Press conference at Salt Lake City Comic Con sets the tone
By: Christopher Campbell
Senior Writer
On Thursday morning, celebrities walked out of “Doctor Who’s” Tardis onto a stage in the South Ballroom of the Salt Palace Convention Center to kick off the second annual Salt Lake City Comic Con.
The first celebrity to come out was Lou Ferrigno, a bodybuilder who played The Incredible Hulk in the 1980s television show. He gave an enthusiastic welcome to all those in attendance.
“I’m very excited to be back because I had a great time a year ago,” Ferrigno said.
Ferrigno introduced Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg, the founders of SLC Comic Con, who also came out of the Tardis. They introduced other celebrities, the first of whom was Manu Bennett. Bennett plays the Azog the Defiler, the pale orc in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”
Bennett said Farr approached him in Philadelphia a year ago about being a guest in the convention he was setting up.
“There was something about his communication skills, which made me think ‘You know what, I’m going with this guy,’” Bennett said.
Bennett said his bookers will often tell him that newer conventions are not worth going to because they are smaller. However, SLC Comic Con is different.
“Everything he ever said to me and everything he ever … about this Comic Con came true,” Bennett said. “You guys are going to get 130 thousand people in here this weekend.”
Other celebrities in attendance included Craig Parker — who played the elf, Haldir in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”, Vic Mignogna — who has done voiceover work in animes like “DragonBall Z” and “Pokémon” and Veronica Taylor — who voices Ash Ketchum in “Pokémon.”
There was also a show of philanthropy on stage towards children in the Make a Wish Foundation. Artist Rob Prior painted the Joker on canvas in front of the audience and gave it to a child who has been battling leukemia.
Bennett announced that he would be giving the first thousand dollars he makes at the convention to one of the children of the Make a Wish Foundation. He invited the other celebrities to be charitable as well.
“Like the ALS challenge, I challenge the rest of you guys to put something toward these kids,” Bennett said. “They deserve it.”
As the press conference wrapped up, Brandenburg addressed the growing popularity of comic books.
“We try to remind people that when you go to the movies, and you watch ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Walking Dead’ and ‘Superman’ and ‘Spider-Man’ and all of those things, they all come from comic books,” Brandenburg said. “We are so honored to have the creative people that are in these movies, that are developing the characters in the worlds.”