Wizard World opened the gates at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana on a chilly and humid Friday afternoon, but the party would be one of the most entertaining and would last all weekend long. New Orleans Comic-Con had taken center stage in the Big Easy, and the comic world's biggest stars had assembled for one of the biggest events of the entire year. New Orleans Comic-Con included plenty of celebrity appearances, special Q&A panels hosted by the star guests, tons of art seminars, game tournaments and more, and like any good comic convention, it was difficult to walk for longer than a minute without seeing another costumed fan showing off their favorite comic hero or villain in a fully decked out costume. New Orleans Comic-Con was the hit event for 2012, and you can be sure BioGamer Girl will be attending the next event as well!
The event kicked off on Friday, November 30th with the man himself, Stan Lee, showing up and hosting a meet and greet with the fans. This paid event gave fans a once in a lifetime opportunity to come face to face with the legend himself, beg for an autograph and ask him the burning question you've always wanted to know about your favorite
Marvel comics. Stan's credentials will never be matched again in the comic world after creating the
X-Men,
Fantastic Four,
Incredible Hulk,
Spider-Man,
Iron Man and so many other great series, and his inspiration was obviously felt in the other main events of the day when artists took center stage to talk about their work in the comic and cosplaying fields. Fans were able to attain some really great tips from the pros and see some wonderful, original art on display at the same time.
The next day began with a special
Star Trek: The Next Generation Q&A panel with Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes and Michael Dorn, and
Star Trek fans were able to enjoy the remainder of two days full of panels, meet and greet with the stars and other events for their favorite show. Other stars from the classic show that were present at New Orleans Comic-Con included LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, John de Lancie, and Patrick Stewart aka Captain Jean-Luc Picard via Skype. If that wasn't enough science fiction overload for fans, Wizard World went big and brought in
Hercules' Kevin Sorbo and the beautiful Eliza Dushku who each hosted their own Q&A panels.
Of course, fans were enthralled by the action-packed and dramatic mid-season finale of AMC's
The Walking Dead on Sunday, but before the newest episode of season three aired on television, fans were able to get up close and personal with series stars Jon Bernthal (Shane Walsh), Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) and Michael Rooker (Merle Dixon). The trio hosted one of the most entertaining panels of the event, as fans filed into the arena to ask the stars of the biggest show on tv right now the questions they've been dying to know. Merle also made a lot of noise outside of the panel when he challenged WWE superstar and
The Walking Dead fan CM Punk to a title match and actually manage to procure the title from the hands of the Voice of the Voiceless momentarily. Reedus was only one part of the trio from the cult film
The Boondock Saints to appear at the event with Sean Patrick Flanery and David Della Rocco hosting a Q&A panel for the film a day earlier on Saturday, and other fans were excited to see the martial arts moves of
Power Rangers star Jason David Frank over the weekend in addition.
Of course, there were so many great sites, sounds and other events at New Orleans Comic-Con making it impossible to name them all here. Other great celebrities such as Michael Madsen and Kevin Eastman were present at the convention, and other fans and concerned stars teamed up to raise money for charity. New Orleans Comic-Con 2012 was a wonderful adventure from start to finish, and all of the fans in attendance were able to come together and share their fandom together as a large family and have a blast while doing so. If you weren't able to make it to New Orleans Comic-Con 2012, you missed out on one heck of a party, but luckily, Wizard World will be bringing back the event soon. The company has already announced the return of New Orleans Comic-Con to the same location for the weekend of February 7-9, 2014. Make sure to get your tickets for the event early, and keep up to date on all news surrounding the event by checking out the official
New Orleans Comic-Con website. See you again in 2014!
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