But those folks are skinny, buff and, well, optimistic.

I tend to find inspiration in simple, striking character design that can be summarized in broad strokes. That’s often the case when you look at things like a superhero comic, or a videogame. But I also like when there’s at least some sort of congruence when it comes to body type and demeanour. Hallowe’en used to be hugely fun for me, though I’d never go to the extent that some of my more crafty friends would — making things out of papier mache, dyeing clothes and such.

But were I to cosplay? This year?

It’d take a cosplay “buddy”, to come as something to sort of anchor this character, but the only descriptions I’ve seen in fiction with which I’ve felt a kinship have been Bigby Wolf from Fables (though I’d need something like a Snow White or Jack of Fables sidekick), or his antecedent, Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Op. Compact, stocky, misanthropic, cynical observers of the human (or metahuman) condition?

All I would need is a rumpled dress shirt, cigarette, and observant audience.