Salt Lake Comic Con (SLCom) opened its doors at 11 a.m. and started the day off with V.I.P. events for V.I.P. ticket holders and press pass holders.
The Globe was allowed to enter the inaugural celebrity press conference event which gave press and media a chance to meet a few of the celebrity guests before the hustle and bustle of panels and overall convention activity.
“It’s great to be here in Salt Lake City and I’m ecstatic especially that now we have a great comic convention with 33,000 tickets sold and it’s a great benefit to the city,” said Lou Ferrigno, star of the 1980s “Incredible Hulk” television series.
Ferrigno took to the stage, surrounded by other guests, and spoke about Stan Lee, the mastermind behind Marvel comics, and his sudden announce late last night.
Dan Farr entered the room on motorcycle with the Utah Jazz Bear at the front, motor revving and confetti popping and falling all over the room.
Ferrigno and Farr went on to explain that Stan Lee was not an ace in the sleeve, but rather Lee was finally convinced by Ferrigno to attend once SLCom had sold over 30,000 tickets earlier in the day on Sept. 4.
Farr took to the stage to express gratitude and surprise to the amount of support the convention has received the last couple of months.
The announcements were short and quick with attention being given to the guest quickly after. Guests sat at tables giving the various press an opportunity to talk and ask questions.
Leaving the room, the large halls appear to be fairly empty with food concessions and a few attendees in costume populating the area. The emptiness is natural for the first few hours of a convention, though it will quickly disappear once the four o’clock hour rolls around and the majority of events and vendors open up to the general public.
