HeroesCon 2009, combined with delayed flights, lost luggage, extreme heat, and copious amounts of food, has knocked me on my ass.

I had a great time in Charlotte this year, and was able to meet even more of my favourite comic book creators. And I got to chat with people I met last year! Once again the boys from The Dollar Bin were excellent hosts. It was great to see Adam, Kris, Brian, and Devin again and it was great to meet Ted for the first time.

Here's a breakdown:

Roger Langridge

I was very excited to meet this guy, so I talked to him at his table on the first day. I asked him for a sketch and he made it sound like his quick head sketches are just scribbles or something, and then he drew this amazing Fozzie Bear for me:

Awesome, right? You wouldn't even believe how fast he drew that.

He flew to the con from England, so he had me beat by a few miles. I picked up all of the minicomics that he had for sale. If I had more money, I would have bought everything on his table.

Ed Brubaker

If you wanted a Brubaker signature, you had better have had comfy shoes on. The lines for this guy were looooong. I played it fairly strategically, though, so I only waited about an hour. I had lugged my Daredevil omnibus down so there was no way I was leaving without getting it signed. Plus, Brubaker has been one of my favourite writers since Catwoman, so I wasn't leaving without meeting him, however briefly, either.

Later I got onto an elevator with him as Ice Cube was getting off. True story.

Jeff Smith

Nope. I did not meet Jeff Smith. In fact, if not for the afterparty, I would not have laid eyes on Jeff Smith. He only was at his table for about an hour or two each day, and the line-up went back into the horizon every time. As much as I wanted to tell him I love Rasl, I had other people I wanted to meet.

Jamal Igle

Ok, this guy is super nice. As anyone who reads this blog knows, I love the current run on Supergirl, including Igle's awesome art. I told him that I like how fashionable the women of Metropolis are now, and he said that his wife works in fashion, so he does make a real effort to put Kara in some real clothes. He also told me that he's been offered Supergirl for as long as he wants to work on the title, which is great news. AND he did me this Supergirl sketch!

George Perez

Perez was another one of those creators who always had a line-up (though not a really long one like Brubaker), so I had a very brief interaction. I had a couple of very heavy books for him to sign (my Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths and Dave's Absolute JLA/Avengers), so I was relieved to be able to take those back to the hotel room and forget about them for the rest of the weekend. Perez seemed really, really nice and was signing at the Heroes Initiative Fund table pretty much all weekend.

David Petersen

Another super nice guy. He often had a line-up, which was nice to see because Mouse Guard is completely awesome. He was doing sketches and drew me this little guy:

Awwwww.

He also had some beautiful prints for sale, so I picked up a Wind in the Willows one for my husband. Matt is a giant Willows NERD, if such a thing exists.

David Petersen's wife or girlfriend or friend (I don't like to make assumptions) was also very nice.

Guy Davis

Would you believe that Guy Davis was doing free sketches all weekend? And he barely ever had a line-up? What in the world is going on?!

He did a Hellboy head sketch for Guy Davis superfan, Johnathan.

I didn't ask him for a sketch for myself because I didn't want to be greedy. Maybe next year. His wife or girlfriend or friend was also very nice, and is an Anne of Green Gables fan. We chatted about that, since I live in close proximety to the Land of Anne.

Francesco Francavilla

I met Fracesco and his wife last year, and they are the nicest people. I am very excited that he is going to be doing the art again for Zorro, starting with issue #15. He is definitely one of my favourite artists. I could watch him draw all day. People who buy commissioned sketches from him definitely get their money's worth. All of the commissions I have seen by him are gorgeous. He had some very fancy ashcans of his original character comic, Black Beetle, which looks fantastic. Hopefully it will be published soon.

Fred Chao

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I love Johnny Hiro so I was very excited to meet its creator, Fred Chao. Not only was he a super nice guy, he said he has always wanted to go to Nova Scotia! I think he should fulfill that dream and do a signing here.

He did this amazing sketch for me:

Seriously. How awesome is that? That guy is generous with his sketching!

Nick Cardy

I watched Nick Cardy, the living legend, draw the Aquaman villain Scavenger for awhile before getting my Nick Cardy comic strip book signed. That guy can still draw a great-looking C-list villain! Too bad this week's issue of The Spirit, which has a Cardy cover, wasn't out last week.

Eric Powell

Holy smokes! Eric Powell was there too! I got a couple of hardcovers signed for Johnathan and Dave. I just brought a little ol' issue of Action Comics from my own collection. I really love The Goon, though, and Eric Powell's art is just so beautiful. It was exciting to meet him.

Jason Horn

I met Jason Horn briefly last year and bought a bunch of his mini comics. They turned out to be some of my favourite things that I bought last year. He does a comic called Gruff that is an adorable sequel to The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and a very funny web comic called Ninjasaur that is exactly as awesome as it sounds.

He drew me an Aquaman!

Dean Trippe

Dean Trippe conveniently sits next to Jason Horn at conventions, so I can visit two cool people at once. I got a couple of beautiful sketches from him last year, so I gave him a rest this year. He is moving to California soon to work on a secret comic project that may or may not involve members of the Superman family. This is exciting news because he is very talented. Dean was also wearing a homemade Robin sweater at the con.

Gregg Schigiel

Gregg is a crazy good artist who is best known for the Spongebob Squarepants comics. At the con Marvel announced that Gregg will be writing and upcoming X-Babies mini-series! Because he's such an awesome artist, it took me three days to decide on what I wanted him to draw for me. I finally decided on Namor. I think I chose wisely.

Man, you can see how much Namor hates me in that picture. He's like "close the book, land-dweller."

Brandon Padgett

Brandon is a Charlotte-based artist, a friend of the Dollar Bin, and one third of Big Dog's Studio. I have followed him on Twitter for awhile, but I hadn't met him before. He drew me this nifty Batman:

Rob Ullman

I like Rob Ullman because he likes hockey. A lot. And that is not an easy thing to come by in the South. I did see a surprising number of Pittsburgh Penguins t-shirts, hats and jerseys being worn at the convention, though.

Rob is also a very talented artists and draws very pretty ladies. He drew me Catwoman wearing a Habs jersey! It's everything I like on one piece of paper!

Brad McGinty

Brad is an Atlanta-based cartoonist and animator, and he was screening the new DVD of his hilarious cartoon, Man-Dar, on his hotel room window on Friday night. It looked awesome from the street outside. I wish I had a photo. I wasn't at the screening because I was eating a shit ton of BBQ at the time, but the episodes are up on his website. I enjoyed hanging out with both Brad and his gal pal.

And he drew me this insane Batman sketch!

Duane Ballenger

Duane does not seem to have an official website, but he is part of team Wide Awake Press (along with J. Chris Campbell, Josh Latta, Brad McGinty, and Rob Ullman). I got to tag along with that whole gang when they went on their annual pilgrimmage to Phat Burrito, which was delicious. Duane had a brand new baby visiting him at the con on Sunday, but he took time to draw this amazing Bouncing Boy for me:

That is just the best thing ever.

Josh Latta

Josh is the creator of Rashy Rabbit, and is yet another really nice guy who I met this year. I really love getting superhero sketches from indie cartoonists to see their versions of mainstream characters. Josh drew a really awesome Thing for me:

And I also talked to a whole bunch of guys named Chris...

J. Chris Campbell

J. Chris is the publisher at Wide Awake Press, so I guess he's like the lord and master of all the other guys there. He had a ton of awesome stuff for sale, and I bought as much as I could. He did me an adorable Iron Man sketch:

He also bought me a six-pack of beer, which was very nice of him. I still can't get over how cheap beer is down there. It's practically free!

Chris Giarusso

I was really happy that Chris Giarusso, the creator of Mini-Marvels and G-Man, was at HeroesCon again this year. And he was doing free head sketches! I got a Daredevil!

Man, I am a sucker for a smiling Daredevil.

Chris Schweizer

Chris Schweizer, creator of Crogan's Vengeance, is a super nice guy. He also sells these awesome posters he made of Smokers of the Marvel Universe. I bought two of the original art squares (Bullseye and Kingpin) and I am pretty excited about it. That's a nice set!

Chris Haley

If you are not already reading the incredibly funny web comic Let's Be Friends Again, you should be. Artist Chris Haley is a cool guy who has an affinity for 90's-era Halifax rock bands. That's why I like him.

And he drew me an Iron Fist:

Chris Sims

Invincible Super Blogger, Action Age Comics founder and Stolen Minks fan Chris Sims lives in South Carolina, so he's a HeroesCon regular. I met him last year at the con and we bonded over a mutual love of lunch. I got to see fellow blogger and Chris Sims BFF Dr K again too. We all went for some BBQ at the famous BBQ King restaurant (as seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives!) Needless to say, I went way off the WeightWatchers diet this weekend.

I also got to chat with and sometimes get autographs from lots more of my favourite comic creators, like Andy Runton, Tommy Lee Edwards, Phil Noto, Adam Hughes, Mark Waid, Steve Epting, John Paul Leon, Matt Fraction, Georges Jeanty, Ben Towle, and Cliff Chiang.

Thanks everyone for showing me such a great time! I hope to see you all again next year! I hope I didn't forget to mention anyone!