Susan Onysko
On a recent Saturday in Michigan, Captain Marvel could be seen posing for the camera facing off against Wonder Woman, which many could have imagined, was one more photo opp in the continuous Marvel vs. DC rivalry that comic book fans at the Motor City ComicCon would expect. But this time, the photo opp had been was set up by Captain Marvel, aka 26 year-old cos-player Ashley Vansickle, who wanted to surprise Wonder Woman, aka 25 year-old Deanna Mascia, with a marriage proposal.
Vansickle got the idea to pop the question at the Motor City Comic Con since the two of them were avid comicbook fans, as well as cos-players and thought it would be poetic justice to propose at the Comic Con in costume. “Our whole relationship and our lives are based around comic books and superheroes,” Vansickle told the Detroit Free Press shortly after her proposal, which was captured on videotape and followed by a photo shoot.
“She’s actually the first girl, the first anybody, I told about my interest in comics,” said Mascia, who described herself as a big Superman fan. “She gave me the courage to be myself,” she explained to the Free Press.
Vansickle said she put about three months of planning into her super heroine proposal and had been exchanging emails with professional photographer Susan Onysko who was working at the Motor City Comic Con that weekend as part of her goal of attending comic con-style events in every state. She looks for cos-players at conventions to invite them to free photo sessions for a book project that she's working on titled Cosplay 50: The United States of Cosplay.