WILL DICK GRAYSON SACRIFICE NIGHTWING TO SAVE HIS CITY? The deadline has arrived. The curious citizens of Blüdhaven gather to see whether their hero will surrender to the authorities for the deadly crash that took nine lives. Nightwing doesn’t know what he’s going to do either. But one thing is certain — things can’t go on like this…
The 2026 Baltimore Comic-Con occurs on September 25th-27th at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center. The Baltimore Comic-Con has announced Arthur Adams, Denys Cowan, Tom Derenick, Victor Farro, JG Jones, and Dave Wachter as comics guests of the 2026 event. Tickets are available for purchase online now!
Arthur Adams is an award-winning artist who became an immediate fan favorite as the penciler on the critically-acclaimed 1985 Longshot mini-series. His decades-spanning career has included cover and interior work on such titles as Batman, Superman, The Hulk, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men, New Mutants, Godzilla, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Excalibur, Ultimate X, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Walking Dead. He’s the creator, writer, and artist on Monkeyman and O’Brien.
Outside of comics, Arthur has done movie, toy, and game designs, book illustrations, and provided the artwork for an X-Men themed Spaghetti-O’s can.
Denys Cowan is an accomplished and celebrated comic and animation creator and illustrator. Founder of Milestone Media, which sold over 10 million copies of groundbreaking comic books, Cowan has numerous credits to his name, including: Black Racer, Deathstroke, Black Lightning & Hong Kong Phooey, Batman: Lovers & Madmen, Blind Justice, Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers, The Question, Hardware, and Static.
Static became one of the most beloved characters in the Milestone Universe, spawning a hugely successful animated series, Static Shock. During its run, the series was the only animated show not produced by Nickelodeon to dominate ratings. Denys directed and produced the series, which was nominated for an Emmy.
As Senior Vice President of Animation at BET, Cowan was responsible for the creation, development, and production of animated programming for the network. This included the development and production of the Black Panther animated series. Prior to his time at BET, Denys was instrumental in developing and producing the first season of the prime time animated series, The Boondocks. Serving as Senior Vice President of Motown Animation and Filmworks, he created and developed a number of shows with Fox, ABC, Disney, and Nickelodeon. Cowan also co-created the character of Henri Ducard, as played by Liam Neeson in Batman Begins.
Cowan drew the cover art of the GZA/Genius of the Wu-Tang Clan’s platinum-selling hip-hop album Liquid Swords. Denys illustrated the successful run of You Can’t Handle the Truth, a monthly full-page comic strip for Ebony magazine. More recently, Denys Cowan illustrated the Django Unchained graphic novel, which was inspired by the Oscar-winning film by Quentin Tarantino. Denys also created illustrated posters for Marvel’s Black Panther and John Wick 2.
Among comic book readers and collaborators, Denys Cowan is the stuff of legend. Denys Cowan’s comic books have gone on to sell millions. Cowan remains a prolific creator, illustrator, and producer. He is the recipient of the Humanitas Award, and he has been nominated for a number Eisner awards throughout his illustrious career. Denys is also featured in Robert Kirkman’s Secret History of Comics in the episode titled “The Color of Comics,” focusing on the history of Milestone Media.
Tom Derenick started his career on the Protectors for Malibu Comics. Later, he worked on DC’s Star Trek and at Marvel Comics, where much of his work was on the X-Men line. He returned to DC Comics on the Superman books then, doing runs on titles such as Shadowpact, JLA, and Reign in Hell. In more recent years, he’s worked on the highly successful Injustice: Gods Among Us as well as Wonder Woman: Come Back To Me and Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, as well as Mad Cave’s Flash Gordon and Endless Night.
Viktor Farro studied editorial illustration at the 2019 Illustration Academy in Kansas City and its Visual Arts Passage online program from 2020-2023. Through those two programs, he had the privilege of studying under Mark English, John English, Sterling Hundley, Gary Kelley, Edward Kinsella III, George Pratt, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Dale Stephanos, among others.
He also studied constructive anatomy in a year-long program with Steve Huston through his realist artist program, Draws From Life.
Farro’s work has been recognized nationally by 3×3, Creative Quarterly Journal, and selected for American Illustration AI42, 3×3 International Illustration Annual 20, and the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles’ Illustration West 62.
His clients include Marvel SNAP, OverPower card game, Image Comics, Mad Cave Studios, Massive Publishing, Skybound Entertainment, UDON Publishing, among others.
J.G. Jones, best known for the artwork that has graced the covers of such books as Wanted, 52, and Final Crisis, began taking over writing duties this month for DC Comics’ Doc Savage. In addition to the writing, Jones provided stunning cover art for the pulp hero’s monthly adventures, as well as art of the backup features in DC Universe Legacies.
Dave Wachter has been drawing comic books professionally for 20 years. He just teamed up with writer Tony Fleecs for their newest series, Uncanny Valley from BOOM! Studios.
He’s drawn a ton of Godzilla, and even more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for IDW. His creator-owned books include the critically-acclaimed The Guns of Shadow Valley and Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem, both for Dark Horse Comics. Recently, he’s been drawing the insides and outsides of all sorts of books for Marvel, including The Punisher, Planet of the Apes, X-Men Legends, Ms. Marvel, Venom, Star Wars, Ghost Rider, Aliens, Spider-Man 2099, and Iron Fist. Dave lives with his family in Pittsburgh, and loves it.
This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Jason Aaron (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Arthur Adams (Longshot), Joel Adams (Ms. Mystic), Zeea Adams (Deadman), Rafael Albuquerque (Absolute Green Arrow), Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), Brett Bean (D’Orc), Josh Blaylock (Mercy Sparx, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Carolyn Belefski (Curls), Russ Braun (The Boys), Jeffrey Brown (Hulk Teach, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jeffrey Burandt (Gonad the Ballbarian), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Eric Canete (Absolute Superman), Joe Carabeo (The Legettes), Richard Case (Doom Patrol), Keith Champagne (Stranger Things), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jo Chen (Runaways), Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Taurin Clarke (Star Wars: Jedi Knights), Becky Cloonan (War), Michael W. Conrad (In Bloom), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn), Denys Cowan (The Question), Olivia Cuartero-Briggs (The College Try), Paris Cullins (Blue Devil), Mike Decarlo (The Simpsons), Vito Delsante (Stray), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Colleen Doran (The Sandman), Scott Dunbier (DC Silver Age Covers and Stories Artist’s Edition), Steve Englehart (Captain America), Garth Ennis (The Boys), Victor Farro (Invincible Universe: Battle Beast), Trish Forstner (Feral), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), David Gerrold (Star Trek), Chris Giarrusso (Mini Marvels), Randy Green (Witchblade), Che Grayson (Absolute Catwoman), Gene Ha (Mae), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle), Scott Hanna (Amazing Spider-Man), Tony Harris (The Whistling Skull), Dean Haspiel (Chest Face), Glenn Hauman (They Keep Killing Glenn), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Marc Hempel (Sandman), Jamal Igle (Superman), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Infernal Hulk), Klaus Janson (Daredevil), JG Jones (Wanted), Joëlle Jones (Lady Killer), Dan Jurgens (Action Comics), Chris Kemple (Red Vengeance), Tom King (Wonder Woman), Peter Krause (The Power of Shazam, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Mike Kunkel (Herobear and the Kid), Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon), Creees Lee (Sorcerer Supreme), Jae Lee (Inhumans), Jim Lee (Batman: H2SH), Rick Leonardi (Spider-Man 2099), Tula Lotay (Bloodland), Nate Lovett (Commander Tomorrow), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Anthony Marques (Superman Unlimited), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Shawn Martinbrough (Red Hood: The Hill), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Jose Marzen Jr. (Y: The Last Man), Mike McKone (Teen Titans), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Adriana Melo (Fantastic Four), Pop Mhan (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe), Joshua Middleton (Aquaman), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Mark Morales (Thor), Bill Morrison (The Simpsons), Drew Moss (Thundercats), Trevor Mueller (Bat Pat), Sarah Myer (TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures), Phil Noto (Fantastic Four: First Foes), Kevin Nowlan (Batman: Sword of Azrael), Patrick Olliffe (Untold Tales of Spider-Man), Jerome Opena (Uncanny X-Force), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Jimmy Palmiotti (The Punisher), Dan Parent (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Margeaux Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Pornsak Pichetshote (Absolute Green Arrow), Stephen Platt (Moon Knight), Andy Price (My Little Pony), Joe Pruett (Savage Sword of Conan), Tom Raney (Incredible Hulk), Afua Richardson (Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds), James Robinson (Starman), Tone Rodriguez (Feral, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Andy Runton (Owly), Ethan Sacks (Old Man Hawkeye), Stuart Sayger (Red Sonja), Joe Schmalke (We Don’t Kill Spiders), Erica Schultz (Rogue), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Don Simpson (Megaton Man), Matthew Dow Smith (DC’s Misfits of Magic), Scott Snyder (Friday and Sunday only, DC K.O.), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Mark Sparacio (Liberty Girl Deluxe), Jim Starlin (Dreadstar), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Karl Story (Batman & Robin), Martha Thomases (Dakota North), Frank Tieri (Absolute Batman: Ark-M), Peter J. Tomasi (The Rocketfellers), Billy Tucci (Shi), Jonathan Uribe (Spawn, courtesy of Comics and Collectibles R Us), Gus Vazquez (Sunfire and the Big Hero Six), Wade Von Grawbadger (Justice League), Dave Wachter (Godzilla), Mark Waid (Action Comics), Steve Walker (Pay the Devil), Lee Weeks (Batman/Catwoman Special), Mark Wheatley (Breathtaker), Bob Wiacek (All-New Wolverine, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Keith Williams (Web of Spider-Man), Ron Wilson (Marvel Two-In-One), Chuck Wojtkiewicz (Justice League, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Rich Woodall (Sgt. Werewolf), Kelly Yates (Doctor Who), and Thom Zahler (Long Distance).
HIGHWAY TO HELL! The hunt for a killer in downtown Bludhaven leads to revelations about the super-villainous architect of the city’s superhighway. But is it too late for Nightwing to pull back from the precipice before he does something he’ll truly regret?
NIGHTWING… CRIMINAL?! A new prosecutor is determined to hold Nightwing accountable for his alleged crimes, challenging Blüdhaven’s once beloved hero to turn himself in to the police. As long-buried bodies surface beneath the city’s highway, Dick Grayson must confront the cost of his choices and decide whether saving Blüdhaven means finally facing the law.
WATTERS AND COWAN EXPLORE MORE FOLKLORE! There have long been legends of something bestial lurking in the forests just outside of Bludhaven . Some say it’s demonic. Others think it’s extraterrestrial. When a trail of violent incidents seems to connect this creature to the city’s new super-highway, Nightwing resolves to get to the bottom of it. What he uncovers will bring one of his Titans teammates to Bludhaven , looking for some long-overdue closure…
Haunted by a deadly highway collision, Nightwing restlessly hunts for clues in the ghost stories of Blüdhaven. When a deadly standoff besieges Blüdhaven Bridge, Dick Grayson might not be in the best state of mind to tackle it. Luckily, the World’s Greatest Detective has come calling…
When Oakland calls, Beast Mode answers. Artists Writers & Artisans (AWA) has announced Beast Mode 510, a 120+ page graphic novel conceptualized by AWA Chief Creative Officer Axel Alonso, written by NAACP Image Award-nominated author Sheldon Allen, and inspired and guided by NFL legend and cultural icon Marshawn Lynch. Launching October 6 and set in Oakland, CA, Beast Mode 510 is a mythic, irreverent, and deeply personal love letter to the city that raised Lynch and continues to define the former running back and Super Bowl XLVIII champion. Inspired by Lynch’s larger-than-life persona and backed by the Oakland icon himself, the title transforms the “Beast Mode” mentality into a cinematic new comic book hero rooted in loyalty and community.
Blending stylized action, interconnected mystery, and sharp social satire, Beast Mode 510 channels the just-retribution of The Equalizer with the comedy and social satire of Atlanta, with a healthy dose of West Coast swagger. At its center is Beast Mode: the 510’s legendary fixer and freelance sleuth whose rough exterior hides a code of loyalty and willingness to deal with problems others won’t touch. If you’ve got a problem the authorities won’t handle, Beast Mode will. No invoices. No contracts. Just results.
Written by Sheldon Allen with art by legendary Eisner Hall of Fame artist Denys Cowan, Beast Mode 510 assembles a powerhouse creative team that translates Lynch’s unmistakable presence and Beast Mode mythology into a vivid, kinetic graphic novel epic. The title reimagines the Beast Mode mentality as a bold new storytelling universe rooted in Oakland, grounded in truth and elevated to myth. The book is colored by Chris Sotomayor and inked by Dexter Vines,with cover art from Rahzzah and chapter break art by Ron Ackins.
In Beast Mode 510, Lynch’s legendary “Beast Mode” mentality becomes mythic. Most of the time, Beast Mode is Level One cool: laid back, sharp-minded, enjoying a glass of Hen and a freshly rolled blunt. But faced with enough bother, the dial can turn all the way to Level Six, and an unrestrained force of nature is unleashed. What starts as a super-secret birthday surprise for his mother spirals into a globe-spanning conspiracy involving three missing young women, a Silicon Valley slavery ring, Yakuza assassins, reptilian billionaires, a million-dollar bounty on his head, a world economy-shattering takedown, and so much more. As enemies close in and chaos escalates, Beast Mode must protect his family, defend his city, and confront powerful forces threatening the community he loves.
Beast Mode 510 will be available online and in stores wherever graphic novels are sold on Tuesday, October 6.
BLÜDHAVEN’S HAUNTED PAST COULD DESTROY ITS FUTURE AS DENYS COWAN JOINS WRITER DAN WATTERS! A new era begins here for Blüdhaven and its hero. The city’s new super-highway was meant to be its lifeline but has instead become a hotbed of strange and violent incidents. Nightwing’s investigation into this haunted road drives him toward a tragedy from which he may never recover — and sends him looking for answers in Blüdhaven’s tragic past. Superstar artist Denys Cowan joins ongoing writer Dan Watters for a supernatural noir tale of urban folklore… in a city where the unavenged dead will stay silent no longer.
Nothing alleged about it, following strong demand at comic shops, New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incidentis returning to shelves on April 22. Dan Mora leads the second printing with a brand-new Second Printing variant cover, while Diego Olortegui’s second Printing main cover will feature a recolored logo.
The issue is led by writers Joseph P. Illidge, Stephanie Williams, Morgan Hampton, and Nikolas Draper-Ivey, with art by Carlo Pagulayan, Valentine De Landro, Edwin Galmon, and others. Covers for the issue include work by Diego Olortegui, Denys Cowan, Dan Jurgens, Yasmine Putri, Carlo Pagulayan, and Sway. The story reframes Dakota City as a pivotal battleground whose consequences continue to ripple throughout the DC Universe.
Spinning out of the pages of New History of the DC Universe, uncover an untold moment in DC history, where a murder leads to an all-out war between the heroes of Dakota City and the U.S. government led by Lex Luthor. As their home becomes a battlefield, what must Static, Rocket, and the others sacrifice to keep their loved ones safe? But as heroes fall in the past, the stage is set for their return in the present…
Originally released February 25, New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident quickly generated significant attention among retailers and readers, with the first printing selling through at distribution shortly after release. The story dives deep into the events that shaped the Milestone Universe while placing them within the evolving historical framework of DC’s larger mythology.
With demand for the issue continuing to grow, the second printing ensures that readers and collectors will have another opportunity to experience this important chapter in the evolving history of Dakota City and the DC Universe.
Comic-Con has posted on social media that 19 individuals have been selected to be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2026. These inductees include 8 deceased comics pioneers and 11 living persons.
The Hall of Fame trophies will be presented in a special ceremony at the San Diego Convention Center on the morning of July 24. The Eisner Awards in 30+ other categories will be presented in the traditional Friday evening ceremony at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel.