5 homemade Marvel costumes

October 13, 9:58 AMMarvel Comics ExaminerPhil Wrede

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Marvel Comics Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Yes, that is Brett Ratner in a Wolverine costume

While lately it seems like October means that Thanksgiving and Christmas are approaching, many of us still cling to that holiday for which October used to be noted, Halloween (hope you didn't think I was going to say Columbus Day), the perfect opportunity to put on a mask and a cape and stride out into the night.

Rather than use this space to give online costume stores free advertising, today I'm going to celebrate some folks who took their fandom into their own hands (so to speak), and made themselves Marvel-inspired costumes at home (be they for Halloween, or a convention, or just because). What follows is listed in no particular order:

- The Thing. This fellow who, unfortunately, refers to himself as Kenny G actually made this costume out of rock and detailed his construction method on his web site, "The 'Ultimate Thing' Costume." He's aware of the bad puns you can make out of that name, so there's not much point in trying to come up with a new one here (particularly seeing as how his page was put up four years ago).

- Captain America. I don't have any information about this fellow, except that he's clearly a bigger fan of the man than I am (a truth with which I'll just have to reconcile myself, I suppose). It looks a smidge like the Bucky Cap than Steve's costume at the very first glance (the darker blue, the armor-looking chest piece), but he's clearly meant to be the original Sentinel of Liberty.

- Phoenix. At "Jean Grey: I Am Fire and Life Incarnate," there's a page devoted just to Jean Grey costume sightings (in all her myriad incarnations, even Zombie Phoenix), and from time to time she's paired with X-Men ranging from Wolverine and Cyclops to Rogue and Emma Frost.

- Mr. Sinister. In case it wasn't clear before, and hasn't become glaringly obvious yet, most of the best costumes are made to win contests at conventions.

- Magneto. Some people are gifted (cursed?) with the likeness of another, which can make selecting a costume all the easier.

While some people put nothing but blood, sweat and tears into their costume projects, others have money to accompany their hard work and vision. John Kristiansen put together a $20,000 Iron Man costume, and while it's absolutely incredible, it also cost twenty thousand dollars, which probably means he doesn't wear it while bar hopping on the 31st.