Opening the second annual Salt Lake Comic Con, expected to draw over 120,000 people over the next three days, co-founders Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg welcomed first responders, cosplayers, most of the convention’s top guests, and an assembled group of kids from the Make-A-Wish foundation.
There was plenty of spectacle on display, as one after another guests entered via an on-stage Tardis.
Confetti and t-shirts were thrown by the Utah Jazz bear. And the kids got to be a part of the whole show up on stage.
Central to Salt Lake Comic Con, according to its founders, is wanting to give back to the community. Lou Ferigno, perhaps best known for playing The Incredible Hulk in the 1980’s tv show, pointed out that SLCC had given out over 15,000 free tickets to schools and other local organizations to make sure everyone could attend.
So while it was great to see Boba Fett/Johnny Lingo (Daniel Logan) deliver a birthday cake to the Green Power Ranger (Jason David Frank) and then be led in singing/grunting out “Happy Birthday” by Big Daddy Zombie (Eugene Clark), the best part of the event was Manu Bennett.
Bennett, a man whose heart is seemingly bigger than his ginormous stature, pledged to give the first $1,000 he made at the con to one of the kids from Make a Wish.
He then challenged the other folks on stage to do the same. Ice bucket challenge, nothing! Bennett just set the new standard for con classiness and charity.
Salt Lake Comic Con runs starting today, Sep. 4 – 6. Panels begin today at 3pm, Friday at noon, and Saturday at 11 a.m. Come stop by the Big Shiny Robot booth and check out us robots on the various panels we’ll be guesting on,