As part of TheOneRing.net’s recent Light the Beacons fundraiser, Heather (AKA: IStoleTheOneRing from the Barliman’s Chat) won a guest spot with the Happy Hobbit team.
UPDATE: Photo of Manu Bennett at the TORn “Hobbit” preview panel.
Gandalf & Saruman at SLCC 2013
SALT LAKE CITY — Once scheduled for a smaller venue in the suburbs, the first ever Salt Lake Comic Con filled Utah’s capital city’s largest convention venue and had it bursting at the seams Saturday. For a time the hundreds waiting outside were not allowed to enter except at a 1-out-1-in rate. Word on the dealer’s floor said it was because the fire marshal closed the space but that rumor was never confirmed.
Reports in the media called the event “record setting” for a first-year convention, and that is possibly true, but such stats aren’t readily available. In any case, it was a massive event with celebrities that included William Kircher (Bifur) and Manu Bennett (Azog) and other pop-culture icons like William Shatner and Adam West.
Azog at Weta booth, Salt Lake Comic Con 2013
TheOneRing.net was part of the fun as well, with staffer (and this writer) Larry D. Curtis (MrCere) attending with the show in his (my) hometown. the SLComic Con invited TORn to present a panel about Smaug and serve on other panels as well, with topics including Fantasy Films, all things Tolkien, Geek Culture and film school.
Bennett and Kircher were kind enough to drop by TheOneRing panel that also included author and TORn friend Paul Genesse. He helped moderate the panel and showed incredible enthusiasm for the material.
TheOneRing also managed a booth on the at time very crowded floor supported by incredible friends at Badali Jewelry and Weta Workshop making its first U.S. appearance outside of the San Diego Comic Con. TORn helped back in a small way to staff the Weta booth and send those with questions about where to purchase The One Ring to Badali’s very nearby booth. Artist David Powell was also kind enough to sign posters of his art for fans.
The Salt Palace Convention Center can be expanded and the SLCC will return next year. TheOneRing.net hopes to be part of the show. Thanks to Dan McBride and Blonde Ninja for their support of the TORn booth. Thanks also to the many financial supports at the event and to Salt Lake Comic Con for letting us be a part of the show. If you attended and would like TORn to return, you can use the contact info here to let them know.
If anybody has images of Bennett and Kircher attending the TORn panel, please send them in! We were busy having a panel and didn’t get any photos.
Costumes at Salt Lake Comic Con
Galadriel at SLCC 2013.
Hobbit man
Posters for sale at SLCC, 2013
Tauriel’s bow and knives, SLCC 2013.
Gandalf & Galadriel SLCC 2013
Gnadalf, SLCC 2013
Badali Jewelry
TheOneRing.net panel, SLCC 2013.
Happy fans get a free Hobbit poster
Dave Tremont, Weta, Salt Lake Comic Con
Bilbo’s contract reporduction
Azog at Weta booth, Salt Lake Comic Con 2013
Crowds at SLCC 2013
Manu Bennett at TheOneRing.net panel, Salt Lake Comic Con, 2013.
Orthanc, Weta booth, Salt Lake Comic Con 2013
Data of Star Trek, SLCC 2013.
Weta booth, Salt Lake Comic Con 2013
Dwarf statue, part of the Weta booth at Salt Lake Comic Con, 2013.
Dan and Boomer at TORn booth
Dwalin’s axes named Grasper and Keeper
Gandalf & Saruman at SLCC 2013
Inferno from TORn messages boards and two other Utahns
Team Fortress 2 costumes from SLCC
Tom Bombadil and Bilbo Baggins, SLCC 2013
Bilbo’s contract, SLCC 2013
Tuariel’s knives, Weta booth, Salt Lake Comic Con 2013.
A snake charmer and a dino, SLCC 2013
Badali Jewelry
Comic Book Guy and Otto Mann
Sorceress costume at SLCC 2013
Orcrist The Goblin Cleaver at Weta booth Salt Lake Comic Con 2013.
Frankenstein costume at Salt Lake Comic Con, 2013.
In this piece on his blog Midgardsmal, linguist David Salo writes about how he derived various Orkish dialects used in the Lord of the Rings films from his own extrapolations of Black Speech, and
about his thoughts on the approach Sauron might have taken in putting together Black Speech itself.
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
This is an illustrated tale of the untried university graduate who brought new life to JRR Tolkien’s previous creations. Here lies a tale about a young rookie who was plucked from the wilderness to deliver an almighty task despite lacking in heavyweight stature.
Art student Jemima Catlin, an avid JRR Tolkien obsessive, was just 23 when her work fell into the lap of literary giants Harper Collins – and little did she know that she would go on to illustrate none other than her beloved epic, The Hobbit. Continue reading “Jemima Catlin, the newest illustrator of The Hobbit”
Nothing official has been announced yet, but indications out of the Capital City are that things are progressing towards something Lord of the Rings fans have long desired, a museum dedicated to Middle-earth. For a more dynamic experience for visitors, it makes more sense for it to be a more general Film museum focused on all the films coming from Wingnut and WETA. That would allow for visitors to see new exhibits over time, but with a heavy focus on Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Te Papa had a very popular Lord of the Rings exhibit in 2002 and again in 2006, which turned out to be its most popular exhibit, so the market is there. Locations being looked at are somewhere along the waterfront. This would gives fans year round a second place to connect with their LOTR fandom alongside the WETA Cave, and something for them to see long after the final film is released. One of the biggest hurdles when this idea was first conceived was the licensing rights, but indications seem to imply that is less of an impediment right now.