Baltimore Comic-Con’s 23rd year was held at the Baltimore Convention Center from October 28-30, 2022. The majority of the event took place on the bottom floor and consisted of a Dealers’ Room in the front and Artists’ Alley in the back. the third floor lobby hosted as a registration space, while the fourth floor ballrooms were open for panels and cosplay Masquerades.
Among celebrity guests were Disney Princesses Jodi Benson (The Little Mermaid), Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas), Linda Larkin (Aladdin), and Paige O’Hara (Beauty and the Beast). Jodi Benson explained in a panel that initially she was to be kept anonymous as a voice actress when The Little Mermaid was promoted, but ended up touring the United States.
Veronica Taylor (Ash Ketchum of Pokemon) and John Leguizamo (Spawn). Both guests and personal security said that Leguizamo was one of the most friendly, down to earth people they had ever met.
If fans purchased a Comic-Con yearbook, they received a checklist of artists to get autographs from. 20 signatures got them a free print.
One fan @roen_geek, dressed as Jason Momoa’s Aquaman was smiling all weekend, posing with other cosplayers and getting as many autographs as possible from celebrities and comic book artists alike.
Among the artists were Frank Miller, Marty Baumann, Brian Michael Bendis, Katie Cook, John Romita, Jr., Mark Morales, and dozens more. We were able to interview Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza, Infinity Gauntlet co-artist Joe Rubenstein, and many others. These videos will be in the Baltimore Comic-Con section here as well as on our YouTube channel, Ryuuza Media. It was great hearing how artists and creators became interested in comics. Some such as Rubenstein initially could not read English but understood the art and that was enough to pull him in. We also spoke with Ringo Award winners Adam and Makana Wallenta, book authors, artists, vendors, and game creators.
One man came from New York just to see author Terry Mancour.
Saturday and Sunday both had cosplay Masquerades, which were cosplay runway shows followed by judging. Most of the competitors tailored their own costumes such as Marvel’s Ghostrider who used dozens of batteries to light up his outfit to look like flames. Variety of characters included Pokemon, Star Wars, Mortal Kombat, DC, Marvel, Lord of the Rings, and Edward Scissorhands.
Simultaneously running was Faeriecon in the hotel connected to the convention center. There were flyers for free day passes (which did not mean night as we learned) and there was a little crossover of attendees for both events.
Given the condensed use of space within the convention center, it was easy to spot the same people if you ran multiple laps. We met the_immortal_society, dressed as Noob Saibot from Mortal Kombat. He runs a cosplay and fitness channel on YouTube called TheTattooedRonin and arranges meetups at anime and comic conventions.
We also ran into about 35 professional looking X-Men and villians who were filming a movie on one of the side wings and the rooftop. They were dressed as Polaris, Cyclops, Apocalypse, Spiral, Trask, and more.
As well as cosplayers, there were hardcore comic collectors who had their issues they wanted signed and would travel around getting the cover filled out with all appropriate contributors. Some covers were easier to sign than others, as Fabian Nicieza laughed when a fan asked him to sign a small space and he wanted a larger area. Also, many hardcore comic collectors were cosplaying as well, but people attended for different reasons and some for the same. Some of the lines for autographs were endless such as the artists for The Boys so fans would arrive early.
If you are looking for a fun weekend of comics and cosplay, Baltimore Comic-Con 2023 tickets are already on sale for September 8-10!