Howdy, folks! We hit the Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend--a.k.a. the east coast's BEST comic-book convention--and attended last night's Harvey Awards, which are arguably the most prestigious awards given in comics. Among such big genre winners as DC's All-Star Superman--which took home three awards (for Best Continuing or Limited Series, Best Artist, for the sublime Frank Quitely, and Best Single Issue or Story, for issue #8)--Y: The Last Man (Brian K. Vaughn for Best Writer), and The Spirit (Darwyn Cooke for Best Cartoonist), I'm happy to report that horror more than held it's own. Kevin Nowlan got the party started by winninig Best Inker for Top Cow/Image's Withchblade, and Eduardo Risso's Tales of Terror (from Dynamite Entertainment) won Best American Edition of Foreign Material.

Living legend Mike Mignola then won Best Cover Artist for Hellboy, a title you may have heard mention of, and the EC Archives (reprinting the groundbreaking 1950s publisher's complete runs of classics like Tales from the Crypt and Weird Science) took home the Special Award for Excellence in Presentation. But the surprise hit of the evening may have been My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Ba snatching the Best New Series award for their goth/punk/emo extravaganza The Umbrella Academy. The emotional highlight of the awards ceremony (which was presided over by Plastic Man cartoonist Kyle Baker), however, came when Silver Age legend Nick Cardy was awarded the Hero Initiative's Lifetime Achievement Award. Besides churning out dozens of unforgettable covers and stories throughout the '60s for books like Aquaman and Teen Titans, Cardy did a fair share of unsettling horror art for titles like House of Mystery and House of Secrets. And he received a well-earned standing ovation fom his peers last night. Speaking of which...

We chatted with quite a few horror creators this weekend! Including comic stalwarts like Bernie Wrightson (who spoke of his creature designs for Frank Darabont's The Mist) and surprise guest Kevin Grevioux, the co-creator and star of the Underworld franchise. We'll have these chats posted for you soon, as we continue to report from the con!