My wife and I may have different goals and preferences at conventions, but one of our stronger common interests (besides a wish for better concession stand food) is a love of seeing other fans in costumes. All that inspiration, sartorial effort, and fashion derring-do enlivens and enriches even the most jaded, crowded, bizarrely laid-out of conventions.
Careful readers will note I’ve just reused the intro from Part 3. Not much has changed since then. We like costumes. Here are more. Please enjoy some.
X-Men are usually a staple, but this team has taken an uncommon direction in presenting the original X-Factor lineup from 1986, when Beast, Cyclops, and Iceman reunited after Jean Grey’s second resurrection. Angel was off-camera to the left, engaged in conversation. Leave it to billionaire playboy Warren Worthington III to find time for brokering deals.
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Cyclops #2, and extra credit if you recognize Dust, a Muslim X-Woman from recent years.
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After we returned home and reviewed our photos, I was shocked to realize we hadn’t captured a single Wolverine. The closest we came was Miss Wolverine below (neither X-23 nor the MC2 Wild Thing, the most well-known in-continuity Wolverine lady analogs), who brought her friends She-Hulk and Storm.
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In addition to She-Hulk (as well as Hulk and Moon Knight from Part 3), the Avengers were also represented by WWII Captain America. Curiously, military costumes were otherwise in short supply in all the areas we walked.
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Also bringing weapons: Harley Quinn in her classic ensemble.
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The classic ensemble allows freedom of movement, convenient product branding, leisurely comfort, and a badge of honor when forced into inter-company mash-ups, as witnessed here moments before delivering a finishing move to Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat.
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This version more closely resembles Harley from DC’s New 52 reboot. The costume looks great here (despite the missing headgear), but I’m still bitter that Secret Six had to die so that Harley’s Suicide Squad could replace it.
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Video game fans might prefer the Harley variant from Arkham Asylum, pictured here with fellow nogoodniks the Red Hood, Calendar Man, Ra’s al-Ghul, and our old pal Victor Zsasz from Part 3.
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On the other side of the law are Batgirl, Nightwing, and sometimes Catwoman, depending on her mood and whether or not the local museum has any new cat-based jewelry exhibits. (While I’m thinking about it: considering the obsessive nature of Julie Newmar’s portrayal in the 1960s series, one wonders why Gotham curators and jewelers of the time didn’t simply abstain from exhibiting anything remotely feline. Catwoman would never have robbed again.)
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Bane refuses to fraternize with the other DC villains beneath his notice, and instead attempts to make friends with black Spider-Man. If only the muffled mask allowed the pleasure of intelligible conversation instead of turning him into Charlie Brown’s gym teacher.
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Sticking with tradition are the classic Bat-villains of yore. If you can name at least three, you’re normal.
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Poison Ivy may have been too new to be included in the Batman TV show in its heyday. Hopefully someday she’ll have the chance to appear in a live-action film. Done right, I mean.
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Even Andrew Garfield’s new Spider-costume appeared on the con floor, here accompanying his non-friend Juggernaut.
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Mexico offers a different take on super-heroics: LUCHADORES!
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Competing in this same category: the original Pitier of Fools! The man who put the “Club” in “Clubber Lang” and the “ab” in DC Cab! The one, the only, America’s favorite gymnastics instructor and stale cereal salesman…Mr. T!
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Every entertainment convention has its mandatory costumes. You’ll almost always see at least one Jedi, one Vader, one remote-control R2D2, one Superman, one Batman, one Captain Jack Sparrow (a recent addition to the ranks), one Star Trek crewman over age 50, one scantily clad booth babe you should really stop staring at, one steampunk couple, one Victorian England dress, one Doctor Who, and at least two Ghostbusters.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen an entire Ghostbusters squadron, all quoting movie lines in unison like Christmas carolers chanting “Deck the Halls”.
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We conclude our costume programming with this happy drunken orc, who will probably have cousins attending this weekend’s GenCon here in Indianapolis. If you’re there, be sure to raise a flagon and try not to stumble backwards into someone’s booth full of fragile artwork.
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