On the scene at Comic Con FanXperience

On the scene at Comic Con FanXperience

(Amanda Taylor)


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Comic Con FanXperience began Thursday at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake, drawing fans of all kinds. Browncoats, Potterheads, Trekkers and more gathered to celebrate all things geeky, meet some of their favorite celebrity guests and enjoy the general atmosphere of the FanXperience.

Kickoff

Gov. Gary Herbert joined co-founders Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg at the beginning of the three-day event, where they honored servicemen as the real heroes — and encouraged attendees not to just dress as their favorite superheroes but to act like them to better the community.

Herbert quoted from Star Wars and Star Trek, and showed off his geeky side by declaring he loved action figures — especially the bobblehead doll version of himself. He also declared April 17, 2014, as Salt Lake Comic Con Hero’s Day.

“Today is the day to become the hero for those that matter most in our life,” Herbert said. “To ensure that in the brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape our sight. Let those who worship evil’s might beware our power — Utah's might. May we take this day to be heroes to each other by helping and protecting one another to make Utah and the communities where we work a better place to live and play. Let our great state be a shining beacon of light and hope in this world.”

The founders and Herbert were then joined onstage by former Green Power Ranger Jason David Frank, and starts like Chandler Riggs from "The Walking Dead."

Cosplay

Kim Romero spent over 100 hours hand-embroidering her costume's 
details.
Kim Romero spent over 100 hours hand-embroidering her costume's details. (Photo: Amanda Taylor)

Heidi Mason attended the FanXperience as an extremely accurate Catwoman. She said the spandex comprising her catsuit was the same fabric as in the 1966 Batman TV show.

“Only one company in the world makes it still, and it’s also the same company that makes the satin for the Adam West Batman as well,” Mason said. “This spandex is also what they used for Batgirl on that same TV series, only in purple.”

She spent six months making the costume, hunting down the correct boots on eBay and finding the proper gloves, nails, belt and necklace.

A stunning hoop-skirted Snow White — real name Kim Romero — explained that the hand-embroidered detailing on the sleeves of her dress took more than 100 hours of work.

“It’s a Snow White dressed as Doctor Who costume,” Romero said. “It’s from Pocket Princesses — an online comic where she draws Disney princesses doing different stuff.”

Twenty additional hours went into perfecting her look, and she said she will be cosplaying in that dress for a while.

The Cosplay Corps is a uniquely Salt Lake Comic Con group of women who love to dress as their favorite characters. Founder Randy Lloyd said it is open to anyone, with any caliber of costume.

“I’m unionizing them,” Lloyd said. “The membership — you sign up, you get your patch — and it doesn’t matter if you got (your costume) at the store or made it yourself or if you’re a pro and made a really nice one. We’re equal opportunity.”

Booths

Mickell Price sells Harry Potter-themed wares at FanXperience.
Mickell Price sells Harry Potter-themed wares at FanXperience. (Photo: Amanda Taylor)

Mud In My Blood owner Mikell Price was laid off from her job and started crafting to keep herself from being depressed. She turned to her love of Harry Potter to inspire her. “I grew up with it,” Price, who lives in Sugar House, said. “It’s cheesy, but it makes me feel happy.”

Her products include hand sanitizers named after potions like Felix Felicis, candles scented like characters (Dumbledore’s has lemon drop and old books) and book covers to make your own novels look like Hogwarts-approved reading.

One of the most impressive booths, with two stories and large stone replica gargoyles guarding its gates, was a big advertisement for an exciting new theme park in Pleasant Grove. Called “Evermore,” the 40-acre park is set to open in 2015 and transport visitors back to Victorian England.

Lauded as the “first true adventure park,” the entire theme and feel of Evermore will shift with the seasons. Spooky for the fall, a winter wonderland for the holiday months and a carnival in the spring, the park promises to appeal to everyone.

Project coordinator Jordan Colton explained that what started as simply another haunt, similar to Nightmare on 13th, expanded into an imagination-come-to-life theme park. He said as an immersive, interactive experience, it is the first park of its kind.

Panels

The energy on the Comic Con exhibition hall floor is frenzied and moving, but it's a different story in the panel discussions. Even with everyone enjoying a chance to sit and relax for an hour, the panels still buzz with energy. At any given hour of Comic Con there are nine different panels, workshops or events to attend with topics ranging from YouTube celebrities, digital currency, X-Men trivia, religion in science fiction or a chance to meet Real Salt Lake players. So many options with that level of specificity gets the right passionate speakers in front of the right willing audience. And that's what Comic Con is all about — getting a lifelong Jim Henson fan sitting front and center at a panel discussion titled "Muppets: A Cultural History and Look at What's Coming Up."

Uniquely Utah

Heidi Mason got the most accurate pieces and fabric for her Catwoman 
costume.
Heidi Mason got the most accurate pieces and fabric for her Catwoman costume. (Photo: Amanda Taylor)

Virginia Rush was the editor of the full-color 80-page programming guide. She has grown up in geek culture, a big fan of Star Trek and "Battlestar Galactica" and Comic Cons across the country. She was thrilled to come on board and help with the FanXperience.

“They’re very addicting,” Rush said of the conventions. “I love the energy, I love the costumes — you can just stand there and watch people, and it’s endlessly entertaining. I was so excited when they said they were going to do it here. I fly across the country for that — I want it in my backyard.”

Compared to other Comic Cons she has attended, Rush said she has been impressed at the highly organized and functional nature of the Salt Lake Comic Con and FanXperience.

“Everyone is nice and upbeat,” Rush said. “I appreciate that they try and keep it kind of family friendly and it kind of fits the atmosphere of Utah.”

Rush made it a family affair — her parents attended the convention, and she said her husband and children would join her on Friday.

Rush's co-worker Randall Lloyd said the best part of the job (in his case, designing all the banners and the program guide) is working with great, enthusiastic people — then impressing the great, enthusiastic attendees of the Comic Con.

“It’s the joy people get when they see something that was attractive and you were a part of it,” Lloyd said.

Attendance for the weekend is estimated to hit more than 100,000 visitors, according to Herbert.

Contributing: Preston Wittwer, ksl.com contributor

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