- September 9, 2024
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Joseph and Heidi Vavrik have been deeply invested in pop culture since they met.
The couple, who are now 52 and 39 respectively, found each other through the game “EverQuest Online Adventures” on Playstation 2 in 2004.
In 2010, they were married at Dark Side Comics, dressed as the Joker and Harley Quinn from the “Batman” comics.
They’re far from the only ones in Sarasota who are embracing their favorite characters to the point that they enjoy imitating their appearance.
Since founding the Central Florida group Gotham Underground in 2017, they’ve found more fellow cosplayers than they knew existed in the area.
“It’s nice to have locals, and I didn’t realize there were so many cosplayers that lived around here,” Heidi Vavrik said. “Now we’re getting to know more, and more people are getting inspired by those who go, and the costumes are getting so great.”
Nienna Nir, 51, head of Tampa Bay Area Cosplayers and Costumers and a resident of Venice, attributes the growing interest in cosplay, the art of presenting oneself as a character, to Sarasota’s arts community.
“There's a great deal of craftsmanship that goes into really well-put-together cosplay, and that appeals to the artistic community as a whole,” she said.
She noted the area's comic conventions, though small, are well-attended.
Danielle Erickson, 39, a member of Gotham Underground and also a Venice resident, was surprised by the amount of fellow cosplayers she found in the area after she began attending conventions.
She also said the profile of the activity is growing, even if not everyone is always approving of the idea.
“I think there’s still a little bit of the like, ‘Yeah, but you’re an adult, why are you dressing in costume’ sort of thing,” Erickson said. “But when I was younger, it wasn’t more of a suspicious type thing, it was more of a, ‘That’s weird, that’s gross. Don’t talk to me.’ So it’s getting more accepted in the mainstream.”
Ultimately, say costumers, most people appreciate what cosplaying offers — the realization of a character they love.
“I’ve had seniors come up and say, you made my day, you reminded me of my childhood,” Joseph Vavrik said.
“I think that’s why we costume up,” Heidi Vavrik said. “It’s just for smiles, reactions, definitely the kids.”
Lori Goldmeier, a member of the Tampa Bay group who lives in Sarasota, recounts the delighted reactions of children — including during a visit to Tampa General Hospital with Costumers with a Cause.
The group, with which she is regularly involved, collaborates with charities and attends various events.
“Even if they’re in a very dark place, they’re hurting, they’re sad, whatnot, when they see their favorite character in the room, their face will light up,” she said.
However, being a cosplayer is more than wearing the costume.
It’s a performance art that involves taking on their personality as well.
Joseph Vavrick has no character to which he is more committed than the “Batman” villain, the Penguin.
“Honestly, I don’t have to get into character, I am that character,” he said.
There’s a special reason why.
Once, during a comic event he was attending as the character, he had the chance to meet Burgess Meredith, who played the Penguin in the original “Batman” TV series starring Adam West.
The meeting came about through a friend who was working on the set of the 1995 film “Grumpier Old Men,” in which Meredith was starring.
As Vavrik entered a backroom, he found Meredith smoking a cigarette. The actor simply met him with a stare.
Vavrik wondered if he had offended him and began to apologize, but Meredith stopped him and commented that the experience was like “looking in a mirror.”
“I just started crying,” Vavrik recalled. “And he goes, ‘If anybody could carry that character, on, it’s you now. That was the greatest compliment I could ever have.”
You may find Joseph and Heidi Vavrik in costume not only at the community’s various comic conventions, but also at business and charity events, or even a local Target, where Joseph Vavrik may stop in the toy aisle to mock the action figures of his nemesis, Batman.
Heidi Vavrik will often be dressed as the Penguin’s henchwoman Lark.
Although he said many health issues have made cosplaying more difficult lately, he’s hoping to fully incorporate the scooter he uses to move around, dubbed the “Mayor Mobile,” into his costume by decorating it as the rubber duck vehicle seen in the 1992 film “Batman Returns.”
Goldmeier cosplays as characters including Princess Leia, Spider-Gwen and Buddy the Elf.
“I choose my characters based on how much I can either relate to them, or how much they match my natural personality,” she said. “Leia matches my sass and my attitude, but on the other hand, Harley, I can really do her without even trying because my energy matches hers as well.”
Some cosplayers also enjoy the chance to realize characters of their own creation.
For Erickson, the enjoyment of the hobby comes from her interest in creative writing. She said it has helped develop a novel she is currently writing, “The Dreamlands.”
“I also just really enjoy storytelling and character portrayal, so for me, it’s like getting into the character and bringing them to as much real life as I possibly can,” she said.
She created a costume of The Storyteller, a furry blue creature with a skeletal, bird-like face.
His role in the story is that of a guardian who eats the nightmares within one individual's private land of dreams.
One day, just for a change, she decided to place a key around the character's neck. Then, someone asked her about its purpose.
She went onto incorporate it into the story as one of the keys assigned to each guardian for the private dreamland they protect.
People with costumes of all price levels can cosplay, but a recurring theme among cosplayers is the level of attention to detail with which the costumes are imbued.
These aren’t the standard Halloween items you can find at your local retail store.
Erickson has taught herself a lot about making costumes over time and is currently learning how to craft leather armor.
“Sewing wasn’t something I was taught as a kid, so I had to go out and learn how to do that... It’s been a learning process over at least 15 years, so just going, ‘OK, this character has this, I need to learn how to do this.’”
Goldmeier has become a professional seamstress since developing her interest in cosplaying in 2014, and she attempts to replicate even small details using screen-accurate fabrics.
She’s taught herself skills like embroidery and crochet.
“Cosplay takes time, effort, money, resources and it’s a work in progress,” she said.
“It’s an escape to be someone else, and that is totally okay,” Goldmeier said. “I’ve gotten people asking me, ‘Is this normal?’ Of course it is. We are an uplifting community, because we are trying to escape the monotony of everyday life, just for a little bit.”
