Mon Jul 30, 2007 — by John Tebbel

SDCC: Just Be Cos

Mix Picks Pix Fix

I’ve seen the Spirit of San Diego, and it’s wearing a costume.
 
Saturday sold out first at the San Diego Comic-Con and many dealers were wondering why the floor was more crowded on Friday.  Well, that’s because Saturday night is the Masquerade.  And if you’re wearing a nice costume you don’t want to, and quite often physically can’t, maneuver on a convention floor that’s even mildly crowded.  So you wander the many acres of convention center space between the rooms.
 
And you pose for pictures.
 
Want to bring happiness to millions (or at least hundreds) in one day?  Come to San Diego on Saturday and ask people in costumes to pose for a picture.  They live for it, and I’m glad they do.  They are brilliant posers, having worn out the mirrors in their houses.
 
You don’t have to buy a ticket, you can do it on the sidewalk.  You don’t even have to have batteries in your camera, it’s the moment that counts, not the immortality.
 
Some of them are in this world; a sharp looking black haired guy in decent shape in a spot on Superman outfit.  He was standing in the back of the room during the DC Panel.
 
Some are in their own world, in a costume that barely suits (or fits) them.  And I wouldn’t be cruel enough to post their picture near this paragraph.
 
After a while you realize that no one human can know all these characters.  After a longer while you start seeing costumes when all the person is is extremely stylish.  I saw a guy in backwoods hippie gear and was thinking maybe Hillbilly Bears when I realized this is just how he walks the streets everyday.  I asked a woman to pose, thinking her outfit was something from Sandman but she was just a very happening goth chick.  And, like a true Shipoopi, she doesn’t get sore if you beg her pardon.
 
My favorite was the gathering of eight Doctors Who.  They’re not only well into their costume and character, they’re clearly having the time of their lives.  And when you take a picture or stop to smile back at them, you get a piece of it for free.

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