We Need Another Hero or 2: Baltimore ComicCon

IF YOU WERE A FAN of some of the biggest blockbusters of the summer — "Iron Man," "Incredible Hulk," "Hellboy 2" and "The Dark Knight" — then there's a good chance that you'd find something that interests you at the Baltimore ComicCon, the D.C. area's answer to San Diego's comic extravaganza.

Besides countless dealers with tons of comics, toys, books and other pop-culture ephemera, some of the greatest names in comics today and some of the top publishers will be signing, sketching and talking about the four-color fiction.

Dan DiDio, senior VP-executive editor of DC Comics, who will be bringing the DC Nation panel roadshow to Baltimore, is especially excited about having a good portion of the creative team of a certain Man of Steel in attendance.

"We got Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle," DiDio says. "These are all guys who are really just the driving force behind the Superman stories and everything we got going with that character right now."

And if Superman doesn't get you buying a ticket, "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola will be at the show, as will other comic luminaries like Jim Lee, Brian Michael Bendis, Darwyn Cooke, Frank Cho, "Heroes" artist Tim Sale and many others.

Children in attendance are sure to be appeased, with Jeff Kinney of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," and Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani, the creative team of DC's kids take on the Teen Titans, "Tiny Titans."

"We have a real sort of agenda with kids comics that we're putting out right now," DiDio says. "We're really building books specifically for them."

There's bound to be something to find and enjoy at the Baltimore ComicCon, and you just might come across the next Hollywood blockbuster.

» Baltimore Convention Center, 1 W. Pratt St., Baltimore, Md.; Sat., 10 a.m.-
6 p.m.; Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; $15 one day, $25 both; 800-551-7328.

Photo courtesy Comicon.com