Press Release
From the early Vertigo hit Breathtaker to CBS TV’s hit series The Millers, and from First Comics’ Mars to the cutting edge digital presentation of Return of the Human in Aces Weekly, Baltimore’s own Insight Studios Group has a long track record of breaking new artistic ground. Since Insight’s founding in 1978, Blood of the Innocent, Tug & Buster, Doctor Cyborg, EZ Street, Lone Justice, Gregory, Radical Dreamer, Jonny Quest, Tarzan, and many other characters, concepts, and adventures have flowed from the pens, pencils, keyboards, and brushes of the studios’ creators.
Anchored by Insight Studios founders Mark Wheatley (Frankenstein Mobster) and Marc Hempel (Sandman: The Kindly Ones), the group has always viewed the Baltimore Comic-Con as sort of their home base, an annual gathering of studio members even as the studios’ reach expanded across many different states. The fifteenth edition of the Baltimore Comic-Con – which marks the fifteenth time Insight has set up at the show – sees the convention roster growing to include longtime studio member Allan Gross (Road Song), writer-director Robert Tinnell (The Wicked West), and newcomer Darrenn Canton (Tunnels & Trolls) in addition to Wheatley and Hempel. And one never knows what Friends of Insight Studios might show up at the Baltimore Convention Center over the September 5-7, 2014 weekend.
“I talk with all the Insight guys quite a bit. We’re always planning projects and keeping up on life events. But we rarely all get into a room together. The price we pay for busy schedules and the convenience of the Internet,” said Wheatley.
Even though 2014 is little more than half over, it’s already been a very full year for the creators who make up the studio. Hempel presented his new series, The Love Brothers, this past year in the digital Aces Weekly, and he and Wheatley are now working with Titan Books to issue a new, restored edition of their Breathtaker graphic novel.
Gross, who is best known as writer of the syndicated Tarzan newspaper strip, has just returned to comics from other media projects. His new graphic novel project reunites him with Wheatley.
Tinnell, in addition to writing the award-winning graphic novel series Flesh & Blood, has been busy with a slate of projects including the just-completed documentary, That $#!% Will Rot Your Brain: How The Monster Kids Transformed Popular Culture.
Canton is the new kid at Insight. A fantasy illustrator, Darrenn will be sketching and painting at the show. He’ll have prints for sale, too, just like his studio mates.
The last year has been a big one for Wheatley in particular. He reached his largest audience ever as his work was featured prominently on the hit CBS comedy The Millers. He co-developed and illustrated the ground-breaking Return Of The Human series for the digital comics anthology Aces Weekly, created a new Tarzan story for Dark Horse, illustrated covers for comics, provided illustrations for books and magazines, and he just completed a lengthy graphic novel for reality TV king, Thom Beers (Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers) in collaboration with Todd Livingston.
The Baltimore Comic-Con will be held Friday, September 5 through Sunday, September 7, 2014, at the Baltimore Convention Center, which is located immediately across the street from the historic Camden Yards sports complex (which includes Oriole Park and Geppi’s Entertainment Museum). Tickets, a full guest roster, and additional information is available on the convention’s website.
Tickets
General Admission and VIP Package tickets for Weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are now on sale! Visit www.baltimorecomiccon.com/tickets/ for more information and to purchase your advanced tickets now!
This year’s previously confirmed guests for the show include: Eddy Barrows (Earth 2); Marty Baumann (Pixar artist); Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl); Marguerite Bennett (Batgirl); Mark Buckingham (Fables); Dave Bullock (Batman Black and White); Greg Capullo (Batman); Richard Case (Sandman); John Cassaday (Doc Savage); Bernard Chang (Green Lantern Corps); Sean Chen (Amazing Spider-Man); Jimmy Cheung (Infinity); Cliff Chiang (Wonder Woman); Frank Cho (X-Men: Battle of the Atom); Amy Chu (Girls Night Out); Richard Clark (House of Gold & Bones); Steve Conley (Bloop); Jeremy Dale (Skyward); Alan Davis (Wolverine); Rachel Deering (In the Dark); Todd Dezago (Tellos); Tommy Lee Edwards (Star Wars); Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys); Ray Fawkes (Constantine); Tom Feister (G.I. Joe); David Finch (Forever Evil); Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (All-Star Western); Gerhard (Cerebus the Aardvark); Dave Gibbons (Watchmen); Keith Giffen (The New 52: Future’s End); Bryan JL Glass (Mice Templar); Michael Golden (The Ravagers); Cully Hamner (Animal Man); Dean Haspiel (The Fox); Fred Hembeck (Garfield); Adam Hughes (Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan); Justin Jordan (Luther Strode, Green Lantern: New Guardians); Dan Jurgens (The New 52: Future’s End); Chris Kemple (Red Vengeance); Barry Kitson (Empire); Aaron Kuder (Action Comics); David Mack (Shadowman); Kevin Maguire (Guardians of the Galaxy); Alex Maleev (Moon Knight); Billy Martin (Vitriol, The Hunter); Ron Marz (Witchblade); Mike McKone (Ultimate FF); Bob McLeod (X-Men: Gold); Tradd Moore (Deadpool Annual); Mark Morales (New Avengers); Dan Parent (Archie, Veronica, Kevin Keller); David Peterson (Mouse Guard); Joe Prado (Justice League); Brian Pulido (Lady Death); Ron Randall (Trekker in Dark Horse Presents); Tom Raney (Incredible Hulk); Ivan Reis (Aquaman and The Others); Budd Root (Cavewoman); Don Rosa (Donald Duck); Craig Rousseau (Perhapanauts); Joe Rubinstein (The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe); Andy Runton (Owly); Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man); Louise Simonson (Power Pack); Walter Simonson (Thor); Andy Smith (Superman #23.1: Bizarro); Allison Sohn (sketch card artist); Charles Soule (Thunderbolts); Jim Starlin (Thanos: The Infinity Revelation); Paul D. Storrie (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle); Ben Templesmith (The Memory Collectors); Peter Tomasi (Batman and Two-Face); John Totleben (Swamp Thing); Herb Trimpe (GI Joe: A Real American Hero); Billy Tucci (Shi); Rick Veitch (Saga of the Swamp Thing); Mike Vosburg (Lori Lovecraft); Mark Waid (Daredevil); Lee Weeks (Daredevil); Bill Willingham (Fables); Renee Witterstaetter (Joe Jusko: Maelstrom); Rich Woodall (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); Kelly Yates (Amber Atoms); Thom Zahler (My Little Pony); 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.
About The Baltimore Comic-Con
The Baltimore Comic-Con is celebrating its 14th year of bringing the comic book industry to the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. 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 9 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.
