Last year I attended my first Baltimore Comic Con after hearing from friends/comic book creators that it was one of the best pure comic book conventions in the US (and they were right IMO). I decided to attend for the second straight year, and just like my first trip there I had a lot of fun at the event.
The show, which takes over the Baltimore Convention Center for three days every year, saw a great list of invited creators descend upon it, some of whom I’ve never seen at a con before – and that’s saying something. I’ve attended my fair share of comic cons over the years and the main reason for not seeing some of these guests is the fact that I’m West Coast-based and I’m only recently deciding to branch out and see what’s out there.
This year I attended the weekend after the I spent 5 days at Dragon Con (so I was a bit tired)
Just like in 2022 I got quite a few of my prized books signed from the likes of Russ Braun, Garth Ennis, Chris Claremont, Mark Buckingham, Brian Michael Bendis, Howard Mackie, Jon Bogdanove, Walt and Louise Simonson, David Mack, and more. I also added quite a few sketches to my collection including some from Adam Hughes, Tony Moy, Gene Ha, Tana Ford, Mark Buckingham, Billy Tucci, Marc Hempel, Wade Von Grawbadger,as well as some from veterans/legends Joe Staton, Alex Saviuk, and Mike DeCarlo.
I also had the chance to sit down and talk with Frank Cho about his Kickstarter campaign for Fight Girls Deluxe Director’s Cut Edition, his career, and more!
As I wandered around the con and talked to various guests, they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Probably due to the fact that this was a very low key con in comparison to others I’ve attended, and also due to the fact that some of these creators don’t see each other too often. For instance sitting next to both Walt and Louise Simonson was Howard Chaykin (as was the case in 2022). While some other creators had the chance to wander and talk to some of their contemporaries including Jim Starlin, Brian Michael Bendis, Garth Ennis, and more.
While I didn’t attend panels (as I was busy running around seeing all the creators and taking in the exhibit floor), some of the programmings included spotlight panels for Chris Claremont, Steve Rude, Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, Garth Ennis, and José Luis García-López. As was the case in 2022, they had some Hollywood type guests who each got their own spotlight panel as well. This year those were Nightmare Before Christmas’ Chris Sarandon, and Ken Page, and Matthew Lewis from the Harry Potter franchise.
Of course, the other big draw in the programming schedule was the annual The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards, aka The Ringos. What makes these awards great is both fans and pros get to choose the nominees, with the winners then selected by a jury.
Having been to many cons in the post-COVID shutdown era, I have to say that this show had a decent attendance level – not huge in comparison to other mega shows like those put on by ReedPop or CCI. That was probably due to the fact that this was an almost pure comic book convention without some of the media draws that other cons have.
As I said after my first excursion to Baltimore in 2022, if you’re a fan of old-school comic book conventions where one can chat and see many creators in a very lowkey environment, I highly recommend adding this show to your plans especially since the tickets are very affordable ($75 for all 3 days or 30/40/35 for Friday/Saturday/Sunday respectively). The exhibit hall while spread out had wall-to-wall creators from veterans to newer indie creators all tabling with quite a few vendor booths with multiple boxes of comics spread out for attendees to fill gaps in their collections. The staff and volunteers ran a great show with hardly any issues at all.
As it was in 2022, Baltimore Comic Con 2023 was one of my favorite shows of the year, hands down, and I can’t wait to go back when it returns September 20-22, 2024.
Did you attend Baltimore Comic Con? What were your thoughts about it? Let us know in the comments or chat with us on Twitter at TheConCollectve.
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