fanx

FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention (Fall 2019)

Another year, another FanX. This year’s major headliner was Tom Holland. They haven’t announced attendance numbers (yet), but traditionally the Fall show draws between 75,000 and 110,000 people. It certainly seemed crowded enough.

Christina Ricci Panel

Famous for her childhood role of Wednesday Adams and such movies as Casper, Sleepy Hollow, and Penelope, Christina Ricci comes across as a really nice person (it could be an act though).

When asked if she would like to play Cat Woman opposite Robert Pattinson as Batman she said “yes!” When asked if she had a Disney live action role she would want to play she said “Tinkerbell.”

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FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention (Spring 2019)

Once again, that which cannot be shortened to be called a comic-con has come and gone in Salt Lake City. The Spring show was billed as being smaller, and it was. Fewer vendors, panels, and crowds. Occasionally FanX has done smaller Spring shows, kind of to give everyone a breather, and then they bounce back with a huge show in the fall. Interesting tidbits from the show:

Zachary Levi Spotlight Panel

It turns out that Zachary Levi is a pretty funny guy, and his panel was full of laughs and fun throughout.

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September: A Month of Bad Movies

September will feature at least four Jack’s Bad Movies (each separated by a week or so). The reason? Fanx Salt Lake Comic Convention (Sep. 8-10) has a panel titled “A Different Kind of Marvelous: The First Live Action (Made for Television) Marvel Cinematic Universe:”

Long before Iron Man and The Hulk started the Marvel Cinematic Universe on a course against Thanos, and even before Ang Lee’s Hulk, Raimi’s Spider-Man or Ben Affleck’s Daredevil, Marvel Comics struggled gloriously on screens, big and small, to bring big ideas and heroes with heart to life, subject of course to budgetary limitations and commercial breaks. In the 1970s and 1980s, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Daredevil, and Thor all made live action appearances, often with catchy, disco infused theme songs, custom vans, feathered hair, and exciting special effects (you will believe a man can slowly scramble down a wall). Our panel will visually explore the better and lesser appreciated entries in the early Marvel television oeuvre, discuss the successes and limitations of the television films and series in context, and discuss how these enthusiastic early entries opened the door for Marvel movies in the 1990s, and ultimately to the modern MCU. Excelsior!

As it happens, I will be participating on that panel. In preparation, I’ve been watching the older Marvel related properties. Against all odds, most of these appear to be quite bad. At the suggestions of Himarm and CreationEdge, I decided to post them to coincide with the panel I’ll be participating on and spread them out over the whole month.

Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 Recap

This year’s Salt Lake Comic Con opened in the Vivint Smart Home Arena with Mark Hamill. Traditionally celebrity panels are held in the Grand Ballroom of the Salt Lake Convention Center, which accomodates around 5,000 people. This year two events (Mark Hamill and William Shatner) were moved to the Arena because it allows for up to 20,000 attendees and is located just west of the convention center.

Nothing definitive yet for the ongoing lawsuit between San Diego Comic-Con and Salt Lake Comic Con. The latest news reported in May says they are working towards a settlement and that a decision is expected to be made by mid-October.

Mark Hamill

There weren’t 20,000 people in attendance, but the lower bowl and the floor around the stage were almost completely full, with some people bleeding into the upper bowl. I heard one estimate that 10,000 were in attendance for Mark Hamill. Had the event been on Saturday instead of Thursday at 11:00am I’m sure it would have completely filled up, but as it was Mark Hamill had only one day in Salt Lake City before leaving to attend Fan Expo Canada the same weekend.

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