Hero pics from C2E2!

The inaugural C2E2 came and went like the Windy City it was held in! The first major con held in Chicago proper in a long time was a success on many levels. The layout was spacious, the natural light was a welcome bonus and seeing the city's skyline from the McCormick Place was pretty cool too. The Hero Initiative was there with the usual and invaluable Chicago crew, doing what they do best....meeting the needs of those in need.

The booth at The Hero Initiative was buzzing with traffic! For more pics, check out our PopCons page. Fans and creators were there, as always, lending their respective financial support and creative talents. A round of "thank yous" are in order! Thanks to: Gordon Purcell, Ethan Van Sciver, Gene Ha, Jimmy Cheung, Mike Norton, Chris Samnee and Cliff Chiang for donating their time and talents! Along with the artists appearing at the booth, there were also several artists in artist alley donated their artwork. Thank you! The raffles held were a success as well. Thanks to the raffle winners as well as Adam Kubert, Ron Garney and Brian Stringer for participating in those events! A hearty "thank you" has to go out to Reggie's Rock Club and all the contributing artists there....that was a blast!

While great memories were made at this brand-new con, the best part for Hero is the money raised! Thanks again to all the volunteers, creators and fans for making our time at C2E2 at smashing success! Let's do this again, next year!

DAVID J. FOWLIE

The best thing you'll smell all day!

The Witchblade perfumes from the world-famous Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab are available for online order NOW! And with every sweet-smellin' bottle ya buy, Hero gets paid! So get thee to the site and improve your olfactory profile!

Jim McLauchlin

Meet, sniff, repeat at C2E2!

So the calender on my phone—I can scarcely believe I just typed that—reminds me to be at the mighty Reggie's Rock Club just for blocks from Chicago's C2E2 convention on Sunday, April 18 from noon ’til 2 PM. Why?

’Cause the crazy cats at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab are having one of their world-famous "Meet and Sniff" events, which I just gotta check out. Fans of the many BPAL fragrances bring their perfume and cologne oils, gather, and take a whiff of new scents they may not have tried yet. Trading takes place—a new one of yours for an old one of mine—and a splendid time is had by all. Plus, Reggie's has whiskey and beer. Why wouldn't I go?

Of SPECIAL note: C2E2 weekend, April 16-18, is the debut of four new Witchblade-themed scents from Black Phoenix. For every one bought, the Hero Initiative gets $5! Doesn't matter if you buy at the Black Phoenix booth at the con, the Meet and Sniff, or the website—we get our dough! So get! You'll smell great, and it goes to a good cause.

Jim McLauchlin

Get tattoo'd with Ron Garney at C2E2!

Yep, we'll try just about anything. Fortunately, so will Brian Stringer!

Brian runs a tattoo operation called Ink Fusion. And if you visit the Hero Initiative or Ink Fusion booths at Chicago's C2E2 show this weekend (April 16-18), you could win a custom tattoo designed by Marvel Comics all-star artist Ron Garney!

Raffle tickets are $5 each and will be available all day Friday and until 12:45 on Saturday. Drawing takes place at the Hero booth Saturday at 1 PM, and and guess what? Ron will be signing at the Hero Initiative booth from 1-3 PM on Saturday to draw the winning ticket himself. He’ll also be creating the winner’s design. At 4 PM, Ron will truck over to the Ink Fusion booth, getting himself a tattoo from Brian.

The raffle winner will get his (or her) tattoo from Brian Stringer at 11 AM on Sunday.

Note that the winner must be at least 18 years old and have a valid state issued ID. A single character head shot, bust, pin-up, or action pose works best for the tattoo (no logos or text), and the tattoo will be designed in black and grey, with any color at Brian’s discretion based on design, placement, and skin tone. The tattoo’s maximum size is 5"x7".

All this, and Reggie's Rock Club, too. Should be a fun weekend.

More examples of Brian's handiwork below!

Jim McLauchlin

Hero at WonderCon pics!

Hero Initiative at Wondercon! Get ’em while they're hot! Via the mighty PopCons.com!

Jim McLauchlin

Party in Chicago! C2E2!

C2E2…and party at Reggie's!

First off, if you're buying tickets to Reed Exhibitions' C2E2—and you should!—you'd better do it through the Hero Website. Just click on the link you see over on the right side of the page, and use promo code: WL2X2. Do this, and Hero gets a cut of your ticket purchase at NO extra cost to you! Seriously, I'll be at the convention, and if you don't do this, I'll feel obliged to kick the crap outta you.

Okay. Now that you're at he con, make sure you spend your evenings at Reggie's Rock Club, 2109 S. State St.! It's only about four blocks from the convention center's North end, but FREE shuttle buses (with demons and skulls on ’em) will be running between the con and Reggie's! If you DARE leave the con for a lunch (or want to grab grub beforehand) it's the place to be all day long. The Bus from Hell will also be making courtesy runs to a few hotels and is happy to take to you the con.

Super-cool events include:

Saturday night only, 7:00 PM, the two most dangerous bands on Earth 1 perform: KIRBY KRACKLE and THE FUGLEES! Kirby Krackle features comic store owner and convention promoter Jim Demonakos, while the Fuglees are fronted by artist Andy Kuhn! They BOTH kick ass, and you MUST check them out! $5 cover at the door for this event, and worth every last penny, because after that, the party continues with live art and more DJs than can possibly fit on two turntables! And, oh yeah, the SHOJO SHOWGIRLS will be dancing around too. The party don't stop til the break o' dawn (actually 3AM, but you gotta shower sometime).

Sunday it gets even crazier with monster surf-band DAIKAIJU and ABSTRACT ARTIMUS!

All of this awesomeness takes a toll, hence you may feast on Hangover Brunch buffets and Bloody Marys all weekend from 11AM to 1PM, and prizes, parties and mischief all day Saturday.

On Sunday, the Custom PopCult Art Show features the work of SHAWNIMALS, JIM MAHFOOD, JOSH BLAYLOCK, STEVE SEELEY, JOEY POTTS, MIKE HUDDLESTON and a host of others, all doing their own custom versions of Drippy, the PopCult mascot. 25% of the money goes to Hero, and the rest to the hard-working artists, so buy up!

Everyone's favorite parody news source, THE ONION will be on hand with their Pop Culture trivia, and harvesting photos of volunteers for use in their articles. Yes, YOU could be "Area Nerd" in a future The Onion piece.

And Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab will hold a "Meet-’n'-Sniff"! Yup, the scent-makers at BPAL will be debuting a NEW Witchblade scent at C2E2, and even if you can't make the scene at the con, swing by to meet up with other Black Phoenix fans, and sniff and trade scents! Sunday, Noon to 2:00 PM.

Stay up to date at www.PopCultour.com as times may be subject to change. Life's crazy like that, y'know.

Jim McLauchlin

Dick Giordano, Ed Hannigan, Stan Lee info

All,
A few quick notes we'll bundle together:

A wake for Dick Giordano will take place Tuesday, April 6 at:
Lohman Funeral Home
220 Palm Coast Parkway SW
Palm Coast, FL
386-449-1100
Funeral will take place Wednesday, April 7. Please contact Lohman Funeral Home for times and further information.

Flowers and Mass cards are welcome and can be sent to Lohman Funeral Home at the address above. Interested parties can also omit flowers in lieu of donations to United Way or Hero Initiative.

A new Hero Initiative video featuring Ed Hannigan talking about Hero is up and running on YouTube.

And another new Hero vid featuring Stan Lee chatting about Hero is also up on YouTube.

Jim McLauchlin