Good news for the folks attending the Nashville Wizard World Comic Con: You’ll all be receiving a complementary variant cover copy of The Walking Dead #1!!

To say that The Walking Dead TV show “isn’t our thing” would be a gross understatement. Nevertheless, we have no problem with the graphic novel. In fact, it’s pretty rad. So it’s with great excitement that we share the following variant cover for The Walking Dead #1 as illustrated by Jerome Opeña. Details below:

Wizard World Comic Con Nashville Attendees to Receive ‘The Walking Dead #1’ Limited Edition Exclusive Variant Cover By Jerome Opeña, September 25-27

‘Marvel Zombies’ Artist Has Drawn 18th Cover In 2015 Series Available At Music City Center For Full-Price Attendees; VIP Fans Get Additional B&W Sketch Cover At Registration

TheWalkingDead01WizWorldNashville2015.jpg.jpegNASHVILLE, Tenn., September 8, 2015 — Wizard World, Inc. (OTCBB: WIZD) and Skybound, Robert Kirkman ‘s imprint at Image Comics, today announced that Eisner Award winner Jerome Opeña has drawn the 18th in a yearlong series of Limited Edition Exclusive Variant Covers of The Walking Dead #1 comic, to be provided free to all full-price attendees at Wizard World Comic Con Nashville, September 25-27. Skybound’s The Walking Dead created by Kirkman, the groundbreaking, Eisner Award winning comic book series, continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

The exclusive The Walking Dead #1 edition will be produced in extremely limited quantities and is available at registration to fans at the Music City Center only while supplies last. VIP attendees will receive an additional black & white sketch version of the comic.

Opeña is a comic book artist who has been working full time in the industry since 2005. He got his start with Humanoids Publishing and went on to contribute work to: Image, Dark Horse, and Marvel.

Best known for his frequent collaborations with writer Rick Remender (“Fear Agent,” “Punisher,” and “Uncanny X-Force”), he also has teamed with Jonathan Hickman on The Avengers and was one of the artists on the Infinity series.

Opeña’s latest project was the “Avengers: Rage of Ultron” which is a graphic novel by writer Rick Remender. The graphic novel was released in May of 2015. Opeña is currently doing various covers for Marvel Comics.

The artists for future books will be announced as they are selected. A similar series in 2013 featuring exclusives of The Walking Dead #1 proved to be wildly popular with fans. The full schedule of 2015-16 Wizard World shows is available at http://www.wizardworld.com/wizcon.html.

The Wizard World Comic Con Nashville celebrity roster includes Danny Trejo (Machete, From Dusk Till Dawn ), Candice Patton (“The Flash”), Jewel Staite (“Firefly,” “Stargate: Atlantis”), the “Dukes of Hazzard” trio of John Schneider (“Smallville”), Tom Wopat (Broadway hits “Guys and Dolls,” “Chicago”) and Catherine Bach (“The Young and the Restless”), the “CHiPs” tandem of Erik Estrada (“Sealab 2021”) and Larry Wilcox (“Lassie”) and Jim Cummings (“Winnie the Pooh,” “The Lion King”), Jodie Sweetin (“Full House”) and many others.

In addition to Opeña, Artist Alley in Nashville will feature Neal Adams (“Batman,” “X-Men,”), Billy Martin (“TMNT New Animated Adventures”), Harvey Tolibao (“Green Arrow,” “Silver Surfer”), Julian Totino Tedesco (“X-Treme X-Men,” “Venom”), Claudio Aboy (“Heavy Metal,” “Marilyn”), Stephanie Hans (“Journey Into Mystery,” “The Amazing Spider-Man”), Ethan Van Sciver (“Justice League,” “Green Lantern”), Arthur Suydam (“Marvel Zombies,” “Army of Darkness”), Rob Liefeld (“Deadpool,” “X-Force”), Brad Guigar (“Evil Inc.,” “Phables”) and more.

Wizard World Comic Con events bring together thousands of fans of all ages to celebrate the best in pop-fi, pop culture, movies, graphic novels, cosplay, comics, television, sci-fi, toys, video gaming, gaming, original art, collectibles, contests and more. The 19th of 24 events currently scheduled on the 2015 Wizard World calendar, Nashville show hours are Friday, September 25, 3-8 p.m.; Saturday, September 26, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, September 27, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Pretty sweet, right? So if you’re in the area, be sure to to support Nashville Wizard World Comic Con, and swing by and talk to Jacob Hopkins and myself while you’re there! We’ll have more goodies for you!