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Arts & Culture

Comic-Con 50th: Dragpool

David Schoelen in his cosplay persona of Dragpool.
Beth Accomando
David Schoelen in his cosplay persona of Dragpool.

The art and craft of creating crowd-stopping cosplay

Attendees at Comic-Con bring cosplaying to an art. Here's one cosplayer who has created the persona of Dragpool.

Marvel's anti-superhero Deadpool (played in the movies by Ryan Reynolds) is known for his quick wit and smart alecky attitude. That made him ripe for some cosplaying fun.

Comic-Con 50: Dragpool

So David Schoelen decided to do the character in drag with beehive wig and platform shoes that made him tower above most of the other cosplayers. I met him in his Dragpool persona at WonderCon earlier this year in Anaheim. I was impressed that not only did he inhabit the character but he paid clever attention to the details -- like having Thanos' head in his tote bag and platform shoes that riffed off of the Infinity Gauntlet.

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But for Comic-Con he felt he needed to do something new. He said he looks at Dragpool like Barbie, the essential character is the same but the accessories change. For San Diego's pop culture convention he decided to create a Marie Antoinette version of Dragpool that required a new more ornate wig, a large fan, and extravagant earrings that sported their own eyelashes.

David Schoelen in his cosplay for Rick from "The Walking Dead."
David Schoelen
David Schoelen in his cosplay for Rick from "The Walking Dead."

Schoelen enjoys becoming another character and paying attention to all aspects of the performance. After seeing him in his Dragpool cosplay, it's hard to believe he's also a spot-on Rick from "The Walking Dead."

He will be changing him his look each day at Comic-Con and is pretty easy to spot at close to seven feet tall with the hair and heels.

Comic-Con continues through Sunday.