At ten years old, Shelton Drum was buying three copies of every Marvel comic published, so he'd have extras to trade for the holes in his collection. That kid never stopped.
By 1968 he was buying out the entire comic stock of Newton's City Pharmacy every month, and by the early '70s he was setting up monthly at the Metrolina Flea Market. In 1977 he hosted what the shop calls Charlotte's first comic-book convention, the Charlotte Mini-Con, at Eastland Mall. In 1980, at 26, he rented a space near Central and Pecan, and Heroes Aren't Hard to Find, named for a Fleetwood Mac song, opened its doors. He founded HeroesCon in 1982, and it's been at the Charlotte Convention Center since 1995.
Heroes grew into a small chain across the Carolinas and Florida. The mid-'90s comics crash forced him to sell the stores off one by one. In 2002, months after 9/11, he gutted and rebuilt the Elizabeth store at his own expense. When a developer bought the building in 2016, he didn't leave the neighborhood. He bought the old warehouse 150 feet behind it, rebuilt that, and now owns the building at 417 Pecan Avenue, under the water tower.
Inside are new comics, graphic novels, manga, back issues, Silver and Golden Age finds, statues, and the shop's own line of collecting supplies. Spider-Man and Doc Ock battle across the ceiling, and the atmosphere is family-friendly. Shelton also buys collections, so bring the box from the attic.
Heroes aren't hard to find. Look under the water tower.
