these great series so you can look down on latecomers when the movies hit theaters.

Speaking of cool comics, we wouldn't let another month slip by without picking our books of the month. We always deliberate relentlessly to make sure we pick great reads that also may or may not be topical. This month is no exception as we've chosen Kick-Ass (in theaters this April) and Demo (new series on shelves now!).

Mark Millar has been the golden boy of the comics industry for the last few years. Wanted was turned into a blockbuster movie, all his Marvel Comics work consistently tops the charts and he's written a lot of really fun comics. He always finds time to do his own thing though, and I think this is where he tends to shine (and make the most money). Kick-Ass is his and John Romita's ultra-violent opus about a 16 year old nobody who puts on a pair of tights and fights crime. He has all the best intentions; intentions that nearly get him killed as he's beaten within an inch of his life in the very first issue. He eventually meets up with like-minded citizens who are a little more zealous than he, and that supporting cast is where the book really begins to shine. Bloody, inappropriate and hilarious - Kick-Ass is a lot of fun and the movie might be even better.

Brian Wood made a career in comics by doing his own thing, every time. He's like the Fugazi of the comics biz. He dabbled in superhero comics early in his career, but 95% of his body of work has been creator owned series. Channel Zero, Pounded, Local, Supermarket, DMZ, Northlanders etc. - a body of work done his way, pretty cool. Demo collects the first 12 issues of his and Becky Cloonan's comic about 12 individual people at a crossroads with a little bit of a supernatural/superpowered element added to the mix. Each story is self contained and Cloonan changes her art style for each issue. It's amazing stuff and a great lead-in to the new Demo series published by Vertigo (the first two issues are out now).

Pick these books up and you will be a happy comic fan, which in turn, makes us happy. Thanks for reading and making our store an awesome place to be every day - we love you guys.

See you soon!

-LH (Greg)

In Honor of Jason Aaron's Appearance on February 20th...

2010-02-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

The Losers Movie Trailer

2010-01-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

The Vertigo comic is awesome, and this looks pretty faithful. Plus it has Stringer Bell from The Wire, so...

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&from=customplayer_en-us_movies_movietrailershub&fg=MsnEntertainment_MoviesTrailersGP2_a&vid=1b9d070f-aff2-47f6-8a86-9b2b44ec4fc6" target="_new" title="'The Losers' Exclusive Look">Video: 'The Losers' Exclusive Look</a>

Our Biggest Event Ever!

2010-01-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

We've never been more excited and can't wait to see you all here. Tell everyone you know!

The First Of Many...

2010-01-04T15:37:00.000-08:00

This Looks Great...

2009-12-19T13:28:00.001-08:00

Local Heroes Holiday Shopping Guide and Books of the Month Thrown In So We Don't Have to Write Two Seperate Posts

2009-12-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

Hello again friends. No matter what deity or lack thereof you pay attention to, it's the time of year to give, and Local Heroes is here to help. We know a lot of times it's tough to get just the right thing for the comic lover in your life, but the Local Heroes Holiday Gift Guide Aught-Nine is here to help you through the process. Here we go:

Absolute Anything - These editions are the end-all be-all for any comic book fan. Oversized, slip cased, packed full of extras and behind the scenes goodness. DC knows what the discerning comic book fan wants and they've given it to them with these books. We have the Absolute Versions of Watchmen, The Dark Knight, Sandman, Justice, and The New Frontier in stock and ready to crush other family members and make you the winner this holiday.
Marvel Omnibus - Marvel takes their best work or great creative team runs and compiles them into the oversized omnibus. These are great for getting a whole lot of story in a really nice hardcover format. We have Omnibi (that's right) from Wolverine, Brubaker and Epting's excellent Captain America Run, Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-men and Ed Brubaker's Daredevil. Guaranteed to put your legs to sleep if read too long.
Hellboy Library Editions - A handsome bookcase needs handsome books, and I can think of few better looking collections than the first three volumes of Hellboy, by Mike Mignola. Dark Horse collected these fine tales into the Hellboy Library Edition - an oversized, cloth bound and covered version of this great series. No Hellboy fan should be without, and no festive season would be complete without stories about Demons.
Invincible Ultimate Collections - Invincible might be the best superhero book of the last five years, and like any deserving comic, gave itself the premier treatment with these Ultimate Collections. Extra large and chock-full of special features, these are the best way to read a really fantastic superhero book from Robert Kirkman, author of the Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead Compendium - If you haven't read The Walking Dead Yet, you're missing out on one of the best series on the shelves. This story of survival horror has yet to let our readers down. Now you can spread the love that is the zombie apocalypse with The Walking Dead Compendium, the first eight trades or 48 issues of the comic in one, bargain priced book. Nothing says "I Love You" like a shotgun blast to the face.
Robert Crumb's Genesis - Leave it to R. Crumb to take the book of Genesis and translate it word for word into comic form. People can't seem to get enough of this book. A must have for the Bible completist in your life.
The Collected Bloom County - Berkley Breathed is considered one of the greatest cartoonists alive today, thanks to to work he did on Bloom County. IDW has collected the first two years worth of this ground breaking work in a really great looking deluxe hardcover. This will please any Bloom County fan in your life and make them think you actually pay attention to their interests.
Perry Bible Fellowship - We have a sign under this book that reads "it's one of the funniest books you'll ever read or you have no soul". We stand behind this statement. Give it to someone who thinks you don't have a sense of humor and show them who's boss.
The Complete Martha Washington - Need every Martha Washington comic, promo, one-shot, sketch, ad, charity piece, rough draft and guest appearance ever produced? You do indeed and you will find it in this gorgeous mass of Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons magic. Do yourself a favor and read it before you give it away.
Local Heroes Gift Certificates - Possibly the greatest gift in this or any other plane of existence. Give your comic loving special someone carte blanche to get anything they want. They'll appreciate that you care enough to not buy them something they hate. Win-Win.

Picks Of the Month!

All this reading goodness is no excuse to forget about two of the best books that came out this month.

Did Ed Brubaker release a new book this month? Yes.
Is it a pick of the month? Of course.

Incognito is Brubaker and Philips latest collaboration. If Sleeper and Criminal have taught us anything, it's that these guys make comics better than just about anyone else working today. Zack Overkill loved being a super-villain, until he got busted and sent to witness protection. Now he toils away at a desk job, pining for the days when he could crush someone's skull. A night out as a superhero vigilante brings his former evil cohorts calling again, much to his dismay. This is noir-superhero comic gold, very much in the vain of Sleeper. Possibly our favorite book of 2009.

Our second pick this month is the long awaited Winter Men collection, from Wildstorm comics. This book is quite an achievement in complex, wholly original, storytelling. Brett Lewis and John Paul Leon give us Kris Kalenov, ex-Russian Spetsnaz, and his search for a kidnapped girl who might be a living weapon. The case leads to secrets from his past, including his involvement with the super-soldiers that were the "strength of the collected people personified" before the collapse of the Soviet Union. This book is incredibly well-researched and takes great care in telling a story of contemporary Russian culture that never feels forced or fake. John Paul Leon is a master comic artist and his work in this book is a sight to behold. Get it, read it twice and then come talk to us about it.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to you all and thanks for reading.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

Our Hopes are High for This New Vertigo Series

2009-12-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

Kick-Ass Teaser

2009-11-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

November 7, 2009

2009-11-09T16:31:00.000-08:00

Go Team Venture! Halloween has come and gone friends, but Local Heroes made a dent in this year's festivities with our first ever Halloween bash. The turnout was great and it seems as though everyone had a good time. There was one lone Stella floating in the cooler on Saturday morning, so I consider it a success. We were thoroughly amused by all the great costumes and handed out some quality graphic novels to some of the best. A whole Venture Bros crew (above), A really detailed Scarecrow and Joker, Batgirl, Space Ghost, Cassidy from Preacher, Rorschach...great stuff! We hope next year will be bigger and better.

Our next event will likely be our one-year anniversary early next year. We've got some really cool stuff in the works, more on that as details trickle in to LH headquarters. We're pretty excited to have made it one year, especially considering the economy. We owe no small amount of thanks to you, our loyal patrons. Not only do you give us money, but you make us happy and excited to come to work every day. You rock!

So much sweet comic book science this month that it was hard to pick only two books to sit on the coffee table. After many paces around the store, it came down to Old Man Logan and GI Joe: Cobra.

I know, a GI Joe book? Has there been any decent GI Joe comics since the "silent issue"? The answer, until now, was no. This all changed when I read GI Joe: Cobra on a whim. Not only was I blown away by the quality of the art and story, but I was amazed that Hasbro would allow anyone to treat their characters this way. Make no mistake, this is a straight-ahead espionage story disguised as a GI Joe comic book. The story follows second tier Joe character Chuckles, as a deep cover operative, trying to infiltrate the highest ranks of Cobra. It's a violent ride with a lot of moral dilemmas and plot twists. Fans of Sleeper or Parker would really dig this comic, freshly collected in a softcover this month from IDW.

Mark Millar writes really fun and accessible comic books and Old Man Logan might be his best work to date. He seems to know what the every day comic book reader enjoys seeing. His books are like a really smart popcorn movie, and OML is no exception. Teamed up once again with his Civil War partner, Steve Mcniven, Millar pens one of the best Wolverine stories ever written. 50 years into the future, the villains have won and divided the country up between them. Logan has long since gotten out of the hero game, become a pacifist and settled down to raise a family. Desperate time descend upon Logan, and he's forced to make a cross-country road trip with Hawkeye, one of the only heroes left alive. Post-apocalyptic storytelling based in the Marvel universe make this book really fun and packed full of "oh shit" moments. Pick it up this month, collected in hardcover from your friends at Marvel comics.

As always, let us know if there's anything you'd like to see on the shelves or here on the website. Also, don't forget to sign up for Comixology if you haven't already. It's a really cool way to manage your subscriptions and keep up with all the cool stuff that hasn't hit shelves yet. Ask us for details or for a quick hand in setting up your account.

Adios!

-Local Heroes (Greg)

So Excited For This...

2009-10-31T15:22:00.001-07:00

October 11, 2009

2009-10-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

Ahh, Fall. Our favorite time of year to say the least. Really good movies start to show up in theaters, It feels good in jeans and a t-shirt and we're never without good comic books.

The big news this month is our first ever Masquerade in Ghent After Party. Why let all the fun die at 8:00 when people are already out and dressed up for Halloween? We'll have cocktails, door prizes, prizes for kick-ass costumes, a pretty sweet sale and all the quality entertainment you've come to expect from Local Heroes. Mark your calenders for Friday October 30th from 8-11PM, right after the Masquerade in Ghent.

We have been looking for a way for you guys to manage your subscriptions online and have recently partnered with Comixology to do just that! Sign up here and then link to the store here, and your all set! You can then add or drop titles, peruse all the Previews listings and place special orders on Comixology and they come right to the Local Heroes Database where we use this information for the betterment of mankind.

In other geek related news, DC Comics is offering seven more Lantern rings to go along with the black ring that came out with Blackest Night number one. The only way to guarantee your participation is to pre-order the seven Blackest Night tie in books. You will then get all seven rings, free! Send an email to greg@localheroescomics.com to sign up.

We read some fantastic books lately, but we forced ourselves to pick two to get behind for the entire month. Local Heroes thinks you should read Gotham Central Volume 2 and The Umbrella Academy: Dallas. We want to enhance your lives, and books of the month are filled with so much greatness that it's impossible not to be better people after reading them.

If you've ever read a comic when everyone involved was at the top of their game, then you know how special and rare it really is. Gotham Central is Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark doing everything right. We've compare this book to Homicide, but that doesn't do it justice. The series follows the Gotham PD Major Crimes Unit as they pick up the pieces of their city without help from some guy in a cape. You see the dirty work involved in fighting super powered crime from a street level and you get that great noir feel that only talent like Rucka and Brubaker can bring. Fans of Powers or crime fiction would love this book.

The first Umbrella Academy took everyone by surprise because no one expected much from comics interloper Gerard Way. What did this guy know about writing a comic book? He answered this question with one of the most original and well-written superhero books of the last five years. His partner on art chores, Gabriel Bá, drew his ass off and blew everyone away with just how great the series looked. Well, volume two is just as good, if not better. If you like superhero books with a little bit of a twist and some weirdness thrown in, give this one a try.

Thanks again for reading my friends, and don't forget to introduce yourselves to Derrick or Alicia if you haven't met them already. They're good people and have been instructed to take excellent care of you all! Until we see you in person...

-Local Heroes (Greg)

Blair Butler Speaks the Truth

2009-09-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Essex County, Cla$$war and Gotham Central after the Geoff Johns bit - all essential reading.

Video Games - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

September 13, 2009

2009-09-14T13:58:00.001-07:00

Hello again! We're glad to be back writing after a busy month here at your favorite comic store. Fall is in the air, we can hear the Maury band, people are crazy for ODU football - all good things. The staff continues to grow this month after the hire of yet another comic book fan to help us get a day off. Derek is an ODU student and all around swell guy. We're training him today and he's sweating his ass off at the register as I write this like he's disarming a bomb. I never knew I was such a bastard to work for. Anyway, be sure to welcome Derek if you're here while he's working and introduce yourself. Don't forget to introduce yourselves to Alicia too, if you haven't already.

We've got a couple cool events in the late planning stages and should hopefully announce those soon. One's a low key get together and the other should be pretty large, so stay tuned.

We were also asked to write a few short columns for AltDaily.com, a local site focused on news, arts and culture for Hampton Roads. Here's our first foray! I received some really positive feedback from you guys so keep an eye out for more of my ramblings in the near future.

So many comics have us excited this month and we also managed to pick some books of the month for September.

Because I read so much good shit this month, it was a tough call. Unknown Soldier blew me away and I couldn't put Asterios Polyp down, so there you go.

Unknown Soldier drops you in the middle of an African genocide, gives you a pacifist doctor as the lead character and manages to be one of the more brutal comics I've read in a while. I can't say enough just how well written and prescient this comic book is. Joshua Dysart took the old Unknown soldier concept, gave it a Vertigo twist and came up with a wholly genuine book that focuses on current events that might otherwise go unnoticed. A great read, great character development, visceral and entertaining , check it out!

Asterios Polyp might be one of the best graphic novels of the year. David Mazzucchelli has been drawing comics for over 20 years, probably best known for Batman: Year One. That artist is nowhere to be found here, which makes Mazzucchelli all the more impressive to me. I love it when artists seamlessly change styles for the betterment of the story. Our lead character is Asterios, a down on his luck College Professor and world-renown architect who is forced by outside circumstances to re-evaluate his life and relationships. It's sad, funny, touching and utterly original. Mazzucchelli is a comic book treasure and anyone who likes to veer from the usual fare will find this book fun and refreshing.

Buy either of these books and you'll be smarter and better looking afterward.

Thanks for getting this far, thanks for your business and we'll see you all soon.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

August 7, 2009

2009-08-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hello again from the great beyond that is the back room at Local Heroes. We actually do real work back here, believe it or not. As we gaze out on a store full of people (on a Monday no less) we are reminded once again how fortunate we are to have such awesome customers. You guys are making this comic store a fun place to be, and we can't thank you enough. We are working on a way for our subscribers to manage their subscriptions online - more on that soon - it's going to be really sweet though! We've got some cool event stuff in the works for later this year/early next year, so stay tuned.

I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of really great books coming out in August from just about everybody in the game. One thing that got me particularly excited was the relaunch of the Ultimate Marvel Universe with the original three architects who made it awesome in the first place: Mark Millar, Brian Bendis and Warren Ellis. These three really made this universe something special back when it first started and I hope they can capture that again on this new wave. Things look great from what we've read so far, so our hopes are high. Check out Ultimate Avengers, Spider-Man and Armor Wars this month!

Blackest Night started out really strong and you guys keep telling us how much you are loving it. Green Lantern is as good as it's been in a long while, so check it out if you're curious. Brubaker and Epting are teamed up again in August for the debut of the Marvels Project, an origin story of the Marvel Universe. These guys pedigree should be enough to sell anyone on this book, so pick one up this month! There are also a lot of anticipated trades in August from the Walking Dead, Invincible, Northlanders and Fables.

Speaking of Northlanders, the phenomenal second collection was enough to solidify this book as one of our picks of the month, along with - surprise - Parker: The Hunter, from Darwyn Cooke.

Northlanders is independent icon Brian Wood's viking epic, done with care and attention to detail. Likely the most carefully researched and entertaining historical fiction you'll find every month (unless Garth Ennis is writing a WWII story). Wood has had a lot of great artists on the story arcs we've seen so far and this one is no exception. Here he teams with frequent collaborator Ryan Kelly who you might know from Lucifer, Local or the New York Four. They always work well together and Kelly gets to draw his fair share of death and destruction, which is always fun. This story arc follows Magnus and his daughter Brigid as he leads a one-man insugency against an occupying Viking army. He is tailed by regional leader Ragnar Ragnarsson, who is an 11th century forensic specialist, which we thought was a neat twist. Pick up this collection and the bargain-priced first trade, which consists of the first eight issues for only $10.00!

If Darwyn Cooke was born to create The New Frontier, then he now has to share that Distinction with Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter. We can't believe how fantastic this book is. If you are a fan at all of a fantastic crime story or good noir, then this book was made just for you. Parker is the biggest bastard you've ever routed for as he tears across the country on a quest for $45,000 and a little payback. Cooke writes and draws the early 60's better than anyone in any medium, and this book is just a real treat for both sides of your brain.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to tell everyone you know who we are and what we do here at Local Heroes, we're nothing without you guys!

See you all soon.

-LH (Greg)

July 17, 2009

2009-07-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

The End of an Era...

July 6, 2009

2009-07-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hello all! We wanted to drop in again to share the good word with you about all the awesome comics you should all be reading (and probably are, because you all have impeccable taste). July has me particularly excited for the release of all-new Darwyn Cooke material in the form of the first (of many) Parker graphic novels. If you've been to the store or talked to me about my love for all things Cooke, then this should come as no surprise; I love everything he's ever done. Catwoman, Batman, The New Frontier, The Spirit...the guy can do no wrong in my eyes. My only regret until now is that we haven't seen him really sink his teeth into a mature-themed book with no capes. That gets remedied this month and I can't wait to be amazed by the perfect pairing of Richard Stark's best work and one of Comic's best creators. I even have a fancy link to a preview of the first book, in case you need an extra push. Take that!

June was a busy month at your favorite comic store. We did a little expanding, which makes us very happy. We added two new bookcases for trades and hardcovers, some new lighting and one new metal shelf to expand the new releases section so things won't be so cramped. We also had to rearrange our lounge to the ire of some of you, I promise it's all in the name of progress!

A new month brings new books of the month and it was a pretty easy decision this time around. Crime rules the selections as we chose Sleeper and 100 Bullets as books of the month for July. Sleeper is one of those great books that went out of print for far too long. DC fixed that this month with the first of two new Sleeper collections, and we couldn't be happier. Sleeper follows Holden Carver, a deep cover agent infiltrating the most dangerous criminal organization in the world. Holden's biggest problem is that the only man alive that knows he's actually a good guy is in a coma. This book mixes a little noir into the superhero genre and it makes for a near perfect comic series. This was Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' first collaboration, long before Criminal or Incognito. Fans of these series will love Sleeper even more.

100 Bullets is likely our favorite comic book of all time. 12 years in the making, it blends words and pictures better than any book in recent memory. There are no heroes in this book, but you'll love the characters nonetheless. Crime and conspiracy blend with a briefcase full of 100 untraceable bullets and irrefutable proof of the person who ruined you life. What starts as a revenge story morphs into a worldwide conspiracy and the players who vie to control the organization behind it. We can't say enough great things about this series, and the 13th and final collection arrives this month.

Don't forget that prime fake-wood-subscription box real estate is almost all full. We hock these like a bad time share, so talk all of your friends into signing up with us, they won't regret it!

As always, we appreciate your business and hope to see you soon.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

July 3, 2009

2009-07-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

Blair Butler is pretty awesome and the Kirman/Silvestri Pilot Season sounds cool. Enjoy!

June 25, 2009

2009-06-25T08:44:00.001-07:00

Detective #854 was visionary and phenomenal. You should buy one. That is all.

June 3, 2009

2009-06-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

I am more in love with comics today than usual. What has fueled my illicit affair today you might ask? Wednesday Comics. Yes I know comics ship on Wednesday, but this is different. Wednesday Comics is the new weekly series from DC featuring the best talent money can buy doing what they love. The result is going to be some of the best mainstream comics has in recent memory. Don't believe me? Check out this talent roster:

Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso on Batman
Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred on Metamorpho
Paul Pope on Adam Strange
Walter Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze on The Demon and Catwoman
Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook on Kamandi
Kurt Busiek and Joe Quinones on Green Lantern
John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo on Superman
Kyle Baker on Hawkman
Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner on Supergirl

And that's just a taste! Probably the coolest part of the whole thing is that every issue will be super over-sized, measuring 14x20! We need more comics like this, damn it!

Business has been brisk here at your (hopefully) favorite comic store lately. We love seeing new faces and meeting cool people, and we've done plenty of both. We're lucky to have such great customers! Many of you have been asking about the next in-store event. All I can say is I promise it will happen by the end of the Summer and it will involve copious amounts of alcohol, stay tuned.

Summer is a great time for comic books and June is officially here, which means new books of the month! I struggled a little harder than usual this month, because of so much greatness. But I finally decided on I Kill Giants and Battlefields: Dear Billy.

I can count the times I've cried reading a comic book on two fingers (I'm not ashamed to espouse my sensitive nature to you people). Well, I Kill Giants made it three, those bastards. IKG is funny, action packed, beautifully pencilled and chock-full of comic book greatness. It follows Barbara (who doesn't quite fit in with most girls her age) as she deals with bullies, family issues, Dungeons and Dragons, and Giants! She kicks real and imaginary butt, but hides from her greatest challenge, her own fears. This book is phenomenal and gets our highest possible recommendation.

Garth Ennis is one of the greatest comic book writers of all time. I like Ennis best when he takes things a little more seriously, as he does in the Battlefields series from Dynamite. The three mini-series to date have all focused on different aspects of World War II. Dear Billy is the second in the series and takes a small detour from traditional war stories. It blends romance, the Pacific theater, revenge and a crazy plot twist as it follows Nurse Carrie Sutton through Hell and back. Garth Ennis is the undisputed modern master of the war comic and he proves why with this collection.

Take a chance on either of these two books and you will not be disappointed. Thanks for checking us out here, and we'll see you in person sooner than later.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

Memorial Day

2009-05-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

Just a quick reminder that we will be closed on Memorial Day. Also, due to the holiday, comics will not ship until Thursday this week. Hope everyone has a safe holiday and we'll see you soon.

-LH

May 11, 2009

2009-05-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Your friends at Local Heroes are finally recovering from last weekend's spectacularly successful Free Comic Book Day. The turnout far exceeded our wildest expectations, and we even managed to sell a few comic books. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and got all the carbs they could handle. It was especially cool to see so many new faces, we hope you come back! We gave away a lot of door prizes throughout the day, but the big winner was our friend Tu-Kwon, a regular face here at the store.

He was the lucky winner of the $100.00 Wolverine Omnibus, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Our next event will likely have massive amounts of free alcohol, so here's looking forward to whatever that might be.

We rolled right into May without noticing we hadn't picked our books of the month. Well let's remedy that right now with our two picks, Scalped and Punisher. We thought we'd bring the "Mayhem" for this month (because we're total nerds), and these two books definitely fit that bill. Scalped is set on an Indian reservation and follows a cast of characters led by Dash Bad Horse, the reservation's only real law enforcement officer. The reservation is rampant with corruption, mostly revolving around the reservation casino, a supporting cast of lowlifes and years of mistrust and manipulation by the federal government. Scalped is meticulously researched and definitely doesn't sugarcoat life on and Indian reservation. The book reads like the best noir crime fiction, with a little taste of an awesome gangster movie thrown in the mix. One of my favorite books and consistently entertaining.

Punisher Max might be the most brutal and violent comic ever produced,and rightly so. The idea of the Punisher never worked for me in the traditional Marvel universe, it just seemed cheesy. Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys) takes Frank Castle out of the Marvel U proper and turns him into a visceral killing machine without remorse or mercy for his victims. This is the best the Punisher has ever been or ever will be. Ennis really fleshes out the character with a lot of cool details, military knowledge and cool covert-ops shit. This Punisher could absolutely exist in the real world and that is what makes the series so awesome.

We appreciate everyone working with us as we grow. We've had to overcome some growing pains and we appreciate the patience everyone has shown. Our #1 goal is your happiness, so let us know if you ever need anything or have an issue that needs resolving. You guys rock and we'll see you all soon.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

Help Choose The Local Heroes T-Shirt!

2009-05-05T10:12:00.001-07:00

I can't decide on a color, so I need a hand. Pick the one you'd most like to be seen in and vote in the poll on the right hand column. Once you guys decide, I'll get some shirts headed this way. Thanks!

2009-04-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

That's right friends, the day we share our hobby with he masses is fast approaching. Next weekend will be a large one for your friendly local comic shop. Mark your calenders, because I expect to see each and every one of you here on Saturday. Need some extra incentive? OK:

Free Coffee and Bagels from Yorgo's in the AM
Free Pizza from Cogan's in the afternoon
Giveaways and Door Prizes All Day
15% Off All Graphic Novels and Trades
Free Comics!!!!!!

Bring a friend and spread the word on how awesome comics are! Also, if you're going to the Wolverine movie at midnight Thursday or Friday night at MacArthur, stop by and say hi to your pal Greg, who'll be there promoting the store and comics in general.

We've read a lot of good comics this past week or so. Ghost Rider with Jason Aaron and Tony Moore continues to impress me with the level of quality exhibited thus far, and I don't even like Ghost Rider. Speaking of Jason Aaron, volume four of his best book (Scalped) was released last week, and it was better than the previous three, if you can believe it. All the accolades this book receives are well deserved. It's gritty, heartbreaking, visceral and unbelievably well-written. Ed Brubaker even crossed company lines to do the forward, it's that good.

Viking came out last week and the production values alone were enough to sell the book. People just couldn't pass up all that goodness for a mere $2.99. The second part of the Neil Gaiman Batman story was no disappointment either. I thought it was a really cool idea for an out of continuity Batman story, well done all around.

New picks of the month coming next time, I'm really glad so many of you gave Perry Bible Fellowship a chance, I'm sure you were rewarded with hilarity.

Thanks for reading and I can't wait to see all of you guys this weekend!

-Greg

April 10, 2009

2009-04-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

On the Fringe with Paul Pope from Carlos Molina on Vimeo.

Interesting interview for those who share my Paul Pope fascination. Enjoy!

April 9, 2009

2009-04-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Comics! Hello again from Local Heroes, where we do comics better than anyone in at least 10 states. Lots going on around here this month and into early next month, which you'll be informed of shortly. In business related news, We hit a big milestone this past week as we gained our 50th subscriber in only four months! Fake wood IKEA pull box space is definitely turning into a commodity, as only one more shelf is planned. Who knows where we go from here, but I want to thank all you guys for making this dream a reality.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is approaching fast, and I'm pleased to announce that Local Heroes has partnered with Regal Cinemas MacArthur and will be at the midnight AND Friday release of the movie. We'll have lots of swag to give away and hopefully our mission to pomote comics and Local Heroes at the same time will be succesful. Definitely plan to make an appearance at midnight if you can, your nerd cred will be seriously boosted.

Free Comic Book Day is the same back-breaking weekend as the Wolverine movie, and your friendly retailer will transition smoothly from Regal cinemas back to Local Heroes proper for Saturday's festivites. The best part about Free Comic Book Day? Free Comics!! This year's offerings look better than ever with original stories from just about every publisher under the sun. We'll also have door prizes and giveaways, along with a 15% off sale on all trade collections and graphic novels. Our good friends at Cogan's have supplied us with free pizza and the fine folks at Yorgo's will be repped in the morning with free coffee and bagels, all courtesy of your favorite comic store. Bring the family or just your creepy roommate, we want to see everyone here on Saturday the 2nd!

Amidst all the madness and preparation, we did have a little time to make our picks for books of the month. The honors this month go to the still hilarious Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack and the quality antics of the Goon. Many of you know already know of my love and affection for all things PBF, but for those who have missed the boat, here's the lowdown: It's the funniest comic strip of all time. I really can't say much more than that, so give it a peek next time you're here, but try not to sit and read the whole book, as one or two people have attempted to do before facing our fanboy rage.

Goon (also from Dark Horse) has just celebrated its 10 year anniversary, so what better time to jump onboard? Goon is one of the most original books of the last 10 years, which makes it one of the hardest to classify. Not quite horror, always hilarious, beautifully illustrated and created with care. This book is a shining example of what comics can do when people travel outside of tights and capes to tell great stories.

Thanks for reading and we definitely hope to see you at any and all Local Heroes sanctioned events, your presence is always appreciated. We'll see you all soon.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

2009-03-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hello again from the world's greatest comic store, or so my Mom thinks. My Venture Bros Season 3 DVD just showed up, so I'm dying to get cracking on those. Just when you thought you might not see so much VB on the Local Heroes TV, oh well. As I begin to get better at running a comic shop (maybe), I've found more time to read awesome comics. There were a ton of great books this week. Tops of them all was the release of the Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack, possibly the funniest book ever written. If you liked the Far Side or have a somewhat odd sense of humor, then this is the book for you. This beautiful edition contains all of the cartoons ever made, along with some nice extras, all wrapped up in a very handsome presentation. I can't recommend this book enough.

Groom Lake was my pick this week. I'm interested to see where this series goes and the art was fantastic, as is always the case with Ben Templesmith. I actually agreed with Bob's pick this week, Invincible #60, which is just a great Superhero book every time it ships. Other notable books were GI Joe: Cobra which was all kinds of undercover mercenary awesome. The newest Powers collection read much better as a single book than it did as late single issue after late single issue, still a fantastic series.

Thanks again for reading, feel free to stop by and watch Venture Bros with me anytime. Oh Yea, don't forget about Free Comic Book Day, Saturday May 2nd, it should be a great time. More details to follow.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

March 14, 2009

2009-03-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! We've been busy lately at the store and missed staying in touch with everyone for a week or so. The Watchmen event for subscribers went over really well. I can't thank everyone enough for making it such a great party. We talked about the movie, drank some beer and bought some comics, so all in all a wonderful evening. No one puked or even spilled any beer, you guys are a class act! We're looking forward to doing it again, so stay tuned.

This Wednesday looks to be huge, with a lot of really cool books hitting the shelves. A lot of you have been reading the Old Man Logan story in Wolverine, and for those who haven't, you're definitely missing out. It really is that good, and the new, long-awaited issue will be here Wednesday. Invincible is another book that I enjoy the hell out of. It's always a lot of fun and the art is fantastic every time. Issue 60 drops this week and features an Image-wide crossover, which should be loads of fun.

A lot of you guys have enjoyed Ben Templesmith's Wormwood and Fell series, which are both really top-notch. His new book arrives this week, Groom Lake. It looks awesome and is written by IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall.

Last week was kind of a light week, but Ghost Rider was my pick, strangely enough. Jason Aaron (Scalped and the new Wolverine book) and Tony Moore (Walking Dead and Exterminators) start a new story arc which was really cool, well-written and superbly drawn. Moore is a great fit for this book and their arc will probably be one of the better Ghost Rider stories in years, I loved it and have never really liked the character.

Bob had his first baby, a girl, this week but still managed to pick REBELS as his book.
Congratulations to him and I hope being a Dad won't mean we see him less, though he does appear pretty enamored.

We look forward to seeing you all soon!

-Local Heroes (Greg)

February 28, 2009

2009-02-28T09:34:00.000-08:00

Picks, picks, picks! I like to think that after all these years of reading funny books, that I have a pretty good handle on what's good and what isn't. Well, opening a comic book store will definitely humble you. Nothing sucks worse than recommending a book to someone, only to have them tell you they didn't like it. That's happened a few times since opening, and all I can say is sorry, you obviously have horrible taste.

March is here and so are the Local Heroes books of the month. These are a little bigger deal, because if I pick a stinker for the week, it's only for the week that I have to hear about it. That's why I have to put a little more thought and love into these monthly picks. Since we have newly released material from two of my all-time favorite series this month, I chose Scott Pilgrim and Powers as this month's picks.

Scott Pilgrim has to be the most fun you can have in 128 pages. The fifth, and penultimate, collection arrived last week, and it was great. It follows Scott as he continues his quest to defeat all of his girlfriend's evil ex-boyfriends. In addition, he has to deal with his ex-girlfriend, his crappy band and all his other friends issues. It's a lot of fun and the energy in this book is awesome. You'll laugh, then laugh some more and then wish you had bought the next issue.

Powers is what made Brian Bendis the man he is today. This is his and Michael Oeming's creator-owned series about a pair of detectives investigating superhero related crime. It's chocked full of all the Bendis goodness (talking heads, witty dialogue, decompressed storytelling) that you've grown to love. Lots of twists and surprises make this a constantly entertaining read, and the letters columns are the best in the history of comics.

Bob continues to drink the Geoff Johns Kool-Aid this week, making Green Lantern #38 his pick. I think there's some kind of color-specific theme or something going on here. I chose Battlefields #2 as my pick this week. It took a turn that I didn't see coming, but made the story even better, I think. This is some of Ennis' strongest work lately and I can't wait to see how it wraps up in issue three. If you like this series, he's continuing with the war related stories with Tankies, in April.

No crazies this week, so that's good. Thanks for reading and we'll see you soon.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

February 19, 2009

2009-02-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, welcome to another installment of "Keep the Website Fresh" by Local Heroes. I appreciate everyone working through our growing pains and the never-ending battle with our distributor over actually sending me books we pay for, you all rock. Stock is starting to trickle back in, after Diamond's relocation to a new warehouse. Hopefully now they ship the wrong books from a state-of-the-art facility, so good for them.

Comics were good this week, but I have to rep Incognito #1 as my pick yet again, because the second printing was released. If you don't like this book, then you're wrong. My good friend Bob made Dark Avengers #2 his pick this week, and received the ire of local media personalities as an added bonus, congratulations! What's even better is his preferred method of comic book reading, which apparently involves skipping directly to the last two pages and then making his pick.

The highlight of our week was definitely the nice gentleman who knocked on the door to ask if he was allowed to come in, then began to scream obscenities and nonsense until asked to leave very shortly thereafter, thanks Norfolk!

Totally unrelated to anything comics, we ate at The Boot for Valentines Day, and it was phenomenal.

Have a great week!

-Local Heroes (Greg)

Free Press is Pretty Awesome!

2009-02-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Craig Kimberly for taking time to do a kick-ass feature on the store. Don't stare directly at the head!

February Books Of the Month

2009-02-03T10:38:00.000-08:00

Every month I try to spotlight books that I personally enjoy or think deserve a wider audience. Comics are awesome, some more than others, but these are the cream of the crop. This month, I chose Captain America and Local.

Ed Brubaker took over a struggling Captain America book a few years back that no one read, because it was horrible. Given carte blanche to do whatever would make this book cool again, Brubaker took it back to basics. Cap is finally taken seriously and made relevant again in the modern world. Brubaker took characters that may have seemed cheesy in the past and turned them all into characters worth reading. Given time to build a universe and story, Brubaker shines. This book is suspenseful, action-packed and a lot of fun to read. The art chores are handled by Steve Epting and his work here is phenomenal. The art is moody and slighty noir-ish, and makes a great book better. Start with the first trade collection or the omnibus and I promise you won't be disappointed.

180 degrees from Cap is Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly's Local. This book has just been collected into a beautiful hardcover by Oni Press and the production values are awesome. Local follows a young woman named Megan as she travels from city to city. Each issue represents a year in her life as she moves from place to place in search of stability she might never find. It's illustrated by Ryan Kelly who researched real life locations in each city that show up in the panels. Residents of these cities will definitely see familiar places and the art is fantastic throughout. the book has really cool, really dense extras that add a lot to the story. Check this out if you like something a little off the beaten path, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Don't forget, Local Heroes is here to help you find good comics. We love to talk about this stuff, so just give us a nudge if you need a hand.

January 26, 2009

2009-01-26T13:51:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great week last week. Local Heroes saw a record amount of new faces and cool people, so things couldn't be better.

One person we were particularly happy to meet was Todd Webb, our first local creator to drop by the store. Todd was really cool, and left his wares here for your buying pleasure. I have to say how impressed I am with his stuff, I read most of it on Sunday, and canrecommend it all wholeheartedly! Todd's also gotten props from Craig Thompson and Mike Allred, so that's some serious street cred. His books are well made, original and just plain fun (not to mention he's a hell of a nice guy), so be sure to check them out when you're here. I'm making all his stuff my pick of the weekthis week and am also instituting my first decree. Any time you support local talent at Local Heroes, I'll throw in any $3.99 comic of your choice to say thanks. These guys are in the trenches putting out great books solely for the love of the medium, and they deserve our support.

The dubious Bob made Dark Avengers his pick this week, I read it and enjoyed it too, just to make sure he wasn't phoning it in. These avengers are pretty dark, but not in a listen to the Cure/cut themselves kind of way. I'll have more copies in this week, so get them while you can. Thanks to everyone for the best week so far and I'll talk to you all soon.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

January 15, 2009

2009-01-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, glad to be back after a week off. I kind of just wanted to forget last week, with the late shipment and all.

Things are going really well this week though. Business is up and I've met a lot of cool new folks. I got a really great response from everyone who enjoyed my last pick of the week, Incognito. I hope you all read Criminal, which is a phenomenal book. Seriously, it's that good and I don't know why more people don't like to read really good stuff. Maybe I should offer a money back guarantee? Local Heroes, of course, has all three volumes in stock for you to purchase until said guarantee goes into effect.

The big news this week was the Barack Obama cover for Spiderman 583, which we will have back in the store next Wednesday. It's nice when any comic makes national headlines, and this was one of the bigger books to come along in a long while.

Picks this week are in, and Bob finally broke from the trend of just passing iFanboy's pick off as his own, Ha! Just kidding (not really). He did however, make Action Comics his pick this week. Bob seems to be a bit of a Geoff Johns groupie, or so the 20 minute conversation he had with Jon would lead you to believe. The nerdery was pretty thick here on Wednesday. My pick this week was Invincible, just because it's always a fun read and the art was extra cool this issue. Next week looks to be pretty huge, especially with the debut of Dark Avengers, which looks awesome.

Thanks for reading and I hope all six of you have a great week, and I'll see you all soon.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

January 5, 2009

2009-01-05T15:06:00.001-08:00

It's been busy after the holidays, which is a pleasant surprise. It seems that word is spreading about the store, as I see a lot of new faces every day. People have been awesome and the praise is always nice, even though I get slightly embarrassed. I'm looking for more ways to spread to good word, so if anyone has any hook-ups or good ideas, let a guy know. On that note, we also want to be the coolest store in at least 300 square miles, so keep the suggestions coming.

I bit the bullet and threw my picks of the month out this week. I had to go with the Invincible Iron Man Hardcover, collecting the first six issues of the series. Matt Fraction is on top of his game, and this series is a lot of fun. My second choice is the Y the Last Man Deluxe Hardcover because Y is one of the best comics ever and the oversized hard covers are really pretty. These books will not let you down, so take the plunge on one or both.

On to the picks from the short week. The legendary Bob made Justice Society his pick of the week. I think he just copies right from iFanboy, so next time we're turning off the interwebs for the day. I chose Incognito as my pick, because I'm a Brubaker/Phillips junkie and would love their collaboration on stereo instructions.

I hope the three people who read this and my mother all have a good week, and I'll see you all soon.

-Local Heroes (Greg)

December 29th - This and That

2008-12-29T10:02:00.001-08:00

Hey, my first real blog post. All the shit I talked about people's blogs never happened now, your memory has failed you. The comic business has been awesome, and I appreciate every one's well-wishes and encouragement. Local Heroes should be a place where everyone in the community feels welcome and where comics as an art form are promoted. I want to have the coolest store you've ever been in, but that's not possible without input from you, my loyal customers. Let me know what you like/don't like/hate and I work on it, as long as your ideas aren't crazy. Don't forget to fan the Facebook page, it makes me smile when the new fans show up there.

Lots of good comics this week. The second issue of the Umbrella Academy won my pick of the week for maintaining the quality of the first miniseries. The illustrious Bob made The New Avengers his pick this week, even though it pained him. Keep an eye out for new monthly picks in the new year, I'm still trying to decide what these will be, so much good stuff! Everyone who read The Alcoholic loved it, so that makes a guy feel good.

Don't forget, no new books until Friday this week, because of the holiday madness. We'll also be closed on Thursday, to recuperate from New Year's Eve hangovers/arrests/embarrassments.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to drop any and all thoughts to greg@localheroescomics.com

2008-12-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Local Heroes Comics Blog. We are located in Norfolk, VA in Historic Ghent next to Cogan's Pizza.