Baltimore Welcomes Comics Legends Adams,Garcia-Lopez, Heath, and Simonsons

  

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - May 20, 2015 - Come to Baltimore's Inner Harbor on September 25-27, 2015 for the 16th annual Baltimore Comic-Con. We are thrilled to announce legendary members of the comics creative community: Neal Adams, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Russ Heath, Louise Simonson, and Walter Simonson.

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Neal Adams' work on such DC Comics characters as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow redefined an era of comics, bringing a photorealistic feel to the pages of their respective books. In the late-'60s, while freelancing for DC Comics, Adams also began working at Marvel Comics on X-Men with Roy Thomas. He continued to work for DC and Marvel throughout the late-'60s and '70s, working on The Avengers, Detective Comics, and Green Lantern/Green Arrow. More recently, Adams worked on the 7-issue second volume of Batman: Odyssey for DC Comics, handled art duties on Marvel Comics' First X-Men, and can be seen on variant covers from Marvel's All-New Captain America.

Originally hailing from Spain, artist extraordinaire Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez has spent the vast majority of his illustrious career providing art at DC Comics. He has worked on characters large and small, ensemble casts and individual characters, and has received praise from his writers and editors alike. Some of his noteworthy work includes Jonah Hex, DC Comics Presents, New Teen Titans, Road to Perdition, Twilight, and Wednesday Comics. You can find recent work from Garcia-Lopez on All-Star Western, the Adventures of Superman: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez hardcover, Batman '66: The Lost Episode, and covers of Justice League: Gods and Monsters.

Russ Heath's storied career began when he was still in high school, freelancing as a penciller and inker on Captain Aero Comics from Holyoke publishing in the 1940s. After his time in the Air Force in WWII, Heath found work as a staffer at Timely Comics where he worked on many westerns, like Wild Western, All Western Winners, and Black Rider. His work expanded throughout the wide range of genres offered by Timely, including the war comics for which he became reputed. He went onto work for other publishers, like EC Comics (Frontline Combat), St. John Publications (3-D Comics), and DC Comics (Our Army at War, G.I. Combat, and Star-Spangled War Stories). Heath was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009, and has received the National Cartoonists Society's Milton Caniff Award in 2014.

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. She has lately been writing for DC Comics' Convergence: Superman - The Man of Steel.

Walter Simonson has made vast contributions to comics publishing, as a writer, an artist, and even in founding publishing imprints. He was recognized in 2012 at the Harvey Awards in Special Award for Excellence in Production/Presentation and Best Domestic Reprint Project for Walt Simonson's The Mighty Thor, Artist's Edition from IDW, and in 2013 for Alien: The Illustrated Story from Titan Books for Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work. He also received the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 at the Harvey Awards. Walt's career began in the 1970s at DC Comics, where he worked on titles such as Weird War Tales, Manhunter, Metal Men, Orion, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Vigilante, and Hercules Unbound. Over at Marvel Comics, Simonson has had numerous noteworthy runs, including The Rampaging Hulk magazine, X-Factor, Fantastic Four, and Thor, on which he was responsible for the introduction of Beta Ray Bill and Thor as a frog. You can find his artwork gracing the covers of DC's Convergence: Superman - The Man of Steel.

 

"The contributions these 5 guests have made to the comics industry are unparalleled," said Marc Nathan, promoter of the Baltimore Comic-Con. "Our show in September will be a unique opportunity for their fans to meet and interact with them all in one place."

This year's confirmed guests for the show include: Neal Adams (All-New Captain America); Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl); John Beatty (Secret Wars); Christy Blanch (The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood); Mark Buckingham (Fables); Sean Chen (Secret Origins); Cliff Chiang (Wonder Woman); Frank Cho (Jungle Girl); Steve Conley (Bloop); Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn); Katie Cook (Gronk); Darwyn Cooke (Richard Stark's Parker); Ramona Fradon (Spongebob Annual-Size Super-Giant Swimtacular); John Gallagher (Buzzboy); Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (Batman '66: The Lost Episode); Cully Hamner (Convergence: The Question); Dean Haspiel (The Fox); Russ Heath (G.I. Combat); Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets); Klaus Janson (Superman); Dave Johnson (Inhumans: Attilan Rising); JG Jones (Strange Fruit); Denis Kitchen (The Best of Comix Book: When Marvel Went Underground); Barry Kitson (Empire: Uprising); Paul Levitz (Convergence: World's Finest Comics); Mike Manley (Darkhawk); Mark Mariano (The Other Side of Hugless Hill); Ron Marz (Convergence: Batman and Robin); Terry Moore (Rachel Rising); Tom Palmer (The Avengers); Jimmy Palmiotti (The Con Job); Dan Parent (Archie); Andrew Pepoy (Afterlife with Archie); David Peterson (Mouse Guard); Khoi Pham (X-Men Legacy); Ron Randall (Convergence: Catwoman); Budd Root (Cavewoman); Don Rosa (Donald Duck); Andy Runton (Owly); Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo); Matteo Scalera (Black Science); Bart Sears (Bloodshot); Louise Simonson (Convergence: Superman - The Man of Steel); Walter Simonson (Convergence: Superman - The Man of Steel); Andy Smith (Earth 2); Charles Soule (Uncanny Inhumans); Marcio Takara (Armor Wars); Ben Templesmith (Gotham by Midnight); Frank Tieri (Suicide Squad); Peter Tomasi (Green Lantern Corps); John Totleben (Swamp Thing); Billy Tucci (Shi); James Tynion (Constantine: The Hellblazer); Rick Veitch (Saga of the Swamp Thing); Charles Vess (Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream); Mark Waid (Daredevil); John Watson (Red Sonja); Kelly Yates (Doctor Who); Thom Zahler (My Little Pony: Friends Forever); and Mike Zeck (Secret Wars). 

   

In the coming weeks, look for more announcements from the Baltimore Comic-Con. We are looking forward to highlighting our guests, the Harvey Awards, industry exclusives, and programming. The latest developments can always be found on our website, Twitter, and Facebook pages.