This year was our first time attending the Rose City Comic Con. We had heard that the people who run Seattle's Emerald City Comic Con had taken over this Portland one so we knew we had to try it out. And it did not disappoint. Emerald City will always be the better con to attend but I think in the future they'll be about equal. The best part? It's right across the river!!
This year was a little bit of a different experience for us because we decided to delve a little deeper into the world that is Comic Con, namely, cosplaying. For those of you who have no idea what the heck that is I'll explain. For a simple definition cosplay is short for "costume play", "is an activity in which participants wear
costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea from a work of fiction." But to those that partake in the craft it's more than just wearing a cheap halloween costume. It's taking a beloved character and putting love and time into looking just like them. I liked this quote from a site called ifanboy.com,
"It is of my own opinion that cosplay is not merely costuming, but a
very unique form of performance art. It is most widely associated with
comic books, anime, video games, and most things that are geeky in
nature. It has become such a massive subculture within the geek world at
this point that is is essentially synonymous with the idea of a
convention or a gathering of individuals who subscribe to more “geeky”
interests.
From personal experience, I have found that people cosplay for a
multitude of reasons. Be it love of a character, enjoying the attention
of being in an elaborate costume or portraying a loved character, or the
appreciation from peers from completing a complex costume… there are
many motivations for donning spandex or cape."
He said in his article that if you go to a convention and you're not in a complex costume you are the minority. And we've definitely felt it in the past. So this year we decided to become a little more seasoned and become the majority! And it turned out so well.
I have to give props to my dad and Connor because they because more of a character and went much more elaborate. My mother lovingly sewed my dad's Gandalf costume after he ordered the fabric needed. Connor's was too perfect. All we had to do was go to JoAnn's and pick out the right colors and my mom whipped that thing together too perfectly. Connor's true sacrifice though came from shaving everything. And I mean
everything and this after he had taken up to cultivating a beard for the previous months
. He kept getting creeped out by himself with his nice smooth leg would rub against his other nice smooth leg. Mine I wanted to dress up but still be able to blend in with the crowd to a certain extent. Connor, Katie and I had been posting to pinterest some ideas we found on the internet and the one below caught my eye as #1- easy #2- fun yet still casual. There are also a lot of similar ideas out there for disney princesses and that's what katie decided on.
Overall our outfits were a hit. Dad's was obviously the most beloved. Everywhere we went we heard, "Gandalf!", "Oh look it's Gandalf!" and the most popular quote of the day: "You.. Shall NOT PASSS!" And oh were there pictures taken. We could barely walk down one aisle of artist's alley without dad getting his picture taken by so many people.
My favorite were the kids that wanted his picture and you could tell they just thought it was the neatest thing. There was even a whole family of cosplayers that got their picture with him. Connor's outfit was a hit also. You could just see people's faces light up when they saw him. One of the cutest moments happened when we were waiting in line for the costume contest. Connor and Katie had taken a temporary hiatus from the convention to go to a family dinner so when they came back I had to repaint Connor arrows on. As I was painting them on there was a little boy watching. I was talking to Connor and said out loud that I thought it looked good and this little boy around 8 yrs old (who I didn't even know was paying that much attention to what I was saying) said, "Yeah, I think they look good too." Then when Connor went to the area where the contestants were meeting, the little boy just says out loud to no one in particular, "He is so cool." It was just too precious and it was little moments like that throughout the day that made cosplaying (and coming with good cosplayers) so worth it.
Now for some pictures. Enjoy!
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| We were more than STOKED when we found all of our counterpart (especially connor's!) It was just too perfect! |
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| na na na na na na na na BATMOBILE! |
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| That's the show that's Connor's character is from |
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| This is Aang (from Avatar: The Last Airbender), Connor's character |
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| I was in love with this girl's River Song |
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| This was one of my favorite artists (Katie Cook). She had a bunch of little cards done with all kinds of characters and I just loved this Wonder Woman too much not to get it www.katiecandraw.com |
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| This awesome guy, Richer Werner, was responsible for all of the look of the popular game Plants Vs. Zombies. He even drew you any zombie you wanted! I chose bucket head. www.richwerner.com |
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| The best wonder woman of the day |
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| My dad's favorite artist Jason Metcalf. He finds him at every Comic con and is slowing collecting all of his favorite pieces |
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| cosplay elevator |
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| probably my favorite picture of the whole day |
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| Connor practicing his airbending |
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| This coincidence was just too perfect. The other kid is the Blue Spirit who is Connor's character's enemy in the show. People in the Burgerville were pretty stoked |
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| this meeting was also all too perfect |
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| The girl as Rogue (on the right) made all of these awesome outfits |
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| It makes much more sense from the back but she was the Starship USS Enterprise. Very creative |
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| This was probably the cutest happening of the day |
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| Power rangers... and GANDALF! |
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| Anything can happen at comic ocn |
We had enough people ask my dad and Connor if they were entering the costume contest (which is held at 8pm). Usually we don't stay that long but we decided what the heck. It was so much fun. The emcees were great and one of the judges was a beloved radio host on the only radio program worth listening to (Daria from Mitch, Daria and Ted). It was awesome to see all the cosplays and the energy was fantastic. Here's the pictures of the top fives of each category.
14 and Under
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| 3rd: Rogue, 2nd: Houndoom (on the far left), 1st: Harley Quinn |
Other
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| 3rd: Backpack steampunk fellow (on the far right), 2nd: Daenerys (Game of Thrones) from the book, 1st: Zombie warrior (can be seen in an above picture battling Gandalf) |
Heroes and Villains
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| this wasn't the top five but an awesome gathering of supers |
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| this was the top five. 3rd: Hawk Woman, 2nd: Ivy/Joker duo 1st: Rogue/Gambit duo. Rogue had actually made a ton of the cosplayers outfits and did a fantastic job |
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| On the left is Daria. She is hilarious and Connor got a hug from her! |
the last category (and the largest which put Connor and Dad's odds in poor favor)
Tv/Movies/Video Games
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| 3rd: Beaker, 2nd: Game of Throne ladies (on the right), 1st: 5 and 9 from the movie 9 (on the left) |
Here is some artwork/business cards that I got from the day:
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| A neat booth who uses different numbers to "paint" their pictures (ex. They use things such as the speed of light or the different science equations for different objects in space) (just a business card) |
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| This creative lady (based in Richland, WA) photographs little Star Wars miniatures in very fun ways (just a business card) Heather E. Ray www.playswithtoys.com |
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| i love this |
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| This year's exclusive t-shirt |
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| One of the larger prints I got. This is from the cartoon Adventure Time |
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| this was my favorite picture that i got. I love getting ones that have a nod to the city the convention's held it and bonus it's double sided! (the convention center is the building that's in the back) and this style was just too fun www.sabertoothvampire.com |
Here's some links to some other artists that I found inspiring:
www.coridietsch.com
www.e-figart.com
www.billyfowlerart.com
www.2dbean.com
also our good friend Jeff Superchi has currently underwent an exciting new tv project where him and a couple buddies go to different conventions and explore the worlds therein. This was their first one. You can follow them on facebook or check them out at
www.theconquestshow.com
