Shangrila Towers: Dragon*Con 2011 - Random Cosplay Highlights

This year was the 25th anniversary of Dragon*Con, a multigenre, multimedia convention celebrating science-fiction, fantasy, horror, comics, and gaming. I attended the convention for the first time recently, and thought it'd be fun to share some of what I saw...

People dressed as comic book characters are a staple of D*C, like in most other cons. Here's an impromptu shot of a Green Lantern and a Captain America:

If you're a black man, there isn't a wide variety of comic book characters to cosplay as (ditto for other minorities). Your three main choices? Blade, Luke Cage, and (Ultimate) Nick Fury.

Fans of a particular comic character or franchise often organize photo shoots in and around the con. Here's a Deadpool photo shoot, for instance:

Eric dressed as Stephen Bissette's The Fury. Here he is paired with two more familiar costumed vigilantes:

Sometimes our costumes didn't mesh well with the people we were photographing. C'est la vie.

A really good Kraven.

Even the hotel staff got in on the fun. Everyone can cosplay - it's all about the right attitude:

D*C costuming, at least during the daytime, is truly a family-friendly activity. I saw a lot of little kids dressed in Hogwarts uniforms and Jedi robes. Here's a Batman throwing up the horns:

The best way to personalize an otherwise generically famous character, like Mario, is to put your own spin on it. Here are three guys portraying "Mario Kart." I didn't see it for myself, but I can easily picture them in some faux races, with plush Koopa shells tossed at each other.

Despite the popularity of AMC's "The Walking Dead" and Dragon*Con's Atlanta location, we didn't see too many Rick Grimes at the con. Here's one of them, with me dressed as hospital patient Rick Grimes:

Droids and robots of all sorts and descriptions were present. The two big ones? R2-D2 from "Star Wars" and K9 from "Doctor Who."

Sophie cosplayed as Toph from "Avatar: The Last Airbender":

Even today, men still tell tales of the day spatula met shiv:

An assassin's blade is no match for the spatula.

"Star Wars" costumes were easily the most common at D*C, but I didn't see too many people dressed as TIE pilots:

Some say he never sleeps, because he's worried about his eyelids being unable to open again. Some say he laughs like a baby and cries like a man. All we know is, they call him...The Guy Dressed as the Stig:

Plenty of people use D*C as a honeymoon or proposal site (one guy proposed in public during the "Icons of Horror" panel, of all things). This couple's coordinated Portal costume is cute as a button:

Funny sense of humor, too. You just knew the Weighted Companion Cube would be a homewrecker:

There are pros and cons to wearing a big cartoon character costume. On the one hand, you're guaranteed attention, and the actual construction of the costume might be easier than sewing a form-fitting suit together. On the other hand, you'll be bumping into stuff six ways from Sunday.