The Comics Alliance Reader Halloween Costume Spooktacular 2013

Today is Halloween, and as is our tradition here at ComicsAlliance, we have set out the bowl of candy, lit the Jack O'Lantern and invited our readers to send us pictures of their Halloween costumes for the express purpose of making fun of them. Seriously, we made that as clear as we possibly could, and still, a pretty solid number of our readers decided to take us up on the offer. Now, it's up to me to ruthlessly mock lovingly tease them for what is, to be quite honest, a pretty impressive display of creativity.

Seriously, this year's costumes are both incredibly fun and very impressive, but I'm not one to break a promise to make fun of something. So join us as we head out for our annual round of Trick-or-Treating with 15 Costumes from ComicsAlliance Readers!

Alex Hardison as Arkham City Riddler

I have to say, I was not expecting this level of craftsmanship on these costumes right out of the gate. I mean, this is one of the most convincing costumes I've seen in my life, and I've been to conventions all over the country. I genuinely believe that this is a guy who knows all the secrets of getting free money from the government.

Not sure what exactly that has to do with Arkham City, though, but I don't think I ever got to 100% in that game. Was there DLC or something where Matthew Lesko showed up to taunt Batman with the promise of billions in grants? "Riddle me this, Batman! Did you know you can get $25,000... to start a small business?!"

Seth Finkelstein and His Friend Ian as Regular Show's Mordecai and Rigby

Speaking of believable costumes, this is another one that's spot on. Sure, they're not exactly dressed as Mordecai and Rigby -- which is fine, since Mordecai and Rigby are canonically just two straight-up naked dudes who very rarely acknowledge their nudity and that could make for a pretty awkward picture to send to a stranger who asks to make fun of you on the internet -- but it works. They definitely look like two slackers in their 20s who spend a lot of time thinking about VHS tapes.

Carl G. Martin as The Private Eye's P.I.

Carl here went all-out in making a Halloween costume based on Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martín's The Private Eye, to the point where he even sent along a two-minute fan-film that he made to show off his handiwork, featuring a lady with a holographic tiger head.

Unfortunately, I haven't read The Private Eye yet so I can't really judge the costume's accuracy, but given the effort that's been put into it, I'm going to guess that it's pretty dead on. And if that's the case, then I can only assume that it's a comic about Robert Kirkman cosplaying as Pris from Blade Runner.

Jacob DeNobel as RoboCop

"Do you remember those bygone days of sitting on your porch, enjoying the sunset and eating a piece of mom's raisin bread in your suspiciously tiny mechanical hands? OCP remembers."

James Olsen Wagner as Jimmy Olsen

This photo was sent in by young James's dad, Daniel, and before you ask, yes, he really did name his son after Jimmy Olsen. Young Jimmy here has an older brother named Ozymandias, too, and you can probably guess what he dressed as for Halloween last year and/or thirty-five minutes ago.

As costumes go, this one seems like it was pretty easy to set up with regular ol' baby clothes, but what puts it over the top is the Daily Planet photo ID with a picture of a baby on it. That thing is fantastic, and makes me imagine a lost Silver Age cover where Superman is smirkily informing an infant Jimmy Olsen that "Sorry, Jimmy -- You'll have to re-live your entire childhood if you want to get out of this mess!" Why doesn't that comic exist. Why am I not reading it right now.

Chris Kiser as Cyclops

"Back off, Wolverine! You know the Professor said snacking before dinnertime would ruin your appetite! If you want what's in this refrigerator, mister, then you're going to have to get through me and my optic blasts!"

Mike as Wolverine

"Save the speech, Summers! My mutant powers gave me these enhanced senses long before the Weapon X program gave me claws, and right now there ain't nothin' that can stand between me and that cold pizza I'm smellin'!"

Marian Gonzales as Batgirl

On the one hand, a Batgirl costume should probably have a mask or else everyone is going to know that's Commissioner Gordon's daughter, and that's going to cause no end of trouble. On the other hand, there are definite bonus points in play for the umbrella-wings on the cape and the Kamen Rider neckerchief, and that parking lot definitely looks relatively free of clown crime.

Nik Brodeur as "Jortwarrior Nik"

So, remember how when you were a kid, sometimes you'd come up with a superhero of your own and cobble together a costume out of stuff you had laying around? Well, here's the adult version of that, which Nik confirmed was made "on the side of a highway" out of "things in the car trunk."

I bring this up because it means that this moustache was not grown for the costume. It is very, very real.

Jay Jordan as The Goon

So yeah, remember how I was going to make fun of these pictures? Well, that was before this guy showed up with a comics-accurate claw hammer. I will say, though, I was talking to Jortwarrior Nik up there and he said that he seemed to remember the Goon having more scars and fewer tiny cartoon blondes hanging out on his shoulder yelling things at his face. I know, man. Jortwarrior Nik, always talking trash. I'm just the middleman here.

Mike Christensen as A Prophet of Galactus

This is definitely the last thing someone has seen through the peephole of a hotel door before being stab-murdered. That sandwich board is covering a lot of bloodstains.

Zac as '80s Punk Batman

You know, I've seen a few different costumes that are meant to represent popular characters in different art styles -- almost all of which, now that I think of it, end with the word "punk" -- and this one is certainly a pretty cool addition to that bunch. My only problem with it is that I'm not sure if Batman would have a patch for the Dead Kennedys. I think he'd probably be more into the Dead Waynes.

Trevor Jones as the MegaZord

"ALPHA! RITA HAS SENT HER NEWEST MONSTER, A DOG, TO CAUSE TROUBLE IN ANGEL GROVE! TELL THE RANGERS TO SUMMON THE MEGAZORD TO DAD'S LIVING ROOM!"

James D'Amato as Cobra Commander

So is it just me or do, like, 9 of these pictures look like they were taken in the same house? It's starting to creep me out something fierce.

Anyway, this one is, no joke, my favorite of the bunch. James here described this costume as a Cobra Commander/Daft Punk mashup, but whether it was intentional or not, he somehow managed to accurately recreate Cobra Commander as he was seen in "Cobrathon," the episode of G.I. Joe where Cobra realizes that a string of failures has left them broke and so they need to raise money by having a secret telethon that terrorists can pledge to to fund their efforts. It is probably the greatest thing that has happened in the history of western literature, and has now been immortalized in costume form. It's a Halloween Miracle!

But while Cobra Commander may be my favorite, honorable mention must go to...

Sam Humphries as Prince

I wanted so badly to make fun of this costume -- perhaps by referring to it as Prom Date Kenny Powers -- but I can't. It's just... too beautiful.

Serious Note: Thanks to everyone who sent something in this year! Jokes aside, these were a great bunch of costumes and I'm glad I got to see them. Happy Halloween, everybody!