October in New York brings with it so many of my favorite things; cooler days and fall foliage with a hint of pumpkin and the macabre in the air. But in addition to Halloween, October in New York brings yet another anticipated gathering of the costumed, the "weird" and the creative; Comic Con. Second only to San Diego's convention, the New York Comic Con ran from Thursday the 11th through Sunday the 14th this year and was filled with 115,000 collectors, creators, costumes and everyone in-between. And for the third time since moving to New York, my wife and I donned our newly created costumes and joined the fun.
For those who are unaware, cosplay (short for costume play) is one of the staples of any comic con. Cosplay takes on many forms, from those who simply purchase the replica costume to those who spend months working on their own interpretation of the character; assembling already made pieces or creating them by hand. Many of those who eschew "store-bought" replica costumes approach the DIY process with the same obsessive attention to detail and creativity as a painter, sculptor or any other artist and consider this their art form. For those like myself who assemble real world, ready-made clothing and accessory pieces into a convincing representation of a fictional character, the process can be a tedious cycle of trial and error riddled with frustration. It takes patience and an editing eye to execute well. Yet, I can attest that this method, while sometimes difficult, is firmly second to those who spend hours hunched over sewing machines or in their garages laboring with cloth, fiberglass, resin, cardboard, leather, metal, foam and every other conceivable material to bring their vision to life. To put it into more relative terms; my work is a collage, while theirs is oil on canvas and wholly their own.
So given the months of hard work, what is the appeal, then? I've certainly not found a way to make money at it and while there are a few who have gone into cosplay modeling (predominantly women in spandex or latex), the opportunities here are obviously limited (even more so for skinny Riddlers in vintage green suits, as you can imagine). Accolades, too, are few and far between. Aside from a costume contest at some comic cons, there are generally no awards presented in recognition of months spent toiling away at foam rubber. So then why do it? Why spend all that time, effort and money (lots of money) on something with seemingly no reward. I suppose the obvious response would be that the decision making skills and overall sanity of someone that dresses up as a masked villain and parades around in public for a weekend is dubious at best, but in truth cosplay provides ample return for the commitment it demands through immediate feedback (and ideally praise) for your hard work.
When you're walking around and you hear people saying "great costume", "you look awesome" and other such comments, or when people want a photo of you, to me it feels like I've succeeded in my work; that I've created something other people appreciate and for me its a validation of the time and effort, no matter how frivolous and inconsequential cosplay is to life beyond the convention doors. Smiling children are certainly the best part of this; the beaming face of an eight-year-old that genuinely believes that he or she is standing next to THE Batman, or THE Superman has the same warming result as watching kids waiting to meet Santa. When I asked my wife what was her favorite moment at this years comic con she didn't hesitate in mentioning the pint sized Poison Ivy, perhaps 5 years old at most, who spotted her in her Catwoman costume and came running into her arms. Its the same kind of immersion that makes theme parks work; the same willful suspension of disbelief that allows you to fall into the world of a book and its a shared experience with all who attend.
With that said; I've included below a few shots from this years comic con that, I think, provide a brief glimpse into the world of cosplay; whether its store bought or homemade.
We'll start off with the replicas. Generally people that do cosplay frown upon exceedingly expensive reproductions. The feeling is that store bought costumes defeat the purpose; that the idea of cosplay should be about your own attempts to mimic or reinterpret the character. However, store bought costumes can be amazing, as you can see:
 |
Great Cobra Uniforms |
 |
| Batman probably spent around $400 on his suit |
Again, though, in buying the replica you're not able to make the character your own, which is one of the main components of true cosplay. Certainly the Batman above looks great, but for the cost of the suit he should. The equally good Joker, on the other hand, has an assembled costume. His addition of props like novelty chattering teeth and a comically over sized gun coupled with the fact that he mimicked the wild mannerisms of the character enhance his costume's authenticity and create a more accurate representation than the Batman costume.
Aside from replica costumes like these, there are similarly also people in professionally created costumes throughout the show. They are generally hired to promote something and range from "booth girls" (usually models who have little interest in comics but look good in spandex) to intricate, highly detailed costumes like Bumblebee below:
Its a really amazing creation, especially when you realize there is a guy inside there who is almost perfectly mimicking the movements of the fan favorite yellow Transformer. However, as I said above, it should look this good because it was professionally done. From a cosplay standpoint, its not as authentic. Great on the surface and amazing to look at, but inherently soulless. The following costume, however, is perfect:
 |
| Cardboard, duct-tape and paint |
 |
| And he transforms!!! |
He's about eight or so years old and has one of the most creative and inspiring DIY costumes I've seen. From standing robot position, he gets on his hands and knees and all the parts of his costume fall into place to form a car. His father (who should be canonized as best dad EVER) created the costume using duct tape, cardboard and paint (and more engineering skills than I will ever possess). That the piece looks so great in both robot and vehicle form is astounding when you think about the planning that must have gone into it to ensure that everything aligned correctly while still being wearable. This truly is the essence of cosplay; interpreting a character in a unique and personal way while trying to stay true to the character and source material. Though, to be fair, he did have some practice at it from last years comic con:
Painted Cardboard; Awesome!
Not everybody needs to be able to transform to have a great homemade costume though. Below are a few examples of well executed DIY costumes:
Demona from Gargoyles Catwoman, Jack Skellington & Daredevil Joker and Scarecrow
Demona's costume is entirely homemade, including the wings, and looks almost identical to the character in the cartoon. Jack Skellington was a favorite of mine last year and I was happy to see him again this year. He uses a custom suit and stilts to achieve an incredibly accurate portrayal of the character. Scarecrow has actually re-purposed burlap sacks (authenticity is always a plus), while the Joker has assembled his piece from secondhand finds and a great fitting suit that he dyed himself (it was once white). Additionally, his excellent make-up and hair, exhagerated flower and joy-buzzer ring are all small details that lend greater depth and authenticity to the costume as a whole.
For our part; Jessica, Danny and I went as 60s Julie Newmar era Catwoman, 80s/90s classic red Daredevil and Riddler, respectively. I'm happy to say we each received positive responses for our work and were lucky enough to be pulled aside by a few professional photographers who were covering the event. These amazingly skilled photographers are an integral part of the world of cosplay as, aside from smiling children and the occasional snapshot or "great costume", its their willingness to photograph the creations cosplayers have put so much time and effort into that further validates the work. Below are portraits of Jess, Danny and I taken by Senen Llanos on Saturday.
They're really beautiful shots and we're lucky to have been selected by him for photographing (and even luckier that he emailed us when he posted them; too many shots get lost to abyss of the Internet). You can see the rest of his work here http://www.senencito.com/.
For those who participate in cosplay, comic con is over far too soon. Luckily here in New York the event falls close to another favorite costuming occasion; Halloween. After that I, like many others, will start brainstorming my costume for next year; sourcing materials and sketching out plans in the hope that next year's work will be as successful and as appreciated at this year's was. However geeky and inconsequential it is, I can certainly think of worse vices and more dubious "art forms" to partake in.
