Baltimore Comic Con Adds Five First-Time Guests

Arantza, Johnson, Martinbrough, Piskor, and Stroman to Appear at BCC 2018

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - August 1, 2018 - September 28-30, 2018 sees the return of the Baltimore Comic-Con at the Inner Harbor's Baltimore Convention Center. Tickets to the show now can be purchased online with debit/credit card at http://baltimorecomiccon.com. The Baltimore Comic-Con is pleased to announce first-time guests Arantza, Todd Johnson, Shawn Martinbrough, Ed Piskor, and Larry Stroman to the show in 2018.

Arantza Sestayo was born in San Sebastian, Basque Country Spain. Her artistic process is self-taught and she developed professionally through portraiture, in ceramic design, and in the production of cartoons in Camelot Studios of Castellon. Her journey in illustration began with publications such as Red Ears of erotic and humorous comics, the Swedish children's magazine Psago Prinsessan, and the American publishing house S.Q.P. In Spain, she has contributed to Wicked Kisseswith Norma Comics and participated in the book Vampires from Heavy Metal. Her art has been featured on merchandise from Schmidt, Bioworld, and Heavy Metal. The municipality of Castellon commissioned an illustration for a facade of the Ateneo Assembly Hall, and published Duende as a compilation of her work. She exhibits at events related to comics and movies, such as Expomanga, Salon del Comic de Irun, Cavacon in Italy, and the Terror Film Festival of San Sebastian. Currently, some of her work has can be seen on products at Penguin Random House, and in the special edition Game of Thrones 20th Anniversary by HarperCollins Publisher. This year, her piece Ophelia has been awarded third place at the Imaginative Realism of Art Renewal Center.

Todd Johnson is a writer based in Detroit, Michigan. Johnson previously operated a successful chain of comic book retail stores, the Comics Cafe. In 1993, along with artist Larry Stroman, he published a creator-owned series called Tribe with Image Comics. With over one million copies sold, Tribe still holds the title of the largest selling African American comic of all time. In 2018, the creative partnership is relaunching Tribe to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Shawn Martinbrough is the author of How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling, published by Random House and reprinted in several languages. He is a critically acclaimed creator/artist whose DC Comics, Marvel, and Dark Horse Comics projects include Batman: Detective Comics, Luke Cage Noir, Captain America, The Black Panther, and Hellboy. Shawn has co-created characters featured in the feature film Deadpool, the animated Batman: Gotham Knights, the FOX television series Gotham, The Gifted, and the Justice League feature film. Shawn is the artist of Thief of Thieves, published by Skybound/Image Comics, written by Robert Kirkman. Shawn's work has been covered by Vanity Fair, USA Today, BBC World America, ABC News, NBC News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, BET, Essence, Ebony, The New York Daily News, AOL, Publisher's Weekly, SIRIUS/XM Radio, and others. Shawn is a Native New Yorker and an alum of both the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art/Performing Arts and The School of Visual Arts.

Ed Piskor has been cartooning professionally in print form since 2005, starting off drawing American Splendor comics written by Harvey Pekar. The duo continued working together on two graphic novels, Macedonia and The Beats. Ed began self-publishing Wizzywig after developing a huge interest in the history of hacking and phone phreaking. His New York Times Best-Selling series Hip Hop Family Tree, which was originally serialized on Boing Boing, has gone back to print numerous times, and won the 2015 Eisner Award for "Best Reality-Based Work." His series for Marvel, X-Men Grand Design, was released in 2017 to wide acclaim. He is currently working with Marvel on the follow-up series, X-Men Grand Design: Second Genesis.

Larry Stroman is a Boston-born artist who has honed his craft in New York City, Berkeley, Chicago, and Detroit. After gaining attention illustrating Epic's Alien Legion, he went on to illustrate various Marvel comics such as the Uncanny X-Men, Ghost Rider, Punisher, Wolverine, Bishop, Black Panther, and the most popular run of X-Factor. He worked on Dark Horse's The Markand co-created DC's Darkstars. In 1993, along with writer Todd Johnson, he published a creator-owned series called Tribe with Image Comics. With over one million sold, Tribe still holds the title of the largest selling African American comic of all time. In 2018, the creative partnership is relaunching Tribe to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Stroman's career has spanned three decades and he still remains a sought after artist.

"These first-time guests are fantastic," said Marc Nathan, show promoter for the Baltimore Comic-Con. "From indie superstars and mainstream staples to international fantasy artists, these guests just add to our amazing line-up this year. We cannot wait for the last weekend in September!"