The Walking Dead: Merle and Daryl Meet at Wizard World Austin’s Panel

They might not have reunited on the small screen yet, but the Dixon Brothers were side by side in Austin this afternoon. Earlier this afternoon, actors Michael Rooker and Norman Reedus (best known to fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead as Merle and Daryl Dixon on the series) held court at Wizard World Austin Comic Con.In a panel moderated by “Action Chick” Katrina Hill, the fan-favorite actors talked, joked and cursed a little, with Rooker singing the praises of ousted showrunner Frank Darabont and doing a surprising amount of math.You can listen to some audio from the panel here.Note: We previously erroneously identified Michael Rooker as having come from Georgia. In fact, he’s from Alabama. We apologize for any confusion.According to our reporter on the floor (and also to a couple of mainstream media folks who sat with her in the press section), this panel seemed to be kind of oddly more representative of traditional comic book fans than the rest of the convention; fewer female fans and fewer cosplayers hit the panel than almost anything else this weekend, but that doesn’t mean the room wasn’t packed.After introductions and a bit of chatter, Rooker and Reedus started out the panel in earnest by talking about the weirdest items fans have given to them, or asked them for. Norman Reedus said he had a few–that he’d been presented at a panel with a bag of oily meat, which the presenter then said was squirrel that she had hunted down with a shovel. He also said that some Japanese women once asked for him to blow in a bottle.There was quite a bit of talk about horses on the panel–Reedus doesn’t get along with them, in part because the animals are always backing into shots. Each of them shared some funny horse-related anecdotes.Asked whether it seemed like a bad idea for Daryl to be driving a “really loud motorcycle” that might attract zombies, Reedus responded, “Well, it’s good on gas, and Daryl don’t give a f–k.”