Dragon Con 2023 Photos #6: Cosplay Parade Presents Barbie and Deadpool

Movie Barbie in pink cowboy gear, holding hands with another young lady in non-Barbie non-pink cowboy gear -- white hat, jacket, and frills hanging from her belt. Both are on roller skates.

No, there’s no Deadpool in this pic of Barbie and her equally Western companion. I didn’t say “Barbie versus Deadpool”, though I might’ve trampled other fans for such a pic.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America, Dragon Con had received rave reviews from our internet friends over the past two decades, some of whom recommended it to us more than once and, according to my notes, would never shut up about it. We had so much of a blast that we returned in 2021. Third time was the charm this Labor Day weekend as we repeated the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis to that amazing colossal southern spectacle…

Welcome to the second gallery from D*C’s annual Saturday morning cosplay parade, always one of our favorite events. The starter exhortations in Part 5 still apply here: if you recognize any characters we didn’t, by all means please let us know! We like learning about new IPs, curing our ignorance, correcting errors, and bridging the gaps in our aging memories where those character names used to be. Between us we took over 600 photos and couldn’t possibly have known everyone. Related note: if you or someone you know was in the parade and you’re hoping for shots of them, pretty-please let us know! We’re taking requests! We’ll be happy to search our files and post ’em if we got ’em. You might come away disappointed, or you might not!

In the interest of posting our remaining Dragon Con photos and experiences more quickly, I’m grouping some of the recurring parade motifs together. However, I’m not in the mood to post mini-galleries unless we hear enough viewer requests for one. Hence this bifurcated chapter, shared between the theatrical hero of 2015 and the theatrical heroine of 2023 — two characters who lend themselves to tens of thousands of comic-con cosplay variants. IF you love one and hate the other, then half this entry is for you!

Barbie & Ken cosplayers carry the Dragon Con banner down the street.

Barbie and Ken have the honor of bearing the Dragon Con parade banner.

cosplay: Dragon Con inflatable dragon mascot in a gingham Barbie dress, plus a nice guy piggybacking a baby inflatable Dragon Con dragon.

Dragon Con Dragon Barbie and possibly Dragon Con Baby Dragon Allan.

Movie Ken and Barbie walking together, all in pink. Barbie faces away from us, Ken toward us, waving.

Ken takes the lead for our side of the street while Barbie greets the other.

Ghostbuster Barbie costume with pink proton pack and a large pink fan.

Ghostbuster Barbie With Proton Pack!

Gingham Barbie alongside a wacky marching band that includes a Batgirl.

One of several Barbies in the Seed and Feed Marching Abominable community band.

Barbie in gingham dress with cymbals, plus a League of Their Own cymbalist.

Gingham Barbie With Cymbals and her spiritual sister, Rockford Peach With New Hat.

Barbie in Western getup in front of a marching band who wear whatever they feel like because they aren't a martial regiment.

More Seed and Feed, more Barbie. We took quite a few Seed and Feed pics. They’re fun!

Remember after the first Deadpool movie came out and we started seeing so many Deadpool cosplayers that we created entire galleries around them? Like at C2E2 2015, C2E2 2016, Indiana Comic Con 2016, and even Dragon Con 2019? That retired zeitgeist lived on restlessly at Dragon Con again!