I’ve recently had superhero on the brain

Posted on June 8, 2015 by

I have had superhero on the brain in recent months.

I’ve been doing Pioneer Press research off and on about local superhero enthusiasts, including those who dress up as superheroes for fun, and others who avidly collect superhero-related memorabilia.

This is right up my alley since I’m a longtime superhero fanatic (I grew up reading DC Comics).

All my “work” — I put that word in quotation marks because it was pure fun and joy — led up to last Sunday, when the Pioneer Press published three of my superhero-related stories and posted on its site a set of my related videos.

Superhero society: I had long wanted to write about “cosplayers” — grownups who at great effort and expense dress like characters from anime, video games, science fiction and comic books.

I finally found a local superhero-costuming group called Minnesota Superheroes United. The club members made for a great story (with photos by my crack coworker Sherri LaRose-Chiglo).

(A hat tip to my colleagues Jessica Fleming and Amy Nelson, who introduced me to a West St. Paul cosplaying couple they know. That couple then led me to their fellow Minnesota Superheroes United members.)

Here is a companion video I shot at MSP Comicon in May and finished editing on Sunday. Most of those in the video are Minnesota Superheroes United members.

Perhaps my favorite Minnesota Superheroes United member is Jen Curti, a Minneapolis woman who cosplays as Ms. Marvel. Curti and Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel’s alter ego, are very much alike. Both are giddy young Muslim women, for one thing.

Here’s a video I shot of Curti talking about Khan and the Ms. Marvel comics:

I gathered dozens of Minnesota Superheroes United photos, and collected them in a Flickr album:

Cosplay costumers: While researching my cosplayer story, I stumbled on a related story subject. It turns out the Twin Cities is home to several women who earn a living by making costumes for cosplayers.

The cosplay costumers made for a fun and interesting story, too.

Girl geeks kick ass. Another of my stories explores the joys and challenges of geeks who just happen to be women. The genesis of this story is Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, who is a huge Wonder Woman fan.

I wrote about Hodges and two other women, Amy Pearson and Elizabeth Giorgi.

Here’s Hodges showing me some of her Wonder Woman keepsakes:

Wizard World. I shot two other action-style videos of local cosplayers (including members of Minnesota Superheroes United) at Wizard World Comic Con at the Minneapolis Convention Center in early May: