Steampunk Iron Man is quite excellent.

Cincinnati had its first wee comic expo a few weekends ago, including a costume contest. There was a dude in full Heath Ledger Joker costume -- really well done -- and he didn't even make the finals.

The final 2 in the adult category were Harley Quinn and Predator. Harley won, because the judges said her costume looked more handmade. But I think Predator got the shaft, because his costume looked handmade, too.

Molotov Cocktease (from the Venture Bros) was also in the contest, and the judges wouldn't say her name, since it was an all-ages contest. Heh.

I was really surprised that there was no one dressed as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, or a Green Lantern. None. There were, howerver, at least 10 Stormtroopers, of all ages. One was all black. I expected the Hello Kitty one to show up. (It didn't.)

Oh, I take that back -- there was a kid dressed as Batman. No adults, though. However, there were 2 adults dressed as Red Robin and the current iteration of Batgirl, and they were a couple, which was so utterly meta-perfect I squeed and flailed every time they walked by.

I told Tim that next year he should wear his business suit, enter the costume contest, and when it's his turn to walk past the judges, rip open his shirt to reveal the Superman shirt.

It wouldn't win, but it would get a lot of laughs. And I am ALL ABOUT the lulz, baby.

I'm guessing that the upshot of this chart is that there are even fewer decent female characters than I'd thought, and Zoe isn't one of them.

Zoe's on there! Lady of War.

Zoe's on there! Lady of War.

Yeah, she's on there, but not as a decent female character. Most of the women on there are there as dead ends. Including Ripley. Cue: @@.

Zoe's on there! Lady of War.

Sorry, Hec, but if you can describe a character with a phrase, she's not a strong female character! Apparently.

Seriously, I'd be plenty pleased to have that as my epitaph, but I am no doubt a bad feminist.

Oy vey. I just had to potentially start something on Facebook. Really sad story -- I guess someone one of my contacts knows was killed by a hit and run driver. But he says she was killed by some "foreigner," someone else responds he was probably illegal... But I saw a TV story where they actually talked to the guy and he sounds 100% local. So I had to mention it. Because come ON.

I am glad you mentioned it.

I told Tim that next year he should wear his business suit, enter the costume contest, and when it's his turn to walk past the judges, rip open his shirt to reveal the Superman shirt.

That would be awesome!!

Amych, ma for you. I'm rapidly getting to the same point with my work. But I keep going for the "head under covers and fingers in ears" plan.

All kinds of job~ma, amych. The super-powered Amy Coalition kind. ::nods::

Aw, Steampunk Boba Fett. He comes to DragonCon too.

Just yesterday, I was feeling smug about how long it had been since I hurt myself. (While talking to shrift about how she cut herself while cleaning a knife.)

I just slammed my ankle into the edge of the open dishwasher door. Ow.

amych, if you want to chat with someone who Knows Many of the People but Isn't Actually There (i.e., me) I would be happy to help. Am on gmail chat under actual.name most of the day.