Guests - Big Lick Comic Con NOVA

Reunions

Actors

Chandler Riggs

Chandler rose to prominence for his iconic role as Carl Grimes on the AMC horror-drama television series The Walking Dead (based on the comic book series of the same name) from 2010 to 2018. For his work on the series, Riggs won three Saturn Awards from five nominations and a Young Artist Award from three nominations. Riggs has appeared in the films Get Low (2009), Mercy (2014), Keep Watching (2017), Only (2019), and Inherit the Viper (2019). In late 2017, Riggs started releasing electronic music under his stage name, Eclipse. In early 2019, he began recurring on the ABC drama series A Million Little Things. In 2023 he voiced Superman/Kal El/Clark Kent in Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One.

Katelyn Nacon

Katelyn Nacon is known in The Walking Dead universe for her role as Enid on the flagship series from seasons 5-9. Initially, Enid lived in Alexandria and eventually moved to Hilltop, where she became a medical trainee under Siddiq and, years later, the doctor at Hilltop. Recently, she starred in the film Linoleum, winner of the San Francisco Film Festival’s Sloan Science on Screen Award. The film also stars Jim Gaffigan, Rhea Seehorn, Gabriel Rush, Tony Shalhoub, Michael Ian Black, Amy Hargreaves, Jay Walker and West Duchovny. Katelyn joins Walking Dead star Chandler Riggs (Carl), for a can’t miss reunion at Big Lick Comic Con - NOVA!

Jason Faunt

Jason Faunt is an American actor who portrayed both Wes Collins and Alex in the popular television series, Power Rangers Time Force, he later reprised the role of Wes in episodes of Power Rangers Wild Force, Super Megaforce, and Super Ninja Steel. He appeared in Resident Evil: Vendetta as the motion capture actor for Leon S. Kennedy and as the voice of Aaron. In 2025 he'll team up with Jason David Frank's final film, Legend of the White Dragon as well as portraying Batman in the Bat in the Sun production.

Xavier Jimenez

Xavier Jimenez is an American actor well known for his notable work in both TV and film. Xavier gained early recognition for his role in the 2019 television series "The Mandalorian." but is best known for his memorable role of Tusken Chieftain in the 2021 live-action TV series "The Book of Boba Fett." Xavier's journey began in 2019 with his debut in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D," where he laid the foundation for a successful acting career. His recent accomplishments include starring in the TV show "The Rookie" in 2023 and in the feature film "Story Ave," which premiered at SxSW.

Ming Chen

Ming Chen is an actor, podcaster, producer, reality television personality, webmaster and dear friend of Big Lick Comic Con! Ming Chen’s road to Kevin's Smith's The Stash all began in 1995 when the college student, video store employee and avid Kevin Smith follower, developed a fan website based on the movie Clerks. Smith, who appreciated Chen’s work, reached out and asked him to create a website for his production company, View Askew Productions. Now not only does Chen continue to work on all of Smith’s online projects, but has also ventured into several other areas within the Kevin Smith empire, most recently hosting a weekly podcast called “I Sell Comics” and Ming & Mike Show podcasts with Mike Zapcic and also starred in the AMC reality series Comic Book Men.

Voice Actors

Billy West

Best known for his work on “Futurama” and “Ren & Stimpy”, Billy West has a career in radio and television that began in the 1980’s when he did comedic impersonations for Charles Laquidara’s “Big Mattress Morning Show” on Boston’s WBNC FM radio network. By the mid-90s, he had moved to doing impersonations of Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott on “The Howard Stern Show”, giving him greater exposure. From there, West became involved with the Nickelodeon shows “Doug” and “Ren & Stimpy”. Portraying the title characters on both shows, Billy West saw his voiceover work reach an even larger, yet younger audience. This led to Warner Bros. hiring him for the film Space Jam in 1996. Featuring Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan and the cast of Looney Tunes, West voiced Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, two characters whom he has sporadically voiced throughout the next decade. He is also known for his portrayal of Philip J. Fry and several other characters on the cartoon “Futurama”, which began in 1999 and has continued on through a number of changes through 2012 and currently airs on Comedy Central. In addition he is also known for a lot of commercial work including the voices of the iconic Red M&M as well as Buzz The Bee in the Honey Nut Cheerios commercials. We're honored to welcome Billy to Big Lick Comic Con - NOVA!

David Hayter

David Hayter is a Canadian-American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He is well known as the legendary voices of Solid Snake and Naked Snake in the massively popular Metal Gear video game series. As a screenwriter his credits include the screenplays to X-Men (2000) and X-Men 2 (2003). David wrote the 138-page screenplay adaptation to the graphic novel "Watchmen", by Alan Moore and David Gibbons, which has been hailed as one of the most accurate translations of comics to films ever written. His early voice acting career included the role of Captain America in the popular 1994 Spider-Man animated series. He also provided the voice of Arsène Lupin III in the English version of the anime film The Castle of Cagliostro and the voice of Tamahome in the English version of the anime series Fushigi Yūgi. He has since voiced dozens of characters from anime to Pixar. He was recently announced to join the cast of Voltron with Henry Cavill.

Josh Keaton

Josh Keaton is a legendary voice actor known iconic roles including Takashi "Shiro" Shirogane in Voltron: Legendary Defender, Spider-Man in various media in addition to Electro in the video game Marvel's Spider-Man, Jack Darby in Transformers: Prime and the adolescent Hercules in Hercules. He was also the voice of Ryu Hayabusa in the console versions of Ninja Gaiden, and the voice of Revolver Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. He is also the voice of King Anduin Wrynn in the MMORPG World of Warcraft and Tyler in Pokémon Concierge. Recently he's portrayed both Iron Man and Loki in the massive hit game, Marvel Rivals as well as Richard Parker in the hit Disney+ Series, Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman!

Comic Creators

JIM SHOOTER

Jim Shooter has been behind some of the most beloved comic stories ever told. Shooter achieved his first professional comics work at the age of thirteen, selling a Legion of Super-Heroes story to DC Comics and going on to write Superboy, The Legion of Super-Heroes, Superman and other titles. In 1978, he accepted the position of Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics under the condition that he would be allowed to improve things for Marvel’s creators. Jim introduced royalties and a spectrum of other incentives, rights and benefits, attracting a Who’s Who of talent. Later, he founded VALIANT, DEFIANT and Broadway Comics and was the principal creator of their characters and universes. Today, he's the Editor in Chief of Illustrated Media, a custom comics company.

Laura Martin

Laura Martin get her start in the comic world with WildC.A.T.s, StormWatch, and Gen13. She won the Eisner Award for her work on Planetary and The Authority. In 2000, she began a successful stint as a freelancer for Marvel and DC, and has since worked on a staggering number of projects to include but not limited to Ultimate-X (Marvel), JLA, and JLA: Heaven’s Ladder, Astonishing X-Men, The Ultimates, Thor, Uncanny Avengers, Stephen King’s The Stand, Avengers Vs. X-Men, Black Panther, and Star Wars (Marvel); Dr. Manhattan, Superman, Wonder Woman (DC Comics); Serenity and Plastic (Dark Horse); Armor Hunters (Valiant); Spawn (Image); and The Rocketeer and Ragnarök (IDW). Laura's current and most recent projects include The Others (CMON Games) and Megalith (Bad Idea).

Rick Leonardi

A massive talent who began his career in 1980. Notable works include The Amazing Spider-Man, Thor, X-Men, Cloak and Dagger, the first 25 issues of Spider-Man 2099, Daredevil, Vision and the Scarlet Witch, New Mutants, Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Superman, Justice League, Green Lantern vs Aliens, Predator, Star Wars, Aliens, Hellboy, Darth Vader vs Darth Maul, General Grievous, Darth Vader:Lost Command and many more! He is credited, along with fellow illustrator Mike Zeck, of designing the black-and-white costume to which Spider-Man switched during the 1984 Secret Wars miniseries, and later wore for a time and is a known fan-favorite since it’s inception.

Darryl Banks

Darryl Banks is a comic artist and creator known for legendary runs on multiple DC titles since the early 1990's including a defining run on Green Lantern beginning with vol. 3, starting with the "Emerald Twilight" storyline. Banks drew most of the issues from #50 through #142. Along with co-creating Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, he was responsible for designing costumes for Parallax, Grayven, Fatality, Dr. Polaris, and Dr. Light. Banks is also an artist and concept designer with Marvel, Hasbro, Hawthorne Village, Filsinger Games and more!

Josh Blaylock

Founder of the legacy indy comic book publisher and studio Devil’s Due, Josh Blaylock is not only a prolific comic book writer and artist, but an expert in licensing and pop culture trends. He began publishing comics while still a teenager, rising to fame six years later with the license acquisition and resurrection of G.I. Joe, Voltron, and other classic properties in the comic space, to huge success. The first of their kind, his comics launched a nostalgia wave that is still felt to this day, and pioneered a trend of independent publishers seizing the spotlight by revitalizing major licensed brands. Currently he is most known for his supernatural action comic Mercy Sparx, and the world of characters surrounding it (currently in development as a major motion picture), with several other creations translated into toys, film, and television. Having published and written over 1000 comic books with over $70 Million in sales, Josh also regularly collaborates on projects in entertainment, fashion and tech, including for North Coast Music Fest, Adidas, Pixel Vault, Hannibal Buress, Diplo, 0n1 Force, A System of a Down, Louis the Child, and more. His non-fiction book, How to Self-Publish Comics: Not Just Create Them, was made required reading at Savannah College of Art Design.

Bryan Tillman

Artist and creator Bryan Tillman is the owner and CEO of Kaiser Studio Productions LLC, a production studio for comics, toys, animation, and games. He works as a sculptor, comic editor, and illustrator for various projects, with clients including Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Lucas Films, and Cartoon Network. Bryan has authored three instructional books, including *Creative Character Design* and *The 30 Day Pitch Bible*, and created the *Dark Legacy* RPG trading card game, which was acquired by UpperDeck. He is currently focused on developing *Ninja Empire*, a multi-platform IP spanning comics, action figures, board games, and animations. He has also conducted panels and lectures at conventions like AwesomeCon, MegaCon, and San Diego Comic Con, where he has presented his popular "Proper Pitching and Promoting Yourself" panel for over 11 years. Bleeding Cool featured an article on his pitching advice in 2017.

Michael Watkins

Michael Watkins is the CEO and Editor In Chief of Highburn Studios. Michael has worked professionally in comics and illustration for over 20 years. He's the creator of the series GUARDIANS, published by Highburn Studios, the publishing company he founded in 2000. From there, he broke into mainline comics with work on FEMME-NOIR, and proceeded to work on projects for Marvel, DC, Image, Dynamite, Dark Horse, and Upper Deck. You've seen his work on titles such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Transformers, Iron Man, Avengers Assemble, Pantha, Villains Supreme, and other promotional work for Star Wars, Ironman 2, Suicide Squad, Transformers, and more. In addition to comics, Michael is a Voice Actor having voiced roles for Marvel and Disney through the characters of Venom, Scorpion, Mole Man, and Magneto.

Matthew Clark

Matthew Clark is a veteran comic book artist and creator known for his dynamic storytelling and bold, expressive linework. Over the years, he’s worked with major publishers like DC Comics, Marvel, and Dark Horse, contributing to iconic titles including Superman, Doom Patrol, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, and Ghost Rider. With a passion for character-driven visuals and kinetic action, Clark has become a go-to talent for both superhero staples and experimental series. He continues to evolve his craft, bringing energy and precision to every panel.

Cosplay Guests

Sarah Dean - SeattlesBeauty

SeattlesBeauty has made a name for herself in the cosplay community with her stunning portrayals of fan-favorite characters like Supergirl, Black Cat, Captain Carter, and many more. Her dedication to detail and passion for bringing characters to life has earned her a massive loyal following and recognition across the convention scene. She’s also making waves in Hollywood, recently landing a role in the upcoming James Gunn-directed Superman film!

SupermanFitt

Jared, also known as Supermanfitt, is a cosplayer and prop maker from the DC area who primarily cosplays superhero’s from Marvel and DC. Most notable for creating his Arkham Knight suit, he learned so much from this build including fabric work, how to work with electronics, magnets, and switches, and the finishing and paint process for 3D printed pieces. In addition to taking home gold from cosplay competitions, he has also been featured by Rocksteady Games, GameRant, Marvel, and various podcasts.

Reunions

Baldur's Gate 3

Power Rangers

Power Rangers

Actors

Lou Ferrigno

Chandler Riggs

Katelyn Nacon

David Barclay

Karen Whitfield