Press Release
The Baltimore Comic-Con, returning to the Baltimore Convention Center on Friday, September 5th through Sunday, September 7th, is privileged to announce our 2014 Media Guest of Honor. Peter Mayhew, known by fans the world over for his portrayal of Chewbacca, the Wookie co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Peter is currently filming Star Wars Episode VII, due to be released in 2015, and will appear with us all three days of the 2014 Baltimore Comic-Con!
Mayhew was born in Barnes, England, and at the age of eight was diagnosed with giantism. While working as an orderly at London’s King’s College Hospital, a reporter took a photo of him which was published in a local paper, an event that would change his life.
That photo demonstrated Peter’s towering 7’3″ figure and giant frame. By mere chance, the producers of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger saw this picture, which led to Peter being cast as the Minoton in his first film. Once Peter finished filming, he returned to his job at the hospital, only to be called again to audition with a gentleman by the name of George Lucas about his project, Star Wars. George walked into the room, Peter stood up to shake his hand like a proper Englishman, and the rest is history.
Peter brought the mighty wookiee Chewbacca to life in Star Wars (1977), The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), Empire Strikes Back (1980), The Muppet Show (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983).
When the movies were finished, Peter moved to Yorkshire where he lived quietly for 14 years. As the Star Wars Special Edition movies were being released in 1997, Peter found himself in high demand on the SciFi Convention circuit, and began making personal appearances around the world. In 1999 he married and packed his bags, made the jump across the pond, and moved to Texas where he eventually became an American citizen.
Peter was again asked to reprise his role as Chewbacca in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, introducing Chewie’s home planet of Kashyyyk and the world of Wookiees. In 2011, Lucasfilm flew Peter and his wife Angie out to Skywalker Ranch to consult with the animators and artists as they introduced Chewie into the Clone Wars series. After 30 years, Peter’s relationship with his beloved character came full circle by having him voice Chewbacca in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Currently, he is on hiatus from filming the highly anticipated Star Wars Episode VII, which will be hitting theaters next year. Peter will be at the Baltimore Comic-Con all three days, signing autographs and taking photos at his table. He will also be doing a panel Sunday.
“We are amazingly lucky to be adding Peter as a guest this close to the show date,” said Marc Nathan, promoter of the Baltimore Comic-Con. “Chewbacca is one of the cultural icons coming out of the Star Wars series, and is recognized and loved by fans young and old. We know the Star Wars fans are going to be beside themselves with this announcement!”
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!
Mark Your Calendars!
The Baltimore Comic-Con returns to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in 2015 for another three-day spectacular! Block off Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27, 2015 on your calendars now!
This year’s previously confirmed guests for the show include: James Asmus (Quantum & Woody); Marty Baumann (Pixar artist); Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl); Marguerite Bennett (Batgirl); Christina Blanch (The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood); Tom Brevoort (AXIS); Harold Buchholz (Archie Comics); Mark Buckingham (Fables); Dave Bullock (Batman Black and White); Jim Calafiore (Leaving Megalapolis); Frank Cammuso (Otto’s Backwards Day); Darrenn Canton (Tunnels & Trolls); Greg Capullo (Batman); Richard Case (Sandman); John Cassaday (Doc Savage); Bernard Chang (Green Lantern Corps); Jo Chen (Buffy the Vampire Slayer); Sean Chen (Amazing Spider-Man); Cliff Chiang (Wonder Woman); Frank Cho (X-Men: Battle of the Atom); Amy Chu (Girls Night Out); Richard Clark (House of Gold & Bones); Wook-Jin Clark (Adventure Time: The Flip Side); Steve Conley (Bloop); Jamie Cosley (Cody the Cavalier); Tyler Cosley (AlakaZach); Mike Curtis (Dick Tracy); Jeremy Dale (Skyward); Alan Davis (Wolverine); Todd Dezago (Tellos); Dan Didio (Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger: Futures End); Tommy Lee Edwards (Star Wars); Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys); Ray Fawkes (Constantine); Tom Feister (G.I. Joe); David Finch (Forever Evil); Franco (Aw Yeah Comics!); Jay Fosgitt (Bodie Troll); John Gallagher (Buzzboy); Katie Gallagher (Zoey and Ketchup): SL Gallant (GI JOE); Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (All-Star Western); Gerhard (Cerebus the Aardvark); Chris Giarrusso (G-Man); Dave Gibbons (Watchmen); Keith Giffen (The New 52: Future’s End); Bryan JL Glass (Mice Templar); Michael Golden (The Ravagers); Jimmy Gownley (The Dumbest Idea Ever!); Allan Gross (Road Song); Cully Hamner (Animal Man); Dean Haspiel (The Fox); Ben Hatke (Zita the Spacegirl); Josh Hechinger (The Grave Doug Freshly); Fred Hembeck (Garfield); Marc Hempel (Sandman: The Kindly Ones); Travis Hill (Adventure Time); Andy Hirsch (Regular Show); Jason Horn (Ninjasaur); Adam Hughes (Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan); Jamal Igle (Molly Danger); Laura Innes (The Dreamer); Justin Jordan (Luther Strode, Green Lantern: New Guardians); Dan Jurgens (The New 52: Future’s End); Collin Kelly (Hacktivist); Chris Kemple (Red Vengeance); Denis Kitchen (Al Capp: A Life to the Contrary); Barry Kitson (Empire); Aaron Kuder (Action Comics); Jackson Lanzing (Hacktivist); Norman Lee (Iron Man Special); Paul Levitz (World’s Finest); Kevin Maguire (Guardians of the Galaxy); Mike Maihack (Cleopatra in Space); Alex Maleev (Moon Knight); Mark Mariano (The Other Side of Hugless Hill); Billy Martin (Vitriol, The Hunter); Laura Martin (Uncanny Avengers); Ron Marz (Witchblade); Mark McKenna (Banana Tail); Mike McKone (Ultimate FF); Bob McLeod (X-Men: Gold); Pop Mhan (All-New X-Factor); Al Milgrom (Marvel Fanfare); Tradd Moore (Deadpool Annual); Mark Morales (New Avengers); Michael Alan Nelson (Day Men); Jamar Nicholas (Leon: Protector of the Playground); Chris O>Matic (The Chris O>Matic Show!); Denny O’Neil (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight); Chris Otto (A Dog’s Life); Dan Parent (Archie, Veronica, Kevin Keller); Missy Pena (Bee and Puppycat); Andrew Pepoy (Life with Archie); George Perez (George Perez’s Sirens); David Peterson (Mouse Guard); Khoi Pham (Mighty Avengers); Cary Pietsch (Bravest Warriors); Joe Prado (Justice League); Brian Pulido (Lady Death); Ron Randall (Trekker in Dark Horse Presents); Tom Raney (Incredible Hulk); Brian Reber (Unity); Ivan Reis (Aquaman and The Others); Rafer Roberts (X-O Manowar); 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); Gregg Schigiel (Spongebob Squarepants Comics); Jeff Schultz (Archie Comics); Gail Simone (Red Sonja); Louise Simonson (Power Pack); Walter Simonson (Thor); Andy Smith (Superman #23.1: Bizarro); Allison Sohn (sketch card artist); Charles Soule (Thunderbolts); Mark Sparacio (Omega Paradox); Jim Starlin (Thanos: The Infinity Revelation); Joe Staton (Dick Tracy); Brian Stelfreeze (Day Men); Jeff Stokely (Six-Gun Gorilla); Paul D. Storrie (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle); Karl Story (Serenity: Leaves of the Wind); Vivek J. Tiwary (The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story); Ben Taylor (A Dog’s Life); Robert Tinnell (The Wicked West); 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); James Tynion IV (The Woods); Mike Vosburg (Lori Lovecraft); Brennan Wagner (The Shadow: Year One); Matt Wagner (Grendel); Mark Waid (Daredevil); Lee Weeks (Daredevil); Mark Wheatley (Frankenstein Mobster); Bill Willingham (Fables); Matthew Wilson (Secret Avengers); Renee Witterstaetter (Joe Jusko: Maelstrom); Mike Wolfer (Friday the 13th); Rich Woodall (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); Kelly Yates (Amber Atoms); Thom Zahler (My Little Pony); and Mike Zeck (Secret Wars).
Regrettably, Frank Barbiere, Eddy Barrows, Jimmy Cheung, Rachel Deering, Agnes Garbowska, and David Mack have had to cancel. We look forward to seeing their return to the show in the future.
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.
About The Hero Initiative
The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterday’s creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It’s a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment.
Since its inception, The HeroInitiative has had the good fortune to grant over $500,000 to the comic book veterans who have paved the way for those in the industry today. For more information, visit www.heroinitiative.org or call 626-676-6354.
