The Hero Initiative charity organization that helps comic industry pros in medical and financial need is hosting seven guests at Baltimore Comic-Con. Josh Blaylock, Jeffrey Brown, Peter Krause, Laura Martin, Tone Rodriguez, Bob Wiacek, and Chuck Wojtkiewicz have joined the convention that will be held on September 25-27, 2026.

Blaylock is the founder of Devil’s Due, who began publishing comics when he was still a teenager. He acquired the license to publish G.I. Joe, Voltron, and other classics a few years later. He is known for the action comic Mercy Sparx, and several others that have been translated into toys, film, and animation. Blaylock has published and written over 1,000 comics, and collaborated on entertainment, fashion, and tech projects.

Brown is a cartoonist known for his Star Wars graphic novels that include Jedi Academy and Darth Vader and Son. He studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he started drawing his first graphic memoir, Clumsy. Brown has written dozens of Star Wars, Batman, Marvel Super Hero, and other graphic novels, with the latest being Hulk Teach 2: A Tale of Two Teachers.

Krause has been working as a comics artist for nearly 40 years with credits that include Power of SHAZAM!, Metropolis S.C.U., and Star Trek: The Next Generation for DC Comics, Irredemable at BOOM! Studios, and Daredevil: Road Warrior at Marvel. He reimagined the Archie gang in Archie: 1941, drew Dragonfly and Dragonflyman and co-created My Bad for Ahoy Comics. Krause drew the modern noir mystery, Blacking Out, and has recently drawn EC stories.

Martin is one of the most lauded colorists in comics, having won Eisner, Harvey, and other awards. She has worked on high profile projects for DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Virgin, and CrossGen comics. Her work has notably been featured in Authority, Justice League books, Ruse, Astonishing X-Men, Secret Invasion, and more.

Rodriguez started working in comics on Violent Messiahs and Snake Plissken at Image, followed by work at Dark Horse, Top Cow, and Crossgen on books like ShadowHawk, KISS, and Conan the Barbarian. He drew The Simpsons and Futurama comics, and worked on TV projects like The Dark Defender, Dexter, and The Office. Rodriguez has recently worked on Stray Dogs and Feral.

Wiacek is a veteran inker who has worked with Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, John and Sal Buscema, George Pérez, Don Heck, June Brigman, Colleen Doran, Mike Grell, Al Milgrom, and many others. He has inked many of Marvel’s biggest titles like The X-Men, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, She-Hulk, Star Wars, Silver Surfer, and Fantastic Four. At DC, he has inked Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Brave and the Bold, Justice Society, Shazam, and others. Wiacek inked Valiant titles like Archer and Armstrong, Bloodshot, and Solar, and he’s worked with Dark Horse, Image, Relium Media, and Archie. Some of his most recent work has included inking All-New Wolverine and a JLA comic for General Mills cereals, inked Badger #1 for First Comics, and more.

Wojtkiewicz’s art has appeared in comics, concept art, and storyboards since the early 1980s. He had a run in Justice League International, worked on Imperial Guard, and drew comics at Dark Horse and Image. Wojtkiewicz was the Lead Concept Artist for Blur Studio, contributing to projects like Star Wars: The Old Republic, Kids WB!, Crimson Skies, The Goon Movie Kickstarter Storyboard Animatic, and the Deadpool movie. He has worked on Gears of War projects and full comics art for Story Attic’s Scrollon line of stories.

“Hero Initiative is such a critical organization to the comic book industry,” Baltimore Comic-Con show promoter Marc Nathan said. “The number of people and entities they help exceeds what anyone expects, and it is help that is definitely needed. We should all stop by the Hero booths and throw a little money their way – and they’re making it easy to do this year with such a star-packed line-up!”