House of Heroes showcases art

Since its opening, House of Heroes has been a gathering place for comic book fans and a prominent member of the Oshkosh business community.

House of Heroes first opened its doors in 1995.  At first the store was located on the corner of Fulton Avenue and North Main Street. Later the shop moved to 538 N. Main St. and was at that location for eight years.  In 2004, House of Heroes moved to their current location at 407 N. Main St.

Dercks is currently the co-owner of House of Heroes along with Bob Larson.

"I worked for Bob Larson at The Power House Comics in Appleton, and he was thinking about opening a store in Oshkosh, I asked if I could be part owner of it, and it just went from there," Scott Dercks said.

House of Heroes also showcases comic themed art pieces done by local artists.  One such artist is Erich Polnow of Fond du Lac.

Polnow has created a variety of life-size sculptures he's done including one of the members of the heavy metal band GWAR and one from the punk rock band Misfits. He also created a sculpture of Spiderman villain Black Cat. 

Artist Steve Funnel also has some featured artwork in the store.  Funnel is currently displaying a giant Dr. Doom head made out of sheet metal and in the past had the Thing of "The Fantastic Four" bust made out of a half an inch of steel plate on display. Both these sculptures weigh over 300 pounds. 

House of Heroes also has a number of cardboard cutouts of "Doctor Who" monsters and other comic book characters.

The store sponsors Free Comic Book Day every year. This year it's being held on the May 5. So far, it has been a huge success and each year they end up giving away about 3,000 books.

House of Heroes also helps sponsor the Friday Fright Nights at the Time Community Theater downtown.

House of Heroes also sponsored the Zombie Walk for two years but after 2010, the City of Oshkosh changed its special event procedures, making the event too difficult to put on.

House of Heroes participates in many of the downtown events like Trick-or-Treat and the Heart of Winter Celebration.

"We've cosponsored a number of local events with House of Heroes like the alley cat races and a couple of other benefits at the Time Community Threater," James Baker, the owner of Streets of Fire, a nearby skateboard store, said.

One of the main attractions for House of Heroes is the House of Horrors. Originally this started as a dinner and a movie night. Later it evolved into a party and a horror double feature. It really picked up when Tom Sullivan, who did the special effects for "The Evil Dead" film, came to the store.

"There are a few ways we select the movie, but most of the time it's decided by me and John Pata," Dercks said. "Sometimes there's a theme, sometimes, it's based on whatever holiday is close, sometimes [we choose] whatever we want to see."

Dercks is more than willing to help pick out comics for customers. He recommends classic superhero comic books like "Batman: Dark Knight Returns," "Wolverine: Old Man Logan" or "Kick-Ass."

House of Heroes has "the greatest selection of graphic novels in the area," according to Dercks.

"We also carry Magic the Gathering, Heroclix, Board Games, posters, T-shirts and toys," Dercks said.

The store is open from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday with extended hours on the weekend.