Mega Con held at the Orange County Convention Center is an event where dressing like a super hero was the norm. I went to the convention thinking I might want to pay the twenty four dollars needed to get on the convention floor. Parking however was eight dollars. Having to pay for parking is a pet peeve of mine so I was stewing by the time I got in the convention center. Besides Mega Con, there were several other events going on that day. There was some college recruitment event and a cheer leading competition. I had to walk most of the length of the hall before I found Mega Con. Rather than getting in the long line pay to pay, I wandered over near the entryway to the convention. Gathered all around the entrance were a wide assortment of individuals in costumes. I leaned back against a column and started sketching. During the course of doing the sketch I must have seen at least five different Supermen, including a little ten year old who was so muscle bound with foam that I don’t think he could move his arms. Superman would often scoop women of their feet when they posed with him for photos. This sort of voguing was constantly going on as soon as a camera was seen. Cheerleaders with their glittery eye makeup, would cheer with delight if they saw a beloved character. It was impossible to avoid the cameras. Some photographer must have taken about a dozen shots of me working and I wasn’t even in costume. When people struck a pose I knew it was only for at most a minute, so I didn’t often try to catch those poses. I simply sketched them as they milled about waiting for the next photo opportunity. One small group was playing some hip-hop music on their radio while a young muscular Latino youth kept dancing to the beat. Cheerleaders somersaulted down the hallways.
When I finished up the first sketch I debated for the longest time about paying to get an arm band to walk the convention floor. I decided with only a few hours remaining, it would not be worth it. As I was leaving, I saw several people in costume going up an escalator to the second floor. I followed. They ended up going to a glass walkway that overlooks the whole convention floor. Here they tried to catch peoples attention by waving their arms and dancing in place. This “look at me” mentality seems to be the main point of the convention. It is Halloween on steroids. Were I to have asked people to pose, I am sure I could have had 3 days of non stop sketching fun.
