Cosplay Capers at the Comicon

Conventions, like Emerald City Comicon give fans a chance to dress-up as their favorite heroes--or villains.  The geek-tech term for this activity is known as cosplay. 

Some costumes were downright racy and riske.  The playful Poison Ivy, pictured above, was tame in comparison to some of the others.  The folks who dressed-up were more than happy to pose for the camera, but sometimes I could snap a candid shot, such as this one of Poison Ivy (#2) and Catwoman, checking out merchandise (to buy, rather than steal).

Usually, conventions hold a formal costume contest in the evening.  But I was only attending for the afternoon and I was on a quest for various merchandise.  Despite the time crunch, I managed to take over a couple dozen photos of casual cosplay. 

First up, were the "lone wolf" fans I encountered, like Wolverine here.

As I backed away from those adamantium claws, another bystander and I bumped into  Black Canary, ready to lash out.

"He-e-e-yah!"

While I dodged Black Canary's kicks, Tank Girl got the drop on me. 

Fortunately, Dumbledore was nearby to protect me from the crazy, tank-driving, Aussie chick. 

But even Dumbeldore's magic, however, was no match for this mini-gun wielding--whoever he was suppose to be...

I imagine he was from some video game like HALO or Gears of War.  (Okay, I admit it, my geek-cred on computer games is deficient in this area).

While evading the mini-gun fire, I found this ufamiliar heroine.

What I found most striking were her eyes.  Notice the color?

And speaking of color, here was a young lady in every guy's favorite Star Trek female uniform.  You know you're safe among geeks when someone renders you the Vulcan Greeting.

Cosplay, both the sinister and the sincere, wasn't just limited to individual fans.  Oh no.  Fans with similar, if not identical passions, travelled in packs. 

Here, Darth Vader and his wingman, took a break from Force-choking laggard Imperial Officers, to pose with fans.

"You don't know the power of the Dark Side!"

After evading Vader's Force-grip, I stumbled across a squad of Mandalorians establishing a perimeter around the Rat City Roller Girls' booth.  Presumably, to protect the girls from over-zealous fans.  (The Mandalorians obviously have never seen a roller-derby game).

After I cleared the Mandalorian check-point, I discovered Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jango Fett were part of the security detail in the celebrity guest area. 

Jedis and Mandalorians weren't the only troops on duty.  Imperial stormtroopers and scout troopers were also out in force that day (and I'm sure reinforcements arrived on Saturday and Sunday).

"You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor.  Take her away!" 

While this was my first comic book convention, I've seen cosplay pictures of other comic and sci-fi/fantasy conventions.  There's always one, or more often, several, Princess Leias in slave-girl outfits making an appearance.  The Emerald City Comicon proved to be no exception.

At least here, the princess was escorted by a Jedi bodyguard. 

Now I'm not sure who these women were suppose to be.  I suspect some Anime, or Manga characters.  (Another geek-deficiency of mine).  Whoever they were, the guy certainly looked happy to be standing among them.

I'm not sure what story Mr. Kung Fu Fighting was from, or who the cardboard robot was suppose to be, but I certainly recognized Princess Amidala.

Ah.  Nothing said "love," like the shared homocidal mania of The Joker and Harley Quin.

Saying "goodbye" to the convention, the Star Trek way.  But who knew what the guy in the white lab coat was thinking.  Probably coniving a way to separate the woman-in-red from her yellow-shirted escort.

I've managed to catch an episode, or two, of Archer and thought they were a laugh-out-loud riot.  I liked them so much, I bought the DVD sets to Season 1 and 2 in one fell-swoop.  As I made my way through the crowd, I managed to find the under-the-covers duo of Agents Sterling Archer and Lana Kane. 

These two were my favorite cosplaying couple.  Among the singles, my favorite was the woman dressed as the Aurra Sing.  However, I could never get a shot (camera-wise) at the elusive bounty hunter and I didn't want to get thrown out of my first comic book convention on charges of stalking.  (You'd figure a psycho-killer, bounty hunter would be use to that).

So, these were the cosplayers I captured for posterity this year.  I'm sure I'll see some of the "usual suspects," the next time I attend.

For you Star Wars fans, if you'd like to get involved in cosplay, but don't want to go-it alone, there's a few organizations you can join:

"Rebel scum" can pledge their allegiance to the Rebellion...

...while conformists can fall-in to the ranks of The 501st Legion. 

Meanwhile, "independent operators" can join the Mandalorians. 

Each of these groups had booths in the celebrity area and were actively seeking recruits.