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Comic-Con 08: Four Days, Four Hundred Cosplay Photos. Welcome to the Ultimate Geek Gallery.

Norman Chan — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 09:02:01 -0600

It was a herculean task. Team Maximum PC at this year’s Comic-Con International consisted of only two people, and there was no way we could attend every packed panel at the event. So instead of bringing you movie and television panel reports you’ve probably already read on SlashFilm or AintitCoolNews, we wanted to be your eyes on the show floor. And that meant showing you what stood out most in the 500,000sq ft space of the main exhibit hall: the cosplayers. Our quest to document as many unabashed costumed geeks as we could find yielding 400 photographs of comic-book, anime, fantasy, science fiction, and film characters. We saw dozens of jokers and batmen, numerous video game-inspired outfits, and even steampunk-era Ghostbusters. The impressive level of creativity and enthusiasm that we saw in these cosplayers was an awesome reminder of why we love geek culture. We hope you can appreciate it as well.

Bonus challenge: Can you name all of the characters?

Originally posted: 2008-07-28 09:00:00

Comic-Con 08: 10 Kick-Ass Sights From the Show Floor, Day 3

Norman Chan — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:15:00 -0500

Here’s something I noticed today while snapping up photos hundreds of cosplayers: they each have a unique pose prepared when other attendees or photojournalists ask to take their picture. It’s actually quite entertaining to watch, really. A dressed-up costumer will just be walking by, casually chatting away with their friends, and then they’ll suddenly execute a unique pose and mug for the camera if they anticipate a shutter click. I’d like to imagine that these cosplayers practice modeling their poses in front of a mirror before stepping foot in public.

But on to the kick-ass sights I saw today. Warner Brothers held a large panel to promote the upcoming Watchmen movie; director Zack Snyder brought the entire starring cast to answer questions from fans and show off never-before-seen footage. The cast really looked and sounded like they loved the material and immersed themselves into their roles. Confirmed: Patrick Wilson’s Nite Owl will indeed be balding, fat, and impotent when he’s out of costume. Matthew Goode, who plays Ozymandias, also pointed out that he played the character with the idea that Veidt was the son of Nazis.

The aforementioned Watchmen panel. Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan) talks about how difficult it was to act with dozens of motion-capture balls glued to his face every day for five months.

This is actually the same Wolverine cosplayer we saw on Day 1 of Comic-Con, though he’s switched out his yellow spandex costume for military garb. He told us that he actually has several more Wolverine getups. That’s determination.

These TIE-fighter dudes were ridiculously awesome.

We're not exactly sure what's going on in this scene, but it's hot.

Nightcrawler kid had a few dozen poses ready for the camera. He wouldn't stop posing even after we took a few shots.

Check out the next page for more photos!

Look who it is! Ex-PC Gamer magazine editors Greg Vederman and Billy Harms! Billy was at the Top Cow comics booth signing copies of his new comic series, Impaler.

Nick Fury and Spiderwoman welcome attendees to the main exhibit hall. Look out Fury, she's really just a Skrull!

It was probably a bad idea to not let the guy with the chainsaw into the main panel room once it filled up. We can definitely see some rage in those eyes. Maybe a little bit of sadness, too.

We found these three Star Wars cosplayers outside the main hall, swarmed by photographers and turning more than few heads.

Sure, we were impressed by Heath Ledger's Oscar-worthy portrayal of the Joker. But this guy probably has the "crazy" market cornered.

Keep an eye out for even more photos we'll be posting up this weekend!

Comic-Con 08: 10 Kick-Ass Sights From the Show Floor, Day 2

Norman Chan — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:37:04 -0500

Who knew geeking out could be so tiring. The first full day of Comic-Con is over, and our legs are already worn out. But before we collapse in fatigue, we wanted to share with your some more awesome sights from the show floor. We spotted hundreds of cosplayers (don't worry, we'll be posting photos of them ALL after the event), B and C-grade celebrities (Captain Sisko from Deep Space Nine!), and even some surprise announcements from the movie presentations (Tron 2 is in the works, starring Jeff Bridges). Some quick impressions of the Max Payne footage shown today at the 20th Century Fox panel: the movie looks like it's taking the story seriously, and bullet-time shots are definitely different from what you've seen in the Matrix or John Woo films. The film apparently utilizes a camera that can shoot at 1000 frames per second -- one scene we saw slowed the firing of a single shot down to over half a minute. Another big surprise from that panel: Hugh Jackman made an unannounced appearance to show off the first footage from the Gavid Hood directed Wolverine movie. Gambit and Deadpool are confirmed to appear. Awesome!

Jame Bond's Aston Martin. Looks cool on film, and even more awesome in person. We tried to lick it, but Sony's goons intercepted too quickly. Maybe tomorrow.

One thing we noticed is that cosplayers tend to stick to the booths that feature their character inspirations. The DC Comics booth, for example, was swarmed with Batmen, Jokers, and Supermen.

Cory Feldman! This half of the Cory duo appeared at the WB booth for a signing session to promote the Lost Boys 2 movie.

The original Batcycle. Not quite the Bat-Pod that's in the new film, but it sure looks like it's a more comfortable ride.

Woohoo! A Team Fortress 2 costume! This guy was actually a little surprised that anyone recognized who he was dressed as.

A gathering of Ghostbusters. Statistically, streams are likely to cross.

Three cast members from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, along with some random dude. We'll just say he's Odo in disguise.

Solid Snake found his way into the con using his cardboard box. We saw this guy actually crawling around inside the box in front of the Capcom and Konami booths.

Crush from the new American Gladiators. MMA star Gina Carano is also the model for Natasha for Red Alert 3.

Yes, we know they're booth babes. But can you blame us for posting this photo? In fact, we think the one on the left looks a little familiar.

Comic-Con 08: 10 Kick-Ass Sights From the Show Floor, Day 1

Norman Chan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:45:15 -0500

So much geeking out to do, with so little time to do it. We’re just about to head back to the San Diego Convention Center to join the 100,000 pop culture fans who’re ready to storm into the show floor. But before we head out to attend today’s festivities (which include a Max Payne movie presentation and Science Fiction discussion panel), we wanted to share with you our favorite snapshots from yesterday’s Preview Night. Families in cosplay, movie props, toys, and geek babes – wish you were here to see it all!

Batman statues and busts at the DC booth. These high-priced collector's items are way out of our budget, but we dare to dream.

Authentic Star Wars replica uniforms. A company called Windlass Studios is selling replica wardrobe from all the Star Wars films. Dressing up as an Imperial Officer or Obi-Wan has never been so easy.

Dharma Initiative booth babes! The Lost alternate reality game makes an appearance at Comic-Con - these ladies seemed to have no problem signing geeks up for shady Dharma Initiative experiments.

Wolverine. He's got the hair, claws, jeans, and grimace. If only he did something about that gut.

Life-sized Iron Monger. We saw the Iron Man Mark I armor at last year's Comic-Con, but this towering Iron Monger prop is much more impressive.

Ah, geek love. As in, "we're in."

Nite Owl's ship from Watchmen. In case you didn't hear, we licked it yesterday.

Portal cosplayer. Never turn your back on the weighted companion cube.

Rorschach Watchmen figurine. It's not a doll, dammit!

X-men family strike a pose. So precious!

Check back for more kick-ass sights from the show floor!