So I show up to Bell Field as it radiates with hundreds of glowsticks. The first thing I want to know when I get to the door is, How this can possibly be the 88th annual? Doesn't that mean it would have started in 1919? At Carleton, it's conceivable, but it doesn't seem like superheroes were too widespread back then.
Peggy at the Superhero/Villain Sign-Up Table helps me. The year numbers are measured in "intergalactic time warp units" that tend to produce a different number every year, not always going up. "It makes sense in their universe." She can tell me, though, that this is the convention's fifth year on campus.The "convention" is in an open-air plastic tent in Bell Field with disco lights and rave music. You have to register with Peggy and put on a name tag in order to enter. Heroes enter to the left of the registration table, villains to the right.
Between good-meets-evil dance partners, fights break out between superheroes and villains. In fact, it's encouraged. "Everybody here has incredible egos."
I see a lot of people in ambiguous capey things. Also some classics. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Batman manifestations were everywhere I turned.
But many heroes and villains were quite original:
- Dream Killer, whose job is to kill dreams. Because, "You've got to have some villains, you know."
- A Privatized Water Trio, who wear costumes made out of water bottles. The idea is paying for water, which should be free. Their arch nemesis is real water. "We're going to chase her around all night."
- Anti-Asphalter, who's a hero because, he said, "I build good strong roads."
