While voices on bullhorns drifted over the heads of the shorts-clad crowd participating in the Baltimore Running Festival outside Charm City's convention center, a second crowd of people bogged down with backpacks and long boxes made their way inside. On a drizzle-filled Saturday, Baltimore Comic-Con had begun.

Among the first events to pull people out from lines in Artist Alley was the Spotlight on George Perez panel, highlighting the legendary artist and Guest of Honor's 35 years in the comics industry. Known for his work on titles like "New Teen Titans," "Crisis on Infinite Earths," "Avengers," "Wonder Woman," and most recently "Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds" with Geoff Johns, Perez - in a floral print shirt with a Diet Coke in hand - sat in front of a packed room full of comic fans. Though the thin, red riser walls of the panel room allowed plenty of ambient noise - and three bellowing PA announcements about a young girl named Grace Burns who had been separated from her family - to drift into the panel, fans sat with all eyes on Perez.

Perez began with some news for Titans aficionados. Though he said he is turning down more work than he can possibly accept right now, Perez's parter-in-crime Marv Wolfman apparently found the plot to a Titans graphic novel entitled "Games" that was lost long ago. The book will be out by October of 2010 and will run 120 pages.

[ Read more BCC: Guest of Honor George Perez Spotlight Panel ]

October 2010. October 2010. That was the date George Perez was giving people at Baltimore, as he burns through the pages, for the publication of the long awaited, much delayed graphic novel featuring DC Comics’ young superheroes in a now-very-out-of-continuity tale, Teen Titans:  Games.

Here is the announcement of the panels. Some great ones lined up, we will not be able to get to all of them, so if you are planning on attending please take notes or remember what you will. Then log on here and tell us what happened.

Baltimore, Maryland – September 29, 2009 – You’ve been asking about them for a while now, and we are now, at long last, ready to announce the 2009 Baltimore Comic-Con panels for our 10th Anniversary show on Saturday, October 10th and Sunday, October 11th, 2009!

Without further ado, the panel schedule:

(excerpt)

12:30-1:30 Spotlight on George Perez
George Perez’s work on such comics as “Avengers,” “New Teen Titans,” “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” “Wonder Woman,” and “Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds” has made him a fan-favorite artist for over 35 years. Join the Baltimore Comic-Con Guest of Honor for a lively discussion of his life in comics.