I know, I know: You hate comic books.

The merest mention of those superhero-heavy, saddle-stitched periodicals undoubtedly causes you to roll your eyes and think, "Nerd alert!"

• Catalina Kulczar
• FANBOY FOR LIFE: Shelton Drum, owner of Heroes Aren't Hard To Find

Let's face it -- no one wants to be the guy still living in his parents' basement with comics as his only social interaction, reminiscent of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. No one wants to be considered childish, immature or, quite frankly, a geek.

Well, get over it.

You know that somewhere in the skeletons of your past (and in your mom's attic) lays a tattered old issue of Archie. And this weekend you'll definitely be dropping $8.50 on the new Spider-Man flick. The fact is -- whether your inner child is peeking over your shoulder, nudging you away from cynical adulthood or simply because you recognize that a small subculture in American history has become something large and mainstream -- you can't escape comic books. Be they the antics of Donald Duck or the deep brooding philosophies in Neil Gaiman's Sandman, comic books have become a permanent fixture in our daily lives, in one form or another. Even if you haven't picked up a well-drawn tome in years, you're sure to have turned on a TV or watched a movie in the last year or so. Examples? Heroes (the superhero-inspired weekly drama) is must-see TV on NBC. Sin City and 300 are both adaptations from -- say it with me -- comic books.

And if you find yourself intrigued by the idea of being "in the know" before Hollywood grabs another copyright, there's a place for you: Heroes Aren't Hard to Find. A decades-old, Charlotte-based comic book shop, Heroes bridges the gap between your fear of all things geeky and your love of all things cool.

Enter HEROES on any given day, and you're greeted at the front door by a life-sized drawing of Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst's character in the Spider-Man movies), a word balloon above her head quipping her trademark, "Face it, tiger. You just hit the jackpot." Inside you'll find the employees of Heroes Aren't Hard to Find on the move. The day I visit, I spy the shop's owner Shelton Drum helping a female customer in need of two graphic novels. As a Christopher Reeve-era Superman movie plays on a TV mounted to a corner of the high ceiling, afternoon employee Shawn Reynolds doesn't sit still, either. Her blond hair neatly pulled back into a ponytail, she smiles and simultaneously answers the phone and rings up a customer.

The stereotypical image of dark, cramped dungeon-esque comic book stores full of pimply overweight guys haunts the comic book industry. Remember the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons? You won't find him behind the counter at the large, airy Heroes. Instead you'll find the yellow walls covered with vintage comic book cover posters, rows of glossy comics and smiling employees who won't ridicule you for not knowing the exact issue in which Wolverine joined the X-Men.

Drum founded this four-color Mecca because he was a fan first. A former art major at UNCC, he knew he wanted to do something with comics. And he knew that there was an interest in comics in the Charlotte area from trading his beloved books at the Metrolina flea market. Twenty-seven years ago, he signed the lease for his little endeavor on Central Avenue. Nearly three decades later, the location of Heroes has jumped around the Plaza-Midwood area before finding its current niche on 7th Street. Heroes is now in a building that once housed a dance studio and a wine shop. Painted grapevines are still visible on the sides of the brick building, and Drum says that when he first tackled the enormous job of renovation, the floor was still a "bouncy and squishy" dance floor.

Having an older building with such a high ceiling gave Drum the freedom to creatively find a place for the thousands of back issue comics and merchandise he has for sale. Drum says, "I enjoy [the shop] being part museum."

• Catalina Kulczar
• LOOKING FOR HEROES: Customer Rod Joyner peruses the aisles.

Look up as you enter the building -- the first thing you'll see is a larger-than-life Dr. Octopus battling Spider-Man. (Old school green spandex Doc Ock, not flashy, faux-six-pack-abs Alfred Molina from Spider-Man 2.) The Spidey figure kneels on top of a glass display case, his fingers rocked out to send a stream of glossy web at one of Doc Ock's multiple silver tentacles. The two figures are paused in the middle of an epic battle. (Insert your own onomatopoeia here.) Pretty cool décor, right? Even cooler, Drum says, is the true purpose the figures serve.

"It was my son's idea," Drum boasts, placing a hand on one of the silver tubes. "When we were installing [the wiring for the building], he said the material looked like Doc Ock's arms." Ten-year-old Winslow's idea allowed Drum to run wires to the computers on the countertops, to the mounted TVs in the corners and the speakers for the store. See, kids? Reading comics makes you smart.

Wednesday -- shipment day for America's comic book industry -- is easily the busiest day at Heroes, with 150 to 200 titles arriving every week. "I like it," says Reynolds of the hectic Wednesday rush. "It keeps me busy. Such a range of people come in -- men, women, young and old."

Frequent shopper Nikki Davis came into Heroes twice last Wednesday. An elementary school art teacher from Union County, Davis is used to her life revolving around comics; she and her husband Derek, an aspiring comic book artist, cut their honeymoon short to attend the Heroes Aren't Hard to Find Convention (tell you about that later). They came back for a second visit on Wednesday just in case they missed something the first time around. "It's the artwork that draws me in," Nikki says, "but the story has to be good to keep me reading it."

Nikki and I sit on one of the two benches that rest under the massive windows facing 7th Street. A customer occupies the other bench, head bent over a comic, shopping bag at his side, oblivious to the world. Derek peruses the long wall of new comics. Nikki says she became interested in comics through her husband. "I always knew about comics, but I never read them. But now, I have the ones I read, and he has the ones he reads. At first, I was picking up stories about women, but I realized I wanted action. I'm [currently reading the] Incredible Hulk Planet Hulk series. It's Hulk in his primordial role -- he's the king of his planet." Nikki enthuses as she talks about her favorite titles, her calm tone becoming more vibrant as she lists off her current favorites. "Frank Cho's Liberty Meadows -- that's the first title I picked up. [The Holocaust drama] Maus (see sidebar) because I went to Poland, and was able to visit [the real-life sites]. Ms. Marvel -- that one's been really good lately, really exciting."

As we talk, we watch a small child squeeze behind a shelf and pull out a stepping stool to reach the top shelves of the children's comics. The store has a cozy corner dedicated to G-rated material and has a continuous good-grade sale for back issue comics -- every A is a discount of 10 percent. Sales and discounts help, since comics are becoming pricier every year. (These days, the average comic costs around $3.) I ask Nikki how she can afford her comic book lifestyle. She smiles, shrugs, and says, "We feed our addictions, and starve a little bit."

Another "comic addict" and longtime Heroes customer, Heather Hill "started [reading comics] in 1977 -- the year Star Wars came out," she laughs. Hill is a freelance writer for the online role playing game Dragon Realm and mother to 8-year-old Emily. For her, it's all about the story. "My background is in writing," she says. "I tend to go for a good story rather than good art." Heather has shopped in the dungeon-like stores most associated with the comic book industry -- the around-the-back, downstairs, basement shops -- and she never let the surroundings deter her from reading. Heroes, with its circular design, sunny kids corner, and long shelves lining the walls, is a place she can bring her daughter "all the time." Though she admits, a touch of sadness in her voice, that her daughter has yet to show the same interest in comics as her mom does. Heather plays a hand at breaking stereotypes, chuckling as she states that she never sees herself not reading comics. "I'll be walking through Heroes' door when I'm 80, hobbling in on my walker. If I'm lucky, my daughter will drive me." She has held on to her comics through the years -- some, like her early Star Wars, she will never part with. "They have a sentimental value. I remember the person I was when I bought them. They say different things about different parts of our lives." That's what a good story does, whatever the medium. It becomes a part of you, woven into your past to remind who you were. "I've hung on to an issue of Wonder Woman that dealt with teen suicide for years now," Heather says lightly. "Even though space is a premium at my house, I still enjoy the stories they tell." The ones she will part with, however, are going somewhere needed. "[I plan to] send them off to Books for Soldiers -- it's a Web site where soldiers request reading material. I want to pass them on to someone who can really appreciate them."

Comics will be passed on to a ton of other folks on May 5 -- aka Free Comic Book Day, a yearly event for comic book stores across the country designed to drum up new comic book readers. (Featured free books this year include: The Transformers movie prequel, Amazing Spider-Man, Tokyopop's Choose Your Weapon, and Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century, among many others; all are first come, first served.) And at Heroes, Free Comic Book Day is always big. "We always look for things to get our neighborhood involved," Drum states. "We're not a bunch of geeks; real people read comics. The store is a colorful place, but a place for normal people."

Last year, Free Comic Book Day turned into a community event. Philosophers Stone, the restaurant across the street, was having a one-year anniversary party and had live music playing on the lawn all day. Starbucks provided free coffee in the morning, and guests queued up to collect a sampling of free comics and buy a few more. This year, there is the added celebration of Cinco de Mayo, and with a hefty panel of guests attending, the tiny parking lot in front of Heroes will be the place to be. Girls on the Run! -- a local 5k event for young girls -- stopped by last year's Free Comic Book Day. Drum offered 5k participants additional comics for their achievement, and this year he hopes that the girls will stop by again after their run. Drum says that there are plenty of comics for young girls -- many just aren't aware of it. "That's a demographic we encourage to come. It's not a boys club." He stresses again how the industry is moving away from being a black hole of gender stereotypes: "We are a place where Mom will feel comfortable ... there are comics for everyone. They are good stories, just in panels. People have to realize that, and just be open to try something new."

Following Free Comic Book Day, Drum and his trusty sidekicks have another mighty feat to tackle -- The Heroes Aren't Hard to Find Comic Book Convention. Set to kick off in June on Father's Day weekend, the legendary Heroes convention started small, like the store itself; it was Drum with a few die-hard fans, swapping their cherished books. Now, years later, the "little con" is one of the biggest events in Charlotte, drawing in, among other things, tourism and putting Charlotte on the comic map. Heroes Con rivals the lavish cons of larger cities and allows the rest of the country to see our artistic side.

Former employee and current writer Matt Fraction knows this firsthand. He's been a guest at previous cons and will be attending this year's event as well. "I've always been a comics reader, or at least as long as I can remember. It wasn't until I found a comic specialty store like Heroes Aren't Hard to Find that I started reading them with any sort of periodic regularity," says Fraction (who possibly has the best last name ever). "I don't know anybody that's never read one, honestly -- I mean, I'm sure those people are out there, but comic books and comic strips are just a part of our culture, somewhere on the periphery," he writes. "Combining words and pictures is just a part of American storytelling. Now, there are surely some superhero comic book fans that fall into subculture, but I don't see how that's different than any other kind of fan -- the world's biggest stats-spewing, Dice-K bobblehead-hoarding, Red Sox super-maniac or Angelina Jolie's most creepiest stalker or whomever."

Fans first gathered for a one day event called Charlotte Mini-Con, which was held at Eastland Mall in 1977, then a brand new shining facility (oh, how times have changed!). Drum bounced his little convention-that-could from various locales after that, and surprised by its success, was able to expand and invite writers, artists and bigwigs from the industry. In the iconic year of 1984, the newly dubbed Heroes Convention hosted special guest Stan Lee, the creator of iconic characters like the X-Men, Spider-Man and more. The 1995 convention was the second event ever held at the new Charlotte Convention Center. The con currently hosts an army of vendors selling comics and gives local independent artists an opportunity to show off their hard work. Role-playing games, auctions, art, panel discussions, workshops -- Heroes Con has it all. The Heroes Web site (www.heroesonline.com) has all the info you need to register for the three-day event.

It's not all work, of course, when your business is a place where most people escape to play. Downtime at a 9-to-5 bank job? Solitaire. Downtime at Heroes? What else? Drum, wearing a faded Heroes Con T-shirt and leaning on the massive glass counter holding Batman action figures, will eagerly talk about what superhero he would want to be -- that day. There is a plethora to choose from, so it can be hard to pick a favorite. "Spider-Man. He's pretty cool," Drum says with a smile. "That Spidey sense is really neat too. I have to admit, I've had fantasies about being Spider-Man! At school, or during [sports] games, I would wish I could get a better view!"

For each individual, diving into a story and reading is something different. Nostalgia. Escape. Entertainment. A 15-minute break from reality. But it's more than that. Fraction writes, "On the surface, comics can tell great, glitzy, glossy, fun, and trashy stories. There's a lot of visual excitement and light entertainment, fantastic ideas and rich opportunities for escapism -- they're a bit like churros, really. Wholly irredeemable in terms of nutritional value, but my word they sure are tasty. And nobody should live on churros alone. But they're fun, like comics can be fun. And they appeal to all the parts of our psyche that we're told we shouldn't be nourishing."

Check out Shelton Drum's top 10 comic books.