Baltimore Comic-Con recap

I did it! I made it through convention season. Baltimore Comic-Con took place about a week and a half ago, and I think it's my last convention of the year. If anything, it should be my last out of state convention of the year. Anyway, Baltimore hosts my favorite convention because it's all about comics. A comic convention that actually focuses on comics. Crazy, right?

The convention expanded to three days this year (from two days) and moved into a bigger space in the exhibit hall. There was more time to see everything, more room to move around the aisles, and they offered several interesting panels which is an improvement over past years. Even with taking most of Friday to stay in the hotel room and work, I had plenty of time to explore the exhibit hall, hang out with friends, collect new art in my Daredevil sketchbook, attend panels, and record video for Con Woman (that will be up on the Shout Factory YouTube channel in the next couple of months). I also covered a few panels for Comic Book Resources (huzzah!) and interviewed Joel Hodgson, the creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000, for Con Woman. Not too shabby.

Daredevil by Mike Maihack

Matt Murdock by Lora Innes

Baltimore Comic-Con was a breath of fresh air after Dragon Con. It was less crowded, and since it was just in a single convention center instead of five hotels, navigating was a breeze. It was only a short walk to the convention center from the hotel, and the Inner Harbor was right across the street with plenty of delicious food (there's also shopping if that's your thing). I wandered over to admire the USS Constellation but got distracted by being miserably hot and didn't make it on board. Next year will be the year.

I mentioned that Baltimore is all about comics, and that was evident in just a few minutes of walking around the exhibit hall. If I want to catch up on trades or look for fun single issues to read, this is the convention I wait for. The percentage of vendors selling comics is high, and many issues and trades are discounted. Artists' alley (which was a little difficult to navigate because I couldn't find table numbers) was packed with indie and self-published titles. I came home with a giant stack of comics that I purchased and received in the Harvey Awards attendee gift bag:

I would have rolled around on them except I was worried about hurting the covers.

You can see all my photos from the convention at Flickr.