STANDING in Partick railway station buying a return ticket to the SECC it becomes clear that I am embarking on a voyage of discovery as two teenage girls in green capes and witches' hats queue up behind me en route to the same venue.
This is Comic Con day in Glasgow and, as a stranger to this pop-culture extravaganza, it seems to me like Hallowe'en for geeks.
I set off, clearly underdressed and around 20 years out of date in my Beverly Hills 90210 T-shirt, to find out for myself what this cultural phenomenon is all about.
Outside the conference centre it is a sea of fancy dress. There are Ghostbusters, Batman characters, witches, warlocks, zombies, fairy princesses, elves, Star Trek outfits and a bewildering assortment of superheroes that I do not even recognise. "Cosplay" - costume play - is big here.
Standing outside the entrance in a flowing white dress and cape is a teenage girl who tells me she is Galadriel from Lord Of The Rings. I ask what she likes about the Comic Con event.
"I like all the science-fiction stuff, especially the previews for stuff that's coming up," she tells me.
"It's a chance to hang out with other people who are into sci-fi and talk about the shows we're watching, films we've seen recently, that sort of thing. We went to see the Dracula Untold preview, which was great. Everyone here is into the same stuff and you can buy loads of merchandise and fan stuff that you can't find anywhere else. It's fun."
The conference centre itself is mobbed with people in fancy-dress - teenagers, 30-somethings and families. I'm barely through the door when I encounter a family of four decked out in various interpretations of the Joker, Batman's nemesis, complete with white face paint, wigs and stripy suits.
Dad, Peter Paterson, 40, from Glasgow, said: "We came last year when it was in Scotland for the first time, but we didn't dress up. Tonnes of other people did though, so we thought we'd come back this year in costume.
"The kids love it, and I have to admit I'm a geek at heart. I would have loved something like this when I was 15."
I pass a man in his thirties dressed as Bananaman and spot my favourite outfit of the day - a boy of around 10 dressed as a robot, complete with flickering green eyes. His dad is on hand to stick cardboard panels back on as he walks.
The hall is crammed with stalls catering to every taste. You can buy Japanese manga-style wallets and keyrings, a Pokemon onesie or a "bullet with your name on" - which the stand advises customers is "the perfect gift for the man who has everything". Try finding one of those in John Lewis.
At the back of the hall you can sit in the Back To The Future car and be photographed by a man dressed up as Doc Brown. Across the way a crowd of teenage boys watch big-screen demos of the computer game League Of Legends, which I am helpfully told is "not very good".
There is a treasure trove of comic books, giant pop-culture canvasses - including a Last Supper peopled entirely by superheroes - and a stall selling horror movie merchandise including Chucky Dolls and creepy Michael Myers masks from the movie Halloween.
The catering stand is a surreal experience as Bane from Batman sips a Coke through a straw and a 20-something girl dressed up as Jigsaw from the Saw films drinks a beer while flirting and taking selfies with a guy dressed as Captain America.
In the corner, a 40-something mother dressed as Maleficent knocks over a chair as she finishes her pizza and stands up, causing her giant feathered wings to come loose. Her son, aged about 10 and dressed as a zombie sheriff, fixes them as they head back into the main hall.
A 14-year-old girl dressed as computer-game character Princess Zelda is eating an Incredible Hulk cheeseburger with her friend, who I think is channelling Sonic the Hedgehog. I ask her what's the attraction of dressing up.
"I feel really pretty when I dress up," she says. "I like wearing wigs and face paint, and looking different. It's a bit of escapism.
"I think it's quite glamorous, but obviously lots of people think it's weird and geeky. I don't care - this is when I feel most myself. Comic Con let's us express ourselves. The better the outfit, the cooler you are."
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