Heroes Convention was held on June 16-18, 2023, at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. This comic con keeps the comic in the name, bringing in a huge guest list of comic creators and tons of comic dealers.

These days, the term “comic con” is loosely used to describe conventions that are less focused on comics, and more about comic-adjacent pop culture. Those shows put the emphasis on celebrity meet and greets, and vendors typically sell pop culture collectibles and vendor-made creations, with some comic dealers peppered in. In contrast, Heroes Con keeps the focus completely on comics and their creators across the vendor floor, artist alley, and the panels.

The very large guest list of comic creators included Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl), John Beatty (Secret Wars), Jerry Bingham (Batman: Son of the Demon), Brett Breeding (Superman), Pat Broderick (Green Lantern), Cullen Bunn (Harrow County), Jim Calafiore (Aquaman), Chris Campana (Ghost Rider), Michael Cho (Batwoman), Amy Chu (Red Sonja), Chris Claremont (Gambit), Marc Deering (Star Wars: Doctor Aphra), Tom DeFalco (The Amazing Spider-Man), Steve Epting (Avengers), John Floyd (Icon vs. Hardware), Ron Frenz (Thor), José Luis García-López (Wonder Woman), Michael Golden (The Nam), Mike Grell (Green Arrow), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Larry Hama (G.I. Joe), Scott Hanna (Spider-Man and Batman), Cully Hamner (The Question), Jamal Igle (Molly Danger), Georges Jeanty (The Mandalorian), Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT), Jae Lee (Batman/Superman), Mindy Lee (Masters of the Universe: Revelation), Suzan Loeb (Suzan Says), Kevin Maguire (Justice League International), Laura Martin (Beta Ray Bill), Jose Marzan (Y: The Last Man), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Steve McNiven (Old Man Logan), Adriana Melo (Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy), Alessandro Micelli (X-Men), Al Milgrom (Firestorm), Brett Parson (Tank Girl), Andrew Pepoy (Fables), Khoi Pham (Duo), Tom Raney (X-Men), Rico Renzi (Bitter Root), John Romita Jr. (Amazing Spider-Man), Don Rosa (The Life and Tines of Uncle Scrooge), Stéphane Roux (Birds of Prey), Joe Rubinstein (Wolverine), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man), Jim Shooter (former editor in chief Marvel), Bill Sienkiewicz (Elektra: Assassin), Jeff Smith (Bone), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Joe Staton (Green Lantern), Jim Steranko (Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD), Roy Thomas (Morbius), Billy Tucci (Shi), Dexter Vines (Civil War), Kelly Yates (Doctor Who), and Skottie Young (I Hate Fairyland). (Interviews with Bob Hall, Cullen Bunn, Joe Staton, Suzan Loeb, and Tom Raney are in this week’s issue of Scoop.)

Geppi Family Enterprises was represented by Gemstone Publishing and Hake’s Auctions, who were joined by fellow auction houses like ComicConnect, ComicLink, and Heritage Auctions. Third party graders CBCS and CGC were at the show, accepting submissions for grading and witnessing creator signings for their respective signed comic programs.

As mentioned earlier, the bulk of the vendors were comic book dealers and stores like Basement Comics, Cards, Comics, and Collectibles, Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find, HighGradeComics.com, MyComicShop, Reece’s Rare Comics, and Superworld Comics, among many others. They offered everything a collector could look for in the Golden to Modern Ages, from big league keys to dollar bin back issues. Comic dealers had popular issues, rarities, variants, graded and raw books, trade paperbacks, hardcover volumes, out of print books, artist editions, and plenty more.

Other vendors sold new and vintage toys and action figures of DC and Marvel characters, Star Wars and G.I. Joe figures, pro wrestler figures, and Funko Pops, among others. They also had art prints, posters, magazines and books, lightsabers, art supplies, leatherworks, anime and manga material, and other related items.

The show was packed with panels featuring the creators. They included workshops with the pros, a celebration of Back Issue magazine, a look at LGBTQ+ characters in comics, Q&As with creators like Jeff Smith, Carl Potts, and Amy Chu, Tarzan in comics, a celebration of Star Wars, guidance on podcasting and crowdfunding, Afrofuturism in comics, and drawing class for kids, among others.

John Romita, Jr. was supposed to be a guest at the show and participate in a Spider-Man panel on Saturday afternoon, but with the recent passing of his father, comic art luminary John Romita, Sr., he was not in attendance. The timeslot for Romita, Jr.’s panel was instead devoted to remembering Romita, Sr. A group of comic creators, industry pros, and collectors discussed his impact on comics, and shared stories about Romita, Sr. as a person and coworker. The moderator also gave fans in the audience the opportunity to express their feelings about Romita, Sr. and his contribution to comics.

A blood drive was held all weekend long, there were charity art contests, cosplay contests, events for families and kids, and special signings at the Heroes Con booth and the Hero Initiative booth.

Heroes Con is a family-friendly event devoted to comic books, the creators, and collectors, giving all who attended a fun weekend.

The next installment of Heroes Con will be held on June 14-16, 2024.

To see more photos from Heroes Con, visit our In the Limelight coverage.