cosplay

Harley Quinn - photo by Anya Marcotte

SDCC 2017 Cosplay Gallery

We had a special photographer this year at San Diego Comic Con.

Anya – photo by Steve Blanchard

Anya took over photography duties for the first time and put together this gallery of her cosplay photos.

Little Sister – photo by Anya Marcotte
Wonder Woman – photo by Anya Marcotte
Rey – photo by Anya Marcotte
Supergirl and Batgirl – photo by Anya Marcotte
Wonder Woman – photo by Anya Marcotte
Harley – photo by Anya Marcotte
Supergirl, Superwoman and Batgirl – photo by Anya Marcotte
Wonder Woman – photo by Anya Marcotte
Marco and Star – photo by Anya Marcotte
Tracer – photo by Anya Marcotte
Rey – photo by Anya Marcotte
Arrietty – photo by Anya Marcotte
La Muerte – photo by Anya Marcotte
Marco and Star – photo by Anya Marcotte

But since there were two days that Anya cosplayed, her uncle Steve took some photos as well.

Princess Mononoke (Anya) – by Steve Blanchard
photo by Steve Blanchard
Fantasy group – by Steve Blanchard
Trump Stormtroopers – by Steve Blanchard
Samurai Iron Man – by Steve Blanchard
The Watchmen – by Steve Blanchard
Dalek – by Steve Blanchard
Cosplayers - photo by Gage Skidmore

Seven Great Cosplays That Aren’t Harley Quinn

I don’t know when it was exactly, but suddenly cons got hot. From DragonCon to PotterCon, I wasn’t the only one I knew who was obsessed with the opportunity to meet my favorite comic book writers, shake hands with my favorite Stargate Atlantis actors and get to sit in on a panel for an upcoming movie I’d been dying to see.

Now with Halloween behind me, I’ve got an opportunity to plan my best cosplays and join my daughter in doing so! Whether it’s a superhero or an anime character, these are my top picks for 2017.

Harry Potter Patronus

With “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” premiering in November, it’s a hot time to get back into the magical world of Harry Potter, and this is one costume that isn’t just your average robe. Dress as Harry’s stag or Hermione’s otter; it’s a cool way to utilize the universe in a new costume twist.

Star Wars

Is there anything hotter than Star Wars right now? You can go new generation with Finn or Rey (or Kylo, it’s always great to be the bad guy), but it’s never old to go as Han or Leia (or a well-timed Chewie). Dress up and speed off to Tatooine or guide yourself on a journey to find Rey’s parents. It’ll be a hit either way.

Sailor Moon

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMeNoEOBSIE/

Serena Tsukino is always a popular pic. How much better can you get than Sailor Moon? It’s one of those great group costumes as well, so a whole friend group can don the blue skirt, white shirt, and red neck scarf to go full Sailor Soldier on everyone. Round up your Sailors Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Rini and Tuxedo Mask to complete the crew! Need a refresher on the squad style? Hulu is now streaming videos of Sailor Moon dubs, including the original 90’s English version.

The Legend of Korra

While many girls may not want to dress up as Aang (though many have!), they can always dress up as Korra and her motley crew for a girl-centric take on The Last Airbender. Korra’s not only more recent, but she’s also super relevant right now, as girls (myself included) like to trade the princess costume for something a little more action-oriented. Just make sure you take along Naga to complete the look!

Wonder Woman

With Gal Gadot’s debut as Wonder Woman premiering in 2017, it’s time to get your Lasso of Truth and star-spangled hot pants, because Wonder Woman is the all-girl, all-star, power player to be. She was also very popular at Comic-Con this year–but that’s to be expected, she’s always been a great tough-girl superhero to look up to!

Pikachu

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJl0-8xj9yK/

With Pokémon sweeping back into everyone’s life with Pokémon Go, it’s a no-brainer that a well-timed Pikachu is totally warranted. Plus, what’s cuter than going all yellow and getting a lightning rod tail? The costume ideas on Pinterest are limitless, and you can even get a friend to be Squirtle!

Kiki’s Delivery Service – Kiki

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMUO8nRjh5p/

Miyazaki is always a favorite of the cosplay community because of his bevy of internationally loved characters, and Kiki the Witch is always a great costume. Grab a broom, a plum dress and a red bow, and you’re all set!

From little witches to full on power-up Pikachus, it’s never been a better year for great costumes for all ages. Just grab your creativity and let your love for anime, superheroes, wizards and space heroes take center stage!

About the Author: Cassie Phillips is a lover of Comic-Con and always has a hard time just picking one costume to choose from. She’s dressed up as a Quidditch player this year. She hopes you enjoy this list!

Parents Give Kids 31 Days of Halloween — All of Them #MoreThanCute

More information on the #MoreThanCute campaign

Leng and Melinda Lai are parents raising two little girls, Audrey and Chloe. Since 2010, instead of making one Halloween costume for each of the girls each year, the Lais make 31.

Melinda explains:

I started The 31 Days of Halloween because I thought it would be fun. We usually throw together the costumes and scenes from things we find around the house. Very rarely do we buy anything, and if we do it’s pieces that can be used for multiple ideas, like the knight helmet and armor. We have a costume box the girls play with a lot, and that’s where the firefighter and dragon and other costumes live year round.

Melinda is also quick to point out that the costumes often are more inspiration than persperation.

A few of the costumes are planned out, but often inspiration will strike and we’ll just grab stuff and take a picture. For Silence of the Lambs, Leng drew the moth and cut it out. Most of the costumes are only good for the photograph and aren’t something that the girls could actually play in, but we like to keep it less stressful.

And the Lais are well aware that many of the costumes involve cultural references that the girls don’t (and shouldn’t) understand.

Some of the pictures are not really kid-appropriate and that we anticipate some interesting conversations as the girls get older. We also hope that they will look back on the pictures with fun memories.

Here are the first 26 27 costumes of 2015. We will update this page as more are revealed.

October 1 – Poltergeist
October 2 – McKayla Maroney
October 3 – Butterfly Princess
October 4 – Kristi Yamaguchi
October 5 – Daredevil
October 6 – Magic Mike XXS
October 7 – The Paper Bag Princess
October 8 – The Warriors
October 9 – American Ninja Warrior
October 10 – Harriet the Spy
October 11 — Hansel & Gretel
October 12 – Boxtrolls
October 13 – Captain Underpants
October 14 – Fruit Ninja
October 15 – Do the Right Thing
October 15 – Walter White
October 17 – Godzilla
October 18 – Godzilla vs. Mothra
October 19 – The Goonies
October 20 – Planet of the Apes
October 21 – Bad Lizard Girl (A Chloe Original)
October 21 – Mad Men
October 23 – Silence of the Lambs
October 24 – Weekend at Bernie’s
October 25 – Weekend at Bernie’s 2
October 26 – The Dude
October 27 – Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Calling All Heroic Girls!

Girls, come on. Leave the saving of the world to the men? I don’t think so.

–Elastigirl. The Incredibles

Are you a heroic girl?

Halloween is coming up, and we want to show the world that girls can be superheroes, too. Whether you cosplay every weekend or once a year for Halloween, whether you are eight or 80, we want to see your heroic side. Share your heroic costumes on Twitter or Tumblr  with the hashtag #iamaheroicgirl, or post them to our Facebook page. We will post the best ones on the Heroic Girls website.

Heroic Girls believes that there is nothing wrong with being cute, but that girls deserve more than just “cute.” They deserve the opportunity to be tough; to be smart; to fight for what they believe in.

They deserve the chance to be heroes.

Big Barda and Black Canary
Stella as Black Canary
Big Barda

Click here for the full gallery of Big Barda and Black Canary photos.

Heroic Girls is an organization dedicated to empowering girls by advocating for strong role models in alternative media — particularly comics.

Creative Compulsive Disorder: Zina Nicole Lahr

Can you know someone, just by watching a video?

When that person is as amazing as Zina Nicole Lahr, the answer feels like, “Yes.” A creative force of nature and a pure spirit, Zina was a master of creation and science, fusing art, kinetics and robotics to make a world so weird and so wonderful, only Zina could live in it. She was filled with so much passion, Zina even saw her body as a canvas, turning herself into a showcase for a waifish steampunk aesthetic that seemed lifted straight from the movies.

What might have come across as pretension from a lesser artist, instead presented itself as an expression of Zina’s true soul. As hard as in may have been for the more cynical of us to believe it, she actually was the fantastic, intelligent creature that she appeared to be. Zina was quirky, sincere and instantly likeable. She was selected to appear on a reality television show showcasing special effects artists vying to get a job with Jim Henson’s Creature Studios, but turned them down to make sure she would be available to return to Colorado to care for her ailing grandmother.

A quietly religious woman, Zina was sure that God had plans for her creativity, even if she was not sure what those plans were. In August of 2013, she asked her friend, filmmaker Stormy Pyeatte, to create a video to showcase her art and creativity.

In August 2013 my friend Zina asked if I could shoot a video for her portfolio. She needed something that would showcase her work but also tell a little bit about her personality and her interests. We had two days to shoot and edit so we shot an interview and smashed something together to meet our deadline. On November 20, 2013 Zina passed away due to a hiking accident in Ouray, CO. After the funeral I revisited the footage and made this short as an attempt to capture her personality and creativity. I never planned to release it online but now I have a chance to share her and her creations with all of you! For all who are part of the Zina Lahr love bomb, this is for you!

–Stormy Pyeatte

No foul play was suspected. A quietly religious woman, Zina did not drink or do drugs. She simply slipped while rock climbing, and the world was instantly a less magical place.

Can you feel the loss of a woman you never knew? When she is as special as Zina Nicole Lahr, I believe you can. In these brief few minutes of video, Zina mapped out exactly how you can live a life of passion and creativity while remaining true to yourself.

That’s why she is a heroic girl.

Rest in peace, Zina.

Read more about Zina in Outside Magazine.

A L B on “Fake Geek Girls”

This is the video that introduced me to the wonderful Angelina L B, and which helped me see that casual sexism you encounter in comic book shops and at conventions had moved beyond basic social ineptness and had become a large problem for the entire community.

I think I had seen her videos before, but the super-girly appearance made me think that I was definitely not her target demographic. I didn’t think less of her, just that her videos were probably not my thing. But she was so articulate in defining just what was wrong with an industry that I love and that I wanted my girls to love, that I became an immediate fan.

There is a bit of language in here that is not appropriate for younger ears, but the message is something that everyone should hear.