43 Black-Owned Publishers Team Up for Epiphany Engine's Baltimore Comic-Con Debut

A massive independent crossover is landing at Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend. Epiphany Engine, a 224-page graphic novel uniting characters from more than 43 Black-owned comic publishers, debuts September 25–27 with limited copies on hand for the show.

The project is led by editorial director and co-art director Joseph P. Illidge, working alongside Advent Comics' Tony Kittrell, Griot Enterprises' Jiba Molei Anderson, and Second Sight Publishing's Marcus Roberts. The story pulls independently created heroes from across the Black comics landscape into a single multiverse-spanning event, with a cover by ChrisCross and interior art from Sean Damian Hill, D.C. Alonso, N. Steve Harris, and Walt Barna.

Epiphany Engine got its start on Kickstarter back in 2024, where it raised more than $62,000, and fulfillment to backers is now underway alongside the con debut. Illidge has described the book as "a love letter to comics," pointing to genre-defining crossovers like Crisis on Infinite Earths and Secret Wars as reference points for its scope.

Original reporting: The Beat.