Getting in Character: Dressing up as favorite superheroes is what motivates many fans during Comic Con

Meet Hannah.

Perhaps you've seen her in her mild-mannered alter-ego form around town; maybe she's even served you your coffee before.

But when the time is right, like it will be next weekend at Cape Girardeau's 10th annual Comic Con at the Osage Centre, Bobeen and others like her show a different, more super side of themselves.

"It's cosplay, as in costume play," she explained. "A lot of people don't know what it is, or if they've heard of it, they think it's some kind of weird thing, but I see it as an art form."

When a friend convinced her to dress up for Cape Comic Con three years ago, she thought it would just be a second Halloween.

"But then I enjoyed it so much," she said. "I was hooked."

In the past three years, she's gone through five costumes, some superheroes such as Spider-Gwen, some Pokemon. She's currently dressed as Game of Thrones rebel queen Daenerys Targaryen, but Bobeen is quick to point out that she's only an amateur.

"There are some people who go all out," she said. "This Daenerys costume, I'm pretty excited about, but it's nothing that compares to the people who have real talent." She's not being self-deprecating -- although she admits she gets her boyfriend's help with sewing from time to time -- but rather pointing out that it's possible to be a professional cosplayer.

The Cape Comic Con will feature several cosplayers whose talents go beyond mere hobby. They will be hosting seminars on makeup and other tricks of the trade for next-level costume creating.

"A lot of people do make stuff completely from scratch and it's incredible," Bobeen said of professional cosplayers. "And being able to see them showing off their talents and really proving that it's an art that most people don't think about, that's really cool."

But the legitimizing effects of Hollywood realism are only one side of the cosplay coin. For the legions of fans who don't have the money or time or budget, there exists a DIY ethos that relies more on ingenuity than verisimilitude.

"I've seen people make a really detailed helmet or whatever just from a cardboard box, but it doesn't look like that," Bobeen explained. "And anymore, there are tutorials and step-by-step instructions. I get a lot of things from Pinterest."

But outside-the-(cardboard)-box thinking often catapults the costume possibilities into the stratosphere.

"Some of the best costumes I've ever seen have been mash-ups of two different ideas like a Disney princess and Sailor Moon," she said. "Some friends and I went one year as women from Batman, but with a roaring 20s flapper twist."

Themes-within-themes and genre blending costumes are tailor-made for comic conventions, environments where the inside joke is king.

"You never know what you're going to see at a convention," she said. "I once saw a couple who just crumpled on the floor yelling 'Bruce' every time they saw someone dressed as Batman. Then I realized they were supposed to be his parents. It was great."

Bobeen studies public relations at Southeast Missouri State University, and said she's looked into career opportunities in the event-hosting field since getting hooked on cosplay.

"When you have a bunch of people who want to have a geekout over their fandom, it's almost a networking experience too," she explained. "You get to know people you otherwise never would run into."

And this year, with record attendance expected at the Osage Center for Cape Comic Con, there are sure to be no shortage of characters.

tgraef@semissourian.com