Maximum PC comiccon RSS Feed

The Comic-Con 2009 Cosplay Gallery -- 600 Amazing Costumes

Norman Chan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:30:00 -0500

This is it – the post you've been waiting for. After four days of wandering the show floor, sitting in on movie studio panels, and epic line waiting, we've come out of Comic-Con 2009 with the mother load: 600 (yes, SIX HUNDRED) photos of the most intricate, sexy, and spellbinding cosplay that showed up this year. Star Wars and Superheroes were well represented, but we also snapped up shots of PC gaming icons, including several Team Fortress 2 teams and an amazing Left 4 Dead group. Legions of slave Leias weren't afraid to bare their skin and the forces of Cobra proudly showed off their guns. We even saw a bunch of familiar faces from last year's pictorial. Grab and seat, put your day on hold, and enjoy the best cosplay gallery from the best year of Comic-Con ever!

Bonus Gallery

Video: How to Build a PC - Every Step Explained

Will Smith — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:22:23 -0500

I'm Will Smith, the editor of Maximum PC and the guy in the video below. We shot this video demonstration to show people how to build a killer PC, one step at a time. It's a great reference for beginners and experts alike. This video was created for viewing by attendees of Comic-Con 2009.

Comic-Con 2009: 10 Kick-Ass Sights from the Show Floor, Day 2

Norman Chan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0500

The first full day of Comic-Con is over, and we've returned to our hotel room shocked and amazed by the unbelievably cool movie panels and cosplay on display today. Once again, we've narrowed down our top ten sights from today's events for you to enjoy. James Cameron's Avatar, amazing Bioshock cosplay, and a hardcore Street Fighter fan are just a few of the sights that made the list. Just click the "Read More" link below this photo of Supergirl for the full story and more pics.

Believe the buzz. James Cameron's first studio movie since Titanic is the real deal. Cameron, joined by several members of the cast, showed 24 minutes of the film in 3D to fans. We waited 3 hours in line to get into this panel, and every minute was worth it. The story about a marine who meets and assimilates into a tribe of aliens inhabiting an exotic planet isn't groundbreaking -- think Dances with Wolves in space -- but the 3D technology and convincing CG actors certainly are. Cameron announced that Fox has rented out IMAX theaters on August 21st for the general public to catch a FREE 15-minute preview, but with this footage, they've already sold us on the film. Avatar comes out on December 18th.

The cosplay madness begins! We brought you 400 photos of cosplayers last year, and you can expect even more from our gallery this year. This group of DC super heroes was hanging outside the convention hall, drawing more attention than the booths inside the building. And for good reason, as you can tell from the pic below.

Seth Rogan and writing partner Evan Goldberg pulled the covers off the Black Beauty this morning, seeding the first bit of hype for their Green Hornet film. Michel Gondry has taken on directing duties, and the coveted part of Kato has yet to be cast. Who do you think should play the role?

The detail that went into this Blanka costume was impeccable. Notice the gravity-defying geled hair and the broken chains on his feet -- all that was missing was an electric shock.

The biggest sign that Comic-Con has grown beyond even the massive space of the San Diego Convention Center was the line for Hall H -- the main presentation room. Even with a 6,500 seating capacity, the line for Hall H was never fewer than 1000 fans strong. At 8am in the morning, we estimated that over 8000 people were already in line, braving the San Diego sun for a chance to sit in on the Disney 3D, Avatar, and yes, Twilight movie panels. We took unabashed glee when the event staff announced to the line that the Twilight panel had reached capacity -- over 250 people immediately dropped out of line after the announcement. But we could thank the Twilight presence for one thing...

... these Twilight cosplayers brought their A-game to the show. They posed for a full 15 minutes after the movie panel, expressing numerous variations of teenage longing and Vampire angst for their fellow fans. Self-loathing grimaces and furrowed brows are in vogue, we suppose.

We're not sure if this Big Sister was an official part of the Bioshock 2 booth at Comic-Con, but we couldn't help but admire the attention to the detail put into the costume. Bioshock 2's booth was a recreation of an Art-Deco era office, and the staff encouraged attendees to rummage through desks and cabinets for clues related to the game.

Bob Stencil, the unofficial king of Comic-Con, was kind enough to let us snap a photo of him. If you're not familiar with Mr. Stencil's work, we recommend that you check out his Comic-Con 2008 shennanigans immediately.

Another amazing costume was this Captain America, based on the Isaiah Bradley character from the "Truth: Red, White, and Black" mini-series. The first Captain America was actually an African American soldier, who received the super soldier serum as a human ginea pig before the government used it on Steve Rogers. This cosplayer carried a shield that bore the signatures of numerous comic-book writers and artists, too.

We're calling it now. Kick-Ass, a comic-book adaptation directed by Matthew Vaughn (of Layer Cake and Stardust), is the surprise hit of the show. This late-day panel filled up only half of Hall H, but showed footage unlike any superhero film we've ever seen. Kick-Ass puts its vigilantes in the real world, where they're more likely to get beat up and stabbed than perform heroic or superhuman deeds. One scene showed Nicholas Cage as a super hero wannabe, training his 8-year old daughter to fight crime by shooting her in the chest -- just so she knows how it'll feel. The clips we saw were funny, bloody, and uncompromising. Vaughn's still looking for studio to distribute the movie, which he hopes will be in theaters early next year. You'll definitely want to keep an eye out for this one.

Comic-Con 2009: 10 Kick-Ass Sights from the Show Floor, Day 1

Norman Chan — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0500

The first night of Comic-Con 2009 is finally over, and despite only being a quarter of a day (Wednesday's preview night lasted from 5:30 to 9PM), we're still wiped out from all the frenzy. Here are our favorite things we saw at the show today, easily digestible in 10 pictures and descriptions. Wish you were all here to share in the chaotic crowds, overbearing San Diego heat, and overall sweaty nerdiness. More updates from Thursday's panel events coming soon!

Paramount Home Entertainment's booth features the Captain's Chair with Enterprise backdrop for phototaking opportunities. I wonder if they'll let somone dressed in Star Trek cosplay cut in line...

Before making its way to Madame Tussad's gallery in Hollywood, this life-sized statue of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine tempts the ladies with his waxy gaze. I saw several attendees do a double take before realizing that it wasn't a real person.

A full size Bumblebee stands next to a custom GM Camaro. GM is at the show promoting a custom $1000 package that lets Camaro owners add special Transformers detailing to make their car look just like it did in the movie, Autobot logos and all. Sassy radio voice not included.

By far the coolesting thing we've seen so far is the Iron Man armory at Marvel's booth. The Mark I, II, III and IV Iron Man suits drew hundreds of spectators and flashing cameras, building up deserving buzz for next year's film sequel.

It's a Stargate! It glows! We touched it! We're nerds!

The newly designed Enterprise is one of the many highly detailed models for sale from Sideshow Collectibles. Lit by fiber optic lights, this limited edition model falls slightly out of our price range. Truthfully, we didn't ask for the price, because the temptation would be too strong, and we're pretty weak-willed.

The first of many expected Rorschach cosplayers patrols the convention floor. We're going ahead and predicting that this will be the most popular costume this year.

We never realized how cool the Batplane (from the first Batman movie) actually looked until we saw this scale model replica.

DC's Batman Utility Belt collecible prop made its worldwide debut at the show. We would recomment wearing it with this jacket.

The king of all action figures. This 12" figure from Hot Toys features a patented "Paralell Eyeball Rolling System" so the figure changes its gaze as you move its 32 articulated body points. We're not sure how it works, but we want it.

Comic-Con 2009: The Sexy and Wonderful Toys

Norman Chan — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0500

The doors have officially opened and the madness has begun. Comic-Con 2009 is in full swing, and we've made the rounds in the main convention halls to catch the geek out in action. Tonight, we're bringing you a gallery of the sweetest, sexiest, and coolest toys we've seen so far. Many of these are from Sideshow Collectibles, but we also have shots of figures from DC direct, Hasbro, and other manufacturers. This is just a small sampling of what's on display behind glass shelves here, and we'll continue grabbing photos of any other toys that catch our eyes. Enjoy!

Comic-Con 2009: The Attendee Gift Bag

Norman Chan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:15:12 -0500

Every attendee of Comic-Con revcieves a complimentary gift bag, which they can use to fill with posters, pins, and other freebies that will be given out on the show floor. We snagged a bag when we picked up our attendee badges, which you can check out below. We'll probaby be giving away our Comic-Con swag to in a contest after the event, so keep tabs on our official Twitter and Comic-Con landing page for updates.

The bag is sponsored by EA, promoting their God of War-like action game, Dante's Infero.

Inside, there are four things, including the official show guide (a collector's item!), a copy of DC's Blackest Night #0 issue, a promotional bookle for Magic the Gatherine, and an Army of Two flyer. Nothing too exciting, after all.