Wheatley, Hempel Lead Insight Studios to Show

Baltimore Comic-Con Brings Veteran Creators, New Projects

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - August 26, 2015 - Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel, the creative pioneers who launched Blood of the Innocent, Mars, and numerous other creations, will explore things a little closer to home with their appearance at the Baltimore Comic-Con, September 25-27, 2015 at the Baltimore Convention Center. This is the sixteenth annual Baltimore Comic-Con, and this marks Insight Studios Groups' sixteenth straight appearance at the show. They will be joined by studio mates Jerry Carr, G. D. Falksen, Allan Gross, and Evelyn Kriete.

Despite vibrant and incredibly varied solo careers, Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel have been frequent, highly successful collaborators. Their work together has included Tarzan, Jonny Quest, Titanic Tales, and Doctor Cyborg, among other projects. They are presently at work on a fully restored and lavishly produced re-issue of their acclaimed graphic novel Breathtaker for Titan Comics. Long out of print, it was originally serialized and then collected into a best-selling trade paperback by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint 20 years ago. Their work, both together and separately, was extensively profiled in IS Art: The Art of Insight Studios.

"Even with the addition of some stellar media guests, the Baltimore Comic-Con remains one of the most staunchly comic-centric conventions on the circuit. Of course we're favorably predisposed to our hometown show, but it's so much more than just regional pride. The guest list just can't be beat by any other show of this size or even many that are quite a bit bigger," said Mark Wheatley. "We're extremely happy our big, annual gathering of the tribe happens right here in Baltimore, and we're looking forward to making some great announcements."

On his own, Mark Wheatley has most recently had his work for CBS Television featured on The Millers and Super Clyde, and he's presently part of a team that is developing a live stage show featuring Dick Tracy, Tarzan and the Green Hornet. In print, his work has been featured in the acclaimed Jungle Tales Of Tarzan from Dark Horse Comics, on the cover of the Meteor House release of Exiles Of Kho, the Phillip Jose Farmer series novel by Christopher Paul Carey, and his own well-received new art book, Stars, which presents elaborate line art portraits of actors, musicians, and authors. With a track record that includes Frankenstein Mobster, Radical Dreamer, Return of the Human, Hammer of the Gods, EZ Street, Skultar, and Lone Justice, Wheatley is an Inkpot, Mucker, Gem, Speakeasy, and Eisner award-winning creator. He has lectured at the Library of Congress, exhibited at the Norman Rockwell Museum, created set pieces for The Black Eyed Peas, designed for Lady Gaga, and contributed designs to ABC's Beauty and the Beast. He will be announcing an innovative new project at the show in collaboration with studio members G. D. Falksen and Evelyn Kriete.

"America's Most Beloved Semi-Obscure Cartoonist," writer-illustrator Marc Hempel, grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and now resides in Baltimore, Maryland, where he plies his craft on such diverse projects ranging from his own Gregory, Tug & Buster, and Naked Brain to Disney Adventures, and from Clive Barker's Hellraiser to "The Kindly Ones" in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. Hempel's art has also appeared in MAD, Marvel Fanfare, Epic Illustrated, Heavy Metal, Flinch, My Faith in Frankie, The Dreaming, Lucifer, Munden's Bar, Nickelodeon Magazine, and a 21-page Escapist story for Dark Horse Comics. His series The Love Brothers has appeared in Aces Weekly.

Cryptozoo Crew artist Jerry Carr will debut a select number of large and small stretched canvas prints, illustrating a variety of furkini-clad jungle heroines and the monkeys who love them. At the Baltimore Comic-Con, he will also unveil new, limited edition poster prints, depicting all kinds of alien, primate, and reptilian critters. His and Allan Gross' Cryptozoo Crew has been optioned by Alcon Entertainment.

G. D. Falksen is an author, lecturer, public speaker, and MC. He also studies history and has consulted for Disney. He is the author of The Ouroboros Cycle series and The Transatlantic Conspiracy, a YA mystery novel forthcoming from Soho Teen. Other fiction includes The Strange Case of Mr. Salad Monday, Cinema U, An Unfortunate Engagement, and The Mask of Tezcatlipoca. He is also a voice actor and co-writer for the animated film Hullabaloo and an accompanying educational series titled Ask The Professor.

In addition to Cryptozoo Crew, Allan Gross has written for comic book companies including DC Comics, Dark Horse, and TokyoPop, as well as the Tarzan newspaper strip for United Features Syndicate, and cartoons for television. He wrote Road Song, the Doctor Cyborg graphic novels The Clone Conspiracy and Outpatient, and the novella "Bride of the Beast Man" in Titanic Tales, collaborated on the writing and editing of Gray Morrow: Visionary, and wrote the definitive retrospective on Insight Studios, IS Art: The Art of Insight Studios. He recently launched a successful Kickstarter project for his new quirky graphic novel, Life's Questions Answered, and he'll have a special signed, pre-publication edition available at the show.

Evelyn Kriete is an editor, producer, artist, stylist, marketing adviser, social media strategist, and new media coordinator. She is also a crowdfunding consultant for Indiegogo and Comicmix. Through crowdfunding, she has raised over $1 million for various projects, including the animated film Hullabaloo, which she is producing alongside film creator James Lopez. She has previously worked on the staff of literary publications such as Weird Tales and Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine.

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!

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS

While they are available, be sure to take advantage of discount rate arrangements we have made with hotels near the Baltimore Convention Center. For all the details, see:

http://baltimorecomiccon.com/about/hotels/

In addition to on-site CGC grading, this year's confirmed guests for the show include: Neal Adams (All-New Captain America); Zeea Adams (Neal Adams Monsters); Scott Ambruson (Azteca: Ciudad Paradiso); Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl); Marty Baumann (Pixar artist); John Beatty (Secret Wars); Carolyn Belefski (Curls); Gregory Benton (Smoke); Paul Blackthorne (Arrow); Christy Blanch (The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood); Brett Blevins (New Mutants); Martin Brandt (Kidthulhu); Harold Buchholz (Archie Comics); Mark Buckingham (Fables); Bob Budiansky (courtesy of Hero Initiative, Transformers); Dave Bullock (Wednesday Comics); Buzz (JSA); Talent Caldwell (Grimm Fairy Tales Presents White Queen: Age of Darkness); Frank Cammuso (Salem Hyde); Chris Campana (Kantara); Joe Carabeo (Black Magic Tales); Jerry Carr (Trickster: Native American Tales); Richard Case (Doom Patrol); Christa Cassano (Ghetto Klown); Katie Cassiday (Arrow); Tommy Castillo (Squarriors); Jacob Chabot (SpongeBob Comics); Sean Chen (Secret Origins); Cliff Chiang (Wonder Woman); Frank Cho (Jungle Girl); Amy Chu (Strange Sports Stories); Rich Clabaugh (The Graveyard Gang); Steve Conley (Bloop); Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn); Katie Cook (Gronk); Darwyn Cooke (Richard Stark's Parker); Mike Curtis (Dick Tracy); Keith Davidsen (Reanimator); Rachel Deering (In the Dark: A Horror Anthology); Vito Delsante (Stray); Todd Dezago (Perhapanauts); Charles Dowd (Lilith Dark); Joe Eisma (Morning Glories); Tod Emko (A Piggy's Tale); Joe Endres (Colossians); G.D. Falksen (The Ouroboros Cycle); Jules Feiffer (Kill My Mother); Tim Fielder (Dieselfunk Studios' Matty's Rocket, Saturday and Sunday only); David Finch (Wonder Woman); Chris Flick (Capes & Babes); Ramona Fradon (Spongebob Annual-Size Super-Giant Swimtacular); Otis Frampton (Oddly Normal); Francesco Francavilla (Secret Wars: Battleworld); Franco (Itty Bitty Hellboy); John Gallagher (Buzzboy); Katie Gallagher (Zoey and Ketchup); Jack and Will Gallagher (E.P.i.C. Bros.); S.L. Gallant (G.I. Joe); Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (Batman '66: The Lost Episode); Bryan J.L. Glass (The Mice Templar); Mike Gold (Hawkworld); Jimmy Gownley (The Dumbest Idea Ever!); Keron Grant (Father's Day); Mike Grell (courtesy of Hero Initiative, Action Comics); Dawn Griffin (Zorphbert & Fred); Eric Grissom (Planet Gigantic); Allan Gross (Cryptozoo Crew); Laura Lee Gulledge (Will & Whit); Laura Guzzo (Princeless: Short Stories for Warrior Women); Cully Hamner (Convergence: The Question); Scott Hanna (The New 52: Futures End); Tony Harris (Justice League United); Dean Haspiel (The Fox); Russ Heath (G.I. Combat); Marc Hempel (Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream); Eric Henson (The Perhapanauts: Danger Down Under); h-eri (Ivory Dragon Studios); Ken Hunt (Talon); Jamal Igle (Molly Danger); Geof Isherwood (Suicide Squad); Klaus Janson (Superman); Dave Johnson (Inhumans: Attilan Rising); Dani Jones (My Sister the Freak); JG Jones (Strange Fruit); Justin Jordan (Legacy of Luther Strode); Chris Kemple (Red Vengeance); Tom King (Grayson); 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); John Lind (Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book: Essential Kurtzman Vol. 1); Joe Linsner (Red Sonja); Nate Lovett (Midnight Tiger); Kevin Maguire (Justice League); Mike Maihack (Cleopatra in Space); Mike Manley (Darkhawk); Mark Mariano (The Other Side of Hugless Hill); Laura Martin (Star Wars); Ron Marz (Convergence: Batman and Robin); Mike McKone (Justice League United); Bob McLeod (Secret Wars); Pop Mhan (He-Man: The Eternity War); Kevin Miller (The Cat Maiden); Chris Miskiewicz (Thomas Alsop); Terry Moore (Rachel Rising); Mark Morales (Convergence); Nen (The Memory Collectors); Jamar Nicholas (Leon: Protector of the Playground); Edward James Olmos (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.); Chris O>Matic (The Chris O>Matic Show); John Ostrander (Suicide Squad); Chris Otto (A Dog's Life); Greg Pak (Storm); Tom Palmer (The Avengers); Jimmy Palmiotti (The Con Job); Dan Parent (Archie); Jeff Parker (Justice League United); Doug Paszkiewicz (Arsenic Lullabies); Brent Peeples (Legenderry: Green Hornet); Andrew Pepoy (Afterlife with Archie); David Petersen (Mouse Guard); Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men); Khoi Pham (X-Men Legacy); Mark Poulton (A Cat Named Haiku); Andy Price (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic); Kyle Puttkammer (Hero Cats); Ron Randall (Convergence: Catwoman); Tom Raney (Avengers Vs.); Mary Reed (The Cat Maiden); Sara Richard (Jem and the Holograms); Rafer Roberts (Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream); David Rodriguez (Skylanders); Dave Roman (StarBunny Inc.); Budd Root (Cavewoman); Don Rosa (Donald Duck); Craig Rousseau (Batman Beyond); Andy Runton (Owly); Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo); Dan Schkade (The Spirit); Arlen Schumer (Silver Age of Comic Book Art); Chris Schweizer (The Creeps); 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); JK Snyder III (Doctor Mid-Nite); Scott Snyder (Batman Eternal); Charles Soule (Uncanny Inhumans); Mark Sparacio (Sgt. Rock); Jim Starlin (Thanos: The Infinity Relativity); Joe Staton (Dick Tracy); Brian Stelfreeze (Day Men); Peter Stone (Shattered Krystal); Paul Storrie (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle); Karl Story (Thors); Joe St. Pierre (New Zodiax); Marcio Takara (Armor Wars); Eric Talbot (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); Ben Taylor (A Dog's Life); Ben Templesmith (Gotham by Midnight); Mark Texeira (Ghost Racers); Frank Tieri (Suicide Squad); Vivek J. Tiwary (The Fifth Beatle); Peter Tomasi (Green Lantern Corps); John Totleben (Swamp Thing); Jeremy Treece (King: Mandrake the Magician); Tim Truman (Hawkman); Billy Tucci (Shi); Ted Tucker (Caricature art); James Tynion (Constantine: The Hellblazer); Ethan Van Sciver (Green Lantern); Rick Veitch (Saga of the Swamp Thing); Emilio Velez Jr. (The Dodgeball Teens); Charles Vess (Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream); Brennan Wagner (Django/Zorro); Matt Wagner (Grendel); Mark Waid (Daredevil); John Watson (Red Sonja); Todd Webb (Mr. Toast Comics); Matt Wieringo ('Ringo Scholarship Fund); Marcus Williams (Hero Cats); Marv Wolfman (courtesy of Hero Initiative, Convergence: New Teen Titans); Rich Woodall (Kyrra); Brian Woodward (Baltimore Comic-Con 2015 Yearbook); Bernie Wrightson (The Ghoul Treasury Edition); Annie Wu (Black Canary); 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.