Kitana Sightings: Windy City Drawn

A Mortal Kombat (MK) fan recounts his 'magic-sighting' of Kitana (warrior-princess) at a Chicago mall and dreams of daylight.

A 'fan-piece' on Mortal Kombat, from the lens of fan-consumerism. Enjoy (and thanks for reading), 

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I was in the Windy City (Chicago) shopping-center to attend a special Christmastime Mortal Kombat costume-convention/comics hosted by Adventureland Comics Store ('ACS') in the evening.

I've been a huge comics and Mortal Kombat ('MK') fan since its inception in the video-game industry in the 1990s, and I've considered its 'flowery' in fashion/media indicative of special costumed commerce and inspired 'avatar mock praise' which is why you'll sometimes find me in 'inventive' MK warrior-avatar costume/gear at these MK shopping-center media/comics conventions.

This is the world of media/comics, and the MK franchise is a warrior-combat themed modern media franchise which includes the groundbreaking/shocking warrior-combat video-games (arcade, home-systems!), comic books, and full-length action-adventure films in the West. In this modern world of media/comics, we see 'glaring' parallels in media-marketing between icon-oriented consumerism (e.g., sports-celebrity market(s)) and brand-driven storytelling (e.g., Jerry Maguire).

So, there I was (in MK costume-gear no less!) at the Chicago (Windy City) shopping-center MK convention (costumed!) hosted by the ACS and playing on the vintage arcade-machine showcased at the urban consumerism/media event when I thought I spotted a 'vision' of this experience.

Because Mortal Kombat (MK) has become so iconic/reflective of the graphic intrigue of the arcade/video-game and comics/film industries, there were many aficionados/fans at the Windy City shopping-center media/comics event, and I noted/spotted (and praised!) various MK 'characters' who'd shown up to add 'spice' to the spotlight.

I remember I attended a Royals-Cubs game in Chicago and spotted a wonderful little KC-Royals baseball fan in the stadium waving at who I really thought was an 'MK' fan/aficionado in a Kitana (warrior-princess) costume!

However, this Windy City shopping-center 'sighting' of Kitana was way different! I mean, not only did it occur at an actual licensed/official (ACS) MK media/consumerism event but it also occurred at an iconic area of Chicago (shopping-mall) where the 'real' Kitana I know I saw reminded me that fantasy in this age of video-game starbucks is still the stuff of lore.

So, what's this fan-diorama about MK (Mortal Kombat) really about, to me (or to you!)? This is a story illuminating the hidden figures and special private magic of cheering on any modern media/consumerism franchise in this age of globalized capitalism and socialized distancing conducive to convenience-commerce (e.g., eBay). This is the time of Adventureland Comics, Kitana (warrior-princess), and of course, the 'daydreams' of sighting gods, angels, sirens, muses, and dolls.

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"Money is everything" (Ecclesiastes)