Letters From The Loft
Stuff From The Desk Of Chuck Thornton
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DAY THREE - PAGE 1
Because of Ben's late arrival the day before, we got up a little later than normal this Saturday morning, and there were extra things to do before we could get on our way. There was one extra body I had to rouse, and we had to deflate Ben's air mattress (or, as we called it whenever we wanted to be reduced to juvenile snickering, "voiding Ben's bladder"), so we opted to bypass the Hampton's breakfast and stop by McDonald's, where breakfasts are fist-sized and can be thrown into your car as you drive by.
Ben had to go through the registration process, and CCI insists that only non-registered folks be allowed in the registration area. So as much as we wanted to give Ben familial support and vouch for his character, we instead had to wait for him on the other side of the induction center, in the giant Sails Pavilion common area on the second level of the Convention Center:
While there, we took the opportunity to nonchalantly stroll over to the souvenir book distribution area and lift a couple of more copies of the souvenir book with Ben's pictures in it. There were also a lot of costumed folks hanging around, so I took some pictures. I thought these folks did a pretty good job on the costumes...
... particularly Batman and Robin. I'm sure Captain Marvel had to resist the impulse to wrap his cape around Robin's waist.
Below is a group of DC Comics characters...
Left to right, that's the more contemporary Robin, the easily-recognizable Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern, the latest incarnation of Supergirl, and Black Lightning, a character that's never really captured the imagination of the general public, probably because Naugahyde's never caught on as a fashion statement.
Robin's costume is okay, but in this picture, he looks like he'd just as soon knife me as take me in. Green Lantern and Black Lightning don't exactly have the sculpted physiques of their comic-book counterparts, but they picked characters with costumes that cover them neck-to-toe, so they're allowed a little leeway. More leeway than I received the year I wore my Baby Huey costume.