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Charm City To Host Comic-Con 2011 This Weekend

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—He's one of the creators of Spiderman, The Hulk, X-Men and more, and you'll have a chance to meet him at the Baltimore Convention Center this weekend.

Ron Matz reports thousands of people are heading to Charm City for Comic-Con 2011.

The crowds will be big. Many will be in costume. It's time for Baltimore Comic-Con 2011.

"We have many things going on, and the conversations about Baltimore around the nation is that we need to make it longer," said Marc Nathan, Baltimore Comic-Con founder. "We have a large attendance and people want more time, and maybe that's in our future."

Nathan is the owner of Cards, Comics and Collectibles in Reisterstown, where comic books are king.

"People love these characters," Nathan said. "It's just exploding. Any convention across the country that's run well, attendance is huge. The attendance is sensational. The one in San Diego has to cut off the number of attendees."

The legendary Stan Lee will be there. The Walt Disney of comics helped create Spiderman, Captain America, X-Men, Thor and The Hulk.

"The grandfather of all comics will be here," Nathan said of Lee. "He rarely comes to the East Coast. He's coming to Baltimore and will be here both days. He's an exciting guy. He's 90 years old. He looks great and he moves great, and I think people are going to be amazed how strong he looks."

You might see a few Spidermen in downtown Baltimore. The costume contest is Saturday afternoon.

The contest "starts in mid-afternoon, but I would suspect that people will start showing up in costume all day long," Nathan said. "There's almost a parade before the contest. I think people work on these costumes almost all year long and they can't wait for this. It's a lot of fun."

And just like San Diego, Baltimore Comic-Con is getting bigger and better.

"We could push 20,000 people coming to the Convention Center," Nathan said. "Judging from our advance sales and the buzz we've created with Stan Lee, it could be more. It will be a lot of fun."

For more information about Baltimore Comic-Con, click here.

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