Last week I had the opportunity to pay a visit to Comicpalooza 2014. One of Texas’s premiere comic conventions, Comicpalooza (a.k.a. The Texas International Comic Con) is held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in the heart of downtown Houston, and draws a robust crowd from throughout the Lone Star state and beyond. While the comic pros in attendance included legends like Neal Adams, Roy Thomas, Jim Steranko, Mike Mignola, and Stan Lee — and the screen stars included John Barrowman, Rose McGowan, the cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and four of the actors to have played Doctor Who (Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann) — the most eye-catching folks present were, as always, the cosplayers. Well, next to the giant Lego statues of our favorite superheroes and the only life-size origami Iron Man and Captain America in the world (from master origami artist T.J. Fu). Yeah, I know: color me excited when there’s a life-size origami Galactus out there.

I’m particularly fond of the Eleventh Doctor cosplayer who managed to create a funky twist on Matt Smith’s dear departed Time Lord. In fact, gender benders were all the rage at this year’s Comicpalooza, as can be seen in the variations on Darth Vader, Skeletor, and Bane. Such diversity is a credit to the con’s remarkable growth. In fact, in just six years, Comicpalooza has grown from a signing event with a mere dozen comics pros — held at the Alamo Drafthouse Theater in Katy, Texas — to Houston’s largest comic convention. Congrats, guys! Here’s to an even brighter future.