Call them passionate. Call them crazy. Call them super fans.They attend every home game, and they’re on TV numerous times during LSU games. It’s hard not to notice the colorful assembly of super heroes, fairy tale creatures and all-around crazies in the front rows of Tiger Stadium’s student section.The costumes range from Superman and Spiderman to LSU-themed construction workers. Elsewhere, a purple-and-gold           genie chats with students in head-to-toe body paint.Marketing junior Cody Salomone, or Superman as he prefers to be called, said the costumes help represent the LSU student section.”It’s a great way to have fun and represent your school in a good, classy way,” he said. “We try to set a good example of what a great fan is like. We mess with the other team, but at the same time we’ll be their friends.”Kelsey White, mass communication senior, stands next to Superman dressed remarkably like Disney princess Snow White. But there is apparently no relation.”I’ve always had kind of an obsession with Snow White,” White said. “She was pretty easy to do — very easy to make.”Though they spend half their years as characters, Salomone said the experience has made him and White friends in real life.”We started seeing each other around campus,” he said. “And we both sat in the same section, and we were just drawn by the fact that we all dressed up. We just have a good time down here.”And the costumes have brought notoriety. Salomone and White said they’re often featured on air during televised games, and Salomone said he is stopped frequently on the way to the stadium to take pictures and talk with tailgaters. White said the celebrity status even extends to opposing venues.”When we went to Auburn, I brought a few of my friends who are a bit camera shy,” she said. “They didn’t handle it too well when the cameras focused in on us. They were hiding behind me.”Not all students react this way to their caped companions. Salomone’s friend, Michael Palmer, marketing senior, doesn’t dress up for games but said the experience has been rewarding.”Sitting next to super heroes is a beautiful thing,” he said. “They inspire spirit, and they build life — not just inside the stadium but in the community. Kids can look up to them, and they set a great example for the student section.”Palmer said the group made acquaintances most students don’t have an opportunity to meet.”We’ve met cheerleaders’ moms, players’ moms, security guards, ticket takers, you name it,” he said. “We met [Demetrius] Byrd’s mom and Herman [Johnson]’s mom. They’re all just great people.”Although Salomone dresses as the Man of Steel, he said the credit for the costume lies with the Dark Knight.”One of my best friends, Chase Lawson, had the Batman costume passed down to him, so I created the Superman costume,” Salomone said. “We got to do Batman and Superman together. But Chase had a rough time last year, and he had to transfer to Southeastern. He’s either going to pass the costume on, or he’s going to try to make it to a few games.”Lawson, now a sophomore at Southeastern, still plans on making an appearance or two as the Caped Crusader.”I plan on wearing it this year to the Georgia and ‘Bama games,” Lawson said. “I do not have student tickets, but I’m getting in with my parents and hopefully can find a way to get to the student section.”For some fans, the costumes stem from pure practicality. Ryan Dwyer, mechanical engineering junior, and his friends, Shane Marrioneaux and Casey Landry, are in their second season as purple-and-gold construction workers. And it all stemmed from a rainy Saturday afternoon.”It was raining and we had some galoshes lying around, so we wore them,” Dwyer said. “At the next game we had hard hats, and it went from there.”Job experience could also explain super fans’ behavior.”I’m actually in construction management,” Landry said. “So I’m having a great time, and I’m getting some experience in a hard hat.”With so many costumes and so much enthusiasm, it seems safe to say that the plethora of purple pop culture will be on display in Death Valley for a long time.Salomone insists it’s as much a part of the LSU experience as all-night study sessions and trips to Tigerland.”You only get so many seasons of student tickets,” he said. “People think we’re just waiting around for three hours before the game, but we’re having a party. We’re the first ones to show up and the last ones to leave.”Contact David Helman at [email protected]