Costuming the Con

Today we are going to examine a sub-culture of Comic Con: The Cos-Players.

You may have noticed in my video from the last post some fully costumed people wandering around the con. Cos-play or costume play is a big draw for some people at comic con. People dress up as their favorite characters from comics, movies, TV shows.

And people go all out. The amount of dedication some people spend on these costumes is unreal, and they definitely deserve to be noted.

Two Sand People from Star Wars

These Sand-People had the most elaborate and beautiful costumes I saw. Everything on them was so perfect and realistic. I attempted to ask them about their costumes, but completely in character they simply grunted wildly at me and raised their sticks.

The Doctor and Madame de Pompadour from Dr. Who episode 2.4 "The Girl in the Fireplace"

Derek Jones and Samantha Kingston dress as the Doctor and Madame de Pompadour above we a little more human about questions (though they did keep their accents while I spoke with them).

When I asked about why they dress up Jones said, "We love the characters. Its our own little tribute to them in a place its acceptable. It feels like Halloween."

"It's just a great way to make new friends," says Kingston. "People will just come up to you to take pictures and talk. It makes you feel like a celebrity at the Con."

There weren't a huge number of people dressed up while I was at the Con. Jones said the big costume party was happening Saturday night at a big party. Sadly, with my one-day pass and lack of funds I had to make due just snapping pics of the ones there that day.

Take a look at the costumed people after the cut.

Geek-ing Out to Comics

So today on NEOHGeek Blog we are discussing one of the oldest nerd hobbies: Comic Books.

The American Comic has a long history, growing from newspaper strips in the late 1890s, to comic books in the 1920s, to the multitude of comic series available today. A pretty thorough history of comics can be found at ComicArt.com, if you’re interested in learning some more of the details.

Now you can find comics for just about all interests from science fiction (Dr. Who), to folklore (FABLES), to everyday, average life (Archie).

Now, it isn’t that I don’t appreciate a good chuckle at poor Archie’s relationship woes, but my true geeky giddiness only really sparks when there are tights involved.

Where's the fun when there's no skin-tight spandex?

The modern Superhero comic got its jumpstart with the launch of Superman in 1938. From there all kinds of hero books got their start, like Batman, who popped up in the murder mystery Detective Comics #27 in 1939 and Captain America who started fighting Nazis in 1941. I could blog for days with even my casual knowledge of the history of these characters so, if you’re interested, I’ll let you click the links and read about them from the experts.

The non-nerd world today most likely recognizes comic book heroes from the string of superhero movies released in recent years (Avengers, Batman Begins, Spiderman 1, 2, 3 and 1-again) and with Avengers breaking box office records and The Dark Knight winning Oscars, even the most un-geeky individual can probably maintain a conversation about them.

At least we've moved passed this atrocity

But where do the comics themselves fit these days?

The traditional comic book store still exists (we’ll explore the local comic store scene later this week), but it has actually become a lot easier to get your hands on comics.

Dozens of websites exist where you can get new and classic comics delivered right to you. My Comic Shop has the newest issues and auctions to obtain those hard-to-find editions and Midtown Comics is a great place for free shipping if you’re buying a lot, just to name a few.

Amazon and eBay have great selections too, for those of you that worry about your popular friends finding geekiness in your web-history.

But, perhaps the best benefit of modern convenience is digital comics. While collectors and traditionalists may turn up their noses at a paper-less comic, going green does have the added benefit on instant downloads and lack of physical evidence.

Most of the big names in comics (Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse) have digital stores to download comics to your computer, phone or tablet. You can even get many on the same day the paper edition comes out in stores.

Well, that’s it for today folks. Check back later this week for more posts on comics.

And remember, there’s no danger of releasing your inner geek. Well… at least after high school… most adults don’t give swirlies.