All Things Comic-CON!

Contributed by Trevor Smith: 

Comic Con was a blast. I saw many cool costumes, celebrities, events, and panels. Here are some of the highlights:

1. If you build it, they will come - Apparently, the geek community is alive and well in Salt Lake. It turned out to be the 3rd biggest Comic Con (behind San Diego and New York, obviously). It broke the record for largest inaugural Comic Con with almost 80,000 attendees.

2. Chaos reigns - One of the side-effects of such an unexpectedly large turnout is the massive disorganization. The long lines for popular celebrities, panels, and events were confusing and disheveled. I was given conflicting directions multiple times...it just seemed like they were making it up as they went.

3. Excelsior! - The highlight of this whole experience was meeting the man himself, Stan Lee. If anyone knows anything about me, it is that the core of my geek-hood is the Marvel Universe (Batman and Star Wars round out the trifecta). Stan is the creator and Godfather of all things Marvel. It was a long and chaotic process (see #2 above), but I was able to get a signature on my Marvel Encyclopedia and I couldn’t be happier.

4. The Shat and the Bat - The other major event at the Con was a live panel with Captain Kirk and Bruce Wayne, or William Shatner and Adam West for those living under a rock. Thanks to the chaos (see #2 above), I got to sit 5th row center for free! It was fun to see a couple of old legends chat. It was kind of like watching a couple of old, senile grandpa’s talk each others’ ears off about whatever happened to pop into their heads at that moment. 

5. Looks AND personality? - I have a new man-crush, and he just happens to be an alien from the planet Krypton. I met Dean Cain for the sole purpose of getting him to sign Whitney’s copy of “Lois & Clark”, I had no idea that he would make me fall in love with him! As he was signing it, he asked “who’s Whitney?”. I said, “my wife, she has a huge crush on you”. To which he replied, “ I swear I didn’t do anything!”. Then he joked about how he wouldn’t want to piss off a man of my size (yeah, that’s right...Superman is intimidated by me!). He noticed my Utah hat and proceeded to chat Utah football with me...and he knew his stuff too, it wasn’t just an act. He’s just an overall good guy.

6. Playing dress-up - A grand tradition in the world of geek conventions….Cosplay! I joined in the fun on Saturday by dressing up as Captain Mal from the cult sci-fi series, “Firefly” (if you are unfamiliar, it’s on Netflix. Do yourself a favor and watch it!). I got lots of compliments. I even had one lady ask  if she could take my picture holding her baby! 

I may or may not already be planning for next year.