The great thing about being Batman or Batgirl is that you can attain superhero status without getting bitten by a radioactive spider or coming from a faraway planet like Krypton.
That and you can wear a pretty cool suit of sculpted leather and plastic armor, complete with cape.
Holy ValleyCon, as the caped crusader might have said.
Or maybe Rick Gladys and Sherry Charbonneau, both from Winnipeg, dressed as the dynamic duo at the annual Fargo sci-fi, fantasy and entertainment expo, might have said it.
"This is sort of the month to shine," Gladys said, noting October combines ValleyCon and Halloween. "This is Halloween to the extreme."
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Touché, Christopher Spiritstone of Fargo, costumed as Aramis, one of the Three Musketeers, might have added.
He gave a sword-fighting demonstration, a hobby he acquired seven years ago.
"Just found a local group of guys," he said, adding that he's "into anything sci-fi or fantasy."
ValleyCon 36, which concludes today at the Doublewood Inn, is an eclectic expo that combines speakers, panel discussions and vendors selling comic books and movies as well as shogun swords, ornamental skulls, gargoyles and fairies.
"I love coming to these," said Blues Bland - "that's my legal name" - who came from Plymouth, Minn., with his inventory of sci-fi and fantasy films. "Everybody's having fun."
His titles, all un-copyrighted, include "Turkish Star Trek," "Planet It Blood" and "Atomic War Bride."
"It's what the customers are looking for," said Bland, who wore a black
T-shirt that said, "Ask me about my zombie shirt."
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How's business?
"I'm making enough to make my expenses," the semi-retired Bland said. "It's more of an extended hobby."
It's all the brainchild of Rudy Sigmund, who organized the original ValleyCon in 1976, when he rented a ballroom at North Dakota State University, where he was attending graduate school.
"Lost my butt, but it was fun," he said. Sigmund, who later went on to own several Videoland stores in Fargo-Moorhead before retiring in 2004, screened science-fiction movies from his collection at the first ValleyCon.
"I thought it would be fun to see how many geeks there were out there like me," he said. "That's basically it."
The answer: about 40. This weekend's Valley Con 36 at the Doublewood Inn, by contrast, is attended by more than 800, according to organizers.
Gladys and Charbonneau first met at a comics convention and now make appearances as Batman and Batgirl.
Why Batman and not, say, Spider-Man?
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"He's a regular guy who's got real cool gadgets and a lot of money," Charbonneau answered.
Sometimes, Gladys makes appearances for special occasions. Once he visited a boy who was being treated for cancer at a hospital.
"It made his entire year to have Batman come and show up in his hospital room," he said.
He's invested more than $2,000 in his suit and regalia, an exact replica of the version Christian Bale wore as Batman in "The Dark Knight."
"We just put on the suit and go," Charbonneau said.
If you go
- What: ValleyCon.
- When: Today, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Where: Doublewood Inn, Fargo.
- Tickets: Registration is required.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Patrick Springer at (701) 241-5522
