Sitting in the Shining Light of Legends Chaykin & Simonson
The Baltimore Comic-Con returns this September 25-27 to the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center. Sitting in the shining light of legendary comix deities Howard Chaykin (a prince) and Walter Simonson (a Norse god), will be a humble quadrant of the indie-comix form: Dean Haspiel, a seasoned alternative cartoonist/playwright who started self-publishing a series of “deep cut” comix, most recently with Antimatter #1, will join Stray co-creator Vito Delsante, his Vito x Dino podcast brother and occasional collaborator, who will be debuting Pay the Devil with artist/comix teacher Steve Walker; plus, rock god/comix writer Jef UK aka Jeffrey Burandt will keep the squad “too cool for school” with his grindhouse comic, Blood + Brains, and his semi-Cimmerian satire, Gonad the Ballbarian. Get your tickets now!
Follow us on our Social Media Pages!
Emmy and Ringo Award-winning cartoonist Dean Haspiel has created for Marvel, DC/Vertigo, Archie, Image, and Webtoon, including collaborations with Harvey Pekar and Jonathan Ames. In 2023, Dino launched a series of crowdfunded “Deep Cuts” from his pantheon of creator-owned characters, featuring COVID Cop, Billy Dogma + Jane Legit, The Red Hook, and Chest Face. In addition, Haspiel is an accomplished playwright and Yaddo fellow. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Vito Delsante is a comic book writer, letterer, and editor. He is best known for his creator-owned superhero story, Stray, with co-creator, Sean Izaakse (Challengers of the Unknown) and is the editor-in-chief of Blind Squirrel Comics. This year, he debuts a new Stray one-shot called The Beast Within, with art by David Jaxon, and Pay the Devil, with co-creator and tablemate Steve Walker. He currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife, Michelle, and his kids, Sadie and James.
Steve Walker is an independent comic artist, educator, illustrator, and editor.
His current projects are the self-published series The Blackforge Chronicles, and the upcoming Pay The Devil, with writer Vito Delsante.
His previous works include graphic novels for Random House Books, Tor Books, as well as work for Action Lab Entertainment.
Since 2008, Steve has taught comics and sequential arts at the Art Students League of New York, where he edits an annual anthology of student work, as well as the anthology No Day Without A Line, and This Quarantine Life: A COVID-19 Comics Anthology. He currently lives in Queens, New York.
Jeffrey Burandt is a writer and performer living in Brooklyn, New York. He has written comics for DC Entertainment, Devil’s Due Comics, Heavy Metal Magazine, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Source Point Press. This year, at Baltimore Comic-Con 2026, Jeffrey is debuting an original graphic novel, titled Gonad the Ballbarian, with artist Blake Sims and publisher Source Point Press, not available in stores until December 2026!
“Dino’s crew is always a great representation of what’s great in indy comics creators,” said Marc Nathan, show promoter for the Baltimore Comic-Con. “This year is no different, and you should absolutely make your way to their booth to check out what’s new and exciting!”
Tickets that are now on sale include:
- Weekend
- Friday only
- Saturday only
- Sunday only
- VIP
- Creator Fan Packages
As always, children 10 and under are free with a paid adult admission!
This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Jason Aaron (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Joel Adams (Ms. Mystic), Zeea Adams (Deadman), Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), Josh Blaylock (Mercy Sparx, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Russ Braun (The Boys), Jeffrey Brown (Hulk Teach, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jeffrey Burandt (Gonad the Ballbarian), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Richard Case (Doom Patrol), Keith Champagne (Stranger Things), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jo Chen (Runaways), Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Becky Cloonan (War), Michael W. Conrad (In Bloom), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn), Olivia Cuartero-Briggs (The College Try), Paris Cullins (Blue Devil), Mike Decarlo (The Simpsons), Vito Delsante (Stray), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Colleen Doran (The Sandman), Scott Dunbier (DC Silver Age Covers and Stories Artist’s Edition), Steve Englehart (Captain America), Garth Ennis (The Boys), Trish Forstner (Feral), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Chris Giarrusso (Mini Marvels), Randy Green (Witchblade), Gene Ha (Mae), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Larry Hama (GI Joe: A Real American Hero), Scott Hanna (Amazing Spider-Man), Tony Harris (The Whistling Skull), Dean Haspiel (Chest Face), Glenn Hauman (They Keep Killing Glenn), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Marc Hempel (Sandman), Jamal Igle (Superman), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Infernal Hulk), Dan Jurgens (Action Comics), Chris Kemple (Red Vengeance), Peter Krause (The Power of Shazam, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Mike Kunkel (Herobear and the Kid), Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon), Jae Lee (Inhumans), Tula Lotay (Bloodland), Nate Lovett (Commander Tomorrow), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Shawn Martinbrough (Red Hood: The Hill), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Jose Marzen Jr. (Y: The Last Man), Mike McKone (Teen Titans), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Adriana Melo (Fantastic Four), Pop Mhan (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Mark Morales (Thor), Bill Morrison (The Simpsons), Trevor Mueller (Bat Pat), Sarah Myer (TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures), Phil Noto (Fantastic Four: First Foes), Kevin Nowlan (Batman: Sword of Azrael), Patrick Olliffe (Untold Tales of Spider-Man), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Jimmy Palmiotti (The Punisher), Dan Parent (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Margeaux Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Khoi Pham (Star Wars: Darth Vader), Andy Price (My Little Pony), Joe Pruett (Savage Sword of Conan), Tom Raney (Incredible Hulk), Afua Richardson (Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds), James Robinson (Starman), Tone Rodriguez (Feral, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Andy Runton (Owly), Stuart Sayger (Red Sonja), Joe Schmalke (We Don’t Kill Spiders), Erica Schultz (Rogue), Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales, courtesy of Flesk Publishing), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Don Simpson (Megaton Man), Matthew Dow Smith (DC’s Misfits of Magic), Scott Snyder (Friday and Sunday only, DC K.O.), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Mark Sparacio (Liberty Girl Deluxe), Jim Starlin (Dreadstar), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Martha Thomases (Dakota North), Billy Tucci (Shi), Jonathan Uribe (Spawn, courtesy of Comics and Collectibles R Us), Gus Vazquez (Sunfire and the Big Hero Six), Mark Waid (Action Comics), Steve Walker (Pay the Devil), Mark Wheatley (Breathtaker), Bob Wiacek (All-New Wolverine, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Keith Williams (Web of Spider-Man), Ron Wilson (Marvel Two-In-One), Chuck Wojtkiewicz (Justice League, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Rich Woodall (Sgt. Werewolf), Kelly Yates (Doctor Who), and Thom Zahler (Long Distance),
In the coming weeks, look for more announcements from the Baltimore Comic-Con. We are looking forward to highlighting our guests, the Ringo Awards, programming, and more. The latest developments can always be found on our website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages, and follow us on YouTube, TikTok, BlueSky, and Snapchat.