Return to the Inner Harbor
A Look Back at Baltimore Comic-Con 2025
It’s been a few weeks since Baltimore Comic-Con 2025, where a fun time was had by all. I returned to the show for the second year in a row as programming lead, which means I planned and executed all the panels…but I’m getting ahead of myself.
I flew to Baltimore on Tuesday, October 14, a day earlier in the week than I had flown last year. This was due to some last minute changes to my plans, and it wound up that I had to fly on a rare rainy day in the Los Angeles area, which resulted in three hours of delays. Instead of landing on the East Coast in the early evening, it was closer to 11pm, and when I finally got to my hotel room I found half of the things in my suitcase were wet. Most likely my suitcase sat outside in Burbank for a while before it got loaded onto the plane. Since nothing was smelly or very wet, I hung it all up to dry.
Flying in on Tuesday gave me some time for fun before I had to get to work the next day. I took a longish walk to Fells Point to a used CD store, then had lunch at a Thai restaurant with my sister in law. She dropped me off back at that hotel just as a delivery van arrived full of comics and graphic novels arrived, so I jumped into action and helped with unloading while she sped off. Can’t say I blame her!
The books were for the Ringo Award gift bags, which I helped assemble with the BCC team Wednesday evening, followed by dinner at the Kona Grill.
Thursday was setup time at the convention center, where I checked on the panel rooms to make sure they had everything they needed, like chairs and projectors. I also spent some time helping set up artist alley tables and chatting with retailers.
That night I met up with friends including Stuart Schreck, Gus Vazquez, Bob Harrison, Thom Zahler, and many others for dinner at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery. Then it was go time, with a full slate of panels which you can see here, including a couple of last minute changes and deletions.
From Friday till Sunday afternoon I was in the panels hallway and on my feet, making sure panelists found their way, checking audience headcounts, and answering questions. I also moderated a couple of panels myself.
For the last couple of hours on Sunday I had the chance to walk the show floor, where I got my copy of “The Avengers in The Veracity Trap” signed the creative team of Chip Kidd, Michael Cho, and editor Charlie Kochman.
I got a few other signatures from favorite creators, something I’ve been enjoying more in recent years. Joe Staton signed an early E-Man issue for me, and Klaus Janson signed my copy of the Frost and Fire graphic novel. I brought that particular title for Klaus to sign because (a) it’s pretty slim, and (b) it represents maximum Klaus, in that he not only penciled, inked, and colored it, but even wrote the adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s original story.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun, totally exhausting, and I’ll probably do it again next year.