Salt Lake Comic Con
A fourth-time attendee reviews the September 2015 Salt Lake Comic Con: smoother entry and great cosplay, but pricey autographs and fewer unique booths.
Comic Con started hosting their event in Salt Lake in August 2013. Since then they have been holding giant events twice a year. Since they first started hosting them in Utah they’ve been more and more popular. It’s a three day event held from Thursday to Saturday. Tons of celebrities, artists, designers, and more go to the convention and sell different things. People who go often dress up in costumes from cartoons, movies, TV shows, or video games.
This year’s second Comic Con has been a huge success. Many celebrities went including Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Vic Mignogna, and more. This year’s Comic Con was one of the most well planned and organized. This year, for you to get in, you have to register a wristband online, which was very efficient compared to what they have done in the past. No long lines or anything, you just walked in; they scanned your wristband and they let you through.
This is the fourth Comic Con I’ve attended and I was very impressed with the amount of exhibits, shops, and artist booths there were. However I was a little disappointed that there weren’t that many places that sold interesting things. Normally when people go to Comic Con they go to meet celebrities, take pictures with people, go to panels, and buy stuff you don’t typically find in a store. Sadly most of what was sold was typical merchandise that’s trending in the nerd culture. In the past they’ve sold really cool things from different booths. Unfortunately this time I only found a few booths that I wanted to buy things from.
The way they set up the celebrities this year was inefficient. They were blocking off the really popular celebrities so you couldn’t even see them unless you were up close. Now they are restricting it so you can’t even walk up and shake their hand. The fact that they’re restricting everything now makes it less enjoyable for people. Not everyone has $70.00 to spend on getting an autograph from someone, but if they can walk up and shake their hand that’s good enough for them; however you can’t now because now they’re stopping that from happening. What also takes away from the experience is money. They price everything extremely high when it is already expensive for people to pay for a ticket, then they cost more when you get in and want to buy an autograph.
Some of the charm that Comic Con has had in the past is slowly fading away, but what still makes the experience enjoyable is the people. There were thousands of people who showed up in incredible costumes. Many people showed up in miraculous costumes that looked futuristic but were homemade and probably took months to make. Another great feeling about being at Comic Con is you feel like you’re in a giant home with people who are like your family, because they understand and like the same things you do and you get to share that passion and feel accepted with them. The costume development for some characters people dressed up in was amazing. People are very creative, and the people who make their own costume normally find theirs turns out better than the ones people buy.
I think the people who run Comic Con have some improving to do but overall I would say I enjoyed Comic Con very much. I was happy I was able to buy some cool posters and a T-shirt. Hopefully in the future things won’t be so expensive and maybe you’ll have more opportunities to go to panels and meet celebrities. I loved seeing all the cool costumes and taking pictures with them. This year they had book signings, which is new, and I think that could be very successful if they bring in some more authors that are more well known. With more Comic Cons to come the adventures will continue and it shall bring all the nerds a new way of sharing their passion.
From Comic Con to FanX
The convention in this review kept running, but not under the name used here. Salt Lake Comic Con was created by Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg, and its first show took place September 5 to 7, 2013, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
In July 2014 the organizers of San Diego Comic-Con sent Dan Farr Productions a cease and desist letter over the words “Comic Con.” The Utah team refused, and the dispute went to court. In December 2017 a San Diego jury found that San Diego Comic-Con holds a trademark on “Comic Con.” The jury also found the infringement was not willful and awarded $20,000 in damages, far below the $12 million the San Diego nonprofit had asked for.
After the verdict, Farr and Brandenburg renamed their show FanX. From 2019 the full name used “Comic Convention” in place of “Comic Con,” and the event is now known as FanX Salt Lake. It is still held at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
Plenty of fans now fly in for the convention from out of state, and SLC airport transportation is the simplest way to get downtown without renting a car.
Questions people ask
What is Salt Lake Comic Con called now?
It is now called FanX Salt Lake. The organizers, Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg, dropped the Salt Lake Comic Con name after a San Diego jury ruled in December 2017 that San Diego Comic-Con holds a trademark on “Comic Con.” Since 2019 the event has used the phrase “Comic Convention” instead.
When was the first Salt Lake Comic Con?
The first Salt Lake Comic Con ran September 5 to 7, 2013, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. It was organized by Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg, the same team that later renamed the event FanX Salt Lake. The convention has stayed in the same downtown venue since then.
Why did Salt Lake Comic Con have to change its name?
San Diego Comic-Con sent the Utah organizers a cease and desist letter in July 2014 and later sued. In December 2017 the jury found the Utah show had infringed the “Comic Con” trademark, though not willfully, and awarded $20,000. The organizers then rebranded as FanX.
