Cosplay is short for “costume play”. It is a performance art or hobby in which participants dress up in costumes and accessories to represent a character from a comic book, video game, movie, or other source. A popular place to go out in a cosplay costume is to go to a fan convention. Multiple conventions dedicated to anime and manga, comics, TV shows, video games, science fiction and fantasy may be found all around the world.

I had been into Halloween and costumes before becoming a clown. It only seems natural that I would eventually get into cosplay. In April, I attended my first comic book convention, Awesome Con at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. It was more or less a last minute decision.

Welcome to Awesome Con banner at the entrance to the convention center.

I had the weekend free and spent a few days brainstorming what costume I should wear. I have a few costumes that I used for Halloween in the past, but none of the characters were really based on a comic book character. I searched the Internet for inspiration and decided to go as Beast Boy from the Teen Titans. It was something I thought I could pull together in a few days. Most of the images I saw of Beast Boy show him with green skin, pointed ears, and wearing purple and black.

Showing off my pointed ears for Beast Boy from the Teen Titans

Beast Boy from the Teen Titans

Me dressed as Beast Boy from the Teen Titans in front of a colorful wall at the convention center.

A few people recognized that I was going for Beast Boy. A few people guessed that I was going for the Green Goblin, on of the supervillains from Spider-Man. Others guessed an Orc from the World of Warcraft.