WIZARD WORLD, NEW ORLEANS 2012 (28-29 Jan 2012), New Orleans, Louisiana

Aspiring comic creators seek advice at Comic Con
Published: Sunday, January 29, 2012, 1:59 PM Updated: Sunday, January 29, 2012, 5:20 PM
By Brendan Twist, The Times-Picayune

Hundreds of fans piled into a conference hall to hoot and holler for the stars of TV shows like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “The Walking Dead” today at New Orleans Comic Con. Down the hall, in a smaller, quieter meeting space, two-dozen eager fans gathered to pick the brains of a different breed of celebrity: the comic book creator.

Most fans roaming the halls of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center this weekend wouldn’t recognize Superman artists George Perez and Jesus Merino, or Thomas Yeates, who has drawn Tarzan and Zorro comics, or Tyler Kirkham, whose work includes Spider-Man and X-Men books. But to the aspiring artists and writers attending their Q&A sessions, these men are Comic Con royalty.