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Show BY KATHERINE ELLIS /ARTS PHOTO BY ERIN BURNS 11.1 oil!! III r- EDITOR S alt Lake's first comic book convention was one for the record books. Sept. 5-7 2013 brought 72,000 people to Salt Lake City, making it the largest first year convention in North America. The second event, Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience 2014 (Apr. 17-19), shattered their own record for the largest convention ever held in the state of Utah with 100,000 attendees and became the largest Comic Con in North America per capita. Conventions this large are bound to garner attention, and Salt Lake's records did just that. San Diego Comic-Con, the largest comic book convention in the nation, called out Salt Lake's founders and demanded that they change their name, claiming that the term "Comic Con" leads people to believe the two are affiliated. Producer and founder Dan Farr released a statement saying, "We're puzzled by why Salt Lake Comic Con was singled out amongst the hundreds of Comic Cons around the country and the world."The suit stated that Salt Lake Comic Con's "actions have caused, and will continue to cause, irreparable harm to [San Diego Comic-Con] and to the public which is deceived as to the source and sponsorship of [San Diego's] goods and services: Organizers of Salt Lake's convention plan to defend themselves against the lawsuit. Co-founder Bryan Brandenburg told the Deseret News, "A lot of comic cons start up every year, but we're the first to have the largest (first-time) comic con in North American history in little Salt Lake City: Because of their immense growth and success — becoming the thirdlargest convention in the nation in seven months — they made waves in the comic book convention world. They don't plan to stop there, though. Ticket sales have tripled since their first event, and it is expected that over 100,000 people will make an appearance at this weekend's event, beginning Sept. 4 and continuing through the 6th. Salt Lake Comic Con 2014 is hosting over 200 panels, with 250 guests who will be speaking at these panels.There are over 42 celebrity guests and comic artists, and this year has even caught the attention of Marvel and Darkhorse comics, who will be sponsors at the convention. This year's activities include workshops, meetups, artist tables, giveaways and more. Lord of the Rings fans have reason to rejoice as last year's Weta Workshop returns to wow fans with models, miniatures, weapons, armor, specialty costumes and their well-know conceptual design. With work featured in films and TV series such as the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "King Kong;' "Avatar," "District 9;' "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys;' "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "The Hobbit" trilogy, it's no wonder founder Dan Farr can't help but share his enthusiasm with the fans. "We're excited Weta will be joining us again and are confident fans will be blown away again with its new Hobbit collectibles, the Troll statues and more exciting surprises;' he said. Weta Workshop isn't the only group to return to the convention. Many comic book artists, such as Mill Adams, Rob Prior and Bill Galvan will return with new and refreshing content. In addition to artists, many vendors are scheduled to appear: Batmobile, Craft Lake City, Dr. Volts Comic Connection, Fear Factory, Klff: Knight Rider, Robotech X, Yes Anime and Zombie Patrol (just to name a few). There are also several celebrity guest appearances guaranteed to excite any attendee. Headliners this year include: Simon Heiberg, the American actor known for his role as Howard Wolowitz in the CBS sitcom "The Big BangTheory," currently in its seventh season. He is also known for his role as Moist in the Joss Whedon-led web miniseries Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Stephen Amell plays the dreamy heartthrob in CW's series "Arrow," based on the DC Comics superhero, The Green Arrow. "Arrow's" premiere drew over 4 million viewers, making it the CW's most watched program in over three years. Manu Bennett is an Australian-New Zealand actor. He is best known as the Gallic gladiator Crixus in the Starz television series "Spartacus," as Azog the Defiler in Peter Jackson's three-part film adaptation based on the "The Hobbit" by J. R. R.Tolkien and as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke in The CW hitTV series "Arrow" Dean O'Gorman, an actor, artist and photographer from New Zealand, is best known for playing the dwarf Hi in "The Hobbit" trilogy. Dean also appeared in both "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess" multiple times. BYU graduate Jon Heder is an American actor and filmmaker whose film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film "Napoleon Dynamite." He also starred in "The Benchwarmers," "School for Scoundrels;' "Blades of Glory;' "Mama's Boy" and "When in Rome;' and provided voice talents in the animated films "Monster House" and "Surf's Up;' as well as the "Napoleon Dynamite" animated series. "We've promised that this Comic Con will be better than our previous, record-breaking events. We wanted to take things to the next level with lead characters from current hit shows and Simon Helberg and Stephen Amell to support that promise;' co-founder Brandenburg stated. "Simon, Stephen and Jon are great additions for our fans, but they're still just the tip of the iceberg. We've got over 200 guests and panelists to announce, so people should follow us on social media as we continue to add to our master guest list." Salt Lake Comic Con has 133,555 likes on Facebook and 10.4K followers on Twitter. Follow them at https://www. facebook.com/SaltLakeComicCon and https://twitter.com/ slcomiccon for updates and information regarding events as well as general community geeking. Don't forget to drop by this weekend Sept. 4 - 6 at The Salt Palace in full costume for an out of this world experience. Salt Lake Comic Con 2014: September 4-6 Expo Hall Hours: Thursday: 2 p.m. — 8 p.m. (Gold/VIP: 1 p.m. — 8 p.m.) Friday: 11 a.m. — 7 p.m. (Gold/VIP: 10 a.m. — 7 p.m.) Saturday: 10 a.m. — 7 p.m. (Gold/VIP: 9:30 a.m. — 7 p.m.) Salt Palace Hours: 8 a.m. — midnight VIP Passes have sold out, but tickets are still available and so are student discounts. k.ellis@utah.chronicle.edu @ChronyArts |