GalaxyCon Columbus 2025 Photos, Part 1 of 4: Cosplay!

Two cosplayers as Dark Helmet's black-suited troops, carrying a giant comb between them.

Spaceballs: the Cosplay! Dark Helmet’s beach-combing troops.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in adjacent states (or sometimes beyond). She’s been doing them since the early ’90s, and invited me to tag along as our relationship evolved from classmates to coworkers to neighbors to BFFs to married geeks twenty years and counting. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

This weekend we attended the fourth annual Galaxycon Columbus in Ohio’s very own Greater Columbus Convention Center. The show returned with another lengthy guest list for fans of all media across the pop culture spectrum. One could argue the guest list was too lengthy — dozens of actors lured thousands upon thousands of fans into the back end of the exhibit hall, where most of them waited hours in lines that I’m not entirely sure ever moved and may in fact have to spend Christmas there. Hopefully some dealers stuck around so all those line-mates could buy each other gifts.

Before getting into who we met and what we did: it’s cosplay time! Per tradition we compiled an itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny gallery of the costumes we photographed during our two days in and around the halls whenever we weren’t trapped in long lines or traffic-jammed aisles. The humble duo here at MCC appreciates the makers and wearers who enliven every comic-con with their talents and their exaltation of various fandoms. We regret we can only represent a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total cosplay wonderment that was on display this weekend. We’re just an aging couple doing what we can for happy sharing fun. Enjoy!

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Cincinnati Comic Expo 2025 Photos: Cosplay and the Superman Family!

Anne posing with Karen Allen at her table while holding an autographed 8x10, both smiling very sweetly.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Marion Ravenwood herself, Karen Allen!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: my wife Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in our neighboring states (and sometimes even farther). We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

This weekend we once again drove two hours southeast of Indianapolis to attend the fifteenth annual Cincinnati Comic Expo, which is normally held in the heart of their downtown that’s not so different from ours. However, while the Duke Energy Convention Center has been undergoing a two-year renovation project, CCE relocated to the Sharonville Convention Center, a smaller venue on the city’s north side that we previously visited for HorrorHound Cincinnati in 2018 and 2019. This was our fifth time at CCE, two years since our last one. This year’s event celebrated a unifying theme: Superman! Nearly the entire guest list had credits from various works featuring the Man of Steel — a proud commonality to celebrate here in the year that saw the release of The Greatest Superman Film of the 21st Century So Far.

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 12 of 13: The Cosplay Parade Marches Into the West

Cosplayers of Mojo Jojo, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup walking with a Dragon Con banner.

Mojo Jojo and the Powerpuff Girls welcome you to the Dragon Con Cosplay Parade!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade ends here, unless anyone begs for outtakes! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos, but that’s one of our favorite parts of every D*C. We start this chapter with our recurring interactive MCC comic-con feature called “Cosplay Stumpers”. We middle-aged squares know many of the pop-culture universes out there, but not all of them. If you recognize any characters we didn’t, please share with us so the world at large can appreciate them too. Much appreciated!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 11: “But Sir,” You Ask, “What About the Cosplay Parade?”

Cosplayers in cult robes colored purple and orange like the Federal Express logo. Their banner has googly eyes on it.

The Cult of Jon the Fed Ex Guy, est. 2019. It was the first time we ever witnessed the live birth of a D*C in-joke.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling life aspects offline, away from all this week’s rage-filled historical significance. We’re nearing the end, though! Not far now! Here’s another round of cosplayers! Please let me know if we old folks misidentified any characters. Enjoy still!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 10: The Cosplay Parade Is COMING TO GET YOU

Haunted house cosplayer in all-black quasi-canine monster form.

Werewolf or something similar! Among the creatues from Netherworld Haunted House.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (my day job, my streaming stories, and so forth). Rather than continuing to fussily sort them into themed galleries (except for this one being mostly horror, but not just horror), let’s plow through the rest and get these out into the world in case any attendees are still Googling themselves two weeks after showtime. Please let me know if we old folks misidentified any characters. Enjoy again!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 9: Did We Mention There Was a Cosplay Parade

four cosplayers as a bobsledding team walking behind a Jamaica banner

Jamaica’s 1988 Olympic bobsledding team from Cool Runnings!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (my day job, my streaming stories, and so forth). Rather than continuing to fussily sort them into themed galleries, let’s plow through the rest and get these out into the world in case any attendees are still Googling themselves two weeks after showtime. Please let me know if we old folks misidentified any characters. Enjoy again!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 8: More Than Cosplay at the Parade

Happy Zildjian cymbalist marching in parade with Beagle Boys shirt.

The Seed & Feed Marching Abominable band, once again at Dragon Con!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (chores! doctors’ appointments! binging The Paper!). Not everyone in the parade was there just to cosplay — some brought other artistic talents to the fore.

Case in point: special guests of the con and the parade!
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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 6: The Cosplay Parade, Marvel and DC Comics Division

Blade cosplayer crouched right in front of us, fake rifle outstretched to his left.

It’s Blade! Star of the upcoming Marvel Zombies animated series and four movies so far!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (such as a family reunion this weekend). If you or someone you know was in the parade and you’d love to see them, pretty-please let us know! We’ll be happy to search our files and show ’em if we caught ’em. No guarantees, but we’ll oblige if we can. Also, please let me know if any characters have been misidentified. As we get older the number of pop-culture universes keeps multiplying and we can only contain so many of ’em in active memory at once.

Next batch up: the heroes, villains, and supporting casts of the Marvel and DC Universes, virtually the only comics-related characters we captured that morning. Enjoy!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 5: The Cosplay Parade, Video Game Division

Fallout Technicians Costuming Group holding their banner. Some have Vault jumpsuits, at least two are New Vegas dancers.

Fallout fans welcome you to pre-Wasteland Atlanta!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Our belated coverage of Atlanta’s annual Dragon Con Cosplay Parade continues! We amateur enthusiasts took way too many photos that took me too long to sort in between juggling other life aspects (such as a family reunion this weekend). If you or someone you know was in the parade and you’d love to see them, pretty-please let us know! We’ll be happy to search our files and show ’em if we caught ’em. No guarantees, but we’ll oblige if we can. Also, please let me know if any characters have been misidentified. As we get older the number of pop-culture universes keeps multiplying and we can only contain so many of ’em in active memory at once.

Next batch up: lots of video game characters, just because. Enjoy!

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 4: The Cosplay Parade, Star Wars Division

Banner on side of real-life Jawa Sandcrawler, depicting cartoon Jawa holding their own circus. Titled The Greatest Show on Tatooine. A Jawa with clown nose and eyes leans out a window.

The Dragon Con 2025 Cosplay Parade presents the greatest show on Earth! Screw you, ordinary circuses!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

Same as our visits in 2019, in 2021, and in 2023, one of our favorite D*C features was the annual Saturday morning cosplay parade. Each year hundreds of cosplayers team up in appropriate factions or categories and march the streets of downtown Atlanta in their costumes, sometimes even driving their own geek vehicles. The roadside crowd lineup around the parade route is the best opportunity for the public-at-large to join the festivities and get a taste of comic-con life for free.

We amateur enthusiasts took nearly 800 photos (maxing out my memory card at one awkward point), from which I spent two nights culling maybe 200+ to post. We’ll be sharing batches of them over the next several chapters, time and energy permitting. If you or someone you know was in the parade and you’d love to see them, pretty-please let us know! We’ll be happy to search our files and show ’em if we caught ’em. No guarantees, but we’ll oblige if we can.

First up: lots of Star Wars characters, just because. Enjoy!

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