July and August are months when even lifetime locals pack up their swimsuits and hiking boots and head out to cooler climates. (It’s been 100F+ for days now.) But for those of us who stay in Tucson, the Pima County Public Library sponsors MegaMania, which is kind of a ComicCon Ultra-lite. Last year there were Star Wars troopers wandering around and two Ghost busters cars parked out in front of Pima Community College where the event was held.
This year rather than cosplaying characters, books seemed to be the feature for MegaMania. So, to carry the books the library set up a table upstairs so people could print a design on a book bag — or as they were calling it, a “culture” bag. Each rubber stamp had an image associated with a different country. And the color for the stamp? Your choice. (Red, however, seemed to be the most popular color of the day.)
In another area, one of the other cultural groups at the library commissioned drawings from Dine (Navajo) artist Jonavan Begay of Hello Kitty and Friends to be used for watercolor painting by children. And in yet another area children were making dinosaur headwear from paper.
I was surprised and pleased to see Megan and Lillie, co-owners of Homeward Books Collective, which I reported about a few weeks ago. Lillie said their bookstore was moving to a strip mall right by Winterhaven. It’s a larger space and will be facing right onto Ft. Lowell. The official opening is August 15th.
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But all was not lost for the lets-wear-funny-clothes crowd. There were two notable cosplayers. First, an older woman in red/black polka dot pants, a neon green cape and a paper crown. Not sure what character she was portraying — maybe just herself. And as I headed toward the exit, suddenly a giant vampire rabbit showed up. Bloody teeth, blood on it’s face — not exactly cosplaying the Easter Bunny. But, what the heck, it was the end of July and the temperature was 105F. At least he/she was carrying a book in the spirit of MegaMania this year.
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