Baltimore Comic-Con 2025 Family Alley with Kid-Friendly Comics Creators
Families will be making their way to the 2025 Baltimore Comic-Con this October 17-19 at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center. The Baltimore Comic-Con will feature our Family Alley section for comics creators whose work is oriented towards kids for our 2025 event. Kids (plural!) 10 and under are free with an accompanying adult! Get tickets for the show online now!
Carolyn Belefski creates and publishes original comics and illustrations, including her comic strip Curls. She is artist of the comic books Black Magic Tales, French Fry Club, and The Legettes. Her freelance projects range from working with BOOM! Studios on Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time comic book to commissioned comics for the Obama White House. Carolyn currently serves as Washington, DC chapter chair of the National Cartoonists Society and recently served on the Board of Directors. She conceived and orchestrated the NCS Activity Book featuring over 50 creators with a cover by Sergio Aragonés, which she colored. She has also worked on a variety of anthology projects including Mine!, Magic Bullet, Rise: Comics Against Bullying, Cartoonists Draw Blood, and District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, DC. She was nominated for the Kim Yale New Talent Award from Friends of Lulu and was recognized as a runner-up for Best Visual Artist from Washington City Paper. Carolyn also designs and produces wearable art such as bandanas, enamel pins, and more.
Joe Carabeo is a writer and co-creator with Carolyn Belefski on comic properties The Legettes, French Fry Club, and Black Magic Tales. As Curls Studio, they have toured the convention scene with since 2007. He has also worked on a variety of anthology projects including Magic Bullet, Cartoonists Draw Blood, and District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, DC. Joe is a filmmaker with Astray Productions. In addition to his own work, he has used his directing and camera talent to work with The First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, Madeline Albright, The Beach Boys, Olivia Jean from Third Man Records, My Kid Brother from Ruthless Records, Professional Wrestler Sonjay Dutt, U2’s Bono, ABC, NBC, Showtime, Epix, TLC, Bravo, DC Lottery, NASA, Under Armour, Papa John’s Pizza, Jerry’s Subs, Chef Spike Mendelsohn, Chef Carla Hall, Van Metre, Northwestern Mutual, and many more.
Chris Flick is a professional illustrator, cartoonist, caricaturist, and UI/UX web and graphic designer working in the Washington, DC area.
In 2007, he created the webcomic Capes & Babes featuring Roy the Werewolf. You can read all 1,200+ strips at www.capesnbabes.com. Chris has also collected those 12 years of strips into five trade paperback books and created three all-ages coloring books on amazon.com.
Chris attends several conventions throughout the year where he primarily draws caricatures of people as werewolves and other monsters, sells mash-up posters, coloring books, stickers, and so much more. He also recently published a guide to tabling at conventions called “Conventional Wisdom”.
Deans Family Productions (DFP) is a family-owned and operated company creating children’s books, comics, artwork, and toys. Started by Robert Deans in 2014 with the debut of Robert’s Shakes The Cow in the book Moo Thousand and Pun, DFP has quickly developed a reputation for quality all-ages products, all with a dash of “Dad Humor.” Following Moo Thousand, a second series for young readers, The Bear from AUNT spy adventures featuring Stanley The Bear was created. More series, including soft-boiled noir serials, “Choose Your Own” solo gamebooks, and picture books featuring original creations The MooseLambs have since followed. Robert’s wife Elinda has since created a line of handmade toys of DFP characters, including some in “cowsplay.” DFP also publishes an exclusive line of comics – The Mighty Hippofartamus – featuring a superhero co-created by Robert and his then-nine-year-old-Kidlet! DFP strives to make books, toys, and more that will delight children and adults alike. Find them online at grandpunwick.com and dfplinks.com.
Franco created the Dino-Mike book series and worked on various comic properties, including the critically acclaimed Superman Family Adventures, Young Justice, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam, Superpowers, Arkhamaniacs, and the New York Times bestseller, multi-Eisner and Harvey Award-winning series Tiny Titans for DC Comics, as well as Grimiss Island and the Eisner Award-winning Itty Bitty Hellboy with Dark Horse Comics, and Little Archie for Archie Comics.
His latest work include Teen Titans Go to the Library, Deadman Tells the Spooky Tales (DC Comics), and his original Fae and the Moon (Little Bee).
Twitter/Instagram: @awyeahfranco
blindwolfstudios.com
awyeahcomics.com
Chris Giarrusso is the writer/artist best known for creating the Mini Marvels at Marvel Comics and G-Man at Image Comics. He drew and co-created Hashtag: Danger! with writer Tom Peyer at Ahoy Comics and collaborated with Franco and Art Baltazar on Encounter at Lion Forge. His most recent work has been a steady stream of variant covers at Marvel Comics for Venom, X-Men, and a set of 15 connected covers recreating The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe in his signature Mini Marvel style.
Dawn Griffin, of Havertown PA, is an illustrator specializing in “cute, funny, quirky” kids and young adult material. Her creator-owned properties, both boasting four books each, are the sci-fi/humor comic Zorphbert & Fred and the self-esteem kids book series Abby’s Adventures published under Eifrig Publishing. She has also contributed to multiple anthologies such as Team Cul de Sac from Andrews McMeel Publishing, and RISE: Comics Against Bullying from Northwest Press. Dawn is also a co-founder of Webcomic Alliance, a five-year-running web resource and popular podcast for comic creators. “Creative Workhorse” may be an understatement.
Raised on a “healthy” diet of cartoons, comics, and video games, Central Ohio-based Nate Lovett has been drawing since he could first hold a crayon. He’s been working in comics and illustration professionally since 2007, getting his first real start with Xombie: Reanimated from Devil’s Due. From there, his fun, colorful, and animated style has led to working on comics, children’s books, and concept art for Marvel, Image, Action Lab, Nickelodeon, Random House, Viz, and Hasbro on projects such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dungeons & Dragons, Marvel Comic Presents, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur, Paw Patrol, Corn & Peg, GI Joe, Bravest Warriors, Redakai, Monsuno, Hack/Slash, and more. Recently, he’s completed work on the graphic novel Commander Tomorrow for Rocketship Entertainment, and the comic Packrat & Thunderbunny while attempting to work on his own all-ages projects, Carter Kain & Punk Rawk Ninja.
Trevor Mueller is a comic writer from Chicago. His latest projects are Nexus Point and Re-Possessed (Webtoon Originals). He has also written the multi-Harvey Award nominated Albert the Alien. He has contributed stories to several anthologies, including Reading With Pictures (Andrews McMeel). He has also self-published several other works including Consumer, Beyond the Pillars, Los Ojos, and The Witches of E Wick Blvd.
Trevor also appears on occasional episodes of the popular web series Nostalgia Critic.
Trevor currently lives in Chicago with his family; his cat, Waffles, might be planning for world domination.
Dan Parent is an American comic book artist and writer best known for his work for Archie Comics. A graduate of The Kubert School, Dan began working for Archie immediately after graduation. His writing of the Love Showdown series from 1994 received widespread attention. Dan has also illustrated Felix the Cat, Barbie, and co-created the comic series Die Kitty Die, and has worked for Disney Adventures, Dynamite, DC, and Valiant.
In 2010, Parent introduced the first openly gay character in Archie Comics when he created Kevin Keller in Veronica #202, which he wrote and drew. Kevin Keller got his own title with the publication of Kevin Keller #1 in 2012.
In May 2013, Parent was presented with the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book. Dan was nominated for a 2013 Harvey Award for Special Award for Humor in Comics, and nominated again in 2014 and 2015 as a cover artist.
Dan has worked on many crossover titles, including team-ups with KISS, the B-52’s, Blondie, Batman ‘66, Glee, Sharknado, Predator, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Vampirella, and Red Sonja.
In 2016, Dan published Die Kitty Die, which was funded through Kickstarter and subsequently published by Chapterhouse Comics. Three series have since followed.
Dan is currently working on titles celebrating Archie Comics’ 80th Anniversary, including special projects for the 60th Anniversaries of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats.
Barbara Perez Marquez was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, now she lives in the USA. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and writes comics and prose. During her career, she has also been an editor, translator, and even a sensitivity reader for several publications and projects. Her work was first featured in a student collection in the 7th grade, which inspired her desire to become a writer. Since then, she’s been featured in a number of literary journals, as well as anthologies. You can find her among the creators behind The Cardboard Kingdom, the Eisner-nominated graphic novel series about a neighborhood of kids having amazing adventures with cardboard. Her next graphic novel, The Library of Memories, is out in 2026.
Andy Runton is the award-winning creator of Owly, the kind-hearted little owl who’s always searching for new friends and adventures. Owly showcases Andy’s love of wildlife and the outdoors, and has earned him multiple awards, including the Eisner Award for Best Publication for a Younger Audience. The Owly books have been praised for their “charm, wisdom, and warmth” by Booklist, and WIRED.com said they are “one of the best comics for kids around. Period.” Andy lives in the greater Atlanta area, where he works full time as a writer and illustrator. Visit him online at andyrunton.com.
Pronouns: he/him
This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Arthur Adams (Longshot), Joel Adams (Ms. Mystic), Zeea Adams (Deadman), Kaare Andrews (Spider-Man: REIGN 2), Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl), Marty Baumann ((Pixar artist), John Beatty (Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars), Rose Besch (Miles Morales: Spider-Man), Josh Blaylock (Mercy Sparx, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Russ Braun (The Boys), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jacen Burrows (Crossed), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Richard Case (Doom Patrol), Donny Cates (Venom), Keith Champagne (Stranger Things), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jo Chen (Runaways), Sean Chen (Evermind), Jim Cheung (Young Avengers), Mark Chiarello (Wednesday Comics), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Michael Cho (The Avengers and the Veracity Trap), Amy Chu (Emma Frost: The White Queen), Chris Claremont (X-Men), Matthew Clark (Adventures of Superman, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Becky Cloonan (Somna), Michael W. Conrad (Manowar: Invictus), Denys Cowan (The Question), Dani (Sensational Wonder Woman), Alan Davis (Excalibur), Deans Family Productions (Crass Fed), Jeff Dekal (Something is Killing the Children), Francine Delgado (Gatchaman), Kevin Delgado (Tuff Stuff, courtesy of Comics and Collectibles R Us), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Ryan Dunlavey (Action Philosophers), Garth Ennis (The Boys, Saturday and Sunday only), Viktor Farro (Invincible Universe: Battle Beast), David Finch (Moon Knight), Tony Fleecs (Stray Dogs), Trish Forstner (Feral), Franco (Deadman Tells the Spooky Tales), Barbara Friedlander (Swing with Scooter), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Ron Garney (BRZRKR), Chris Giarrusso (Mini Marvels), Dan Goldman (Unfinished Business), Randy Green (Witchblade). Mike Grell (Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters), Torunn Grønbekk (Catwoman), Gavin Guidry (Action Comics), Brian Haberlin (Spawn, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle), Scott Hanna (Amazing Spider-Man), Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Marc Hempel (Sandman), Jamal Igle (Superman, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Klaus Janson (Daredevil), Nikkol Jelenic (Dreadstar), Dave Johnson (100 Bullets), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Incredible Hulk), J.G. Jones (Wanted), Chris Kemple (Artist Alley Comics), Chip Kidd (The Avengers in the Veracity Trap), Derek Kirk Kim (The Last Mermaid), Tom King (Wonder Woman), Adam Kubert (Wolverine), Jae Lee (Inhumans), Jeph Loeb (Batman: The Long Halloween), Tula Lotay (Barnstormers), Nate Lovett (Dungeons & Dragons), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Alex Maleev (Star Wars: Boba Fett – Black White and Red), Anthony Marques (The Green Hornet), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), Shawn Martinbrough (Red Hood: The Hill), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Jose Marzan Jr. (Y: The Last Man), Justin Mason (Spider-Punk), Charlie McElvy (Spider-Squirrel), Mike McKone (Red Goblin), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Adriana Melo (Action Comics), Josh Middleton (Aquaman), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Mark Morales (Thor), Trevor Mueller (Albert the Alien), Sarah Myers (TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures), Tom Nguyen (The Switch), Mike Norton (Battlepug, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Kevin Nowlan (Batman: Sword of Azrael), Patrick Olliffe (Untold Tales of Spider-Man), Dan Parent (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), John J. Pearson (In Bloom), Andrew Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), Barbara Perez Marquez (The Cardboard Kingdom), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men), Khoi Pham (Star Wars: Darth Vader), Paul Pope (THB), Joe Pruett (Savage Sword of Conan), Tom Raney (Green Lantern), Amy Reeder (Power Girl), Rod Reis (COWL), Esad Ribic (Conan the Barbarian), Afua Richardson (Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds), Andrew Robinson (Halo), James Robinson (Starman), Don Rosa (Uncle $crooge), Craig Rousseau (Herculoids), Stephane Roux (Void Rivals), Jim Rugg (Street Angel), Andy Runton (Owly), Stuart Sayger (Conan the Barbarian), Joseph Schmalke (Seven Years in Darkness, courtesy of Groundbreaking Comics), Bart Sears (Deathstroke), Declan Shalvey (Old Dog), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Don Simpson (Megaton Man), Jeff Smith (Bone), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Mark Sparacio (Chelsea Dagger and the Women of Excalibur), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Paul D. Storrie (Storm Kids: Stanley’s Ghost), Karl Story (The Mandalorian), Zoe Thorogood (It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Universe), John Timms (Superman: Son of Kal-El), Peter Tomasi (The Rocketfellers), Billy Tucci (Shi), Fred Van Lente (Action Philosophers), Brian K. Vaughan (Spectators, Friday and Saturday only), Gus Vazquez (Sunfire and Big Hero Six), Charles Vess (Stardust), Wade Von Grawbadger (Justice League), Mark Waid (Justice League Unlimited), David F. Walker (Big Jim and the White Boy, Saturday and Sunday only), Dan Watters (Nightwing), Lee Weeks (Batman/Catwoman Special), Mark Wheatley (Breathtaker), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Keith Williams (Web of Spider-Man), Rich Woodall (Electric Black), John Workman (Wild Things), Kelly Yates (Doctor Who), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).
Celebrate the 16th annual Baltimore Comic-Con the weekend of 
Kevin Maguire acquired notoriety working on a number of DC titles including Justice League, Formerly Known As Justice League, JLA Classified, and Doom Patrol, as well as Marvel’s Defenders. He is one of the artists credited with the relaunch of DC’s Teen Titans and alternated art duties on the relaunched World’s Finest. Maguire has recently been seen on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Superior Spider-Man, and DC’s Justice League, He won the 2004 Eisner Award for Best Humor Publication for his work on Formerly Known as the Justice League.
Andy Runton is the creator behind Owly, a kind-hearted owl who experiences various adventures with his other animal friends. Published by Top Shelf, Owly has received numerous industry accolades, including the Harvey Award for Best New Talent in 2005, the Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent in 2005, another Ignatz in 2006 for Outstanding Series, a 2006 Eisner Award for Best Publication for a Younger Audience, and the Howard E. Day Memorial Prize for outstanding achievement in self-publishing in 2005. Runton also publishes Owly and Wormy books through Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. In addition to his ongoing work with Owly, you can see Runton’s recent work on Valiant Entertainment’s X-O Manowar.
Budiansky (courtesy of Hero Initiative, Transformers); Talent Caldwell (Grimm Fairy Tales Presents White Queen: Age of Darkness); Chris Campana (Kantara); Richard Case (Doom Patrol); Christa Cassano (Ghetto Klown); Sean Chen (Secret Origins); Cliff Chiang (Wonder Woman); Frank Cho (Jungle Girl); Amy Chu (Strange Sports Stories); Steve Conley (Bloop); Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn); Katie Cook (Gronk); Darwyn Cooke (Richard Stark’s Parker); Todd Dezago (Perhapanauts); Joe Eisma (Morning Glories); Ramona Fradon (Spongebob Annual-Size Super-Giant Swimtacular); Francesco Francavilla (Secret Wars: Battleworld); John Gallagher (Buzzboy); Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (Batman ’66: The Lost Episode); Keron Grant (Father’s Day); Mike Grell (courtesy of Hero Initiative, Action Comics); Laura Guzzo (Princeless: Short Stories for Warrior Women); Cully Hamner (Convergence: The Question); Scott Hanna (The New 52: Futures End); Dean Haspiel (The Fox); Russ Heath (G.I. Combat); Eric Henson (The Perhapanauts: Danger Down Under); h-eri (Ivory Dragon Studios); Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets); Ken Hunt (Talon); Klaus Janson (Superman); Dave Johnson (Inhumans: Attilan Rising); JG Jones (Strange Fruit); Chris Kemple (Red Vengeance); Denis Kitchen (The Best of Comix Book: When Marvel Went Underground); Barry Kitson (Empire: Uprising); Greg LaRocque (The Avengers); Paul Levitz (Convergence: World’s Finest Comics); Mike Lilly (Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Robyn Hood); Nate Lovett (
Andy Runton is the creator behind Owly, a kind-hearted owl who experiences various adventures with his other animal friends. Published by Top Shelf, Owly has received numerous industry accolades, including the Harvey Award for Best New Talent in 2005, the Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent in 2005, another Ignatz in 2006 for Outstanding Series, a 2006 Eisner Award for Best Publication for a Younger Audience, and the Howard E. Day Memorial Prize for outstanding achievement in self-publishing in 2005. Runton also publishes Owly and Wormy books through Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon and Schuster.
Louise Simonson has, like her husband Walter, contributed significantly to the comic book industry. “Weezie”, as she is known, began her comics career as an editor at Warren Publishing before leaving for Marvel to edit titles including X-Men, New Mutants, and Star Wars. Departing the editorial role in favor of writing, Weezie has contributed to storylines in Marvel’s Marvel Team-Up, Web of Spider-Man, and Red Sonja, and was responsible for the introduction of Apocalypse in X-Factor as well as the launch of Power Pack. At DC Comics, she worked on Superman: The Man of Steel and The Adventures of Superman.
Mike Vosburg began his comics career in the 1970s, as part of the underground comics movement. He would later move onto larger publishers such as Western Publishing and Charlton Comics before moving onto the big two, DC and Marvel Comics. At the latter, he worked on Savage She-Hulk, Sisterhood of Steel, and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. His most prolific work, though, is likely the covers created for TV’s Tales from the Crypt, drawn to mimic the style of 1950s horror comics. While he spends most of his time working on television and film projects, he still self-publishes his Lori Lovecraft title through Asylum Press.