(Press release)

The Harvey Awards, which debut at this year’s Baltimore Comic-Con, held September 9-10, announce the details of this year’s festivities.

The Harveys, named after the legendary MAD founding editor and master storyteller Harvey Kurtzman, recognize outstanding achievements in over 20 categories. They are the only industry awards both nominated by and selected by the full body of comic book professionals.

This year’s awards reception and dinner will be held Saturday night, September 9, at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards. The hotel is located at 110 South Eutaw Street, Baltimore, Maryland.

There will be a VIP cocktail reception from 6:30 - 7:30 PM, followed by dinner from 7:30 - 8:30 PM. A limited number of admissions to the reception and dinner will be available at $50 per ticket, allowing fans, collectors, dealers and other enthusiasts to meet, greet and dine with some of their favorite creators. A full cash bar will be available.

The awards presentation will open to the public at 8:15 PM and is scheduled to run until 11:30 PM. The Master of Ceremonies for the Harvey Awards will be the very funny and entertaining Kyle Baker. Tickets to attend the awards ceremony only are available for $10, or admission is free with a two-day pass to the convention. Those two-day convention tickets may be purchased through Ticketmaster, accessible from www.comicon.com/baltimore.

Dinner and Ceremony tickets may be purchased until Sunday, September 3, for pickup at the convention center on Saturday, Sept. 9. (Tickets will not be available at the door.)

Tickets are available by calling Cards, Comics & Collectibles in Reisterstown, Maryland at (410) 526-7410. Major Credit Cards will be accepted for payment. Tickets may also be purchased by mail, but the order cutoff date will still be September 3.

Corporate sponsorships for the night’s programming are available. For more information, contact baltimorecomiccon@yahoo.com.

The 2006 Baltimore Comic-Con guests include Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief and Daredevil: Father writer-artist Joe Quesada, V For Vendetta co-creator David Lloyd, Image Comics Publisher Erik Larsen, Owly creator Andy Runton, The Goon creator Eric Powell, Mighty Avengers artist Frank Cho, JSA Classified artist Amanda Conner, THB creator Paul Pope, Infinite Crisis artist George Pérez, Astonishing X-Men artist John Cassaday and other top talents.

For more information about The Harvey Awards, visit www.harveyawards.org.