The Stories Behind the New York Comic Con Costumes

February 25, 2009 on 4:45 pm | In Comic Cons, Weak Attempt, video games | No Comments

(5 months before the Con)
ARTHUR: This year…this year, I’m going to do it. I’m going to make a kick-ass costume that’s going to be the pride of the New York Comic Con. I’m going to do this awesome Mojo costume with my amazing art school skills. It’s going to have all kinds of wires and latex rubber attachments to it but it’ll be lightweight so I can walk with it. It’s going to be amazing!

(Mojo)

LUKE: That’s pretty ambitious, Arthur. You sure you can do this?

ARTHUR: Definitely. I’m majoring in sculpture, right? I can put this together in no time.

(4 months before the Con)
ARTHUR: Jeez, my workload is huge this semester.

LUKE: Told you, man. Sophomore year is where it starts to get real.

ARTHUR: I should totally get working on my Con costume. Mojo’s going to take a while. But I’m so busy doing my art that I have no time.

LUKE: To be fair, Art, your art doesn’t take that much time. It’s mostly just you peeing on religious iconography that you buy at the thrift store.

ARTHUR: I’ll have you know that my performance sculpture art takes hours and days of contemplation before I can unveil it.

LUKE: But buying statues of the Virgin Mary takes all of 15 minutes, including the train ride to the thrift store. Setting it up in the gallery is like another 20 and then peeing on it…well, how long does that take?

ARTHUR: My record is 42 seconds.

LUKE: So by my estimation, you spend more time not doing art than doing it. You could have made 3 Mojo costumes in the last month.

ARTHUR: But I simply agonize over every purchase, that’s what makes it art! Ugh, I’ll never get to make the costume at this rate.

(3 months before the Con)
LUKE: How’s that Mojo costume coming?

ARTHUR: Oh that? I’ll get to it later. I’m working on a new conceptual piece. I’ll stand outside of Central Park and just hit a wood block for an hour a day while reciting Hindu love poems.

LUKE: That’s art?

ARTHUR: I get a grade for it.

LUKE: What happened to peeing on statues?

ARTHUR: Turns out someone did it last year as his senior thesis. I’m going Hindu now.

LUKE: I think you need to work on your costume, wash off that mascara, and start getting a life.

ARTHUR: It’s art, Luke. It takes time to find all those Hindu love poems. Also, I’ve lost like three wood blocks because I’ve forgotten them on the subway.

(2 months before the Con)
LUKE: How was it in there?

ARTHUR: Terrible. I didn’t get my phone call until a day later, and some guy “claimed” the only toilet in the cell and we had to “pay” him for the privilege to use it. It was horrible.

LUKE: Shouldn’t have been throwing Ziplock bags of your blood at pedestrians, Art. That gets you sent to jail.

ARTHUR: That was a statement! About our dependence on foreign oil!

LUKE: I think you should take some time off. Just do some sketches or some wood carving for a while.

ARTHUR: I know, I’ll work on my Mojo costume! Right after I watch this conceptual art video from this Danish director.

(1 week before the Con)
ARTHUR: Whew, that was a long video. ACK! I don’t have time to make my Mojo costume! Crap! I’m screwed! What am I going to wear to the Con? I’m going to go as just…some dude! I can’t do that to my art!

LUKE: Hey Arthur, want to play Castle Crashers on XBox?

ARTHUR: THAT’S IT! WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA! I’ll make one of those my costume?

LUKE: You haven’t done any real art in a while, Luke, you sure you can do that?

ARTHUR: Sure! I’m an awesome artist, I can do anything!