Hero Initiative Announces

Baltimore Comic-Con 2015 Line-Up

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - July 15, 2015 - The Hero Initiative, the charity that supports comic creators in medical and financial need, will hit the Baltimore Comic-Con September 25-27, 2015 at the Baltimore Convention Center, with fan favorite creators -- VIP and General Admission tickets are now on sale! Come ready with your books, as the Hero Initiative booth will be a popular stop on the Baltimore Convention Center floor (please check the Hero Initiative website closer to the date for booth number and scheduled times). This year, Hero Initiative is pleased to bring to Baltimore classic creators Bob Budiansky, Mike Grell, and Marv Wolfman.

Bob Budiansky spent years working for Marvel Comics as a writer, penciller, and editor. He is the writer responsible for the entire run of Marvel's Sleepwalker in the 1990s. He is also renowned for his contributions to the Transformers comics, where he created much of the original comics content, created some of the more popular characters in their continuity, and provided the "tech specs" that were packaged along with the Hasbro toys in the '80s. As an artist, Budiansky's pencils graced the pages and covers of titles like Ghost Rider, Captain America, and Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Budiansky spent 13 years working as an editor at Marvel Comics on titles like Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and The Thing, plus Spider-Man titles including those during the famed Clone Saga story line.

Mike Grell began his storied career in comics working in comic strips, as an assistant on Brenda Starr. After moving to New York City in the 1970s, Grell took over art duties on DC Comics' Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. He later flexed his skills as a writer, creating The Warlord at DC. He launched Batman Family and worked on Green Lantern/Green Arrow as well. In the early 1980s, Grell returned to his comic strip roots, taking over writing and drawing roles on the syndicated Tarzan. Later, he went on to develop his creator-owned properties, Jon Sable Freelance at First Comics and Starslayer at Pacific Comics. In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Grell took over writing and illustration duties on Green Arrow after his much-lauded take on the character in the Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters limited series. As he entered the 2000s, he worked on Marvel Comics' Iron Man and X-Men Forever, and returned to The Warlord at DC Comics. Recently, Grell serialized a Tarzan story for Dark Horse Presents, and contributed to DC's Arrow, from the TV adaptation of the comic.

Marv Wolfman got his start on the fandom side of comics, writing for and editing fanzines in the 1960s. His professional career began at DC Comics, where he wrote a story for Blackhawk and would go on to contribute to titles like Teen Titans, Showcase, and Weird Mystery Tales. Moving to Marvel Comics, he eventually ascended to the role of Editor-in-Chief, before stepping aside so he could concentrate on his writing. There, he had an extensive run on Tomb of Dracula, where he created Blade, the character that proved the viability of Marvel properties on the big screen. He was also the mind behind such Marvel characters as Nova, Terrax, Bullseye, and Black Cat. He also wrote the syndicated Howard the Duck comic strip. He later returned to DC to relaunch the acclaimed New Teen Titans. and worked on titles including Action Comics, Dial H for Hero, Green Lantern, and Night Force before the game-changing Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series. In the 1990s, Wolfman was an editor at and wrote for Disney Comics. In the 2000s, Wolfman returned to DC Comics, writing Nightwing, DC Special: Raven, and, more recently, Convergence: Adventures of Superman and Convergence: New Teen Titans. "We love the Hero Initiative," said Marc Nathan, promoter of the Baltimore Comic-Con. "Besides bringing spectacular, high-profile guests to Baltimore, they do amazing things for the comics creative community, and we can't emphasize enough the positive impact they have in people's lives."

TICKETS

General Admission and VIP Package tickets for Weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, as well as the Harvey Awards, are now on sale! Visit www.baltimorecomiccon.com/tickets/ for more information and to purchase your advanced tickets now, and as always, kids 10 and under get into the show free with a paid adult General Admission! 

In addition to on-site CGC grading, this year's confirmed guests for the show include: Neal Adams (All-New Captain America); Scott Ambruson (Azteca: Ciudad Paradiso); Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl); Marty Baumann (Pixar artist); John Beatty (Secret Wars); Gregory Benton (Smoke); Christy Blanch (The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood); Mark Buckingham (Fables); Bob 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); Vito Delsante (Stray); 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); Jamal Igle (Molly Danger); Geof Isherwood (Suicide Squad); 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); Dan Leister (Grimm Fairy Tales); Mike Lilly (Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Robyn Hood); Nate Lovett (Midnight Tiger); Kevin Maguire (Justice League); Mike Manley (Darkhawk); Mark Mariano (The Other Side of Hugless Hill); Laura Martin (Star Wars); Ron Marz (Convergence: Batman and Robin); Bob McLeod (Secret Wars); Pop Mhan (He-Man: The Eternity War); Terry Moore (Rachel Rising); Mark Morales (Convergence); Nen (The Memory Collectors); John Ostrander (Suicide Squad); Greg Pak (Storm); Tom Palmer (The Avengers); Jimmy Palmiotti (The Con Job); Dan Parent (Archie); Brent Peeples (Legenderry: Green Hornet); Andrew Pepoy (Afterlife with Archie); David Petersen (Mouse Guard); Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men); Khoi Pham (X-Men Legacy); Andy Price (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic); Ron Randall (Convergence: Catwoman); Tom Raney (Avengers Vs.); Sara Richard (Jem and the Holograms); Rafer Roberts (Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream); David Rodriguez (Skylanders); Budd Root (Cavewoman); Don Rosa (Donald Duck); Craig Rousseau (Batman Beyond); Andy Runton (Owly); Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo); Matteo Scalera (Black Science); Jeff Shultz (Betty and Veronica); Bart Sears (Bloodshot); Louise Simonson (Convergence: Superman - The Man of Steel); Walter Simonson (Convergence: Superman - The Man of Steel); Matt Slay (The Sakai Project: Artists Celebrate Thirty Years of Usagi Yojimbo); Andy Smith (Earth 2); Matthew Dow Smith (X-Files Season 10); Scott Snyder (Batman Eternal); Charles Soule (Uncanny Inhumans); Mark Sparacio (Sgt. Rock); Jim Starlin (Thanos: The Infinity Relativity); Brian Stelfreeze (Day Men); Paul Storrie (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle); Joe St. Pierre (New Zodiax); Marcio Takara (Armor Wars); Eric Talbot (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); Ben Templesmith (Gotham by Midnight); Mark Texeira (Ghost Racers); Frank Tieri (Suicide Squad); Peter Tomasi (Green Lantern Corps); John Totleben (Swamp Thing); Jeremy Treece (King: Mandrake the Magician); Tim Truman (Hawkman); 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); Matt Wieringo ('Ringo Scholarship Fund); Marv Wolfman (courtesy of Hero Initiative, Convergence: New Teen Titans); Rich Woodall (Kyrra); Brian Woodward (Baltimore Comic-Con 2015 Yearbook); 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.