Comic-Con has moved well-past simply being a comic book convention, and it takes a second to disregard the irony, now that it has incorporated everything from movies to TV, games, and more. Of course, you can rationalize it - pointing out the fact that just about everything has a comic book adaption nowadays but, regardless of personal feelings, Comic-Con now caters to every species of geek. The show is like the superbowl of non-sports conventions and fans celebrate their love in every way they can - especially cosplay.
In case there are Comic-Con newbies reading, cosplay is short for “costume play” and is a “performance art” where fans dress up as their favorite characters and, man, do they go all out. The event enjoys some of the strongest cosplay in the business - due to the melting pot of geek cultures and shear variety of media to choose from. Marvel’s Black Cat might be hanging with Fem Shep or Doctor Who - might just photobomb a picture of Pikachu. It’s all entirely, and ridiculously, possible.
The annual Masquerade is a chance for cosplayers to strut around to a self-choreographed performance complete with musical cues, pre-recorded dialogue and sound effects - all while dressing up in often extremely elaborate costumes. Anyone that has seen the documentary Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope saw the crazy good Mass Effect costumes, complete with an animatronic Grunt that was nothing short of stunning. This year, the show’s 38th Masquerade filled Ballroom 20 and beyond - roughly totaling 7,000 viewers - who watched 35 entries and 80 total costumes. The morale of the story is: even those who are totally lost at Comic-Con can enjoy the phenomenal people watching. This year had some incredibly creative, clever, and, dare we say, beautiful costumes - especially if the person inside it filled it out nicely… ahem.
Take a peek at some of the cosplay from Comic-Con 2012 and let us know what you thought. Impressed? Inspired? Frightened? Tell all!
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