Baltimore-Comic-Con-2017

Last year I interviewed the winner of the costume contest and that was so much fun, I decided to interview more of the contestants as they were waiting to be judged. When I saw this guy’s costume, I was very curious who he was cosplaying as. I hadn’t kept up with the latest upheavals at the Big Two - had something apocalyptic happened? Nope! He was just being creative as a Mad Max-Inspired Deathstroke. Christan Hart, who has been making costumes for others for 18 months now, wanted to do something a little different than the typical Deathstroke, a character he relates to. Growing up in the west makes him feel an affinity towards the Mad Max aesthetic and so his idea was born. You can follow him on instagram @darkhart_ (don’t forget that underscore) and that’s where he takes orders for costumes. ...

Last year I interviewed the winner of the costume contest and that was so much fun, I decided to interview more of the contestants as they were waiting to be judged. Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns are controversial in fandom. On the one hand, they helped bring Batman back into the general consciousness. On the other hand, they feature a Batman that is not very Batman-like. For example, many argue he allows Joker to plummet to his death in the first movie, but modern Batman never does stuff like that. Additionally, they may have seemed edgy in the 80s, but compared to the Nolan Batman Trilogy, they are almost as campy as the Adam West Batman. That said, most people think Michelle Pfeiffer really did an astounding job as Catwoman based on the script she had to work with. Elena, our interview subject, certainly thought so and decided to bring that version of Catwoman back to life. ...

Last year I interviewed the winner of the costume contest and that was so much fun, I decided to interview more of the contestants as they were waiting to be judged. This pair had caught my eye the day before when I saw them rolling through the convention center on Chairy and Conky. So when I saw them waiting for their turn for cosplay judging, I had to talk to them to find out how this all came together. ...

Long-time Comic POW! readers will remember our look at The Dark Knight Returns in which we examined, among other things, how it was shaped by the fact that it came out in the 1980s as 24-hour cable television was beginning its rise to prominence. At Baltimore Comic-Con this year Frank Miller was invited to speak about his experience of putting the classic book together. It was moderated by DC publisher Dan Didio and Mr. Miller was joined by inker Klaus Janson. ...

On the first day of Baltimore Comic-Con 2017 I had a great talk with Kasey Pierce who writes Norah and Pieces of Madness for Source Point Press. As you’ll hear, she has a lot of inspiration from horror and macabre sources. That said, Norah doesn’t follow the horror trend of terrifying art. The art within is absolutely beautiful and is actually painted. https://youtu.be/Wf5Vcf42m5c It appears that indie comics continue to be the place to find the most creative leaps in story-telling. We continue to love the caped heroes, but if you’re looking for more out there, there’s going to be a comic for you in the indie presses. ...

As usual we’ll be there! Expect the usual coverage such as videos of various panels, cosplay photos, and interviews with both indie and established creators. After last year’s buggy attempt at live blogging there won’t be any this year but I’m going to try and make sure there’s at least one post up every day if not more. This year I will also be hoping to cover the first annual Mike Wieringo Awards and that’ll be on Saturday. (Which means there very likely won’t be any articles up on Saturday) ...