Bendigo Comic-Con organisers were in a rush to reassure visitors after noted cosplayer William Dangles was arrested by police for public indecency.
Arresting officer Andy Cuffs said, “Look, you can’t walk around with just body paint, especially with kids around. And we’ve some additional questions on his claim he was ‘re-applying body paint to that area’ regarding some of the charges.
Mr Dangles, whose costume consisted of light blue body paint with a darker blue circle of colour and a dot on his forehead, protested that he accurately represented Doctor Manhattan from the 1986 graphic novel “Watchmen”.
Mr Dangles explained, “It’s a perfect copy of the character from the Graphic Novel, or snort, the 2009 Zach Snyder movie.”
Bendi-Con organiser Mylar Sleeves gave his view. “Yeah, okay, there is a lot of Doctor Manhattans dong in the Watchman comic. But there are also several scenes where he’s wearing these blue-winged speedos. There’s a whole chapter where he’s mostly rocking a three-piece suit. You could have made a costume from those parts; no one wants to stand up from leaning at a comics table and get an eyeful of the whole Wang-Dangle.”
Bendi-Con hopes to remain suitable for all ages.
