The Baltimore Comic-Con makes its annual return to the Inner Harbor the weekend of September 5-7, 2014 at the Baltimore Convention Center for its first 3-day event!

In addition to adding the much-requested Friday to our pop culture weekend of comic book goodness, we are excited to welcome back Michael Golden and Renee Witterstaetter to the show, and present the premiere appearance of Mike Zeck at the Baltimore Comic-Con!

Mike Zeck began his storied career in comics with Charlton Comics with their animation-related line of titles before moving to Marvel Comics to leave an indelible mark. Zeck provided art to unforgettable characters and titles such as 1987’s “Kraven’s Last Hunt” in the Spider-Man titles, “Circle of Blood” in The Punisher, and the classic Secret Wars featuring Zeck’s design on the classic black costume for Spider-Man (and later adopted by Venom). Zeck’s work has graced the pages and covers of Aquaman, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Green Lantern, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe: Special Missions, Lobo, Deathstroke The Terminator, The Eliminator, and too many titles to mention here. His creator-owned project Damned , recently appeared from BOOM! Studios. And a new sketchbook is in the works from Eva Ink Publishing.

Artist/writer/creator Michael Golden is a legend in the comic book industry, but one that has never stopped adding to his legacy as a storytelling professional. Co-creator of the X-Men’s Rogue character, Spartan X, and Bucky O’Hare, Michael is known worldwide for his groundbreaking work on Marvel’s The ‘Nam, Micronauts, G.I. Joe Yearbook, and Dr. Strange, and is counted as one of the best cover designers and illustrators in the business. Golden’s work can be seen on the covers of Spawn, Nightwing, Iron Man, Heroes for Hire, Exiles, Demon’s Regret, Spider-Man, Vampirella, Captain American, The Punisher, and The Hulk. Recent books covering the colorful life and amazing art of Michael Golden include a Manga version of the Bucky O’Hare series, as well as the top-selling art retrospective Excess: The Art of Michael Golden, written by Renee Witterstaetter, which sold out and has gone into a second printing, as well as his recent sketchbooks Heroes and Villains, MORE Heroes and Villains, and Michael Golden: Alchemy. His upcoming book is entitled Michael Golden: Dangerous Curves.

Renee Witterstaetter, author of Excess: The Art of Michael Golden, Tex: The Art of Mark Texeira, the critically-acclaimed Nick Cardy: The Artist at War, and Nick Cardy: Wit-Lash, began the comic phase of her career working on such titles as Superman at DC Comics and Silver Surfer, Conan the Barbarian, and Conan Saga at Marvel, and then went on to spearhead the reintroduction of She-Hulk at Marvel. She then moved over to Topps Comics where she was the editor on X-Files, Jurassic Park, Xena and Hercules, and the co-creator (with artist Michael Golden) of the successful series, Spartan X. In addition, Renee has also been the colorist on hundreds of comics from The Avengers to Spider-Man to Captain America, among many, many others. Her newest books include Santa Confidential, by Hagar the Horrible artist Chris Browne and the sketchbook James O’Barr: Uncoffined.

“We’re so pleased that Mike Zeck has opted to join us in a rare convention appearance,” commented Marc Nathan, promoter of the Baltimore Comic-Con. “Along with Michael Golden and Renee Witterstaetter, we have some titans of industry coming to our show this year, and we’re excited to present them to their fans!”

This year’s previously confirmed guests for the show include: Marty Baumann (Pixar artist); Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl); Dave Bullock (Batman Black and White); Greg Capullo (Batman); 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); Richard Clark (House of Gold & Bones); Steve Conley (Bloop); Alan Davis (Wolverine); Tommy Lee Edwards (Star Wars); Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys); David Finch (Forever Evil); Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (All-Star Western); Dave Gibbons (Watchmen); 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); JG Jones (Green Lantern Corps, Batman Black and White); Justin Jordan (Luther Strode, Green Lantern: New Guardians); Barry Kitson (Empire); Aaron Kuder (Action Comics); David Mack (Shadowman); Kevin Maguire (Guardians of the Galaxy); Alex Maleev (Moon Knight); Ron Marz (Witchblade); 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); Tom Raney (Incredible Hulk); Ivan Reis (Aquaman and The Others); Budd Root (Cavewoman); Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man); Andy Smith (Superman #23.1: Bizarro); Allison Sohn (sketch card artist); Charles Soule (Thunderbolts); Jim Starlin (Thanos: The Infinity Revelation); 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); Mark Waid (Daredevil); Bill Willingham (Fables); Renee Witterstaetter (Joe Jusko: Maelstrom); and Thom Zahler (My Little Pony).

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.