[Ed. Note: Okay guys, cards on the table: I totally goofed on this when Ryan sent it to us last year and didn’t get it up promptly… or at all. In fact, this is probably the latest actual time this could go up, since it’s the actual weekend of the 2015 Calgary Expo, and Ryan will have a whole other batch of coverage for us very, very soon. So without dragging out this embarrassment any further, enjoy some great photos of talented people that we should have posted 11 months ago.]
The 2014 Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo was held this past weekend and, as is becoming tradition, I was asked by my good friends James and Brandon from Comics! The Blog to take a press pass and “do whatever.”
For the first time, this year’s event was spread over 4 days, but sadly we could not attend until the weekend. (as we live in a different city, and enjoy keeping our day jobs that actually pay us.) Our first day was slightly dampened by the not-unexpected-because-we-live-in-Canada-but-still-saddening snow which decided to fall all day on Saturday. Although this did allow me the opportunity to showcase my Macguyver-esque umbrella construction from jackets and hoodies in order to safely get my camera equipment between buildings!
The event started out surprisingly well, as when we went to pick up our press passes we were greeted with our first ever ‘Maybe’ for a real live celebrity interview. This was a first ever for us, and we got pretty excited at the idea that there was an actual chance we could interview none other than Mr. Giancarlo Esposito (everyone’s favourite chicken restaurant manager/meth distributor from AMC’s Breaking Bad.) As excited as we were, we also instantly became super nervous at the thought that we would have to actually think up REAL questions and conduct a REAL interview…luckily we never heard back from the PR folks and got to do our annual “Favourite Cosplayers” photo extravaganza instead!
Given basically no instruction from C!TB on what exactly they want, other than James telling me he wanted more of something called ‘ Heterosexual Female Gaze’ [Ed. Note: Read: Man candy], we hit the show floor with our eyes peeled for the latest and greatest costumed attendees.
As usual, we never rank our favourite costumes that we see during the Expo, however this year for the first time ever, we actually crowned our favourite! (Note to the Editors - we sort of promised this person that you would send them some sort of prize or crown or something, FYI.) [Ed. Note: No.]
Without further adieu, here is part ONE of this year’s C!TB’s Favourite Cosplayers of the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo!
——-
The search for what I assume ‘Female Gaze’ is is short lived, as one of the first cool costumes I see fits the definition I have in my head:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Kratos: “I’m dressed as Kratos from God of War.”
RT: “And what was your inspiration for this costume?”
KR: “The inspiration was just, ever since the games came out I was like, ‘AWW, THAT GUY! I love that game!’ But, all I did, the past four months, was I went to the gym daily, ran 4 miles a day, dieted and dropped like 50 pounds, and now I’m at where I’m at…just to pull off my costume.”
RT: “Wow, that’s a lot of work! Have you dressed up before?”
KR: “Yes, last year I was Kratos again but it was not as good as this year. It literally pales in comparison now.”
RT: “Well that’s good, keep improving and improving! So next year now are you just going to take it to the next level?”
KR: “Next year I’m going to try to do the full chieftain armour of Kratos. Or, I might add the Boots of Hermes, the Blades of Exile and the Nemean Cestus.”
RT: “What about the giant wings?”
KR: “The wings? That would be a lot more difficult to do. I CAN do them, it would just take some time.”
——-
The next costume we saw was awesome, but I was slightly scared that the person wearing it would be in character during the interview. Luckily I couldn’t have been further from the truth:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
King Joffrey: “I am dressed as Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones.”
RT: “And what was your inspiration for this costume?”
KJ: “My friend Britney wanted to do a Game of Thrones cosplay, and I kind of have a penchant for dressing up as hated characters, so Joffrey was a natural pick for me.”
RT: “So have you dressed up in the past?”
KJ: “Oh my gosh…well I’ve been doing this for about 7 or 8 years now, going to 4 or 5 conventions a year. So it ranges from anything from…I did Black Butler when I was first starting out, I’ve done Homestuck in the past, and me and my friend have a few coming up for Free!, the anime that just came out. Yah, we’re kind of all over the map.”
RT: “And how long would something like this take you to put together?”
KJ: “Well, I’m a procrastinator, so I got this mostly done in about….probably like a week or two weeks time? Yah, two hours every day for a week…”
RT: “That’s not that bad! So ok, Joffrey is…ok I don’t want to give any SPOILERS away but, he’s kind of a jerk… What was your favourite Joffrey moment?”
KJ: “When he DIED!”
RT: “YES.”
KJ: “Honestly! I gotta say… It was everything, like the facial expressions that came out of it… yah it was all good.”
RT: “Ok, and the last question: Dream costume? One day you will finally be?”
KJ: “Oh man! Oh that is such a tough one!”
RT: “I’m trying to make them harder this year!”
KJ: “Yah! Cause I have SO many things lined up…I would like to be Loki from the second Thor movie. He’s got a great costume…that’s probably the dream one.”
——-
I see an ominous looking costume appear through the doors as we are about to leave, and approach for a quick chat. Unfortunately the costume prevents him from speaking, but luckily he comes with a handy costume assistant!
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Costume Assistant: “Would you like me to speak for you? Yes? Ok, well he is Black Heart from X-Men.”
RT: “Excellent! What was your inspiration for this costume?”
CA: “He likes being the villain!”
RT: “Have you dressed up in the past before?”
CA: “Yes, he did the Punisher for four years.”
RT: “And what would be your dream costume? It may be tough for you…You got it? Wow…”
CA: “Are you wanting to say The Tick? He wants to do The Tick!”
RT: “That would be cool! I’ve never seen the Tick before. I’m just going to put this out there: is it tough to see through that mask?”
CA: “That’s why he has to have the angel guiding him. His range of vision is kind of difficult. He did improve it though from last year.”
RT: “Oh, you’ve worn this one before?”
CA: “Yah, he wore this last year for Calgary Expo the last 3 years..”
RT: “Three years? Wow, we haven’t seen you down here.”
CA: “If you’ve got a cosplay you’re proud of, you’re going to keep wearing it right?”
RT: “Well it’s very cool, and I’ve never seen it before…it’s great.”
Cecilia Tomko: “Do you guys just go to Calgary Expo, or do you go to other cons?
CA: “He’s been to Anime Thon, Odefest, Calgary Expo, Edmonton Expo…”
CT: “Well we haven’t seen him yet, which is shocking…”
CA: “He’s kind of hard to miss!”
——-
I’m always a sucker for good props, so when I saw this next costumed attendee I knew I had to sneak in for a quick word:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Hellgirl: “Umm, I am Hell…boy…girl. Hellgirl!”
RT: “Hellgirl, ok! What was your inspiration for this costume?”
HG: “I’m a Hellboy fan.”
RT: “Fanatic, or just fan?”
HG: “Just a fan.”
RT: “Good, nice and safe, haha! So how long did this take you?”
HG: “Umm, my friend who’s actually just behind you, took about three months to make my props. Building the costume took about three weeks, and the makeup today took about two hours.”
RT: “And the snow outside, a bit dampening I guess?”
HG: “Little bit, but… I persevered!”
RT:” Absolutely! And have you ever dressed up before?”
HG: “A couple of times, but nothing quite this extravagant.”
RT: “So what would be your dream costume? One day you will finally be able to do…?”
HG: “I guess maybe just, a better version of this!”
RT: “Ok, that’s good! I guess that means you picked a good one for this year then, right? So what’s the worst part about dressing up?”
HG: “Making sure my makeup doesn’t transfer on everything.”
——-
A blast from my 1980s childhood walked past us, so I stopped him for a quick chat:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Robocop: “Robocop. The 1987 Robocop.”
RT: “Most people might say, the best version of Robocop…? What do you think?”
RC: “I’d say different version…”
RT: “How long did this take you to make?”
RC: “I’d say probably 20 hours.”
RT: “And how many times did you watch the movie to make sure you got everything just right?”
RC: “I watched all three…and then the first one twice.”
RT: “Wow! Have you ever dressed up before?”
RC: “I have before, just once. Just random…I was Mr. Incredible…nothing crazy.”
RT: “And what would be the dream costume? One day I’ll finally be able to do..?”
RC: “The dream costume? Would be…Robocop with the leg holster.”
——-
Every year Marvel seems to be the king of producing the best comic book movies, and likewise they seem to inspire the best cosplayers. This year was definitely no different:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Winter Soldier: “Today I’m dressed as Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier, from the movie.”
RT: “Very cool. And what was your inspiration for this costume?”
WS: “Frankly, the movie itself…seeing it, I thought it was really well done and I liked the modern update of the costume.”
RT: “It’s quite a different costume, yah!”
WS: “So I thought I’d go for that look.”
RT: “And have you ever dressed up before?”
WS: “Actually no, this is our first time cosplaying, and it’s a lot of fun!”
RT: “So how long did this take you to make?”
WS: “Umm, probably about two weeks. I actually tried the paper-mache route. Duct tape cast of the arm, paper mache, paper clay to smooth it out. Chrome paint, some ribbon to get the outlining, and that’s about it!”
RT: “That’s pretty impressive for a first time!”
WS: “It’s cosplay on a budget!”
RT: “Well if you don’t mind me asking, how much would something like this cost?”
WS: “This one? Umm probably about $150 including the jacket, the pleather, and tape. That’s about it. The pads, and costume belts…yah, probably about $150.”
RT: “And it’s re-useable right? So it’s not that bad…”
WS: “Yah, it’s not that bad. Gaffer tape…gaffer tape is…a LIFE-SAVER. Not duct tape…gaffer tape. That’s all I gotta say.”
RT: “Now that you’re in the swing of it: what’s that dream costume that you’re gonna do?”
WS: “I’ve always wanted to do one with armour. Like full-armour, like HALO, or Ironman. Something along those lines, I’ve always wanted to try that.”
——-
I didn’t so much as see the next costume coming, but I heard him from around the corner:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Daft Punk Rocketeer: “I am dressed as a DAFT Rocketeer. A Daft Punk Rocketeer, I guess.”
RT: “That’s unbelievable! What made you think of this?”
DR: “ Two of my favourite things. I was kind of pressed for time, I was going to do another cosplay and I was just in the middle of moving, and I was talking to my wife and I was like, ‘I want to do another Daft Punk thing’ because last year I was Beat Bot which is one of my normal cosplays.”
RT: “Is that the Transformer thing?”
DR: “It’s like a Transformer, it was a big Beat Bot, it’s a robot playing music. I was running around here…got a lot of attention, haha! And it was again, a tribute to Daft Punk, because I always do something with music. I LOVE doing things with music.”
RT: “That’s really cool! Actually one time for Halloween my friends and I dressed up as the Ghostbusters and we had the theme song pumping through our proton packs.”
DR: “There you go! Yah, it’s like, you NEED your theme music! You can’t cosplay without your theme music! And so I was trying to think of something movie related, and I just saw the Rocketeer.”
RT: “For the first time?”
DR: “No! I had seen it, but they were showing it again. I love the Rocketeer. I was showing it to my kids who hadn’t seen it, my little ones. My older ones had seen it and were like, ‘You know, the Rocketeer is awesome.’ And the helmets look alike! I just didn’t know how I was going to incorporate it, but it worked out.”
RT: “So you’ve done a few in the past, what’s been your most popular costume?”
DR: “So far it’s actually been the Daft Punk Rocketeer!”
RT: “Yah? I’m glad to hear! I’m going to be honest, The Rocketeer has been on my list of costumes I’ve always wanted to do, so I’m very jealous right now.”
DR: “I was going to do the regular Rocketeer, it’s been on my list…but I always put a spin on it. And I always like to add music. And like I said, the Disney theme is good but it’s not one you can walk around to for a lot.”
RT: “And I think I can see a little exhaust fan in your helmet there?”
DR: “Keeps me cool! It’s all wired in with the backpack.”
RT: “So you have to be an electrical engineer basically…”
DR: “I have no electrical engineering. All self-taught! I started building it March 20th? Really fast. Actually I put on this other leather jacket that I had, that I found while I was moving, and we were watching the movie and I thought, wait a minute this is like the perfect jacket! Daft Punk Rocketeer…”
RT: “Gotta happen.”
DR: “It’s gotta happen.”
RT: “So do you typically do a last-minute idea, or is there maybe one dream costume you’ve always wanted to do?”
DR: “Yah, there is one. I’m not gonna mention it, cause it’s in my head. It’s going to be a lot to execute. Actually I did sort of start it but then all my tools got packed up, and then I had to build this backpack with borrowed tools, tools from my brother, my parents…”
RT: “Well it was worth it, it looks awesome.”
——-
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Thanos: “I am Thanos!”
RT: “Did you make this all yourself?”
TH: “I did make this all myself.”
RT: “And how long would something like this take?”
TH: “About a month.”
RT: “Really…and have you dressed up in the past before?”
TH: “Yes.”
RT: “What’s been your most popular or favourite costume?”
TH: “At the Cons, I guess Hellboy was the biggest one for me. But Halloween time, Frankenstein’s monster, Beast for the X-Men. And my gargoyle actually won a couple of awards.”
RT: “The Disney gargoyle, or just the classic?”
TH: “Classic gargoyle.”
RT: “And what is the makeup made out of?”
TH: “It’s a foam latex appliance on my face, and I just added to it to make it work for Thanos. Warbla for the armour and crown, and sewed together some pants and a tunic.”
RT: “And what would be the dream costume? One day you’ll be able to do…”
TH: “Oh Jezus… I don’t know, it’s tough because with my body type you want to have a big costume, right? Something BIG. So Thanos was a really good one, I just play it by ear year by ear.”
——-
I had seen these two next cosplayers walking around earlier, but the ring of photographers surrounding them was too thick to penetrate. Finally they were alone, so I pounced for an interview:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Colossus: (Doing an awesome Russian accent) “Well, I am Colossus…”
Kitty Pride: “…and I am Kitty Pride, sans accent!”
RT: “I…I appreciate it!”
CL: “This is my normal voice!”
RT: “Have you guys every dressed up before in the past?”
KP: “Yah! We did Wonder Woman and Superman at the parade. I do a couple Catwomen…”
CL: (dropping the accent) “I do an Alien (smart?) gunner when I can get it into a convention, in other parts of the country but not here.”
RT: “Ok, so you guys do this often then I guess?”
CL: “It’s a bit of a thing, yah.”
KP: “I think we hit 5 Cons last year.”
RT: “Wow…ok so what was the inspiration for the change this year?”
KP: “Umm, we had a big group of X-Men. We’ve got a Nightcrawler, a Ms. Marvel…it’s a little Marvel Universe thing.”
CL: “Also a really great Magneto…”
RT: “Oh cool, I’ll have to be on the lookout for him!”
CL: “You’ll know him when you see him…a GREAT helmet.”
RT: “So what might be the dream costume? One day you guys could do…actually do you always do them together? I guess I should ask that first.”
KP: “No, we’ll do separate costumes.”
CL: “I’m a bit of a science fiction lover, so there’s a few I’d like to attempt. I’d love to do a specific period-corrected, built to my size Robocop. I’m 6’6”, so I can’t…we don’t take anything off the shelf anyway, but I couldn’t even if I wanted to. So everything’s gotta be custom…but yah, a properly built Robocop would be awesome.”
KP: “I would love to do an Arkham City Catwoman. It’s all tiny little pieces, and the pattern work would be insane! And I like, I make everything…so it would be a really fun challenge to be like, ‘Can I do this?’ with all the different textures and stretchability and things like that.”
RT: “Well I’d say you’ve got the experience, you could probably pull it off.”
CL: “I’m trying to convince her, I’ve got a Bruce Campbell and I’m told I do a half-decent Bruce Campbell…”
RT: “I could see it…”
CL: “…and I’m trying to convince her to do Sheila, and then I’d love to get some photos done of that.”
KP: “But then I’d spend the whole Con grabbing his leg, like in the poster…longing…”
RT: “That would be…amazing…”
CL: “And then we’d buy a van and get it stencilled onto the side. That’s my dream.”
RT: “I envision like, business cards with that picture…giving them to everybody you meet…”
KP: “We could do that as an engagement photo!”
RT: “Wedding cake topper!”
CL: “Totally…gotta happen.”
RT: “Maybe instead of like a traditional tux and dress…just use that?”
KP: “That’s every little girl’s dream!”
——-
After another few laps of the Con floor, Cecilia pointed out this next group of cosplayers she said were ‘something Final Fantasy, probably’:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Fiddlesticks: “I’m Fiddlesticks.”
Nidalee: “I’m Nidalee.”
Ezreal: “And I’m Ezreal. We’re from League of Legends.”
RT: “League of Legends, okay! And for someone who might not know, what League of Legends?”
EZ: “It’s an online game that you can play for free with your friends. It’s like 5E5, AOS; kinda like DOTA if anyone knows what that is. It’s a free game, anyone can play and it’s just…awesome. Fun.”
FS: “Yah, there’s tonnes of different champions; there’s like 118 different characters, and we’ve already seen about 20 of them here!”
RT: “Really? Wow…so what was the inspiration behind your choices then for which champions you would dress up as?”
FS: “Fiddlesticks is the champion that I play over 95% of the time, so it was pretty much a no-brainer.”
EZ: “I play Ezreal a lot as well, and it was a pretty easy costume to put together as well.”
ND: “Mine was easy too!”
RT: “And have you guys dressed up in the past before?”
EZ: “It’s the first time I’ve dressed up.”
ND: “Same!”
FS: “A few years ago I was Link, and I thought I’d be a little more creative this time.”
RT: “Very creative, I haven’t seen anything like this before! Is there maybe one costume that is your dream costume? That one day you will finally be able to do?”
EZ: “I thought about, there’s another character named Draven, I might try him another year. But he’s got like a super long moustache and these spinning axes, so it’s like a lot more difficult to make. So we’ll see how that goes.”
FS: “Pretty much just working on this. It was the dream! Just building on it year after year, trying to make it better. It’s just paper wrapped around all of the limbs, and then wrapped in brown duct tape so it looks like wood. There’s a guy who is really famous, if you look up Fiddlesticks cosplay online, it’s JUST pictures of him! He has one and a half foot jumping stilts - you’re just not allowed them inside the convention so I wasn’t able to wear them today…but they just bring the whole thing together.”
——-
I’m always drawn to giant, terribly awkward to move about costumed con attendees, and this next person may have been one of the best yet:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Jaws: “JAWS.”
RT: “Heh, so what made you decide: I’m not just going to be a shark…I’m going to be the whole movie poster?”
JW: “Umm, this movie is like….I love the movie. Since I was a kid I watched it…it’s just, I dunno, the original summer blockbuster. It started the whole summer blockbuster craze. It just…hits hard, you know?”
RT: “That’s cool, that’s cool! So how many times do you think you may have seen the movie by now?”
JW: “Ahh, hundreds!”
RT: “And is this your first time wearing this costume?”
JW: “No, actually I had an alteration last year at the Edmonton Con: I was Jaws 19 from Back to the Future 2.”
RT: “No way, I didn’t see you - that would have been awesome!”
CT: “It’s like the meeting of two of your favourite things!”
RT: “Exactly!”
JW: “But they only have like less than a year now to make all, like…11 more Jaws films to catch up.”
RT: “I know, it’s getting a little tight, but I believe in them! I think they can do it. Ok, one more question: Your dream costume. Would you say this is your dream costume, or is there something that one day you hope to be able to do?”
JW: “Umm, well I definitely want to do something bigger than this. It just hasn’t quite hit me yet. Maybe once I get heat stroke from this, I’ll get a vision…”
CT: “There is no fan?”
JW: “There is, but I turned it off for the interview.”
——-
We saw this next costume coming down the aisle towards us, and as shocking as it was to see, we were both shocked even more once the interview with him began:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Hello Kitty Samurai: “I am dressed as a Hello Kitty Samurai.”
RT: “So what made you decide: I love Hello Kitty, I love samurai…I’m going to mix them?”
HKS: “Well, I’ll make a long story short. I had the suit of samurai armour…I decided to make my own. My friend made a joke that I should do a Hello Kitty theme. And I said, OK.”
RT: “Yah. Well it has to happen at that point.”
HKS: “So it was a joke. And I took it seriously.”
RT: “Well I am very appreciative of that. Have you worn this one before?”
HKS: “Yes, today this is the third year going now, that I’ve been wearing it.”
RT: “No way, we haven’t seen you before!”
HKS: “Well this is my first year at Calgary Expo. I went to Edmonton Expo twice, Anime Con twice…I’ve been to ODA Fest, and a few other cons everywhere.”
RT: “So is it getting good reviews so far?”
HKS: “Pretty much so, yes. I originally did intend it as a joke, and to let people have a laugh, but it does actually have…a lot of people actually take it…”
CT: “Well, it’s super KAWAII!”
RT: “So what do you think might actually top this? You’ve worn this one a few times…is there a dream costume that’s even better than this?”
HKS: “Well I definitely have a dream costume, I’d really like to do a Space Marine from Warhammer, and of course my friend said, ‘why don’t you do a Hello Kitty theme for that one?’ and in terms of doing that, it’s not that I don’t like Hello Kitty, but I know if I did something like that that I would forever be branded as the Hello Kitty guy… so I’m actually doing another suit of armour and it’s going to be Pikachu themed. So hopefully, I’ll be able to steer myself away from the whole Hello Kitty thing…”
——-
A few more very well done Marvel Universe costumes were spotted:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Loki: “Well, I am dressed up as Loki, of Asgaard.”
Sif: “And I am the Lady Sif, of Asgaard. Even though he is actually from the Odenheim…he likes to say Asgaard.”
RT: “Ahh, that’s true…”
LK: “Until they find my birth certificate…it’s unproven.”
RT: “Kinda like Obama?”
SF: “Whoaaaa…”
LK: “Exactly.”
RT: “Haha, just joking! So how long did it take you guys to make these costumes?”
LK: “I would say about 6 months. A little bit of time after work every day. This wasn’t like 6 months straight, obviously. Over a period of time…it takes a little bit to figure out how things go together.”
SF: “6 months as well. He actually built it. Similar construction.”
RT: “So where do you, how do you find the pieces to build something like this?”
LK: “This is all made…on the cheap. All the armour is cereal boxes. Covered in a bit of craft foam for detailing. You can see it a bit on the inside of mine. Covered in a bit of craft foam, bit of paint, bit of epoxy to make it weather proof.”
RT: “Which brand of cereal makes the best armour?”
LK: “Well I’m gluten-free, so I have to eat CHEX. So we’ll say CHEX boxes!”
RT: “And have you dressed up in the past before?”
LK: “We have. Nothing to quite this extend. This is definitely the biggest, most ambitious thing we’ve done.”
SF: “Last year I did a Lady Tony Stark with just the gauntlet. He made that as well, of course! With sort of wires running up to an arc reactor, which was kind of fun. That was a bit more moveable than this…a lot more range of movement.”
RT: “Oh, is this tough to move in?”
SF: “Umm, I’m just more conscious of it because of the hips…they get caught on stuff. But, it’s waaay more better…”
RT: “What would be the dream costume that one day you will be able to make?”
LK: “I want to build, like a really tall, 8 foot tall Sentinel from X-Men. Foam up the armour, make it all like the comic book, have some extensions in the feet. And just wander around…”
RT: “I have never seen that! It would be impressive.”
LK: “That’s why I want to build it! I haven’t seen one yet.”
RT: “Well hopefully no one else gets the idea with the new movie coming out, and maybe next year you can tackle that one!”
SF: “(I’d like to do) a proper, solid Brienne of Tarth armour. Maybe the new stuff that we’ve seen promo pictures of - the dark stuff? She’s my favourite.”
——-
This time we veered over for the interview because Cecilia really loves this character, and wanted to see the costume up close and personal:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Harley Quinn: “I am Harley Quinn from Arkham Asylum.”
RT: “And what made you decide to do this version of the character?”
HQ: “Ahh, it’s a little bit more playful. Usually I do Sailor Moon…kinda really girly things…so I figured, ‘let’s take a risk and show some skin!’ And I’m still kind of terrified, it feels really weird, but it’s a lot of fun!”
RT: “Well obviously you’ve dressed up in the past, what would you say has been your favourite costume?”
HQ: “So far my favourite is my Sailor Moon. I did her last year for the first time, and again this year. There’s just a lot of, fandom I guess, is the right word. Even little kids run up and go, ‘Sailor Moon!’ and that’s pretty much my reason for wearing the costume. It’s just the girls…the little kids who know who she is? Makes me happy, I didn’t think people still watched that at that age.”
CT: “Harley Quinn is my favourite. That’s what I was saying, I was like, ‘I have to meet the Harley Quinn!’”
HQ: “Yaaay!! Hahaha!”
CT: “I went as Harley Quinn this year as well! It’s always a big hit. The black and red classic costume.”
RT: “From the animated series.”
HQ: “I really like her. I was kind of contemplating…do I do what I usually do and go classic? Or do I take a risk? So I took a risk!”
RT: “So what is your dream costume? One day finally you will be able to do this?”
HQ: “Two. I really want to do Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite. Who doesn’t want to wear a corset and a beautiful dress? And I really want to do a Rainbow Brite.”
RT: “You don’t really see too many of those! I did just see a guy walk by with a Skyhook though, so you might want to tag along with him.”
HQ: “I have seen a few hookers!”
RT: “Hahaha, yup! So do you have any tips for people who may want to dress up for the first time?”
HQ: “Just don’t be afraid. We are all in costume. Everybody is here just to have fun. You’re not going to be judged - it’s Halloween in the middle of the year! So just, do what you want to do.”
——-
Another costume from a Batman videogame!
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Deathstroke: “Umm, Deathstroke. Slade Wilson, from Arkham Origins.”
RT: “And what made you decide this was the costume for you?”
DS: “After playing the game…might as well, because Mark Rolston showed up too? So I figured, yah I might as well do it.”
RT: “So did you get in line and show him your outfit?”
DS: “Yah, I just got back from talking to him.”
RT: “What did he say?”
DS: “He liked it. And a couple other things…he signed it too. We talked about Shawshank Redemption and Aliens, obviously. It went really well! It was nice of him.”
RT: “So have you dressed up in the past before?”
DS: “Oh yeah.”
RT: “And what’s been your favourite so far?”
DS: “Probably this one. I can move. Out of everything that I’ve done, I can move and I can see.”
RT: “It looks like it’s just lightweight foam? That’d be a lot lighter to walk around in.”
DS: “Yah, than some of the other things I’ve had over the years, yah.”
RT: “And what is the dream costume for you?”
DS: “Umm, maybe an ODSD thing? From Halo, I’ve always liked the design. It’s not as bulky too. So I can move around again. Moving, I try to keep at the forefront…”
RT: “Smart idea!”
DS: “Some of these people, man…big difficulty!”
——-
I tried really hard to interview these three, but sadly (and also equally impressively) they stayed in character the entire time! The following is basically what the conversation was like:
RT: “So what are you guys dressed as today?”
Benny: “Awesome!”
Emit: “Everything is awesome!!”
Batman: (in a gravelly voice) “Awesome.”
RT: “Can I take a photo of you three?”
Emit: “I don’t know if I can keep my eyes open for that long!”
Batman: “I think I blinked!”
Benny: “SPACESHIP!!”
Honestly, these three were a complete hoot! Even though I didn’t get a real interview, they were some of the best costumes of the weekend by far.
——-
I realized that our best costume list had so far been lacking a bit of colour, so when I saw this person painted head to toe in bright orange paint, I knew I had to add them to our countdown:
Ryan Tomko: “So what are you dressed as today?”
Starfire: “I am dressed as Starfire, from Teen Titans.”
RT: “Cool! What made you decide to dress up as Starfire?”
SF: “I read the comics when I was younger…like the old school ones, and I just really liked the character! But it’s one of those things that you can’t really wear until you’re…older.”
RT: “And how long does it take to do the makeup?”
SF: “Like 2-3 hours, and I need someone else with me too.”
RT: “Unbelievable. So how early did you have to wake up to get ready for today?”
SF: “Today I woke up at 6?”
RT: “Ok, that’s not so bad! And have you dressed up in the past before?”
SF: “Yes, a lot.”
RT: “And what was the favourite so far that you’ve done?”
SF: “Umm, well I kind of liked the Fili and Kili costumes that we did from The Hobbit, because we took photos with the actors. Richard Taylor was all like, ‘Ahh, let me take pictures of your guys…I’ll delete my daughter from my phone so I can take pictures!’ so that was cool.”
RT: “So what would be the dream costume that one day you will finally do?”
SF: “That’s hard! I know that I have something that I want to make for my sister, she wants to be like Infested Kerrigan. But that’s like, a lot of moulding and sculpting, with wings…”
——-
For the first time in C!TB history, Cecilia and I were unanimous and actually crowned a CHAMPION Costume!! While I was interviewing someone else, Cecilia came running up to me almost in tears because she said she saw the perfect costume, but lost it in the crowd. Once she described to me exactly what it was, we set out on a mission - we HAD to find it again! After about 25 minutes of circling the aisles however, we had all but given up and resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn’t get to see this costume again. Just as we were turning to leave the Expo, we literally ran face to face with our white whale! Or should I say….purple whale…
Cecilia Tomko: “…I told him before, and he didn’t believe me…I saw Bob!!
Ryan Tomko: “UNBELIEVABLE….this is unbelievable…”
RT: “I’ll get a picture later, but first let’s do this properly! So, what are you dressed as today?”
CT: (Laughing with pure happiness in the background)
Bobcephala: “I am Bobcephala, or Bob from Bob’s Burgers in his Equesticles costume.”
RT: “Very nice! And what was your inspiration for this costume?”
BC: “I wanted to go as a, you-know ‘Brony making fun of the Bronies’ costume. Not as an insult, but more like a tribute I guess?”
CT: “It’s my favourite episode of Bob’s Burgers!! I’m so happy right now!”
BC: “I’ve heard that alot! People either think I’m dressed as a really crappy pony, or they get it and start taking pictures of me. And then the other people are all like, ‘why are they taking pictures of that guy?’ it’s pretty neat!”
RT: “So have you dressed up before in the past?”
BC: “Yes yes yes.”
RT: “Anything like this?”
BC: “Finn the Human from Adventure Time last year.”
RT: “And what would be your dream costume? I mean, I’m sure this one is probably getting some good reactions, but what would be the best one?”
BC: “I’ve always wanted to do the full furry Honeybadger suit!”
RT: “I don’t usually say this…we do this every year…our top ten. I’ve never said who the winner is…but this year, I think I can officially say that this is the BEST costume, hands down!”
CT: “It’s our favourite!”
BC: “Well thank you!”
RT: “Thank you!”
CT: “We have literally been looking for you for…”
RT: “…like twenty minutes!”
BC: “Somebody actually hunted me down earlier in the Big Four building! ‘I heard you were over here…my friend texted me…’
_____
Well we’ve come to the end of C!TB’s Favourite Cosplayers of the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo! Did you notice that somehow I interviewed 18 people again? Like, completely randomly again? As in, for the FOURTH TIME IN A ROW, without actually trying to accomplish this? Crazy, right??
Do you have a favourite? If I get the chance to do this again next year, what other types of questions would you like me to ask the cosplayers? Please feel free to leave some comments in the space below so I know what readers of websites actually want. (I don’t do this ‘interviewing’ or ‘writing’ thing often, remember.)
Stay tuned to this website, as we also got the chance to interview the world famous cosplayers Monika Lee and Lindsay Elyse! Our chat with these two first ladies of cosplay will be posted just as soon as I can transcribe it.
And if you’d like to see more photos from our adventures at the Expo, please feel free to head over to my website, www.codenamephoto.ca, where I will be posting up even more pictures from the Expo…eventually. Until then - keep cosplaying!