Salt Lake Comic Con – day 1 and 2

So, today ends day 2 of the 1st annual Salt Lake Comic Con. Apparently, we are already the 4th largest in the country.  Not bad for a state full of conservative religious nuts with goofy liquor laws, huh?

Anyway, its been pretty fun so far. A few hiccups organizationally, but that to be expected when you’ve sold 30+ THOUSAND tickets and Stan Lee announced that he’s coming the day prior to the opening, apparently forcing a bit of reshuffling of the panel events and locations.

However, let me say that I have been very impressed with the staff that are dealing with the crowds.  They are friendly, understanding, yet firm in their understanding that they have a job to do, which is keep people flowing in and out of the various vendor, artist, and panel areas.  The people, as so often happens at these kinds of gathers, are very friendly and polite to one another, showing appreciation for peoples’ cosplay efforts and enjoying when their own efforts are noticed.  I have yet to see a fan-to-fan picture request be denied, and never accepted without a smile, even if the smile is one that is tired from a long day of being in costume and endless picture requests.

The variety of artists in the artists village is outstanding.  Utah certainly has produced a large crop of talent in drawing, painting, and other media, and it has been a joy to look at them, even if I couldn’t purchase from all of them for lack of money and display space.

Similarly, the vendor area is populated by a wide variety, including authors such as Kevin J Anderson (HERE), Weis and Hickman, organizations such as Project Fear, and even special effects studios such as Escape Design (shameless plug: its owned by a friend of mine: HERE).  As an added bonus, the cast of the Las Vegas production of “Evil Dead: the Musical” is HEREto pitch their (incredibly AWESOME) show.  ( if you’re in Vegas on a Friday or Saturday night, go see this show)

They are doing a fabulous job of running the autograph/photo-op areas, as well.  I got 3 photos on day one: Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict from the original “Battlestar Galactica” and Claire Coffee from “Grimm”.

I could comment on the amount of money one needs to have available for an event such as this, but that would be redundant and unfair to those struggling artists that are busting their butts to do what they love.  Some of the “larger” names probably don’t need the money, whereas the “smaller” acts do.  My head understands that it’s a business, but my heart aches at the need to prioritize my childhood fandom and adult responsibility.

Tomorrow, though, will be the real test for the organizers.  Stan Lee and William Shatner at the same time.  Should be interesting.  But, if they continue to work as hard as they have, I have a feeling that any glitches (and aren’t there always some?) will go largely unnoticed, and the fans will continue to have what has been, so far, a thoroughly wonderful experience.