Dear May

Dear May,

This weekend I went to the Dallas Comic Con.  I have been going almost twice a year since 2012, and it’s always a great time.

There are actually several of them throughout the year, and I tend to attend the larger spring “Dallas Comic Con” as well as the smaller fall one called “Fan Days.”  

Sometimes I dress up (aka Cosplay) and sometimes I don’t, but I always find I enjoy the experience so much more when I do.  It’s just so much more fun when you really commit to the experience. And there is something so freeing about portraying another person for a day... getting to embody a beloved character...and seeing other people do the same. 

And although I enjoy going to the panels or seeing some of the guests occasionally, the main attraction for me (other than all the booths filled with amazing art and collectibles) is really and truly the crowds of people themselves.  To me, they are the reason I go... because 85% of them are just like me... average people enjoying themselves but doing so wearing kick@$$ costumes, which only makes the experience that much more fun for the rest of us who get to observe their cool handiwork.

Even though many people might consider me a “surface” Comic Con enthusiast because admittedly I never grew up reading comic books and only became a Marvel fan through the movie universe, I find that the community overall tends to be very accepting.  After all, the entire concept of these “conventions” is to create an atmosphere that welcomes people with similar likes to gather together so they can get excited with other people about shared interests, passions, pursuits, hobbies, obsessions, fandoms, etc. 

It’s also an incredible celebration of talent, creativity, imagination, inspiration, and ingenuity, whether through originality or mimicry. And for me, no where is that more evident than in the Cosplay.  There are so many dedicated and talented people who hand-make their outfits and pay attention to every pain-staking detail to ensure it is as perfect and faithful a likeness as possible.  By contrast, there are others who imagine unique interpretations of various characters... like creating a Steampunk Wonder Woman or a gender-bending Avengers team.

I have to admit the Crossplay is perhaps the most fascinating part of it for me.  I love the idea of re-interpreting a favorite male hero as a heroine I could personally relate to and designing an entirely new ensemble for her.  

But I also love the idea of mixing up the time periods for certain characters. What would a Disney Princess look like as a 1920’s flapper girl? What would Catwoman look like in Renaissance England?

And since I already love many things traditionally Victorian, the Steampunk genre is one I find especially intriguing.  I have wanted to create a Steampunk version of everything from Belle from Beauty and the Beast to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.  And why not? Anything goes!

At no other time of the year (other than Halloween) can a person walk around in public in an impressive Jabba the Hutt costume and look completely like they belong.

In fact, I feel the most out of place when I attend a Comic Con in just jeans and a T-Shirt. Here the people in costume are the ones who look “normal” and when I wear something so mundane, I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. There is something so incredible fun and topsy-turvy about that realization. It turns everything on it’s head, like an Alice-in-Wonderland fantasy. 

“We’re all mad here.”