Comic Con also features Baltimore Area creators

Wheatley, Hempel, G.D. Falksen Together in Baltimore Baltimore Comic-Con Brings Veteran Creators, New Projects

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - August 10, 2016 - Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel, the creative pioneers who launched Blood of the Innocent, Mars, and numerous other creations, will explore things a little closer to home with their appearance at the Baltimore Comic-Con, September 2-4, 2016 at the Baltimore Convention Center. This is the seventeenth annual Baltimore Comic-Con and this marks Insight Studios Groups' sixteenth straight appearance at the show. They will be joined by studio mates Jerry Carr, G.D. Falksen, and Evelyn Kriete, as well as long-time collaborator and acclaimed editor, Mike Gold.

Despite vibrant and incredibly varied solo careers, Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel have been frequent, highly successful collaborators. Their work together has included Tarzan,  Jonny Quest, Titanic Tales, and Doctor Cyborg, among other projects. They are presently at work on a fully restored and lavishly produced re-issue of their acclaimed graphic novel  Breathtaker for Titan Comics as well as a touring show of the original art organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum. Long out of print, it was originally serialized and then collected into a best selling trade paperback by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint 20 years ago. Their work, both together and separately, was extensively profiled in IS Art: The Art of Insight Studios.

"Even with the addition of some stellar media guests, the Baltimore Comic-Con remains one of the most staunchly comic-centric conventions on the circuit. Of course we're favorably predisposed to our hometown show, but it's so much more than just regional pride. The guest list just can't be beat by any other show of this size or even many that are quite a bit bigger," said Mark Wheatley. "We're extremely happy our big, annual gathering of the tribe happens right here in Baltimore, and we're looking forward to making some great announcements."

On his own, Wheatley has most recently had his work for CBS Television featured on The Millers, 2 Broke Girls, and Super Clyde, and the Square Roots pilot for ABC. In print his work has been featured in the acclaimed Jungle Tales Of Tarzan from Dark Horse Comics, on the cover of the Meteor House release of Exiles Of Kho, the Phillip Jose Farmer series novel by Christopher Paul Carey, and his own well-received art book, Stars, which presents elaborate line art portraits of actors, musicians, and authors.    With a track record that includes Frankenstein Mobster, Radical Dreamer, Return of the Human, Hammer of the Gods, EZ Street, Skultar, and Lone Justice, Wheatley is an Inkpot, Mucker, Gem, Speakeasy, and Eisner award-winning creator. He has lectured at the Library of Congress, exhibited at the Norman Rockwell Museum, created set pieces for The Black Eyed Peas, designed for Lady Gaga, and contributed designs to ABC's Beauty and the Beast. He will be displaying art from Doctor Cthulittle, his innovative new project in collaboration with studio members G.D. Falksen and Evelyn Kriete.

Marc Hempel, grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and now resides in Baltimore, Maryland, where he plies his craft on such diverse projects ranging from his own Gregory,  Tug & Buster, and Naked Brain to Disney Adventures, and from Clive Barker's Hellraiserto "The Kindly Ones" in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. Hempel's art has also appeared in MAD,  Marvel Fanfare, Epic Illustrated, Heavy Metal, Flinch, My Faith in Frankie, The Dreaming,  Lucifer, Munden's Bar, Nickelodeon Magazine, and a 21-page Escapist story for Dark Horse Comics. His series The Love Brothers has appeared in Aces Weekly.

ComicMix.com  (http://www.comicmix.com) editor-in- chief Mike Gold is a 40-year veteran of the comic book field, having co-founded the Chicago Comicon as well as First Comics with Rick Obadiah, later serving as group editor/director of editorial development of DC Comics and a packager of comics with arrogantMGMS. Among the many projects he edited and helped develop are  American Flagg!, Jon Sable Freelance, GrimJack, The Flash, Green Arrow, The Question,  Legends, Breathtaker, and Mars. Gold is also a long-time political activist and broadcaster, presently doing the show Weird Sounds Inside The Gold Mind on http://www.getthepointradio.com. He was the recipient of the Hero Initiative Humanitarian of the Year Award, given at the Baltimore Comic-Con in 2011.

Cryptozoo Crew artist Jerry Carr will debut a select number of large and small stretched canvas prints, illustrating a variety of furkini-clad jungle heroines and the monkeys who love them. At the Baltimore Comic-Con he will also unveil new, limited edition poster prints depicting all kinds of alien, primate, and reptilian critters. His and Allan Gross' Cryptozoo Crew has been optioned by Alcon Entertainment.

G.D. Falksen is an author, lecturer, public speaker, and actor. He also studies history and has consulted for Disney. He is the author of The Ouroboros Cycle series, The Transatlantic Conspiracy, and several other works of fiction. He is a voice actor for and co-writer of the animated film Hullabaloo and an accompanying educational series titled Ask The Professor.

Evelyn Kriete is an editor, producer, artist, stylist, marketing adviser, social media strategist, and new media coordinator. She is also a crowdfunding consultant for Indiegogo and Comicmix. Through crowdfunding, she has raised over $1 million for various projects, including the animated film Hullabaloo, which she is producing alongside film creator James Lopez. She has previously worked on the staff of literary publications such as Weird Tales and Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine.