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Jo Chen, Dan Jurgens, Terry Moore, Ryan Ottley, David Petersen, and Thom Zahler are coming to Baltimore Comic Con

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The 2026 Baltimore Comic-Con will take place at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center on September 25-27. Baltimore Comic-Con has announced Jo Chen, Dan Jurgens, Terry Moore, Ryan Ottley, David Petersen, and Thom Zahler to the 2026 event! Purchase your tickets online now.

Jo Chen is a veteran illustrator and Eisner Awarding-winning comic book artist whose painted covers and pristine interiors can be seen throughout the runs of Marvel’s highly-acclaimed Runaways, Dark Horse’s Firefly/Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Wars: Invasion, UDON’s Street Fighter and Darkstalker books, and Wildstorm’s Speed Racer/Racer X mini-series. At age 19, her first graphic novel, The Other Side of the Mirror, was published internationally by TokyoPop, and her art graces the packaging for all of XBOX’s best-selling Fable video games. She currently illustrates the popular yaoi-noir crime drama, In These Words, published by Libre in Japan, and throughout the rest of Asia.

Dan Jurgens began his comics career in 1981 as artist on DC Comics’ The Warlord. He then created, wrote, and drew Booster Gold and added Flash Gordon, Legion of Super-Heroes, Green Arrow, Justice League America, and many more titles to his résumé. Most notably, he logged a very long run as writer/artist on Superman, including the best-selling Death of Superman, for which he won the National Cartoonists Society Award. Jurgens followed that up by writing and drawing the mega-hit crossover Zero Hour, which redefined the DC Universe. He drew several other crossovers as well, such as Armageddon 2001, DC Versus Marvel, and both wrote and drew Superman/Aliens and Superman/Fantastic Four.

At Marvel Comics, he wrote and/or drew The Sensational Spider-Man, Iron Fist, The Mighty Thor, and Captain America. Jurgens then returned to DC Comics to write and/or draw Green Arrow, Justice League International, Firestorm, and more. He then revived the true Superman in the Superman: Lois and Clark series, which featured the establishment of Superman’s son, Jonathan Kent, as a major DC character. After that, Dan had long stints writing Action Comics, Batman Beyond, and Nightwing.

Over the past couple of years, Dan has drawn a number of covers for Marvel Comics while also writing and drawing a special story for Thor #750. At DC, he brought the popular pair of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold together for the Blue & Gold miniseries, wrote and drew the 30th anniversary Death of Superman Special, and the Doom Rising series in Action Comics, which featured young Jon Kent. His recent project The Bat-Man: First Knight from DC’s Black Label imprint tells the story of Bat-Man as he was originally presented, back in 1939.

Indy powerhouse Terry Moore began his career in comics with the critically acclaimed epic series, Strangers in Paradise, the compelling love story between three unlikely friends who find themselves bound together by their pasts. The long-running series garnered many awards, including the coveted Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story and the National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Division Reuben Award. Strangers in Paradise has been translated into twenty-one languages and is as popular today as when it was first published in 1993.

Moore has created many award winning series, including Motor Girl, the story of a wounded warrior and her imaginary best friend, Rachel Rising, a horror comic with a ten-year-old serial killer named Zoe, ECHO, a science fiction thriller, FIVE YEARS, the series that brings together characters from all of his series in one heart stopping story, and Parker Girls, the Tambi story you’ve been waiting for. Terry has also published a How to Draw book detailing techniques and tools to create comics which he updated and expanded in 2026.

Terry’s work has won numerous international awards and continues to entertain readers worldwide. In addition to publishing work under his own label, Abstract Studio, Moore has worked with major publishers on titles including Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Birds of Prey, Fables, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Wars Tales throughout his thirty three year career. Beginning in October 2026, Terry will team with Dark Horse Comics to reissue his catalog of legacy series.

Ryan Ottley is an American comic book artist who is most known for his work on the Invincible series. He is a contributing creator on the series who designed and co-created a large part of the Invincible universe with writer Robert Kirkman, and is the primary artist for 127 issues of the 144 issue run. It is now an animated TV series on Amazon Prime video for which Ottley works as a consultant.

After Invincible, Ottley went to Marvel and did 20 issues on Amazing Spider-Man with writer Nick Spencer, and then artist on Hulk with writer Donny Cates. Ottley finished that run as both the writer and the artist. 

Ottley is now back at Image comics working on something NEW…announcement coming soon!

David Petersen is a cartoonist and children’s book illustrator who launched his career with a self-published issue of his series Mouse Guard in 2005, when it was then picked up by Archaia, who continues to publish the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning series. Petersen has also worked on covers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Dark Crystal. He’s illustrated an edition of Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows for IDW and his artwork also graced the cover for the 2012 Baltimore Comic-Con program, as well as the show-exclusive t-shirt.

In 2008, David won the Eisners for Best Publication for Kids (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 & Winter 1152) and Best Graphic Album – Reprint (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 Hardcover). In 2010, he was nominated for a Harvey Award for Best Artist (Mouse Guard: Winter 1152).

Thom Zahler is a northeast Ohio-based comic book artist and writer. He’s particularly known for his romantic comedy comics. In 2006, he debuted Love and Capes, the superhero romantic comedy about the adventures in love of an ordinary bookstore owner and her accountant boyfriend…who also happens to be the superhero The Crusader. In 2014, he introduced readers to Long Distance, a story about two young professionals who meet while stranded at an airport during a snowstorm and decide to date even though they both live in different states. In 2016, he debuted Time and Vine for IDW, about a magical time-traveling winery.

He is the writer and artist of the hit Cupid’s Arrows series on WEBTOON, chronicling the story of a pair of Cupids who get couples together across the world. His previous WEBTOON was Warning Label, featuring a girl cursed by her ex-boyfriend so that every guy who asks her out gets the list of what they need to watch out for.

His current projects include the young readers’ series The Ghost Whiskerers for John Carpenter’s Storm King comics line, about cats that see ghosts (starring Zahler’s own cats). He is also the artist on Rocketship’s Angry Birds series.

He is also a frequent writer and artist for IDW. He is a regular contributor for My Little Pony, and has also contributed to Star Trek and Disney Tsum Tsum Kingdom.

Zahler has written for the Disney XD cartoon Spider-Man Web Warriors, where he wrote the first part of the season finale “Contest of Champions.” He is also a frequent contributor to the Topps’ Star Wars card sets. He recently wrote the second episode of the Knights of the Zodiac Netflix series.

He continues to work as a cartoonist, illustrator, and letterer for many companies across the country.

He is a graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art and of Lake Catholic High School.

He lives at his palatial estate, Zahlerdu, in Northeast Ohio. Okay, he doesn’t really call it “Zahlerdu” but if he did, it’d be because he liked Orson Wells’ “Citizen Kane” and not that Olivia Newton John disco-and-roller skating movie. It’s not really a palatial estate, either, but it is a nice place.

See more of Zahler’s artwork at www.thomz.com or follow him on Instagram and X at @thomzahler.

This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Jason Aaron (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Mark Buckingham (Fables),JimCalafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit),Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jo Chen (Runaways), Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn), Olivia Cuartero-Briggs (The College Try),Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Colleen Doran (The Sandman), Trish Forstner (Feral), Gene Ha (Mae), Larry Hama (GI Joe: A Real American Hero), Tony Harris (The Whistling Skull), Dan Jurgens (Action Comics), Mike Kunkel (Herobear and the Kid), JaeLee(Inhumans), 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), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Mark Morales (Thor), Bill Morrison (The Simpsons), Sarah Myer (TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures), Kevin Nowlan (Batman: Sword of Azrael), Patrick Olliffe (Untold Tales of Spider-Man), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Jimmy Palmiotti (The Punisher), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Tom Raney (Incredible Hulk), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts),Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Matthew Dow Smith (DC’s Misfits of Magic), Scott Snyder (DC K.O.), Mark Waid (Action Comics), Matt Wieringo (Stagrate Atlantis: Gateways), and Thom Zahler (Long Distance),

Jeremy Bastian, Jo Chen, Scott Hanna, Chris Kemple, Dev Madan, and Bart Sears are coming to Baltimore Comic Con

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The Baltimore Comic-Con returns on October 17-19, 2025 to the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center. The Baltimore Comic-Con has announced comics guests Jeremy Bastian, Jo Chen, Scott Hanna, Chris Kemple, Dev Madan, and Bart Sears to this year’s event. Tickets are available now.

Jeremy Bastian is the creator and illustrator of Cursed Pirate Girl from BOOM! Studios and Archaia Comics. He is renowned for his delicate detail, whimsical characters, and strange creatures, all drawn at the actual print size with a very small brush! Cursed Pirate Girl beckons to the 19th century in both subject and style. He has also contributed to Guild: Tink from Dark Horse Comics, Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard from BOOM! Studios/Archaia Comics, Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream from Locust Moon Press, and Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom from Simon and Schuster. His Cursed Pirate Girl Annual was released by BOOM! Studios.

Jo Chen is a veteran illustrator and Eisner Awarding-winning comic book artist whose painted covers and pristine interiors can be seen throughout the runs of Marvel’s highly-acclaimed Runaways, Dark Horse’s Firefly/Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Wars: Invasion, UDON’s Street Fighter and Darkstalker books, and Wildstorm’s Speed Racer/Racer X mini-series. At age 19, her first graphic novel, The Other Side of the Mirror, was published internationally by TokyoPop, and her art graces the packaging for all of XBOX’s best-selling Fable video games. She currently illustrates the popular yaoi-noir crime drama, In These Words, published by Libre in Japan, and throughout the rest of Asia.

Scott Hanna is an Eisner Award-winning artist in the graphic novel industry. He has been drawing and inking comic books for close to 40 years. His work has been published in over 1,000 comics and graphic novels, and he’s inked over 24,000 pages of comics art.

At Marvel Comics, Scott’s worked on all the top characters at the company, known for working on most of the Spider-Man titles over the past 30 years, sometimes working on multiple Spider-Man titles at the same time. He is currently on Amazing Spider-Man with John Romita Jr., and working on covers for Daredevil. Scott has also had runs on the Avengers, Iron Man, X-Men, The Hulk, and many more.

At DC Comics, he has worked on most of their major titles, including a five year run on Detective Comics starring Batman, Green Lantern Corps, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Superman, and Teen Titans. In 2022, his new Milestone series DUO premiered. 

He is currently working with Jim Starlin on Dreadstar 2, as well as a creator-owned newspaper strip, Dodge and Hustle.

He is co-founder of the Arts and Fashion Institute in PA with his wife Pamela Ptak. Scott teaches classes in sequential art, painting, drawing, and cartooning.

Chris Kemple is one of the contributors to the digital comics effort, Artist Alley Comics. After graduating with a BFA in Painting and Drawing from East Carolina University, Kemple worked as an assistant at Artamus Studios with Richard Case, Mike Wieringo, Jeff Parker, Casey Jones, and Scott Hampton, among others. Currently a teacher and freelance artist, Chris was a founding member of and texture artist and 3D object modeler at video game development studio, Red Storm Entertainment.

Dev Madan is an illustrator based in the Pacific Northwest who grew up on a steady diet of Saturday morning cartoons, sugary cereal, and heavy metal records. With over 35 years in the video game and comic book industries, he’s best known as the Art Director and Character Designer behind the AIAS Award-winning Sly Cooper trilogy for Sony Entertainment, as well as an artist at DC Comics on Batman Adventures, Plastic Man, and co-creator of the cult hit series Young Heroes in Love.

His career also includes roles in video game development such as Director of Art at Toys For Bob for Crash Team Rumble (PS5/Xbox/Switch/PC), Artist on Return to Monkey Island (Console/PC) with Ron Gilbert/Terrible Toybox, and Creative Director for the Plants vs. Zombies franchise, where he helped launch PvZ Garden Warfare (Console). As Studio Art Director at PopCap/EA Games, he contributed to titles such as PvZ 2 (iOS/PC), Bejeweled Blitz, and Solitaire Blitz (FB/iOS/DS). In addition, he was a founder at Loose Cannon Studios and helped launch Humongous Entertainment with Ron Gilbert.

As an illustrator, Dev worked with Squaresoft on the iconic game box covers for Breath of Fire and Final Fantasy 3, with clients including Disney, Funko, Sony Entertainment, Snap On Tools, Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Wizards of the Coast.

Recent comic work includes the graphic novels Frank N. Stein: Private Eye and the all-ages series Zombie Camp.

Bart Sears has been drawing comics professionally for four decades, working for DC, Marvel, Valiant, Image, Dark Horse, CrossGen, and a number of independent publishers. A few of the many titles he’s worked on include Legends of the Dark Knight, XO Manowar, Turok, Captain America and Falcon, Blade, and Justice League Europe.

Creator of the well known cult classic art tutorial column Brutes and Babes that appeared in Wizard Magazine, Bart has inspired a generation of artists. Continuing that legacy, Bart has recently spawned a new series of how-to-draw books called Drawing Powerful Heroes. Having worked extensively in the toy and gaming industry, Bart has designed many of the toys of our childhood, including C.O.P.S., G.I. JOE, and WWF toys for Hasbro, and X-Men figures for ToyBiz as well as concept art for multiple video game titles.

Bart’s passion has always been telling relentless, powerful, compelling tales of heroes, through both art and story. He is currently working on a slew of projects, including Conan, Maiden, Dreadlands, The Black Ruins of Aramoor, Drawing Powerful Heroes, Volume 3, The Splash Page!, and much, much more.

This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Kaare Andrews (Spider-Man: REIGN 2), Eddy Barrows (Superman), Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl), Marty Baumann ((Pixar artist), John Beatty (Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars), Josh Blaylock (Mercy Sparx, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Russ Braun (The Boys), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Letizia Cadonici (House of Slaughter), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Richard Case (Doom Patrol), Keith Champagne (Stranger Things), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jo Chen (Runaways), Jim Cheung (Young Avengers), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Amy Chu (Emma Frost: The White Queen), Chris Claremont (X-Men), Matthew Clark (Adventures of Superman, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Becky Cloonan (Somna), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Michael W. Conrad (Manowar: Invictus), Dani (Sensational Wonder Woman), Deans Family Productions (Crass Fed), Jeff Dekal (Something is Killing the Children), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), David Finch (Moon Knight), Trish Forstner (Feral), Franco (Deadman Tells the Spooky Tales), Barbara Friedlander (Swing with Scooter), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Chris Giarrusso (Mini Marvels), Mike Grell (Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters), Brian Haberlin (Spawn, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Marc Hampel (Sandman), Scott Hanna (Amazing Spider-Man), Jamal Igle (Superman, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Chris Kemple (Artist Alley Comics), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Incredible Hulk), Dan Krall (House of Night), Adam Kubert (Wolverine), Jae Lee (Inhumans), Tula Lotay (Barnstormers), Nate Lovett (Dungeons & Dragons), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), Shawn Martinbrough (Red Hood: The Hill), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Mike McKone (Red Goblin), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), 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), 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), Khoi Pham (Star Wars: Darth Vader), Tom Raney (Green Lantern), Amy Reeder (Power Girl), Esad Ribic (Conan the Barbarian), Afua Richardson (Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds), Don Rosa (Uncle $crooge), Craig Rousseau (Herculoids), 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), Karl Story (The Mandalorian), Zoe Thorogood (It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Universe), Billy Tucci (Shi), Brian K. Vaughan (Spectators, Friday and Saturday only), Gus Vazquez (Sunfire and Big Hero Six), Charles Vess (Stardust), Mark Waid (Justice League Unlimited), Mark Wheatley (Breathtaker), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Keith Williams (Web of Spider-Man), Maria Wolf (Phoenix), Rich Woodall (Electric Black), John Workman (Wild Things), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).

Speed Racer from David Pepose and Davide Tinto Kicks off a Larger Universe

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Drive like your legacy depends on it. Get ready, get set, Speed Racer roars into a bold new era! Mad Cave Studios and Tatsunoko Production are about to launch Speed Racer, the brand-new ongoing series and the first entry in a larger universe that will include Racer X and Speed Racer: Tales from the Road. Set in a neon-soaked future where racing isn’t just a sport—it’s survival—Speed Racer blends turbocharged action with gritty family drama and high-stakes emotion.

Written by Ringo Award-winner David Pepose and illustrated by fan-favorite Davide Tinto, colors by Rex Locus, with lettering by Buddy Beaudoin, this explosive launch centers on a fractured Racer family caught in the fast lane of the deadly Formula X Championship League—featuring a series of exciting star-studded cast of artist variant covers: Cover A by Alessio Zonno, Cover B By Sean Galloway, Cover C by Paulina Ganucheau, Cover D by Nicolette Baldari, Cover E by Sebastian Piriz, Cover F blank sketch, Cover G Retailer Incentive by Chris Batista, Cover H Retailer Incentive by Ken Niimura; plus a Mad Cave exclusive cover by Michael Cho, and a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive by Jo Chen.

Notably, at its heart, Speed Racer is a story about legacy—the one we inherit, the one we outrun, and the one we choose to build. 

An all-new interpretation of Tatsunoko Production’s classic anime, Mach GoGoGo, known to Western audiences as Speed Racer!

Speed Racer lives for the thrill of the race, but on the underground circuit, the rules are anything goes. Dodging bullets, explosions, and dirty tricks, he’s got one goal: to prove he’s the best. But when a dangerous syndicate targets his family, Speed’s greatest challenge won’t be on the track…it’ll be on the streets. With the police closing in and a masked racer lurking in the shadows, Speed is about to learn that some races can’t be won with horsepower alone.

Also included in Speed Racer #0 is a gritty backup story from Eisner-winning writer Mark Russell and artist Chris Batista, which sets the stage for Racer X, a four-issue noir miniseries launching this September.

This isn’t a reboot. It’s a reinvention—one that honors the anime/manga roots of Mach GoGoGo while charting a cinematic new course through tactical racing, espionage, legacy, and redemption. 

Whether you’re a nostalgic fan of the Mach 5 or a newcomer seeking high-octane heart, this delivers a story that’s fast, furious, and emotionally resonant. It’s a generational torch-passing done right! Set in the neon-lit chaos of Palm City, Speed Racer #0—which also includes a special Racer X back-up story—is available at comic shops everywhere this Free Comic Book Day (May 3), and will continue with Speed Racer #1 on July 30, 2025.

Jo Chen, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Trevor Mueller, Tom Raney, Afua Richardson, and Stuart Sayger return to Baltimore Comic Con

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Follow the crowds to the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center to celebrate the 24th annual Baltimore Comic-Con on September 8-10, 2023. The Baltimore Comic-Con has announced the return of comic creators Jo Chen, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Trevor Mueller, Tom Raney, Afua Richardson, and Stuart Sayger. Get your tickets online now to avoid lines at the show.

Jo Chen is an award-winning comic book artist who began working professionally at age 18 and whose covers and interiors include Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Marvel’s Runaways, Thor: Son of Asgard, and New Avengers, Wildstorm’s Racer X and Robotech, UDON’s Street Fighter, and Dreamwave’s Darkminds Macropolis. More recently, Jo, working under the pen name TogaQ, has produced the stark, noir-flavored interiors and covers for her popular, creator-owned adult manga In These Words, which is published in multiple languages and countries. Jo has also produced covers for Dark Horse’s Hellboy, Firefly/Serenity, Kull the Conqueror, and Star Wars: Invasion properties, Image’s Samurai’s Blood, DC’s Robin, Superman Stranded, and Jack Kirby’s The Demon, Radical’s Incarnate, and Top Cow’s Battle of the Planets, not to mention the package art for XBOX’s Fable video games.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson broke into comics in 2015 with the BOOM! Studios miniseries Last Sons of America and Warlords of Appalachia. These projects led him to DC Comics and Marvel, where he would write such characters/titles as Aquaman, Captain America, Batman, Marvel Zombies: Resurrection, Extreme Carnage, and his creator-owned epic fantasy series, DC Black Label’s The Last God. He took over the Superman and Action Comics titles in 2020, and currently writes the ongoing Alien series at Marvel Comics. He has also been published with Archaia, IDW, Aftershock, Dynamite, and Scout Comics.

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.

Tom Raney has spent much of his career working for the mid- to large-size publishers in the comics industry. He has contributed to many of Marvel’s titles, from Thor to X-Men, spent some time with Valiant’s relaunched titles, and Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars among many other titles and publishers. He recently wrapped up a year-long run on DC Comics’ Green Lantern.

Afua Richardson (pronounced “ah-FOO-wah”) is an award-winning American comic book illustrator best known for her work on Marvel’s Black Panther: World of Wakanda. Some of her other works include The Wild Storm, Attack on Titan, X-Men ’92, Captain Marvel, and All-Star Batman to name a few. Afua is also a musician, voice actor, activist, and mentor. As a recipient of the Nina Simone award, she is aptly called a Jane of All trades.

Stuart Sayger is a professional illustrator who works primarily in the comic book industry. Known for his moody atmospheric art, Sayger first broke into the industry as the creator of Shiver in the Dark, producing the comic independently from start to finish. Recent projects include producing covers for GI Joe, Dejah Thoris, Jeepers Creepers, Vampirella, and he recently worked on covers for KISS and Bloodshot. Past comic book projects include: Walking Dead, X-Files, 30 Days of Night, Xena Warrior Princess, Lego Bionicle, Micronauts, and Rom. Sayger has also produced art for the Man of Steel Superman movie as well as many other Warner Bros. Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman projects! www.stuartsayger.com

This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Dan Abdo (Blue, Barry & Pancakes), Arthur Adams (Longshot), Sarah Andersen (Sarah’s Scribbles), Art Baltazar (Yahgz), Jeremy Bastian (Dune: House Harkonnen), Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), Carolyn Belefsky (Curls), Brian Michael Bendis (Action Comics), Jon Bogdanove (The Death of Superman), Judy Bogdanove (Steel Annual), Russ Braun (The Boys), Dan Brereton (Nocturnals), Harold Buchholz (Sweetest Beasts), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Greg Burnham (Tuskegee Heirs), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Chris Campana (Death Dealer), Joe Carabeo (Black Magic Tales), Richard Case (Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jo Chen (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Jim Cheung (Young Avengers), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Amy Chu (KISS: The End), Brian Clevinger (Atomic Robo), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Katie Cook (Nothing Special), Nick Davis (Night Guardians), Deans Family (Crass Fed), Abby Denson (Uniquely Japan), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Derec Donovan (Adventures of Superman), Jan Duursema (Star Wars: The High Republic), Garth Ennis (The Boys), David Finch (Moon Knight), Tony Fleecs (Stray Dogs), Chris Flick (Capes and Babes), Scott Fogg (Phileas Reid Knows We’re Not Alone), Tana Ford (LaGuardia), Trish Forstner (Stray Dogs), Franco (Fae and the Moon), John Gallagher (Max Meow), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!), Mike Grell (Jon Sable), Dawn Griffin (Zorphbert & Fred), Chris Gugilotti (Teen Titans Go!), Gene Ha (Mae), Laura Lee Gulledge (Page by Paige), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle), Bo Hampton (Batman: Castle of the Bat), Brian Haberlin (Spawn), Tony Harris (The Whistling Skull), Dean Haspiel (Covid Cop), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Marc Hempel (Sandman), Greg Hildebrandt (Star Wars), Morry Hollowell (Old Man Logan), Jamal Igle (Superman), Mark Irwin (Green Lantern), Klaus Janson (Daredevil), Dave Johnson (100 Bullets), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Alien), J.G. Jones (Wanted), Kata Kane (Altar Girl), Chris Kemple (Artist Alley Comics), Barry Kitson (Amazing Spider-Man), Jeff Lemire (Black Hammer), Nate Lovett (Dungeons & Dragons), Matthew Loux (Prunella and the Cursed Skull Ring), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Tom Mandrake (Spectre), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), Mariano Brothers (Claire Lost Her Bear at the World’s Fair), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Jason May (LEGO Club Magazine), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Adriana Melo (Action Comics), Pop Mhan (Gears of War 3), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Karl Moline (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Mark Morales (Thor), Trevor Mueller (Re-Possessed), Sarah Myer (Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story), Jamar Nicholas (Leon: Protector of the Playground), Jason Patterson (Blue, Barry & Pancakes), David Pepose (Savage Avengers), David Petersen (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen), Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men), Richard and Wendy Pini (Elfquest), Ed Piskor (Red Room: Trigger Warnings), Joe Prado (Superman), Tom Raney (Green Lantern), Afua Richardson (Omni), Christopher Ring (Seamus (the Famous)), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Peter Rostovsky (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Freshman Force), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Arsia Rozegar (Shahnameh For Kids), Steve Rude (Nexus), Jim Rugg (Hulk Grand Design), Andy Runton (Owly), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man), Stuart Sayger (The Joker), Alex Simmons (Archie), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Matt Slay (Equilibrium), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Sozomaika (DC Power: A Celebration), Mark Sparacio (Omega Paradox), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Philip Tan (Web of Carnage), John Timms (Superman: Son of Kal-El), Peter Tomasi (Batman and Robin), Gus Vazquez (Sunfire and Big Hero Six), Emilio Velez Jr. (The Dodgeball Teens), Wade von Grawbadger (Justice League), Adam Wallenta (Punk Taco), Todd Webb (Mr. Toast Comics), Scott Wegener (Atomic Robo), Joey Weiser (Ghost Hog), Mark Wheatley (Skultar), Emily S. Whitten (The Underfoot), Keith Williams (Thor the Worthy), Marcus Williams (Tuskegee Heirs), Rich Woodall (Electric Black), John Workman (Wild Things), Caitlin Yarsky (Black Hammer Reborn), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).

Baltimore Comic-Con 2014: Calafiore, Chen, Curtis, Kitchen, and Stanton

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manowarBaltimore Comic-Con is expanding, and this year marks their inaugural 3-day event which takes place on Friday-Sunday, September 5-7, 2014! Joining them in Baltimore‘s Inner Harbor for their 10th annual show are Jim Calafiore, Jo Chen, Mike Curtis, Denis Kitchen, and Joe Staton!

Jim Calafiore, whose early work was for the now-reformed Valiant Comics on titles like X-O Manowar and Armorines, has made a name for himself working extensively for the Big Two: DC and Marvel Comics. Calafiore had noteworthy runs at Marvel on titles such as Black Panther, Deadpool, Exiles, and Iron Man, and over at DC on Aquaman, Batgirl, Red Lanterns, and Secret Six. More recently, his successful Kickstarter effort, Leaving Megalopolis (with Gail Simone) has been published by Dark Horse Comics, he’s done interior work for Dynamite’s Red Sonja title, and he’s provided covers for Archer and Armstrong at Valiant.

buffy Jo Chen (at the show Saturday and Sunday only!) was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and came to the US in 1994. Working professionally in the Asian comic book industry since age 18, her work in the U.S. comic book scene caught people’s attention with her art work for the Racer X mini-series from Wildstorm/DC Comics in 2000. From there, her artwork graced interiors and covers of titles like Fight For Tomorrow, The Demon, and Robin from DC Comics, Runaways, Taskmaster, and Thor from Marvel Comics, and her covers for Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer became the title’s trademark. Recently, her work has been seen on covers of DC Comics Presents: The Demon – Driven Out.

alcappThe Harvey Award-winning (and nominated again this year!) Denis Kitchen began his comics career as a self-published underground cartoonist (Mom’s Homemade Comics, 1969), but quickly became primarily a publisher. His Kitchen Sink Press for three decades published such legendary and diverse artists as Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, R. Crumb, Mark Schultz, Charles Burns, Al Capp, Scott McCloud, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell, Dave McKean, Howard Cruse, and countless others. Kitchen also founded the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and chaired it for eighteen years. A monograph of his cartoons, The Oddly Compelling Art of Denis Kitchen, was recently published. Kitchen curates exhibitions, is an art agent, a literary agent, a comics historian and author (The Art of Harvey Kurtzman and a biography, Al Capp), and has recently brought back Kitchen Sink Books as an imprint of Dark Horse Comics with partner John Lind. This is Denis’s 5th appearance at Baltimore Comic-Con where he has a special connection: as the representative of the Kurtzman estate, he was responsible for bringing the annual Harvey Awards to us. Nominated for the same awards this year are Denis’s work on Best of Comix Book: When Marvel Comics Went Underground from Kitchen Sink Books/Dark Horse Comics and Al Capp: A Life to the Contrary with Michael Schumacher from Bloomsbury.

dicktracyMike Curtis and Joe Staton are the writer and artist respectively of the Harvey Award-winning (and, like Denis above, nominated again this year!), Dick Tracy comic strip. Curtis, began working in comics in the 1980s for kids comics publisher Harvey Comics, writing for titles such as Richie Rich, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and New Kids on the Block. From there, he created Shanda the Panda for Mu Press and, later, Antarctic Press. He later went on to create the publishing house Shanda Fantasy Arts. Staton got his start in the comics industry in 1971 with publisher Charlton Comics, where he worked on E-Man, and went on to work for Warren and Marvel Comics as well. He moved to DC Comics to provide art duties on All Star Comics, Adventure Comics, and DC Special where he illustrated tales of the Justice Society of America, and on titles like Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Showcase, Metal Men, and Green Lantern. His career at DC Comics brought him to other titles too, like Millennium, Guy Gardner, The Huntress, and, most recently, Scooby Doo.

Preview – Mind The Gap #5

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Mind the Gap #5

Story by: Jim McCann Art By: Rodin Esquejo & Adrian Alphona Cover By: Rodin Esquejo Variant Cover by: Jo Chen
Price: $2.99

An arrest made! A secret past revealed! Life-altering events set in motion! And a HOLY $%!! last page that will leave you breathless as the first arc ends and the stage set for the next chapter.

For this mind bending, jaw dropping tale, series artist RODIN ESQUEJO is joined by very special guests – the Runaways art team, including a cover from JO CHEN! (Admit it, your jaw just dropped a little more, right?) The red-hot new series reaches scorching temperatures as it continues to sell out. You DO NOT want to miss this issue!

The Tides Of Vengeance Rises With Samurai’s Blood

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Official Press Release

THE TIDES OF VENGEANCE RISES WITH SAMURAI’S BLOOD

Image Comics Collects The 6-Issue Epic Miniseries

Berkeley, CA – December 16th, 2011 — Image Comics is proud to announce the February release of SAMURAI’S BLOOD VOL. 1 TP, written by Owen Wiseman, illustrated by Nam Kim (Warcraft: Legends) and Matthew Dalton (Starcraft: Frontline), edited by Dave Elliott and produced by Benaroya Publishing. SAMURAI’S BLOOD VOL. 1 TP collects issues #1-6 of the sold out miniseries and will include extras such as a gallery page of covers by fan favorite artist Jo Chen (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9) and additional prose Samurai’s Blood stories from Owen Wiseman.
Set in feudal Japan, an era when lineage defined you, SAMURAI’S BLOOD involves three teenagers who must make their way through the world hiding their identities in order to find their destinies. As their village burns behind them, they are headed for a city they’d heard about only in stories. The three young samurai must now struggle to stay alive and take vengeance on the evil usurper who has destroyed the rest of their clan and the only world they’d ever known. Will they rise on the tides of vengeance, or they will they fall on the swords of fate?
The critics have raved about SAMURAI’S BLOOD:
“I’ll be picking up the 6-issue run of Samurai’s Blood…I’d suggest you do the same.” – IGN

“Samurai’s Blood is just another example of all the great stuff Image Comics is putting together this year…I recommend the entire series.” – Comic Book Bin

“One of the best things about Samurai’s Blood is its strong period feel, which is carried in particular by Nam Kim’s idealized yet realistic art and Jo Chen’s more expressionistic covers.” – Playback STL
“Once again (and unbelievably, I might add), Wiseman has upped the stakes with this story… I can’t honestly understand how this book keeps getting better every issue, but somehow it does. 5 out of 5” – Comic Attack

SAMURAI’S BLOOD VOL. 1 TP  (DEC110519, ISBN: 978-1-60706-488-6), a 192-page full-color trade paperback, will be on sale in stores February 29th, 2012 for $14.99 and is available to order in the December 2011 edition of Previews. For more information, please visit www.benaroyapublishing.com.

ABOUT OWEN WISEMAN

Owen Wiseman writes graphic novels, screenplays, and prose. Owen was raised by hippies in the Pacific Northwest, and fed a steady diet of appropriate books and inappropriate movies. In seventh grade, he was accidentally put into a Japanese class, and the venerable Furado-sensei convinced him to stay. He taught Owen about the language, culture, and fascinating history of this complex and beautiful island nation, and Furado-sensei’s passion for the Japanese culture triggered Owen’s love for it as well.

ABOUT NAM KIM

Nam Kim is a Philadelphia-based artist, founder and director of Studio Imaginary Lines, an all-purpose design house which produces original content for comic books, video games and commercial advertising. Nam is a self-taught illustrator who credits artists such as Burne Hogarth, Jim Lee and Masamune Shiro for shaping his artistic style and vision.

ABOUT BENAROYA PUBLISHING

Founded by Michael Benaroya in 2009, Benaroya Publishing is a comic book and graphic novel production company dedicated to thrilling and compelling storytelling. A subsidiary of Benaroya Pictures, Benaroya Publishing is based in Los Angeles, California and launches their debut titles this Spring under the Image Comics label. With David Elliott (FALL OUT TOY WORKS and co-founder of RADICAL PUBLISHING) at the helm as in-house Editor-in-Chief, Benaroya Publishing promises to bring fresh new ideas, and uniquely told stories to the comics literary world. For more information, visit www.benaroyapublishing.com.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of four major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

Preview – Samurai’s Blood #6

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SAMURAI’S BLOOD #6 (of 6)

Diamond Order Code: SEP110479

story OWEN WISEMAN
art NAM KIM, MATTHEW DALTON & SAKTI YUMONO
cover JO CHEN

32 PAGES / FC / T -NO ADS FINALE!
$2.99

ON SALE DECEMBER 14TH

MINISERIES CONCLUSION!
It all comes down to this moment? Three teenagers, the last survivors of a brutal betrayal on their clan, face an army with only the support of the Edo Ghost. All willing to die to enact their revenge. It looks like it may come to that.

Eisner Nominees, DCnU Artists to attend Austin Comic Con

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Official Press Release

Ten Eisner Award Winners and Nominees, Seven ‘DCnU’ Artists To Attend Wizard World Austin Comic Con, November 11-13

Ten Eisner Award winners and nominees, including Hall of Famer Marv Wolfman, and seven DC Relaunch artists are among 210+ top creators scheduled to attend Austin Comic Con, Nov. 11-13

NEW YORK and AUSTIN, Texas, October 17, 2011 – A total of 10 Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards winners and nominees and seven artists from the DC relaunch “DCnU” are among the more than 210 comic creators scheduled to attend Wizard World Austin Comic Con, part of North America’s largest pop-culture tour, Nov. 11-13 at the Austin Convention Center.  Eisner Hall of Famer Marv Wolfman (“DCU Online,” “Crisis on Infinite Earths”) joins winners Bill Sienkiewicz (“Elektra,” “Assassin”), Kevin Maguire (“Justice League,” “Batman Confidential and Rob Guillory (“Chew”).

The six Eisner nominees scheduled to attend are Jo Chen (“Superman,” “Buffy”), Matthew Sturges (“Jack of Fables,” “JSA All-Stars”), David Mack (“Kabuki,” “Daredevil”), Eliza Frye (“The Lady’s Murder,” “Lucky House”), David Marquez (“Fantastic Four: Season One,” “Pilot Season: The Asset”) and Billy Tucci (“Sgt. Rock,” “Shi”).

DCnU creators include Greg Capullo (“Thor,” “Asgard’s Avenger”), Patrick Gleason (“Batman & Robin,” “Brightest Day”), Yanick Paquette (“Swamp Thing,” “Batman,” “Superman”), Tyler Kirkham (“Green Lantern: New Guardians,” “Amazing Spider-Man”), Nathan Edmondson (“Grifter,” Who Is Jake Ellis”), Freddie Williams II (“Captain Atom,” “JSA All-Stars,” “Batman”) and John Tyler Christopher (“Voodoo”).

The creators will be on hand to meet fans, sign autographs and sketch.  Many Greater Austin-based artists will be in attendance as well.

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are considered the “Oscars” of the comic book industry. Established in 1987, they are named for renowned cartoonist Will Eisner (creator of “The Spirit” and several award-winning graphic novels).

Other superstar creators scheduled to attend include Michael Golden (“Batman,” “Spider-Man”), Greg Horn (“Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark,” “X-Force”), Clayburn Moore (The CS Moore Studio Ltd.), Phil Ortiz (“The Simpsons,” “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”), Stéphane Roux (“Zatanna,” “Star Wars”), Mark Texeira (“Wolverine,” “Spider-Man”) and dozens of others.

Austin Comic Con will also feature popular celebrities such as Hayden Panettiere, Adam Baldwin, ACADEMY AWARD WINNER Louis Gossett Jr., James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Charisma Carpenter, Diora Baird, Julia Benson, Michael Biehn, Alaina Huffman and Kevin Sorbo.

Austin Comic Con is the ninth and final stop on Wizard World’s 2011 North American tour.  Hours are Friday, November 11, 4 – 7 p.m.; Saturday, November 12, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; and Sunday, November 13, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.  Tickets are available in advance online at http://www.wizardworldcomiccon.com/austin.html at a savings over tickets purchased at the door.  Advance adult single-day tickets are priced at $25 ($35 on site); weekend all-session tickets are $45 ($55 on site), and tickets are free for children age 10 and under when accompanied by a paid adult (limit two children per adult).  VIP packages with special entry and exclusive items are also available on a limited basis.

About Wizard World:
Wizard World produces Comic Cons and pop culture conventions across North America that celebrate graphic novels, comic books, movies, TV shows, gaming, technology, toys and social networking. The events often feature celebrities from movies and TV, artists and writers, and events such as premieres, gaming tournaments, panels, and costume contests. Wizard World also produces Wizard World Digital, an online publication covering new and upcoming products and talents in the pop culture world, and is distributed on a weekly basis to online and iPad users worldwide.

The full event schedule can be found at www.wizardworld.com.

***** SAVE THE 2011/12 DATES *****
October 22-23 – Mid-Ohio Comic Con
November 11-13 – Austin Comic Con
January 28-29, 2012 – New Orleans Comic Con
March 24-25, 2012 – Toronto Comic Con
May 19-20, 2012 – Big Apple Comic Con
June 1-3, 2012 – Philadelphia Comic Con
August 9-12, 2012 – Chicago Comic Con

Preview – Samurai’s Blood #5

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SAMURAI’S BLOOD #5 (of 6)

Diamond Order Code: AUG110537

story OWEN WISEMAN
art NAM KIM, MATTHEW DALTON & SAKTI YUMONO
cover JO CHEN

32 PAGES / FC / T
$2.99

ON SALE OCTOBER 19TH

The tides of fate have brought a great asset to our three young companions for the Edo Ghost has returned to haunt Gakushi’s reign. But destiny may have different plans for Katashi….

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