Dallas Comic Con is getting bigger in more ways than one- This weekend’s Con on May 21-22, 2011, brings legendary stars of the sci-fi/comics genre to Texas, featuring Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy, Star War’s Princess Leia, Carrie Fisher, comic book legends Stan Lee and John Romita, Jr., and The Punisher, Tom Jane!

There are so many awesome guests and not-to-be-missed features about this weekend’s Con. Here is a list of the action taking place at DCC:

• Main Stage Action:

Saturday – Leonard Nimoy’s presentation, The Flash’s John Wesley Shipp & Amanda Pays, Making Macabre  – Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson on creating horror comics, and The Walking Dead Cast (Neil Brown, Anthony Guajardo, James Gonzaba) on stage.

Sunday –  Stan Lee moderated by John Romita, Jr. and the RAW Studios panel with Tom Jane (Hung, The Punisher), artist Tim Bradstreet, and Todd Farmer (My Bloody Valentine, Jason X).

• Autograph Signings (scheduled):

Saturday – Leonary Nimoy (Saturday only!), Stan Lee, John Romita, Jr, Carrie Fisher, Tom Jane, Alexis Cruz (Stargate)

Sunday –  Stan Lee, Romita, Jr, Carrie Fisher, Tom Jane, Alexis Cruz (Stargate)

• Photo Ops (scheduled):

Saturday – Leonard Nimoy (Saturday only!) and Stan Lee

Sunday – Stan Lee

• If you have $350 burning a hole in your pocket, you can be a part of an exclusive Meet & Greet with Stan Lee and John Romita, Jr. sponsored by Desert Wind Comics.

• Exclusive Convention Marvel Comic Book Reprint of Amazing Spider-man #1 ($5) and show exclusive Marvel Comics lithograph ($20).
• Taking a pic of yourself and the “sexy” blue box! The Tardis has landed in Dallas!

• The Art of Akira – the first full showing of this exhibit premieres at DCC. The second-phase of this internationally traveled exhibit showcases the original art from anime masterpiece AKIRA.
• The Asian Film Festival of Dallas Anime Room screening anime during the DCC
• Bad Kids Go To Hell – Co-writers Matt Spradlin and Barry Wernick of the hit comic from Antarctic Press that is gearing up to shoot a live-action movie based on the comic will be making a special appearance at DCC.
• Amazing comic book artist guests like Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Ethan Van Sciver, Bernie Wrightson, Rick Leonardi, Mitch Breitweiser, Elzabeth Breitweiser, Todd Nauck, Michael Lark, James O’Barr, Kristian Donaldson, Kerry Gammill, Brian Denham, John Lucas, Jaime Mendoza, Kez Wilson, Joe Eisma, Steve Erwin, Robert Wilson, Andrew Mangum, Cal Slayton, Lawrence Reynolds, Ben Dunn, Scott Harben, Brent Peeples, Richard Dominguez, Dirk Strangely, David Hopkins, and The Variants.
• Support Small Press! Guests include Ty Tyner, Brian Delaney, Jon Hughes, Jerry Rascoe, CCP Comics, David Wilborn, Nate Bramble, Space Gun Studios, Robert Luedke, Adam Talley, Shonuff Studios, Jason Adams, Taylor Lymbery, Scott Zirkel, Jeff Balke, Kris Cagle, Vo Ngyyen, Rob Bass, Sam Lotfi, McClain McGuire, Rita Moore, Tommy Phillips, Rob Payne, Evan Bryce, Enroll See, C.S.Humble, Tim Chupka, Chris Fulton, Ryan Alexander, Matt Campbell, Michael Champion, and Roger Wilbanks.

DCC will also be held in the brand new 300,000 square-foot Irving Convention Center, a facility more than ten times the size of previous venues in Plano and Richardson to accommodate even more fans. Ben Stevens, partner in C2 Ventures behind DCC, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days, talked about how the local shows have grown since 1994:

“We’ve come a long way, developing a very large fan base that literally had us bursting at the seams. Some of our recent shows were so crowded, it was difficult to walk the hallways. This larger venue will solve that problem while allowing us to bring in more guests, vendors and special events.”

VIP and Priority passes sold out in record time, but general admission tickets are still available at the door and are an affordable $20 for a day pass. Parking is free and children under 12 are free with the purchase of an adult ticket.

Hours for the two-day show are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 21, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 22. The Irving Convention Center is at 500 W. Las Colinas Blvd., at the intersection of SH114 and Northwest Highway in Irving, Texas.

For more details on Dallas Comic Con, visit www.dallascomiccon.com Check out the program here.