Baltimore Comic Con 2011

It’s August 19th and that means we’re now counting down the hours until this year’s Baltimore Comic Con. Celebrating its twelfth year at the Baltimore Convention Center, this year’s show brings Guest of Honor, Stan Lee to town along with a host of other big name creators. Standouts on our “must see” list include Neal Adams, David Finch, Frank Cho, Nick Spencer, Scott Snyder and Jason Aaron. If you’re a fan of comic books, Baltimore is a show you should have on your calendar.

I’m obviously looking forward to the show this weekend and it’s impossible not to consider it in comparison to other comic book conventions. Every one is different and brings different things to the tables, but having been to a fair number of these things I know what I like. The annual San Diego Comic Con just passed last month and again it exemplified why Baltimore has been described as the “antidote to SDCC.” Although, SDCC did have a Doctor Who presence this year, its allure for me has faded as it’s become a big commercial for comic book movies (and Hollywood in general) whereas I’m all about the source material. June’s Philadelphia Comic Con was a vast improvement over previous years, and while I got to meet Carlos Pacheco and Humberto Ramos, how can that compare to guest of honor Stan Lee. It speaks to how Baltimore has grown in twelve years and I don’t see any of Wizard’s shows achieving or aspiring to be the same type of event.

Our comic con calendar year will wrap up with October’s New York Comic Con, but Baltimore looks like it’s going to be difficult to top. The Baltimore Comic Con runs this Saturday and Sunday (August 20-21) beginning at 10AM each day. I fully recommend it for fans looking for more paper and less plastic.