Adventurecon!

Marvel Comics had a long running, frequently revived series called “What If?” that offered stories based on a single question, like, “What if the Fantastic Four Got Different Powers?” or “What if Spider Man Didn’t Marry Mary Jane?” With that in mind, I offer, “What if the Punisher Stopped Hitting the Gym?”



While the main answer seems obvious, the secondary one seems to also be that he’d make friends with one of Sgt. Pepper’s bandmates.

This morning Brian and I drove downtown to the convention center at World’s Fair Park for the Adventurecon comic convention. Brian hasn’t read comics in years, but remembers them fondly, while I still make my trip to the comic store every week. I’ve been to part of the convention center, but this is the closest I’ve been to the Sunsphere:



We weren’t sure which building to go to a first, but it was pretty easy to follow the costumes:



Even the kids got into it:



Brian and I were both a little concerned that the kid was leaning over a several yard drop with nary a parent in sight, but hey, it wasn’t our kid. When Brian pointed out that we should leave so we didn’t become witnesses, I pointed out that I’d at least be able to send the picture to CNN.

Some costumes were a little scarier than others. I’m not sure what this guy was dressed as, but he could have used some underwear, because you could see all his space junk whether you wanted to or not:



I saw a really sad Green Lantern that I didn’t get a photo of, some Lord of the Rings elves with rather modern handbags and hair clips, a half dozen 45 year old Hogwarts students, and people from pretty much every other science fiction fandom you could think of. I waited so long for Brian to get out of the ticket line that I thought I sprained my sneering muscle, but I managed to find it again in time for Mr. Not-Quite Fantastic:



Brian asked why one of his gloves was gold, and I answered, “He’s wearing the Infinity Gauntlet.”

Right after that I realized I didn’t really have a sneering leg to stand on.

I guess, in the end, different people have fun doing different things. Some people like dressing up as Boba Fett or a pale, female Darth Maul…



…some guys like dressing up like Elvira…



…some people like staying in character even on the escalator…



…and some people like smugly sneering at them from behind their camera. In the end, all that really matters is that everyone goes home happy, like this biker scout and his girlfriend.