Celebrate Independents at This Year’s Baltimore Comic-Con

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - May 16, 2011 - The Baltimore Comic-Con is happy announce the addition of Indy comics creators Dean Haspiel, Thom Zahler, Brad Guigar, Tim Truman, and Neil Vokes to the line-up of this year’s show, taking place August 20-21, 2011.

Dean Haspiel broke into the comic scene in the mid-1980s, working as an assistant to Howard Chaykin, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Walter Simonson. After graduating college, he made a career for himself as an independent artist working for such companies as Eternity Comics, Top Shelf Productions, and Alternative Comics. In addition, his artwork was featured in the Vertigo graphic novels, The Quitter, The Alcoholic, and Cuba: My Revolution. Haspiel is a founding-member of the webcomics collective, Act-i-vate and, in 2010, won an Emmy Award for his title design for HBO’s Bored to Death.

Said Haspiel, “If I could attend only one show a year, it would be Baltimore Comic-Con!”

Thom Zahler is the writer and artist of fan-favorite Indy book, Love and Capes, which is currently being published by IDW. A graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Comic and Graphic Art, his artistic talents have been showcased through work for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and the Cleveland Indians. In 2009, Zahler was nominated for two Harvey Awards in the categories of Best Cartoonist and Best Letterer.

Cartoonist Brad Guigar is the creator of the webcomics Evil, Inc., Courting Disaster, Greystone Inn, and Phables. His work on Courting Disaster and Phables appear weekly in the Philadelphia Daily News as well as on the web, and he is also the co-author of the book How to Make Webcomics. In 2007, Guigar was nominated of an Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic. Following that nomination, he received a Harvey Award nomination in 2009 for Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation.

Tim Truman, who is the co-creator of the character Grimjack, began working in comics in 1983. A graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Comic and Graphic Arts, he is both a writer and artist having worked on such titles as Airboy, The Heap, The Prowler, and The Spider for Eclipse Comics, as well as reinventing both Hawkman and Jonah Hex for DC Comics in the early-90s. Most recently, Truman handled writing duties for Dark Horse Comics’ Conan the Cimmerian.

Finally, Neil Vokes began his career in comics in 1984 with The Key Eternal from Comico. Since that time, Vokes’ art has graced the pages of the graphic novels The Wicked West and The Black Forest from Image Comics, Hero Happy Hour from GeekPunk, and Jurassic Park from Topps Comics. Currently, he is working on Flesh & Blood from Monsterverse and Eagle: The Original Adventures from Moonstone Books.

“From webcomics to independent press books, these great creators add a depth and richness to the comic industry that helps promote comics to a wider audience through the diversity of genres in which they’ve worked,” said Marc Nathan, show promoter of the Baltimore Comic-Con. “We couldn’t be more excited to have these guys added to our guest list for this year’s show.”

In addition to Haspiel, Zahler, Guigar, Truman, and Vokes, confirmed guests for the show including: Jason Aaron (Scalped, PunisherMAX); Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead); Nick Cardy (Aquaman, Teen Titans); Cliff Chiang (Greendale); Frank Cho (50 Girl 50, X-Men: Schism, New Ultimates); David Finch (Brightest Day, Batman: The Dark Knight); Ron Frenz (Spider-Girl); Jose-Luis Garcia-Lopez (Wednesday Comics, Batman Confidential); Michael Golden (creator of Bucky O’Hare); Mike Grell (Action Comics, The Pilgrim); Steve Hamaker (Bone); Jamal Igle (Supergirl, Zatanna); J.G. Jones (Doc Savage, DC Universe Legacies); Barry Kitson (Secret Invasion, Amazing Spider-Man); Laura Martin (New Avengers, Thor); Mark Morales (Fear Itself cover artist); Kevin Nowlan (Wednesday Comics); David Petersen (Mouse Guard); Brandon Peterson (Ultimate Vision, Strange); Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo); Walter Simonson (Thor); Jeff Smith (Bone, RASL); and Nick Spencer (Morning Glories, Iron Man 2.0).

In 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 at our website, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace pages.

This year’s Baltimore Comic-Con will be held August 20-21, 2011. Convention hours are Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 5 PM. The ceremony and banquet for the Harvey Awards will be held Saturday night, August 21th.

Contact Information

Please use the following e-mail addresses to contact the Baltimore Comic-Con:

[email protected] - for any general press inquiries or to be added to our PR distribution

[email protected] - for requesting exhibitor, publisher, and Artist Alley applications

[email protected] - for inquiries about submitted registrations

[email protected] - for communications regarding the Harvey Awards ceremony and banquet

[email protected] - for general Baltimore Comic-Con inquiries

About The Baltimore Comic-Con
The Baltimore Comic-Con is celebrating its 12th year of bringing the comic book industry to the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. With a guest list unequaled in the industry, the Baltimore Comic-Con will be held August 20-21, 2011. For more information, please visit www.baltimorecomiccon.com.

About The Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are one of the comic book industry’s oldest and most respected awards. With a history of over 20 years, the last 6 in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con, the Harveys recognize outstanding achievements in over 20 categories. They are the only industry awards nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. For more information, please visit www.harveyawards.org.