Wizard World Austin Comic Con

Austinites of all ages entered the Austin Convention Center to be greeted by iconic celebrities like the original Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, Billy Dee Williams who played Lando Calrissian in Star Wars Episode V and VI, and Ernie Hudson who played Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters movies.

Wizard World Austin Comic Con had a shaky start on Nov. 12 as celebrities were texting and comic book artists were drawing in their sketchbooks because the attendance was scarce. After school and work let out, people eventually filled the convention center to embrace their geekiness.

Wizard World, a production company, hosts Comic Con tours around the country to bring comic book artists and celebrities from sci-fi and fantasy movies and TV series to their fans.

Inside the corridors of Austin's first Comic Con, it was filled with comic book racks and shelves full of action figures.

Fans were especially excited to attend Q&A sessions with actors from their favorite series, like Walter Koenig, who starred in the Star Trek original series and seven Star Trek movies as Pavel Chekov, the Russian USS Enterprise navigator.

Koenig is an actor, teacher, and director. In 2008, at the age of 72, he wrote a sci-fi thriller script that added writer to his diverse titles. Despite his accomplishments, most of the fans asked him questions during his panel about his Star Trek character.

He talked about the origin of his character in the Star Trek series, saying that he was chosen to star in the series because of his resemblance to Davy Jones, lead singer of popular ‘60s rock group, The Monkees.

He also told the audience about the influence his role as a Russian navigator had on a society that was still divided by the iron curtain.

"Chekov is from a different culture. He is from Russia. The purpose was to uncover the feeling that (in the Star Trek series) we were living in a time when people of all races, ethnicity and belief systems could work together," said Koenig.

This event lacked the bigger names Wizard World presents in long-running events in other cities. But enthusiastic fans of all things fantasy and sci-fi flooded the event with some costumes that were over the top and some costumes that looked like they were just taken from closets, consecrating Austin's first Comic con, the geek event of the year.