As the con season winds down in the fall, Baltimore Comic-Con returns to the city’s convention center with an extensive array of comics creators along with media personalities and cosplaying attendees. Here’s an overview of this year’s Baltimore fan fest from my perspective.
Click on the thumbnail images to display a gallery of photos on each topic.
Comics Panels
The con’s programming sessions brought together comics writers, artists, and editors to discuss their work. This year’s panels included the following:
In the “Art of Reinvention“, multitalented creators Derek Kirk Kim, Brian K. Vaughan, and Tom King discussed their work in various media with moderator Bob Harrison.
“Worldbuilding 101” featured Jamal Igle, Becky Cloonan, Sean Von Gorman, Carla Speed McNeil, and David Petersen in conversation with Emily Whitten.
Creators Howard Chaykin, Cully Hamner, and Dave Johnson told tales of their life and work with moderator Adam Philips in “Untold Stories of Comics Creators.”
Writer and famed book designer Chip Kidd and artist Michael Cho spoke with Charles Kochman about their new metafictional graphic novel The Avengers in the Veracity Trap! in the session “Chip Kidd and Michael Cho on Comics.”
Celebrating the 35th anniversary of DC’s Breathtaker, the series creative team of Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel were joined by original Insight Studios member Kathy Mix, artist Walt Simonson (who wrote the introduction to the new hardcopy edition from Titan Comics), with moderator and original series editor Mike Gold.
“Happy Hour with the Comic Book Couples,” a perennial highlight of Baltimore Comic-Con, brings together couples in a hilarious roundtable talk. This year’s panel included Billy and Deborah Tucci, Walt and Louise Simonson, Joe and Hilarie Staton, and Michael Conrad and Becky Cloonan.
While superheroes may dominate comics, the medium is much broader than costumed action tales. The panel session “It’s Love’s Illusions I Recall” brought together Tom King, Barbara Friedlander, Thom Zahler, Dan Parent and moderator Bob Greenberger to discuss the history and impact of romance comics.
Oni Press president and publisher Hunter Gorinson headlined a panel focused on the publisher.
In “Dark Tomorrows: Post Apocalyptic Epics” moderator Bob Harrison discussed bleak future possibilities with Brian K. Vaughan, Michael Conrad, Derek Kirk Kim, and Donny Cates.
Comics creators David Petersen, Stan Sakai, Zoe Thorogood, and Jeff Smith talked about how they do what they do in “Tools of the Trade” with moderator Greg Matiasevich.
The long history of DC Comics was the topic in “DC Comics: 90 Years of Innovation,” which featured a raft of writers and editors from the publisher: Barbara Friedlander, Tom King, Bob Greenberger, Mark Waid, John Workman, and Jack C. Harris, along with former editor Mike Gold serving as moderator.
The always opinionated Howard Chaykin held court in a solo session about his work.
In “Bad Idea: The Baltimore Comic-Con Panel,” Bad Idea CEO and Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani was joined by writer Robert Venditti and VP of Sales and Marketing Siena Fallon to talk about the publisher’s projects.
For the “Jim Shooter Remembered” session, Mike Gold moderated a panel with Walter Simonson, Louise Simonson, Al Milgrom, and Rick Leonardi discussing the former Marvel editor-in-chief who passed away earlier in the year.
Writers Brian K. Vaughan and Torunn Grønbekk were the focus in the “Writers’ Roundtable” session moderated by Joseph Rybandt.
Spotlight Sessions
In addition to the group panel discussions, the show’s programming also included spotlight sessions focusing on noteworthy comics creators. This year spotlight sessions included the following:
In the “Jeff Smith Spotlight” session, the creator of Bone and RASL discussed his work with moderator Roger Ash.
Famed X-Men writer Chris Claremont spoke with Roger Ash about his long-standing work on the series.
Writer James Robinson talked about his work with John Trumbull.
Writer and artist Mike Grell was interviewed in his spotlight session by Mike Gold.
Alternative cartoonist and writer/artist Paul Pope spoke with noted colorist José Villarrubia in a spotlight panel.
In the “Alan Davis Spotlight,” the famed British writer talked about his long career with Roger Ash.
In her spotlight session, former DC Comics editor Barbara Friedlander spoke with Bob Greenberger about the early days of the publisher and what it was like being one of the few women in a male-dominated industry.
Prolific writer Mark Waid talked to John Trumbull about his work, including documenting the entire history of both the DC and Marvel universes in his current work on the New History of the DC Universe (2025-) and his former publication History of the Marvel Universe (2019).
Media Personalities
While Baltimore Comic-Con has a sharp focus on comics, rather than Hollywood celebrities, a number of media personalities appeared at the fan fest. Some of the featured celebrities, such as The Terminator and Aliens star Michael Biehn, were only available for paid autographs and photo ops. Others, however, appeared in programming sessions open to all badge holders at no additional cost. These included:
Actor Carl Lumbly, best known to comic book fans as Marvel super-soldier Isaiah Bradley, was interviewed by Brandon Troy.
Popular actor Giancarlo Esposito, whose credits include Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian, was interviewed by Christina Blanch.
Voice cast members from X-Men: The Animated Series Alyson Court, Adrian Hough, Lenore Zann, and David Errigo Jr. talked about their work — and did funny voices — with moderator Christina Blanch.
For Harry Potter fans, the “Weasley Family Spotlight” featured actors Bonnie Wright, James Phelps, and Oliver Phelps.
Around the Exhibition Hall
Outside of the programming sessions, much of the action takes place on the exhibition hall’s show floor. There were, of course, vendor booths offering back issues of comic books, t-shirts, and pop culture collectibles. There were also a few outliers among the show’s booths, including the U. S. Marine Corps and a State Farm Insurance booth offering to put your face on a bobblehead figure.
The majority of the show floor, however, was filled with tables of comic book artists and writers. While there were long lines to see iconic creators such as Walt and Louise Simonson and Chris Claremont, most creators were easily accessible to sign a book, create a sketch, or have a brief conversation.
And Cosplay
While my focus is more on comics creators than cosplay, it’s always fun to see guests sporting creative costumes. And, in some cases, such as illustrator Afua Richardson, you get both in a single individual.
For a gallery of nearly 500 photos from this year’s event, see the Flickr photo album Baltimore Comic-Con 2025:
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