My first stop at Boston Comic Con was to speak with model, cosplay star, and streamer Danica Rockwood. Recognized for her rolodex of cosplay characters, creative content via Twitch/IRL and her stunning modeling work, Danica is a stand out in the cosplay community. I was lucky enough to spend time speaking with Danica about her love for the art of cosplay and the community she’s building around her.

AiPT!: You cosplay, you’re active on Twitch and Patreon. How do you like to spend your free time when you aren’t cosplaying or working on one of your other projects?

DR: I didn’t know I had free time *laughs*. I do Twitch streams three times a week for six hours. I eat, sleep, go to the gym. Other than that *laughs*. This hobby has become my way of life. I truly love what I do.

AiPT!: How do you balance streaming on Twitch for six hours a day, attending conventions, patreon and working on the next cosplay?

DR: It’s a little bit complicated but I’ve found a way to make it work. With Patreon what I do is create bonus content by binging on photoshoots, this allows me to use that across several months. When I’m streaming I’m working on my costumes that I’ll eventually shoot with David.

To make it a more personal experience for our Patreon backers and to raise awareness around the fact that my Patreon exists, I stream on IRL. It’s a category on Twitch where you can literally do anything you want, as long as you’re being interact with chat. I’ll personalize the prints for people in chat, I’ve drawn some weird stuff *laughs*

AiPT!: What kind of weird stuff?

DR: I drew dickbutt. The chat is great because they’ll help decide what I write or draw on the print. If someone’s away from their keyboard they’re in for a surprise. Or if someone isn’t there because we know they’re sick, we’ll do something nice for them. We’ve formed a very tight close knit community. I’ve found a way to make it all harmonize.

AiPT!: You have a Facebook, Twitch, Patreon, Instagram and Twitter. This allows you to interact with your fans and the cosplay community in multitude of ways. What’s your favorite way to interact with your fans and community?

DR: We have a Discord channel and we use that to talk to our community. We don’t intend to paywall people, but it’s for Twitch subs and it’s for Patreon backers. The primary reason we use this method is it helps prevent a negative community from forming. It’s on the internet so it happens. So if you’re paying to be there, you want to be there and you’re going to want to have a good time.

We have movie nights using a program called Rabbit. We all watch movies and send memes. Sometimes it’s really bad movies, to laugh at. We have gaming nights. We’ve found a way to make it a family.

AiPT!: You’ve cosplayed as characters from Star Wars, anime, manga, video games, steampunk, comic books, horror movies and more. What’s the process look like for selecting a character from such a diverse area of interest?

DR: Well I did Morrigan from Darkstalkers because I really wanted to learn how to make wings. I said to myself, “I like her because I want to figure that out.” It could be either I want a new material to work with or this looks complicated and I want to challenge myself. It could be the design, the character or the story. There’s so many different things that factor in.

AiPT! Is there a cosplay you’d like to attempt but haven’t due to the cost and amount of time that would be involved?

DR: I find that because I have a Patreon that funds my work, it could be borderline insulting to say that money isn’t going to work. That’s why I have the thing. I don’t ever like to put up a wall or a barrier with what I can accomplish.

I don’t have enough time for most things but I will commission and I will seek out things. I’m actually working on a really big project right now and I’m not going to tell you anything *laughs*. It’s a really big armor commission. It’s not in my skill set or my time frame at all, but I’m going to shadow the guy that’s doing it and it’s going to be amazing. I’m really excited.

AiPT!: Out of all the characters you’ve portrayed, which would you say you align the most with?

DR: I really didn’t like that I related a lot to Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. I didn’t really like her in the beginning at all. But the fact that she’s so willing to fix and figure out situations that she gets handed, that no one else can figure out, I can relate with that. I really like that about her character.

AiPT!: What’re you currently streaming on Twitch?

DR: I mainly do creative, making my costumes on IRL. But lately I’ve been playing Borderlands 2 with a few of my friends and a lot of PUBG (PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds).

AiPT!: What’re you most looking forward to in what remains of 2017?

DR: I’m doing a lot of conventions and a lot of traveling. This year I’ve been fortunate enough to have been booked out of the country on two occasions. It’s been amazing, I’m really excited about seeing new places. I’m excited to experience new cultures.

Here’s where you can find Danica Rockwood online:

Facebook – DanicaRockwoodOfficial/
Instagram – @danica_rockwood
Twitter – @ODanicaRockwood
Patreon – patreon.com/DanicaAndDavid
Twitch – twitch.tv/danicarockwood
Email – dmarierockwood@gmail.com
Storenvy – http://danicarockwood.storenvy.com/

Queen of the Nerds, Ghoul of your Dreams and Your Best Nightmare. These are just a few of the illustrious titles for one of the biggest personalities in the cosplay and convention world, LeeAnna Vamp. I was fortunate enough to get a few minutes of LeeAnna’s time at BCC 2017 to discuss how her passion for horror started, her unexpected foray into the world of bee keeping and the world of cosplay.

AiPT!: You’re the Queen of the Nerds, an internationally recognized cosplayer and someone who’s always creating new content. When you aren’t busy with your many projects, how do you like to spend your time?

LeeAnna Vamp: One of my passion projects is I have a kids TV show, it’s called Best Fiends Forever, it’s a puppet show. I’m a human in the show and it’s kind of like The Muppets meets The Munsters. I call it creepy cute; we have a zombie, a bat and a ghost. It’s my love for Halloween and my love for the old school things that we really don’t have anymore. I grew up with The Munsters and The Addams Family and I kind of wanted to bring something similar back so this is my homage to that.

I’m also a bee keeper. I keep bees!

AiPT!: I saw a video of the bees on your instagram. How did you get into that?

LV: Not really by choice. We have a birdhouse in our backyard and a hive took it over. We quickly realized that the hive grew really fast. It went from a small amount of bees to them taking over everything around the birdhouse. My husband and I decided that we should do something to give them an actual legit place to be bees. So we found this thing called Flowhive–they’re from Australia and they make these hives where essentially it doesn’t traumatize the bees when you take the honey. So we got one of those and then it hit me how fascinating bees are. I can sit there stare at them for half and hour and sure they don’t really do much–they’re bees–but they’re working hard [laughs]. Now we have I think five bee hives and it’s growing. I just posted a video where I built two bigger bee hives and we’re going to be moving some bees into those.

AiPT!: When you get to a con and a new city is there anything you like to do first thing or rituals you’ve created over the years?

LV: At the beginning traveling so much was just work. I’d show up, go from the airport, to the hotel, to the convention center and then back to the hotel, back to the airport and then home. I realized how mundane that becomes and how burnt out you get really quickly. So now I make it a point to do something, whether that be going out to a famous restaurant or a famous travel destination. I make a point to have a day where I see the city and interact with the culture in that area. Especially when we travel internationally. Otherwise it’s so unfortunate to say “I’ve been to all these amazing places and all I’ve seen is a hotel and a convention center!”. I’m fortunate enough to be able to travel with my husband and make our own memories in every place we go.

AiPT!: Do you have anything special planned for this weekend?

LV: We’re going to go to Salem! We’ve been here before and we love Salem. I just want to see spooky stuff.

AiPT!: You’ve been on a cosplay TV show, starred in horror movies, been on the cover of magazines, developed your own TV show, judged contests, been a guest on many of panel, held your own con scavenger hunt, you manage a Patreon and merchandise store, the list goes on and on. Do you feel like there’s any mountain left where through your cosplay, TV show and your other work, you can say “I still really want to achieve that”?

LV: Oh my god, every day. I’ve done a lot of crazy things and this whole crazy world, everything that I do, was kind of by accident. I started going to conventions just for fun and I was there when this whole cosplay boom kind of exploded. So for me, I was just lucky. I’m so grateful because now I have this platform and this fanbase which allows me to do so many things. I want to make my puppet show bigger, I want to share that with more people. I want to do more acting and more movies. I’ve done a little bit of everything, but I really want to delve more into acting. My husband and I have a ton of projects that we’d like to create on our own, our own films, our own shows.

AiPT!: I’m also a huge horror fan. I can think back to the first horror film that I saw that gave me the certainty to say “Okay, this is for me, I love this genre”. Is there a film that did that for you?

LV: I was probably ten. I had seen some horror movies before. I went over my friends house and she asked me if I had seen this movie called The Exorcist. I told her I had heard of it but my grandma said I wasn’t allowed to watch it–my grandma was very religious so that wasn’t allowed, “You can’t watch that!”. So my friend told me she had it and asked if I wanted to watch it, I said “Okay!” and then my friend immediately fell asleep. So it’s midnight, we’re up way too late, where my friend lived she didn’t have screens on the windows, the windows are open, they didn’t close the front door. So I’m sitting in this house, in this room watching this by myself and this girl is crawling backwards up the stairs. I don’t think I blinked the entire time because I was so terrified.

Then the next morning I woke up and I was terrified that I woke up loving it so much. I had a desire to watch something scary again and that’s when I knew horror was for me. I think when you’re younger things freak you out but you don’t have an appreciation for it until you have that moment where you can say to yourself “I want more”. So once I wanted more, I knew I was in for the long haul.

AiPT!: Cosplay Melee has featured some amazingly talented cosplayers. Out of all the different costumes that came out of the show, is there one that sticks out to you as truly above the rest due to the craftsmanship and character work?

LV: My friend Lisa was on an episode and I had to remove myself from the judging because we’re friends. So it’s important to know that these are all characters that the contestants made up, it’s not like you’re seeing someone play Sombra, a character that’s already developed. These people had to come up with everything on their own. Lisa had the same amount of time as everyone else, but the amount of work she did on her character made my jaw drop when she walked out on stage. I had no words. It was incredible.

The amount of talent on that show is amazing. These people have these crazy brains and they completely blew it out of the water. Say you’re going to make a Freddy Krueger costume, you have a blueprint and people know what to expect. But when you have to come up with an idea from inception–their character, their background and you have to give them all these traits and personalities, it’s so much harder. Yet everyone did it, which made it so hard to eliminate people since they were all so talented.

AiPT!: I know you’re a big Star Wars fan from seeing all of your Star Wars cosplay. There’s a little over four months until The Last Jedi is upon us. There are so many theories out there around Rey’s parents, why Luke left, Snoke’s true identity, the Knights of Ren, etc. Are you avoiding it as much as possible or do you have your own theories that you’re talking to your friends and husband about?

LV: We talk about it a little bit, but I want to go into it and be amazed. I want to experience it like I experienced it when I was a kid. I’m getting chills talking about it right now [laughs] (I saw her arm, there were goosebumps). I want to go into it with an open mind, no expectations and just enjoy it for what it is. I feel like when you start hypothesizing you can take away from the experience, so I just want to go in with my blinders on and enjoy it for the amazing experience that it is.

AiPT!: I’m sure you get questions for advice all the time. But is there anywhere on the internet, whether it be YouTube, a specific website or individual, where someone who’s getting started with cosplay should go?

LV: I wouldn’t say a specific person. I think your best tool is Google. YouTube is fantastic. The hardest thing about getting into costuming is that fear of not knowing how to do something. Maybe you’re not good at armor, maybe you’re not good at sewing, but the thing is everyone started somewhere and they probably weren’t very good at it. Thankfully YouTube has a video for literally everything. So I’d say the best tool is to watch someone else do it. Most of the things I’ve learned how to do, I probably messed up five or ten times before I got it right. It’s about pushing away your fear and just trying it. If you screw up, you’re in your own house and no one’s going to know [laughs]. You don’t have to publicize it.

AiPT!: What’re you most looking forward to in the rest of 2017?

LV: Star Wars of course. I’m kind of looking forward to the height of convention season dropping off so that I can catch up on stuff. Halloween is my main time and for my kids show–we love to pump everything up a level during Halloween. It’s our month. Having a little bit more time at home to focus on more projects would be great. When I travel a lot I kind of neglect my costumes.

I was home for a month and it was amazing. I was like “so this is what normal people do!”. People ask “where do you want to go on vacation” and I tell them “I want to go home! I want to sleep in my own bed for once!” I’m looking forward to things slowing down so I can spend time with my animals, work on more projects and get time at home.

Here’s where you can find LeeAnna Vamp online:

Website – http://www.leeannavamp.com/
Facebook – LeeAnnaVamp
Instagram – @VAMP
Twitter – @VAMP
Patreon – patreon.com/LeeAnnaVamp

Soni Aralynn is an avid astrophysics enthusiast, NASA nerd and old school WWE fan. In addition to all those great things, she’s also one of the sweetest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of interviewing. With an easy-going attitude, great sense of humor and heaps of enthusiasm, it was really easy to jump into a conversation with this long-time cosplayer.

AiPT!: Tell us a little about yourself – where you’re from and how you like to spend your time when you aren’t cosplaying.

Soni Aralynn: My name is Soni Aralynn, I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I started cosplaying in 2003. When I’m not cosplaying I like to watch a lot of astronomy documentaries and really anything that has to do with astrophysics. I spend a lot of my time watching Netflix, Hulu and whatever else I can get my hands on that covers those subjects.

AiPT!: Do you have any rituals you follow when you arrive in a new city for a convention? Whether it be shopping, a good restaurant or something regarding the local culture?

Aralynn: When I get into a city that I’ve never been in before I always like to go a day early, that way I don’t have to rush the day of the convention. It’s always about food for me *laughs*. What’s the iconic place to go eat? Whether it be donuts, burgers, whatever. I gotta go to that place! The rest of the weekend is whatever I may have time for, but the first day, it’s definitely about finding a good place to eat.

AiPT!: What’ve you found to eat in Boston that’s good?

Aralynn: Everyone tells me Boston’s a really good seafood spot, but I don’t like seafood!

AiPT!: You’ve been cosplaying for over 10 years and you’ve met countless different people during that time. What’s the most surreal interaction you’ve had through cosplay that’s made you stop and think, “is this really happening right now”?

Aralynn: Hmmm that’s a good question. I love Stargate, I have a Stargate tattoo on my neck. Teal’c (Christopher Judge) from Stargate SG-1 was at San Diego Comic-Con at his booth. I made my brother go talk to him first because I was nervous. He was tall as shit! It seemed like he was seven feet tall *laughs*. He told me I reminded him of his daughter and it was such a cool experience.

AiPT!: Your Nikki Bella cosplay is toooooo sweeeeeeet. I’m a huge WWE fan and I have to say I did a double take when I first saw your cosplay of Nikki, you nearly fooled me into thinking you were her. How long have you been a wrestling fan?

Aralynn: I’ve been a wrestling fan for a long time, since I was a kid. The Undertaker was my favorite growing up. I remember watching the Pay Per View where Owen Hart fell from the rafters and being so confused when the camera randomly cut away from the ring to the crowd. Everyone looked so upset and concerned, it was so heartbreaking.

AiPT!: Fellow NASA fan here. I’d love to hear more about your passion for space exploration and astrophysics.

Aralynn: What attracted me to the area initially was experiencing something that puts you into a mental space, where you come to this realization that you’re so small compared to the rest of what else is out there. It’s fascinating to me that we have the potential to explore outer space, the stars and possibly find other life. I love that the possibilities of what we could encounter are endless. The idea that we have to develop in science to a point where we can travel fast enough to reach these places is so cool to me.

It’s almost a stress reliever. When I watch documentaries and specials on NASA, astrophysics and the like, it makes everything else melt away because of how fascinating it is to me. It makes your bullshit seem like nothing when you understand there’s a star out there exploding that’s bigger than our solar system.

AiPT!: Were you a fan of Interstellar?

Aralynn: That was the film with the guy who goes “Alright, alright, alright,” right?

AiPT!: *laughs* (Her impression was spot on) That was really good! And yes it was the “Alright, alright, alright” guy, Matthew McConaughey.

Aralynn: So back to the question *laughs*. In the beginning of the film, I was really into it because of all the exploration of the unknown and the science involved with that. Once they got to the scenes toward the end it started to get a little hokey for me and I wasn’t enjoying it as much.

AiPT!: You have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Pateron and Twitch. All of which are great avenues to communication with your fans and the cosplay community. Which of these methods do you enjoy the most and why?

Aralynn: Live Instagram is always so much fun. It’s like story time with my fans and it’s so easy to do. I also feel like I can be more frank because it’s not saving what’s happening, once it’s over it’s gone forever. I like the freedom to be able to do whatever I want and know it’s gone the second the moment has passed. Being candid with my fans is important to me.

AiPT!: As someone who’s been cosplaying for well over 10 years now, you’ve seen the drastic growth and change the cosplay community has experienced. With the media spotlight so often on the attractive women in cosplay, do you worry that the wrong picture is being painted for people who aren’t familiar with the scene?

Aralynn: It’s not any different in my opinion than seeing a film or movie star being Googled and having the first thing that pops up being them in a sexy outfit like lingerie. Everyone knows there’s more to those people than that, but that’s what the focus is put on. You have to extend that to cosplayers. People in this industry model, it’s part of how this works.

I have a big fan that has kids and he’s told me that my portrayal of characters are appropriate for his 8-year-old. I’m not sitting here splaying my legs open saying “look at me,” I’m playing a character. As a person, it’s OK for me to be comfortable with my sexuality and to share that. That applies to whether you’re a male or female in my opinion. Obviously, there’s a line you shouldn’t cross with what children see.

So do I think it’s bad? No, I don’t. It’s very clearly what the people want and there’s a lot more to it than lingerie shoots. There’s a lot more work that goes into this than people realize. Hours worth of time and effort are spent bringing characters like Sombra to life. I like to think I’m showing fans the best of both worlds.

AiPT!: Four months left in the year. What’re you most looking forward to in what remains of 2017?

Aralynn: New York Comic Con! I’m hosting a cosplay cruise. I always love the cosplay cruise and there’s such an amazing line-up this year.

Here’s where you can find Soni Aralynn online:

Facebook – sonilovesyoutoo
Instagram – @soniaralynn
Twitter – @SoniAralynn
Patreon – pateron.com/soniaralynn
Twitch – twitch.tv/soniaralynn
Youtube – sentaisuperchick
Store – soniaralynn.bigcartel.com

AiPT! attended Boston Comic Con over the weekend and one of our biggest takeaways was the incredible amount of talented cosplayers in attendance. We took tons of pictures and met so many friendly cosplayers that were nice enough to let us feature their hard work. We’ve had to create three separate posts to ensure we could feature all the pictures we took. In this gallery our focus is to feature all the gaming cosplayers we met. Enjoy!

The first cosplay I saw. The dragon becomes me!

Silent Hill vs Jason. Hard to decide who comes out on top here.

#holycrapthatsimpressive

There was a note on this Spartan’s back: “If found, please return to Cortana.”

Do I even need to say anything? OK, he even had his music playing!

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!

The cutest little Mei I ever did see.

Crossplay cosplay done right!

Fus Ro Dah!

Has anyone seen Geralt and Yennifer?

I died laughing immediately on seeing this gentleman. Bravo sir

Friends again?

It’s high noon!

Vonne Bittercup! Amazing tattoos. Amazing cosplay. Super friendly! 10/10

Hey listen!

Cosplay squad goals.

Someone call the undertaker.

Great smile and a great cosplay.

I should have left a tip.

I never saw him coming.

Just plain awesome #mercmarios

Move along, no deadly virus to see here.

If a photograph of you is featured here, please comment with your social media information and we’ll be happy to tag you.

AiPT! attended Boston Comic Con over the weekend and one of our biggest takeaways was the incredible amount of talented cosplayers in attendance. We took tons of pictures and met so many friendly cosplayers that were nice enough to let us feature their hard work. We’ve had to create three separate posts to ensure we could feature all the pictures we took. In this gallery our focus is to feature all the film and television cosplayers we met. Enjoy!

No one’s getting past this guy to his Queen

The probability of this cosplayer doing amazing things? It’s high. It’s very high.

As she walked away stakes and crucifixes fell out of her bag

Keep screaming “RANGERS!”

Told me Ivan Ooze isn’t really that tough

Oh the feels. How I loved this show growing up. What a great cosplay!

They kept telling me to be patient, all will be revealed in four months

Adorable Poké-family

These guys were hilarious

The Empire is recruiting them younger and younger these days

You will be sent to a planet so mysterious, no one has even heard of it!

I stole this from that kid Ash, right in front of his family!

Nailed it

Fearless

I think these two could possibly be related

Spot?

So much epic in one photo

Warning: All princesses should avoid

Trustworthy, friendly and all around nice guys

Hail to the king, baby. #mercmarios

Multipass?

No I haven’t seen Lord Vader and no I haven’t left my post

Who doesn’t love them some black leather? Watch out Kate, you got competition

Struggled mightily to breath during this photo

Destro has been upgraded

If a photograph of you is featured here, please comment with your social media information and we’ll be happy to tag you.

“The three of us will always be one.” — Aqua

You can always count on Enji-Night to bring fun, intrigue and adorableness to any cosplay she puts together — and this one of Aqua, a main protagonist from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and one of three Keyblade Masters is no exception:

I love my Aqua cosplay. She is such an epic character and sometimes I can relate to her so much. I plan to wear this cosplay a lot during the year

A post shared by Enji Night (@enjinight) on Aug 15, 2017 at 2:45am PDT

Hey guys, with few days delay I finally have internet again and I can post all the Fotocon pictures! Yay I was Aqua at the second day and did a lot of cool pictures!! Can't wait to see them #aquacosplay #aqua #kingdomhearts #kingdomheartscosplay #cosplay

A post shared by Enji Night (@enjinight) on Aug 14, 2017 at 12:20pm PDT

Im so happy that we could manage to do this cospaly group with @leonchiro at the last weekend's Mondocon. He is such a great Terra!! My inner KH potato fangirl is super satisfied. Aqua have a very special place in my heart, so I really tried to do her cosplay with justice and I was super happy when I was wearing this costume! photo by @ad1k4h #aqua #aquacosplay #terra #terracosplay #kingdomhearts #kingdomheartscosplay #cosplay

A post shared by Enji Night (@enjinight) on Jul 23, 2017 at 9:59am PDT

Mondocon day 2 with friends ❤

A post shared by Enji Night (@enjinight) on Jul 18, 2017 at 8:41am PDT

I was so happy about our Terra and Aqua duo with @leonchiro Its always a great feeling to cosplay together epic characters with awesome people! And Im so happy my Aqua cosplay turned out okay! I still need to fix some parts but Im almost satisfied.

A post shared by Enji Night (@enjinight) on Jul 18, 2017 at 3:17am PDT

Unfortunately I couldn't take too many photos of my Aqua cosplay at the weekend, because I was running around like crazy, but still managed to get this one somehow. Thank you Máté Kozák for the pic! I still need to make the keyblade and fix some details on the costume, but I'm happy how it turned out. Hopefully I will have more good quality photos after Fotocon #aquacosplay #aqua #kingdomhearts #kingdomheartscosplay #cosplay

A post shared by Enji Night (@enjinight) on Jul 21, 2017 at 5:16am PDT

Browse: More AiPT! comic book/video game cosplay galleries.

Much like Tifa Lockhart, D.Va is another character whose cosplay tends to be overdone more often than not. Some cosplayers just stand out in the crowd — and Megan Coffey, as you can tell from the following photos, is one of them.

Browse: More AiPT! comic book/video game cosplay galleries.

AiPT! attended Boston Comic Con over the weekend and one of our biggest takeaways was the incredible amount of talented cosplayers in attendance. We took tons of pictures and met so many friendly cosplayers that were nice enough to let us feature their hard work. We’ve had to create three separate posts to ensure we could feature all the pictures we took. In this gallery our focus is to feature all the comic cosplayers we met. Enjoy!

Deadpool being trolled for once

Wrap me up in your lasso please

If I pose will there be mead afterwards?

Hulk’s not around right? Just asking, no reason

Please let Justice League be good. Please let Justice League be good

Did a double-take. Looks exactly like X-23!

I was assured Justice League will be good

Why aren’t I in Justice League movie?!

BEST Blackest Night cosplay I’ve ever seen

You’re a lovely lady, but I’m saving myself for Francis. That’s why I brought him

LOOK! I’m a teenage girl, I’d rather be anywhere than here! I’m all about long sullen silences, followed by mean comments, followed by more silence! So what’s it gonna be: long sullen silence or mean comment? Go on, take your pick.

Anyone seen Vision?

Mera, Aquaman, Furiosa and badass all wrapped up in one person

A crisp high five?

The staff and the tesseract were so good

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night

Charlie Cox keeps stealing my roles!

Dormammu, we’ve come to bargain!

Awwwwww! SHE’S SUCKING THE LIFE OUT OF HIM

Has anyone seen my flying tree house, wife and kid?

Two reasonable and well adjusted members of society

What’s better than one Loki? Three of course. That’s right, I found THREE

A lesson in badassery and why taking pictures with the sun behind your subject is unwise

I’m not gonna answer to “Star-Munch.”

Thoroughly unimpressed with my photograph efforts

I never see Blue Beetle! This is an awesome Blue Beetle!

Sometimes I think a good fight accomplishes more than all the learning in the world

They were wearing those best friend necklaces. The ones where each person has one half of the heart

I like to hit people in the head with this

If a photograph of you is featured here, please comment with your social media information and we’ll be happy to tag you.

We featured Aaryae’s impressive Symmetra cosplay (which she built from scratch) not too long ago, and now she’s celebrating summer’s end with one last pool party rendition of the light-bending architech.

Browse: More AiPT! comic book/video game cosplay galleries.

Gwenom, Anti-Gwenom, whatever you wanna call her — the concept is one of our favorite cosplays ever thanks to Elise Laurenne’s bad-ass version. And now, wouldn’t you know it? Cosplayer Danielle Beaulieu is throwing her symbiotic tendrils into the mix as well. That make-up simulating the symbiote spreading across her face as well as the eye contacts in the first image are on point (although she might need some assistance eating popcorn):

Browse: More AiPT! comic book/video game cosplay galleries.

Calling all cosplayers and Blizzard fans: This interview is for you. At Boston Comic Con this past weekend the lovely Monika Lee was nice enough to host me in her booth for a sitdown chat about working for Blizzard, her love of gaming and of course cosplay. As a veteran of the cosplay scene Monika has a unique perspective on the community and lots of great stories to share.

AiPT!: Tell us a little about when you’re from and how you like to spend your time when you aren’t cosplaying.

Monika Lee: I’ve been cosplaying for a little over ten years now. I started in 2006 and things have changed a lot since then. I went to school at Georgia Tech and once I finished I got a job at Blizzard, where I work in consumer products. So I’ve got a lot of Blizzard swag and I get to play with products every day. Sometimes I’m like “This is my job?! They pay me?!” I used to live in Atlanta but I’m in California now. It’s weird because cosplay was my focus and school was on the side, but now my career is my focus and cosplay is on the side. Cosplay is fun and it’s my hobby, but my job is the most important thing for me right now.

AiPT!: All your costumes are exceptional; I was particularly impressed with your skill in leather working. Could you tell me about how you became comfortable working with a material a lot of cosplayers avoid, due to cost and the steep learning curve?

ML: I actually did a lot of leather working this past weekend because I’m doing the new Tomb Raider and she has all these leather holsters and stuff. I’m by no means an expert — there’s a lot of people out there who are so much better than me at it, but it’s just fun to work with something that’s so versatile. In the movies and video games leather is the material you see used with so many characters. I like to get as accurate as possible, so I’m going to work with it. The cool thing about the cosplay community though is it’s so easy to learn. You just google “how do I make a leather holster?” and all the resources appear in front of you. When I first started it was much harder to figure out than it is now. Leather is fun and it smells good too [laughs]. PETA hates me. Don’t tell them!

AiPT!: It’s clear cosplay is a big part of your life and you’re very passionate about it. I know you’ve said working for Blizzard is a huge passion for you as well. Is cosplay something that you’d like to turn into a career full-time or is it something you’d like to keep as a passionate hobby that stays to the side?

ML: I’ve always said it’s a hobby. That being said, I’ve been incredibly fortunate that cosplay helped pay my way through school. My parents were thankful for that too [laughs]. My parents have three daughters. Cosplay is an amazing jumping point for a lot of people and a lot of careers and without cosplay I wouldn’t have the knowledge of conventions and the geek world and I probably wouldn’t have the job that I have today. My creative abilities have helped me get where I am in the cosplay world, but it’s by no means the be all end for me. It’s a great platform and a great thing to leverage for other experiences and skills.

AiPT!: What exactly does an E-Commerce Associate on the Consumer Products Team for Blizzard do?

ML: The consumer products team actually used to be licensing. So in the licensing world if I make Superman, I’m going to go to Hasbro and say “Hey Hasbro I want to make some Superman toys,” so they leverage that brand to help make the products and then you get royalties. So that’s what our team started off as, but we’ve done a lot more since then with manufacturing our own products and selling through our direct channels. The Gear Store is our direct channel and it’s what I work on, as well as Blizzard events. The Blizzard gear booth was at PAX this year, Anime Expo and several comic cons. We have a team that manufactures products, designs them and also works with the license partners. Mostly though I’m in charge of stuff at the Gear Store, especially inventory because we have a lot of products. It’s kind of a weird job that I’ve fallen into but getting to make all this cool stuff and working with lots of different teams within Blizzard is really cool. I’m flush with swag now!

AiPT!: What’s your favorite piece of Blizzard swag?

ML: Oh my gosh. I have to think about that. Well we do a lot of cool statues. We have a line called Blizzard Collectibles. So we actually have sculptures in house and a creative development department. We just made this D.Va statue and she’s like 34 pounds. She’s bigger than a toddler!

AiPT!: There was a lot of controversy surrounding Heroes of Cosplay and how it presented the cosplay community. Would you agree that the show focused more on the drama of reality TV and not the spirit of what cosplay represents?

ML: It’s funny to me because all these people have opinions on it; they look at the show and say “That’s not what cosplay is”. But it could be what cosplay is sometimes. Who are these people to claim to be the grand arbiter of what cosplay is? When I first started cosplaying, I was really into competing. Every con I went to I went into the cosplay contest. I spent months working on my cosplay, solely for the competition and that’s what I was really into. I don’t do that anymore because it was very stressful and I’d waste my entire day on the contests.

A lot of people in the cosplay community like to preach how inclusive they are, until they see something that they don’t like and then they come out against it. It’s a good and a bad thing. It’s good that people can be so protective of what they love and make sure it’s being done the right way, but I think the cool thing about cosplay is you can do whatever the fuck you want with it. If that means dressing half naked and wearing a wig, you do you. For me cosplay is personal, I don’t like to think about what everyone else is doing or what they want me to do. I’m spending money on it, I’m making it. Why is someone else telling me what I’m doing is wrong? Or that I should be doing something else? If I’m happy with what I’m making and I’m proud of it, then at the end of the day that’s all that matters to me.

AiPT!: As you said earlier, you’ve been cosplaying now for over ten years. In all that time, all the conventions, events and people you’ve met, is there any experience that really sticks out as being truly special?

ML: Even though I didn’t go last year, Dragon Con was always that event for me. Being [from] Atlanta is of course a factor. I went to my first Dragon Con before I had even started cosplaying and I remember when I showed up I had this overwhelming sense of “these are my people!” I was a misfit in middle school so it felt like “oh these nerds get me.” Everyone there was so inclusive and cool and every time I went back it felt like I was home. That’s the cool thing about Dragon Con, they have so much programming and such a wide variety of things going on, that it’s whatever you make out of it. Some people do orgies and stuff! Some people do the parade and they have a lot of Star Trek and Anime events. It’s not just one thing. I think it’s so cool because it can appeal to everyone.

AiPT!: I’m sure you get this question all the time, but I have to know. What’s your favorite Blizzard game?

ML: I was never actually a PC gamer. I don’t think I would define myself as a PC gamer, even though I’m actually building a PC right now. What got me into video games was Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. As a lonely child those worlds and adventures were so cool and appealing to me. I’ve had Playstation 2, 3 and 4 and some of the Wiis, but for the most part I’ve always been playing games on my Playstation.

I discovered Diablo because they had it on Mac and I had a Mac being a design student. It was so much fun decorating my character and I loved the really dark style. Everything felt so badass — I had never discovered a game like it before. So Diablo was what got me into Blizzard games. I knew a little about Starcraft because my friends in high school would spend every lunch playing and talking about pylons and stuff [laughs]. I love The Heart of the Swarm story — Kerrigan is probably my dream costume. She’s so beautiful and badass! But I really do love Overwatch so much, I’m playing at work on all my lunch breaks and I’m playing at home with my sister constantly.

AiPT!: What’re you most looking forward to in what remains of 2017?

ML: Well Final Fantasy XII already came out! We have Blizzcon coming up which is so exciting for my team and is always really fun. Thanksgiving because of the food! I can’t think of anything else game wise and I know later I’m going to remember all the games coming out. Actually wait, new Shadows of Mordor and I think a new Assassin’s Creed!

Here’s where you can find Monika Lee online:
Email – london2191@gmail.com
Facebook – London2191Cosplay
Instagram – @london2191
Twitter – @MnikaLee
Website – monikalee.net

My love for comics and all things nerd really turned into a full blown obsession when I started working at a comic book store. It turns out one of the top cosplayers out there today has a similar story. I caught up with Jennifer Van Damsel at Boston Comic Con this past weekend and we shared our similar nerd origin stories, our love for comics, Magic: The Gathering, and of course cosplay.

AiPT!: Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you’re from and how you like to spend your time when you aren’t cosplaying.

Jennifer Van Damsel: Well I’m kind of a workaholic so I’m pretty much always working. But I’ve kind of created my house to be the hangout house. There’s a pool table and I just bought a bocce ball set which I’m super excited about. So I’ll have all my friends over to watch a movie or use the pool table and I’ll be painting or something while this is going on. I guess I just enjoy cosplay so much that when I’m not working, I find myself wanting to go to the fabric store or design a new costume. It doesn’t seem like work because of how much I enjoy it.

I read a lot of comic books, manga and watch plenty of anime. Typical nerd stuff. I used to play Magic: The Gathering and Warhammer, but those are very expensive and time consuming hobbies. So unfortunately I had to give both of those to focus on cosplay since it’s my full-time job now.

AiPT!: I feel your pain with Magic: The Gathering. I used to work at a comic book store called Newbury Comics and the only reason I could afford Magic was because of the discount I received from working there. So after five years of working there I didn’t think of buying those cards without the discount being applied, leaving that job was a rude awakening to the actual costs of the hobby.

JVD: Me too! When I first started playing Magic it was because I worked at a store that sold it. My entire paycheck pretty much went to boxes and since I was in high school I didn’t really need for anything else at the money at the time. Then I started working at another similar store in college and once again my entire paycheck was going to boxes of Magic cards and comic books. Then I got into Warhammer and Warmachine, at the same time no less and man it was insanely expensive.

AiPT!: It’s clear you have a wide range of interests and hobbies. Is there a definitive moment you can remember, whether it was through video games, anime, comics, film, table top games, whatever, that cemented your love and passion for nerd/geek culture?

JVD: I wouldn’t say there’s a specific moment. None of my family is into comic books or sci-fi or anime. I’m definitely the weird one in the family. I kind of just discovered it by being online a lot, in chatrooms and such. Anime came through spending a lot of time talking to people online. So it was a really slow progression for me. I remember people being so blown away by the fact that I had never seen Star Trek. Typically your parents introduce you to that stuff early on and mine weren’t into Star Trek so it escaped me.

Comic books were definitely my first big nerd obsession though. I’ve always been a big Batman fan. From there I went into anime and manga through my love of comics. In high school I made a friend who played WoW [World of Warcraft], so of course I started playing with them and that was my first MMO. I got really addicted really quick. I hung out a lot on Ventrillo with my friends who played.

AiPT!: I saw on your Instagram that you meal prep and spend time each week with a personal trainer. Could you tell me about your journey there and how you got into healthy eating and fitness?

JVD: I always slowly progress through things. I started working with my trainer about two years ago and I guess I had a why not sort of attitude about it. I’ll try anything once. Wait, I shouldn’t say that! [laughs] I shouldn’t say that! But yeah I don’t really like working out or going to the gym, I had to pay a personal trainer to force me to go. I started working with them once a week and going to the gym every once in a while by myself. I tried several times to get into meal prep, but I really like eating so I never committed. So I’d say it wasn’t until 2-3 months ago that I got really serious about it.

Now I work with my trainer twice a week and I try to go at least once by myself. I’ve been consistent with meal prep for about two months. I finally got to the point where I feel guilty about not eating healthy food. It’s always an uphill battle until I get to a certain point where I accept and get used to what I’m trying to force myself to do. Now when I go to a con if I leave Thursday and don’t get back until Monday, that’s five days where I didn’t go to the gym and it’s so hard to eat healthy at cons. I cheated when I first got here. My first meal ever in Boston was a lobster roll because everyone talks about how good they are here. I haven’t had bread in like a month so I feel awful, but it was so worth it because it was so delicious.

AiPT!: You worked for a comic publisher Overground Comics for three years. Tell me about how that opportunity came your way, what you did there and how it changed your perception of the comic community.

JVD: I first started going to conventions and cosplaying just for fun. I had a friend that I saw at one who was set up at a table in artist alley. It was my first convention that I’d ever been to and I had no idea what was going on. My friend had a friend that he was sitting next to, John Hughes who wanted to start and would later own Overground Comics. So I became really good friends with him and started going to conventions for fun. Then he actually got an investor for the company, so he hired me and it took off from there. I did a lot of coloring, lettering, traveling, promoting and some bookkeeping. I have an accounting degree so that came in handy.

AiPT!: So you’re basically the Swiss army knife of the comic book world?

JVD: I kind of am! [laughs] I’m all over the place. Even with cosplay I’ve started learning photography and I’ve taken a few of my own shots now and sold them as prints. I’m using Photoshop and crazily enough, I learned that through my time working on comic books. It was a great skill transition.

The entire experience gave me a huge appreciation for the comic book industry. I met so many incredibly talented artists and writers.

AiPT!: What’re you reading for comics these days?

JVD: I’m currently reading Saga. I love Saga. Other than that I’ve taken a break from comics right now. I’m rereading a lot of manga that I haven’t read in a long time. So currently I’m rereading Berserk and Chobits.

AiPT!: You mention on your Patreon page that cosplay, streaming and modeling is now your full-time job. Anyone who looks at your work can see how passionate you are. Is this the place where you want your career to continue to grow and flourish or is there another destination you’re trying to get to through this launching pad?

JVD: This is really outside of my personality but I’m kind of trying to just go with the flow for whatever happens with my career right now. I’m not learning photography because I want to become a photographer when I’m done cosplaying, I just enjoy exploring art. I wish I could draw, I used to draw a lot in high school and I loved art. But if I’m not good at something immediately, I generally don’t like doing it anymore. We’ll see how long I want to do this for and how long it keeps being success. If I end up liking photography more I’m sure I’ll transition to doing that. We’ll see what happens.

AiPT!: You’ve become one of the most popular cosplayers in the scene. You’ve got one of the most active Patreons, a presence on Twitch and a huge social media following. This gives you a platform most people will never come close to. Do you feel any responsibility to use this platform to bring attention to charities or other causes that could use more exposure?

JVD: That’s kind of a hard question for me. It’s definitely something that I struggle with because I don’t want to isolate anyone and I don’t want to be polarizing. I know some people don’t mind it and some people do use their voice to promote certain things or their specific political view points. I try to focus on positivity more than anything. I feel like if people can be positive and good towards one another, that can translate to everything without being polarizing. I don’t ever post anything that’s political or controversial.

AiPT!: What’re you most looking forward to in what remains of 2017?

JVD: Honestly? A break. [laughs] I did a lot of conventions this year, more than I’ve ever done. I’m kind of burned out on cons right now; the traveling is rough and I do a lot of conventions by myself. I miss being home with my dogs and the more you travel the harder it is to produce content. I’m really looking forward to being home and getting to work on my creative projects. Conventions are a very social thing and I’m not generally the most social person. I work in an office by myself for ten to twelve hours every day. I don’t have employees or coworkers, I’m working for myself. I talk more during a three day convention then I’ll talk in a three week time period at home. So I’m really really looking forward to being home, making costumes and doing photoshoots.

Here’s where you can find Jennifer Van Damsel online:
Email – jennifer.van.damsel@gmail.com
Website – http://www.jennifervandamsel.com/
Facebook – JenniferVanDamsel
Twitch – twitch.tv/jennifervandamsel
Twitter – @JennVanDamsel
Instagram – @jennifervandamsel
Pateron – patreon.com/jennifervandamsel

We loved this Junkrat genderbend cosplay by Angelica from a while back and now we’ve got one by Sheila from cosplaying couple team Aicosu that’s equally impressive to add to the ranks.

Browse: More AiPT! comic book/video game cosplay galleries

Paris, France-based cosplayer Ynotece built this extremely detailed, extremely accurate costume of Overwatch‘s resident guardian angel (in her Norse mythology-inspired skin) by herself — right down to the intricate wings and Caduceus Staff. Amazing stuff:

Browse: More AiPT! comic book/video game cosplay galleries.

Look, we like Italian cosplayer Meryl Sama a fair amount, okay?

And to be fair, she spoils us. First this amazing Tifa Lockhart cosplay, then this Eva from Metal Gear Solid and now, another bad-ass Metal Gear Solid femme fatale, Quiet:

Patreon is the best way to support my new cosplay and photosets, join us today to see Full Quiet new photoset! Only for August!! PH @francescosanseverinomakeup

A post shared by Meryl Sama (@merylsama) on Aug 23, 2017 at 7:53am PDT

More Quiet pics on my Patreon Thanks to @francesco.sanseverino.sf for the photo! #metalgearcosplay #mgs #mgsvtpp #mgsv #metalgear #metalgearsolid #metalgearsolidv #quiet #quietcosplay #merylsama #videogame #videogames #videogameaddict #videogamecosplay #konami #playstation #sexygeek #hideokojima #gamergirl

A post shared by Meryl Sama (@merylsama) on Aug 21, 2017 at 1:03pm PDT

New Quiet set on Patreon Tier 2&3 only for August! Don't miss it!! 🤐 #militarygirl #mgs #mgsv #mgstpp #metalgear #metalgearsolid #metalgearsolidv #metalgearcosplay #metalgearsolidcosplay #mgscosplay #mgsquiet #quietcosplay #merylsama #bikini #bikinicosplay #videogame #videogameaddict #videogamecosplay #videogames #playstation #hideokojima #sexygeek #geekgirl

A post shared by Meryl Sama (@merylsama) on Aug 20, 2017 at 8:11am PDT

✨NEW QUIET FULL SET NOW ON PATREON✨ Only for August, hurry and join Tier 2,3 or higher for exclusives #militarygirl #hideokojima #kojimahideo #merylsama #mgs #metalgearsolidv #metalgear #metalgearsolid #mgsvtpp #mgsv #mgsvcosplay #quiet #quietcosplay #quietmetalgear #quietmetalgearsolidv #thephantompain #sexygeek #bikini #bikinicosplay #videogame #videogames #videogameaddict #videogamecosplay #geekgirls #nerdgirl #thighhighs #konami #playstation

A post shared by Meryl Sama (@merylsama) on Aug 17, 2017 at 3:09pm PDT

NEW QUIET PHOTOS NOW ON PATREON TIER 2! JOIN US TODAY TO GET THEM #blueeyes #quiet #quietcosplay #quietmetalgear #quietmetalgearsolidv #metalgear #metalgear30th #metalgearsolid #metalgearquiet #metalgearsolidv #konami #merylsama #metalgearcosplay #cosplay #cosplayer #cosplaygirl #kojimahideo #hideokojima #videogame #videogames #videogamecosplay #playstation #videogameaddict #videogamegirl #thephantompain #bikini #bikinicosplay #militarygirl

A post shared by Meryl Sama (@merylsama) on Aug 15, 2017 at 5:32am PDT

EVAxQuiet.. time paradox?! Words can't express how happy I feel when planning cosplay projects with friends and how important it is to me! ❤️ @starnightcherry and I are deciding on our next shooting together, which characters should we cosplay as?? #cosplay #cosplayer #cosplaygirl #quiet #quietmetalgear #quietcosplay #model #evacosplay #eva #evametalgear #thephantompain #snakeeater #konami #instapic #kojima #videogame #videogames #videogameaddict #videogamecosplay #merylsama #sexy #sexygirl #sexybikini #sexycosplay #metalgearcosplay

A post shared by Meryl Sama (@merylsama) on Aug 6, 2017 at 3:59pm PDT

My Quiet cosplay from #MetalGearSolid – Back & Front ! 🤐 #metalgear #merylsama #metalgearcosplay #mgs #metalgearsolidv #mgsv #mgs5 #bikinicosplay #bikini #konami #quietcosplay #quietmetalgear #hideokojima #blueeyes #gungirl #militarygirl #sexy #sexybikini #sexycosplay #videogame #videogames #videogamecosplay #videogameaddict #thephantompain #peaches

A post shared by Meryl Sama (@merylsama) on Jul 14, 2017 at 9:24am PDT

Patreon: Meryl Sama

We speculated what action Bolvar Fordragon would take as the new Lich King a while back but the newest Hearthstone expansion, “Knights of the Frozen Throne,” flipped the script on us by giving us an intriguing/disheartening new take on mage hero Jaina Proudmoore: Frost Lich Jaina.

And who better to represent this new take on Jaina in cosplay form than the illustrious Narga-Lifestream, who adds yet another installment to her ongoing Jaina cosplaying saga?

Poor Jaina didn’t learn from the mistakes of her former lover Arthas when it comes to dabbling with Runeblades and the power of the Lich King:

More: Check out Narga and Aoki’s Arthas and Jaina Frozen Throne cosplay sequence, their reunion in the Halls of Reflection or Narga’s original Jaina Proudmoore cosplay.

Patreon: Narga cosplay

I met a lot of incredibly talented cosplayers during my time at Boston Comic Con, but one of them in particular really stuck out: Hailie Brown. Hailie is only in high school yet she hands-down created one of the best cosplays I’ve ever seen. It was hard to miss her at Boston Comic Con, as she was walking around on modified stilts inside her astoundingly accurate K-2SO cosplay. The level of detail and complexity to her costume was truly amazing. I may just encountered my first ever cosplay prodigy and I’m calling it now folks: if Hailie sticks with it, I have no doubt she’s going to become one of the biggest stars in the cosplay scene. With Hailie was her partner in crime and father, Jack Brown. The fellow Massachusetts natives were nice enough to take time out of their day to talk with me about their shared love of renaissance faires, Star Wars and of course cosplay.

AiPT!: Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you’re from and how you like to spend your time when you aren’t cosplaying.

Hailie Brown: My name’s Hailie Brown and I’m from Auburn, Massachusetts. I’m really artistic, I love to draw and create things. So when I’m not cosplaying you can find me at school or drawing. I’m going into my junior year.

AiPT!: Do you know what you’d like to study in college?

HB: I’m pretty sure I’m going into animation, graphic design or something else art related.

AiPT!: What was your first exposure to cosplay? Did you understand what it was?

HB: Ever since I was little my Dad and I would go to a renaissance faire called King Richard’s Faire. It was there that I was first introduced to cosplay, but that’s not truly cosplay, that’s just dressing up for the renaissance. So when I went to my first convention I was introduced to real cosplay and I thought it was so cool. I loved it and the idea of it. Getting to dress up as your favorite character is so awesome to me.

AiPT!: Jack, you’re obviously into sci-fi and fantasy. Was it part of your plan when you became a father to rear the perfect nerd?

JB: That’s a great question. And yes, I love all of these genres and I was dying to introduce her. The only thing I introduced her to though was King Richard’s Faire. Growing up my mom made me follow all the things she liked, I played baseball and all of that. So I went opposite of that and didn’t introduce to her much at all and she discovered a love for this totally on her own which is awesome. Now we’re passionate about it together and I’m so psyched that she did this on her own. Maybe it’s in her genes [laughs].

AiPT!: Hailie, was your love for Star Wars something that came before cosplay?

HB: Yes, I definitely got into loving the movies before I cosplayed. After going to convention and seeing people dressing up, I knew I’d love to be in a Star Wars costume.

AiPT!: What was your first cosplay? Tell me a little about the experience of deciding on what you wanted to do and putting it together.

HB: The first cosplay I ever did was Castiel from Supernatural. That was at Rhode Island Comic Con and we actually made big black folding wings for him that were articulated. At first I just wanted to dress up as him for a school thing, but then since I already had this costume for him we decided we might as well make the wings.

AiPT!: What were you feeling going into your first comic con in cosplay and what was it like for you once you hit the floor?

HB: I was very anxious because I’m not a huge social butterfly. I get nervous and I don’t like to take photos and stuff. But I felt really confident when I got into the costume. Once everyone was asking to take photos with me I was having a great experience. The amount of people who were so excited to see me as Castiel was phenomenal for me. It was such a great experience, I loved it and it was what made me want to continue to do this.

AiPT!: Jack, what was your reaction when Hailie came to you and said “Dad I want to try cosplaying?” Were you familiar with it at all when she approached you about it?

JB: I was. I would dress up for King Richard’s Faire long before I took her. So she had never really seen me dress up. I went as Negan at Rhode Island when she was there. I was in drama when I was in high school so I love the acting side of things. So when she came to me and said that and knowing that she’s shy, I thought it was phenomenal because she’s going to get out there and maybe she’ll even get on stage and compete. It’s a great way for her to gain confidence and she’ll meet a lot of people that like the things she likes. In her school there isn’t that depth of people that like cosplay, so now she’s met so many people through conventions.

When she came to me with the costume idea I said “suuuuure” because I knew just from the few videos I had seen the amount of effort required. So I asked myself if she could stick with something that long and be passionate and it just blossomed. Initially I was very excited but a little trepidation wondering if she would really enjoy it. But she did and it just went from there.

AiPT!: You started with a pretty difficult cosplay, Hailie. Did you have any preexisting skills with costuming, sewing or crafts at all?

HB: I was initially artistic, I have been since I was a little kid. Before this I got into the model horse hobby. So I made a lot of little horse halters and things for them. That was my main craft experience. Prior to this I had never done any sewing or foam work at all.

AiPT!: Through the process of making several big difficult costumes, what would you say the biggest take away has been?

HB: Do a lot of research because there’s a lot of things out there and if you’re looking for them you’ll find them. It’s really fun and it gives you a boost of confidence, especially for someone who’s shy like me.

AiPT!: Tell me a little bit about the process for designing and building this K-2SO costume.

HB: There were no patterns out there. We had not seen another costume out there like this where someone was inside of the robot. So it was really difficult to figure out how I was going to fit inside of him because obviously I’m not seven feet tall or really lanky like him. We went through trial and error; we used different materials to see what would the build would look like on me. We had to use a ton of reference photos and measure them as best we could to see what was to scale. It was a long process and a lot of work to get the scaling and the patterns down because we had nothing to go on.

AiPT!: Jack, when she approached you with this idea were you gung ho, “let’s do this!” or were you hesitant because of how ambitious it was?

JB: So I was gung ho for a couple of reasons. My background is engineering, so anything I get to play around with is great and I love learning new things that she does, so that was a pro as well. I knew it was ambitious because the first couple of videos I saw for Iron Man there were all these prints and patterns you could use, but for this none of that was out there. Her first cardboard that she made I said “Yeah that’s not it, we gotta keep working!” [laughs]. It was her third or fourth take before she finally got the right dimensions. It was so much fun though, we bonded as dad and daughter.

AiPT!: Do you feel like anything is off the table for you in terms of cosplay? That you couldn’t complete unless time and money weren’t an issue?

JB: Wanna tell JJ what your next costume’s going to be?

HB: Yeah, we’re going to do the vulture wings from Spider-Man: Homecoming

AiPT!: WOW. You just keep one upping yourself huh?

JB: Of course, as dad with my background, I’m like “man, maybe you can hover!” [laughs] She wants the fans to actually rotate.

AiPT! Is cosplay helping to shape what you’d like to do in college or are you just enjoying the ride?

HB: Definitely. I could see this influencing me to get into costuming or being on a movie set. Already having my initial artistic ability and then finding something like this that I love, is definitely making me lean more towards that path.

AiPT!: How long have you been cosplaying now?

HB: Less than a year.

AiPT!: Oh my god. She’s a cosplay prodigy!

AiPT!: Have you thought of doing any YouTube videos on your creation process?

HB: Yes I have. I think we’re going to do that at some point.

JB: She’s thinking of some names for her studio or workshop, playing around with a few ideas there. She’s thinking of doing one minute cosplay videos on how to learn one technique in one minute. We couldn’t find anything like that when we were learning, all the videos were pretty long. So we thought it’d be awesome to have one minute videos.

AiPT! We’re four months away from The Last Jedi. Do you have any theories or are you trying to keep your blinders on and avoid all that until you see it?

HB: I have some theories but for the most part I have my blinders on for the movie. I don’t want to spoil anything for myself.

AiPT!: What’re you most looking forward to in what remains of 2017?

HB: Definitely New York Comic Con and King Richard’s Faire.

JB: It’ll be our one year anniversary of cosplaying at Rhode Island Comic Con.

Here’s where you can find Hailie Brown online:

Instagram: @vanillamutt
Twitter: @vanillamutt
Tumblr: @vanillamutt

Though lacking some of the industry focused news events of its big brother C2E2, Wizard World Chicago is a convention that places emphasis squarely on the fans of geeky movies and TV, as well as the world of professional wrestling. Though unfortunate circumstances led to the cancellation of marquis stars like Doctor Who‘s David Tennant, former WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens and The Walking Dead‘s Lennie James, those celebs that graced the stage (or the booth) at the convention left a lasting impression on the fans, who packed the ballrooms and line for autographs throughout the event’s four day runtime. Here are some of the shining moments from Wizard World Chicago.

TV and Movies

Trust me, you want to party with this man!

Though there were no debuting trailers or staggering announcements during the tournament, that doesn’t mean geeky cinema wasn’t represented at the convention. Probably the highlight of my weekend came on Friday afternoon when Guardian of the Galaxy and Walking Dead star Michael Rooker hosted what was deemed an “unorthodox” panel, wherein the actor walked through the crowd with a wireless microphone, asking questions, telling stories and, occasionally, asking his own questions of unwitting audience members. At one point he asked Chicago Instagrammer @YeungJeans to tell him a joke. Of course, he then responded with one of his own:

Michael Rooker lightens the mood with a little joke. #wizardworldchicago @aiptcomics

A post shared by Jason Segarra (@felixlancaster) on Aug 25, 2017 at 11:31am PDT

Rooker was effortless and funny, making his panel – unquestionably – the most entertaining event of my weekend. Another movie tough guy, Danny Trejo gave a much more subdued panel, answering fan questions about his astoundingly deep body of work and sharing his own take on the Hollywood experience. He heaped well earned praise on frequent collaborator Robert Rodriguez (whom he credits with “making his career”). Trejo shared particularly fond memories of his work with the iconic Robert Deniro. Deniro, who shared the screen with Trejo in both Michael Mann’s magnum opus Heat and Trejo’s most iconic role in Machete, evidently got on particularly well with Trejo’s son, Gilbert:

@officialdannytrejo shares a story about Robert Deniro at #wizardworldchicago @aiptcomics

A post shared by Jason Segarra (@felixlancaster) on Aug 27, 2017 at 11:40am PDT

Though I ended up missing John Barrowman due to scheduling issues and John Cusack stuck solely to his booth, the panel with celebrated voice actor and the one true Batman, Kevin Conroy, was a delight for fans of the series. Though he did defend the icky physical relationship between Batman and Batgirl in the recent animated retelling of The Killing Joke (unwittingly endorsing fridging in the process), he spoke with such high praise of his fellow voice actors, speaking particularly high of Harley Quinn actors Arleen Sorkin, Tara Strong and Melissa Rauch, and remained humble about the role that has not only defined his career, but the character of Batman for fans of a certain age.

Kevin Conroy on how he got to be the voice of Batman 25 years ago. @aiptcomics #wizardworldchicago

A post shared by Jason Segarra (@felixlancaster) on Aug 26, 2017 at 12:08pm PDT

Pro Wrestling

Matt and Brother Nero weren’t “broken,” but the panel was still DELIGHTFUL!

Some of the biggest names in the WWE made it out to the Windy City for Wizard World this weekend, and the most interesting among them may have been the Hardy Boyz. Matt and Jeff took the stage for what was potentially the best attended panel all weekend. Before a standing-room only crowd, the still-not-quite-broken brothers answered a lot of questions about their experiences in the ring and out, with Matt bemoaning that Jeff never seems to get injured in the ring (though both poked fun at the Charismatic Enigma’s unlucky spill on his dirt bike years back) and both men speaking about the injuries they are currently working through (a severely damaged knee for Matt, and an undisclosed shoulder issue for Jeff). Other interesting tidbits include Matt’s desire to face Seth Rollins in a one-on-one match, both men listing Shawn Michaels as the man who inspired them to get into wrestling, and Jeff claiming that it is the WWE brass that’s preventing him from using his trademark facepaint on WWE TV (though he has been using it at live events).

Jeff’s shoulder: working just fine.

I was late getting into the Q&A panel helmed by the Big Dog Roman Reigns, but did manage to catch his feelings on hair care products and that he feels like the Lannisters on Game of Thrones are actually babyfaces, calling them “subtle shades of gray.” Maybe there was something to Triple H’s line about Roman being bigger than the face/heel dynamic. While I missed most of Reigns’ responses, it did make me early for the Alexa Bliss panel, and recently deposed Raw Women’s champion put on a great Q&A. Unlike her character, Bliss is a really warm and inviting presence, answering questions with poise and a smile. It was especially great to see her speak with her younger fans, who really popped at the chance to speak with Five Feet of Fury herself. A highlight of the event was her explanation of how she first met Vince McMahon. It turns out, it happened while she had been coloring her extensions:

Found one more #WizardWorldChicago video of WWE superstar @alexa_bliss_wwe_ explaining the first time she met Vince McMahon

A post shared by Jason Segarra (@felixlancaster) on Aug 28, 2017 at 1:15pm PDT

Smackdown Live superstar Charlotte Flair put on a similarly welcoming performance at her Q&A, starting the proceedings by saying that her father’s health was improving and thanking the members of the WWE Universe for all their support in what has to be a trying time for the Flair family. Much like her Raw counterpart, Charlotte was extra great with kids – many of whom had come dressed as the Queen. At one point she actually left the stage to hug a five-year old fan who rode to the front of the line atop her uncle’s shoulders. She touched a bit on her favorite matches (highlighting her NXT Women’s title win over Natalya as a standout), mentioned that she would love to team with Becky Lynch (should the WWE ever have enough women to warrant a women’s tag division) and that she wants to be the woman to break Asuka’s undefeated streak whenever the Empress of Tomorrow makes her main roster debut.

Charlotte Flair pictured mid “Wooo!”

Comics, Entertainment and More

Some of DC’s finest.

Short of the booth helmed by James O’Barr, the man behind the Crow series, Wizard World Chicago was a touch light on starpower from the comics world. Fortunately, what the show lacked in industry talent it made up for in fan enthusiasm – as the convention featured an impressive assortment of cosplayers. While there was the typical army of Deadpools and Harley Quinns, the favorite costume at this year’s Wizard World looked to be Spider-Man, particularly Peter’s less refined costume from Spider-Man: Homecoming.

I know The Vulture is a bad guy and all, but this seems a little unfair.

It’s appropriate, then, that one of the best shows of the weekend was all about the wall crawling menace. Yep, Captain K’s J Jonah Jameson panel was a real treat for Spider-fans. Jonah really did his research and entered into a laugh-out-loud debate with the crowd about the merits of arachnid heroes. While Spidey himself offered little defense, it was actually the Tick who spoke up the loudest for all the bug-themed costumed vigilantes out there.

The Tick debating on behalf of arachnid heroes was a fantastic moment. #wizardworldchicago

A post shared by Jason Segarra (@felixlancaster) on Aug 26, 2017 at 11:05am PDT

Other fun attractions included YogaQuest’s geek themed yoga classes (including stretch-based retellings of Stranger Things, Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), children’s programming and animals, a fully immersive 4D experience built around the forthcoming remake of Steven King’s IT, and lightsaber combat training from the Iowa Rogues.

Light saber kendo matches start my day at #wizardworldchicago @aiptcomics

A post shared by Jason Segarra (@felixlancaster) on Aug 27, 2017 at 10:36am PDT

Overall

All in all, Wizard World Chicago was a fun show that was less a celebration of the geek culture industry than it was of the geeks themselves. If you’d like to see it for yourself check out our upcoming gallery of images from the event, and head to WizardWorld.com to see if they’re coming to a convention center near you.

Wizard World Chicago is in the books and it was one hell of an event. Like any great con, it was only made that much more special by the amazingly talented cosplayers roaming the halls of the Donald E Stephens Convention Center. Here are some of the best from the world of comics and video games! Be sure to leave a comment below if you see yourself or someone you know and we’ll be sure to tag it!

Wizard World Chicago has come and gone. Hundreds of cosplayers descended upon the Donald E Stephens Convention Center, and we were lucky enough to catch a few great costumes. Here are the best TV and Movie characters we spotted at Wizard World! If you spot yourself, let us know in the comments and we’ll tag you in the pic!