Baltimore Comic Con update: Five more guests added . . .

from the official press release . . . . .

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - March 3, 2014 - Block off the weekend of September 5-7, 2014 on your calendar -- the Baltimore Comic-Con returns to the Baltimore Convention Center for its first 3-day event!

We are excited to announce 5 returning guests, industry veterans all.  Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Tom Raney, Budd Root, Andy Smith, and Jim Starlin will once again be joining our annual celebration of comics, art, and popular culture.

Originally hailing from Spain, artist extraordinaire Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez has spent the vast majority of his illustrious career providing art at DC Comics.  He has worked on characters large and small, ensemble casts and individual characters, and has received praise from his writers and editors alike.   Some of his noteworthy work includes Jonah Hex, DC Comics Presents, New Teen Titans, Road to Perdition, Twilight and Wednesday Comics.   He has lately been seen working on All-Star Western and the Adventures of Superman: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez hardcover.  

Tom Raney has spent much of his career working for the mid- to large-size publishers in the comics industry.  He has contributed to Marvel's Ultimate Universe, Valiant's re-launched titles, and Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars among many other titles and publishers.  In recent history, his artwork can be seen within the pages of DC Comics' Threshold, Marvel's Incredible Hulk, and Titan Comics' Monster Massacre hardcover collection.

Budd Root initially broke into the mainstream comics industry with his first published work at London Night Studios. Ultimately, Root decided he would publish his own comics, forming Basement Comics in 1993 and issuing the now-synonymous Cavewoman.  The title has since gone on to see publication with Caliber Press and Avatar Press.  It has also garnered an Ignatz Award nomination in 1999.

Andy Smith has worked in the comics industry since 1991, with art credits at Marvel, DC, Image, Acclaim, and CrossGen Entertainment.  He is also responsible for bringing new readers and artists to the industry with his best-selling Drawing Dynamic Comics and Drawing American Manga Super-Heroes from Watson-Guptill and the DC Comics characters featured in the Harpers Collins Children's line, featuring titles like Superman: Attack of the Toyman, Batman: Battle in Metropolis, and Justice League: I Am Aquaman.   He has recently provided inks over Jim Starlin's pencils on Marvel's Thanos: The Infinity Revelation.

The multi-talented Jim Starlin has worked on both writing and creating art for some of the most noteworthy creations since his entry into the field of comics in the 1970s.  The mind behind the Marvel character Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, he is also responsible for a number of noteworthy cosmic characters in the Marvel Universe, including Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, and the villainous Thanos, all of whom are expected to be featured in this year's major motion picture, Guardians of the Galaxy.  He developed noteworthy runs on Marvel's Captain Marvel, Warlock, and Silver Surfer, Marvel mini-series Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, and Infinity Crusade, and DC Comics' Batman, The Weird, and Cosmic Odyssey.  His Death of Captain Marvel was the first Marvel graphic novel to be published.  More recently, he has provided writing and art for DC's Stormwatch and writing on Green Lantern: Mongul #23.2, and he returns to his classic villain in April 2014 with Marvel's Thanos: The Infinity Revelation.

"It is as exciting for me and my staff to have this caliber of guests in the building as it is for our fans" commented Marc Nathan, promoter of the Baltimore Comic-Con.  "These gentlemen have provided so much to the industry, from noteworthy issues to groundbreaking series and characters, and we're so pleased to have them in the Baltimore Convention Center with us."