We’ve been talking up the Stealth/Plainclothes cosplay contest a lot lately (reminder: deadline is Friday, November 7!), but right in the middle of that came Halloween–and our listeners turned out in some stellar X-wear. Check it out:
If you’re playing along with the Kitty’s Costumes game, take a drink: Meghan Ansbach made Kitty’s one-off costume from Uncanny X-Men #175!
Everything fell into place for Elle Collins‘s Domino costume! (If the name sounds familiar, we’ve mentioned Elle here before–she hosts the kickass pop-culture-obsession podcast Into It.)
PenceyPreparatory makes a marvelous Marvel Girl!
Donna Danger is the first post-Phoenix Emma Frost we’ve seen!
Genkigecko makes her way into the multiverse, as Wolverine of Earth-92124!
The McPherson family of Ohio sent us this photo of what we are objectively certain is the cutest Dark Phoenix of this or any other universe.
This costume–from listener Andrew Joyce–is from a con, not Halloween; but we’re including it anyway, because it’s the hands-down best use of a Probably a Summers Brother t-shirt we have ever seen (and puts a whole new spin on Rob Marsh‘s legendary “Wolverine Meets Freddie Mercury” Marvel submission).
Everyone here is adorable. (Including me, obviously.) But Dark Phoenix is definitely the most adorable.
I wonder if whether that was the child’s or the parent’s idea.
I’m sorry, but this is my least favorite question that people ask about children’s costumes.
Agreed.
Really? You don’t wonder whether this child feels such a deep connection to the tragedy of Dark Phoenix that she chose to dress up as her, or whether a parent is trying to impress it upon her?
I’ve already gone into this at some length below.
Also, do you press this point this ferociously EVERY SINGLE TIME you see a kid dressed up as Batman? Maybe take a sec to consider why or why not.
1) IIRC, that’s the girl whose dad wrote to us back in May asking for recommendations for all-ages stories featuring Jean Grey, since his daughter was a huge fan of the character. (And if it’s not, there’s at least one other kid roughly her age who’s a huge fan of the character.)
2) So, yeah, her parents are obviously X-Men fans–that’s kind of a given, since they listen to our podcast–but the implication that a kid couldn’t come up with this on their own is kind of laughable. She’s not an infant or a toddler. I mean, what was the target-audience age range for the X-Men cartoon, again? Dark Phoenix’s costume is super cool, and it translates really well into something that’s both weather and age-appropriate for Halloween.
3) While I’m absolutely not claiming it was your intention, the whole thing kind of smacks of Fake Geek Girl double standards. I mean, I have literally never seen anyone ask the “yeah, but was it his idea or his parents’?” question about a kid her age dressed as Cyclops or a Batman villain or pretty much any superhero, even obscure ones.
Yes, all of this.
:/ I hadn’t thought of it that way.
I forgot there are more kid-friendly adaptations of Dark Phoenix. I still remember most of the X-Men on Fox being a bit too mature for me at age 7.
Yeah. But kids vary, and what they identify with, fixate on, and pull from media varies. Thanks for listening.
The original Dark Phoenix saga was, for the record, 100% approved by the (still pretty draconian at the time) Comics Code Authority. Certainly Claremont was aiming a bit older, but these comics were literally marketed and sold to children.
While I am a little late to the party I completely agree with this! I was a huge fan of X-Men as a child in the early 90s especially Phoenix and the Dark Phoenix saga and I would have been around this girl’s age. I’d also like to add my parents were not fans and their only influence on me being into comics was the fact that my dad sold them in his store for awhile. So it does happen!
My daughter is now interested in superheroes which admittedly comes somewhat from my influence but it will never be something I force on her. But if she’s into it I will absolutely encourage!
Tiny Phoenix is my daughter and it was absolutely her idea. It surprised her mom and I but she insisted that’s what she wanted to be this year. She loves Phoenix in the Lego Marvel game and a family friend made the t-shirt for her. Thank you again for posting her pic!
Thanks for sharing it!
Your daughter is way cool, and she’s really lucky to have parents who support her interests.