Wizard World Chicago 2012 Photos, Part 4 of 5: Costumes! Costumes! Costumes!

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.

X-Factor: First Appearance

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Wizard World Chicago 2012 Photos, Part 3 of 5: Costumes for the Win

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. Of all the photos that we two snapped last weekend at Wizard World Chicago, these are my personal favorite costumes and scenes for random reasons.

Exhibit A: Pennywise is every nightmare you ever had. Bloodied nurse stands by, waiting to do her job after It is finished with you.

Pennywise is IT.

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Wizard World Chicago Clip Show: Memories of 2011, 2010, and 1999

My wife and I have just a few days left until we take off for tiny, action-packed Rosemont, IL, for Wizard World Chicago 2012. Even though this will be our fourth WWC, we’re still preparing and weighing our options. I, for one, have my comics want-lists to update and mull over. Do I really feel like rooting through countless musty longboxes for single issues I’ve been missing since childhood? Do I really think this will be the year I find Steelgrip Starkey and the All-Purpose Power Tool #5 and achieve closure with Alan Weiss’ underrated working-man sci-fi miniseries at last? Or should I aim instead for the bargain boxes stuffed with $5 trade paperbacks, 90% of which are Marvel Ultimate comics?

Then there’s the matter of autograph pricing (is Scott Bakula’s autograph really worth three Amber Bensons?), autograph materials to bring along for the actors (which season of Buffy or TV’s Angel was really Juliet Landau’s best?) as well as for the comics creators (must dig out Hourman #1…or was there a more apropos issue?), and the little things such as emergency snacks and note-taking supplies. Lots to do, lots to put off till the last minute because that’s when I do all my best thinking, unless you count everything I’ll forget because of the time pressure.

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