Super fandom requires super commitment. Therefore, Jason and I attend an impractical number of geeky conventions every year. Our latest of these was Salt Lake’s second annual comic con. Here are a few of the highlights from that gathering.

This year Salt Lake Comic Con again broke records with 120,000 attendees. Woohoo! These numbers weren’t without their tribbles though. The first night, a Thursday, turnout exceeded estimations by 30,000 and people had to wait up to 4 hours just to get inside the Salt Palace. Fortunately, Jason and I had picked up our registration early so we avoided that fixed point in time.

Among the show’s highpoints were its many excellent panels. John Barrowman, Stephen Amell, Bruce Campbell, and Alan Tudyk all entertained us onstage. Bruce Campbell turned his session into a game show, Alan Tudyk gave away signed stuff from his bag o’ crap (including a pair of Prada sunglasses), and John Barrowman sang to his audience. Be still my geeky heart!

The smaller panels at SLCC were definitely much better this time. We learned about ways superheroes can keep the feminine while adding the -ism, tricks for photographing cosplay, and techniques for generating novel plots. That may be more nerdy knowledge than the average person wants to assimilate but my positronic matrix has been hardwired to crave it.

The exhibit hall was enormous this time, taking up every inch of the Salt Palace’s 670,000 square feet. We bought Doctor dolls, Elven earrings, and leather goods in its congested space. We also purchased nerdy t-shirts and cool prints but that’s kind of a given. I was excited to see the first SLCC exclusives emerge this year, like newborn Uruk-hai ready to snuff out everything around them. Yes, special-edition toys are a sure sign that your con has amassed the power to take over the world.

All comic cons are exhausting, this one was no exception but we rallied on Friday night with the help of friends and food. We caught up with Lee, Steven, Meggie, and Ben over a pizza dinner and listened to recounts of their con happenings. Not all nerds think or drool alike so this was a fascinating discussion.

Salt Lake Comic Con was tremendous as usual. (I can say that now because it’s been around long enough to have a usual.) Nerds always need a good reason to brush their teeth and get out of their mom’s basement. Thanks SLCC for providing incentive for good oral hygiene and an opportunity to don super garb.