Otakon 2012: What We Saw

Among the 40,000 or so attendees at Otakon, there are always costumes that amaze. And as I go through the web, I'm finding pictures of costumes I never even got the chance to see. Really, it's impossible to see it all. But it's fun trying!
Here are pictures of some of the better or more interesting costumes we got to see last weekend.

A trio of Avengers. Magneto on the right had rigged a coin to float in his palm, thanks to some monofilament.

This guy was so thrilled that I recognized his costume as being the iconic Banksy street art. He said I was the first one who got it.

There were quite a few costumes that were extra-wide or extra-deep, or otherwise just jutted out. We agreed that anyone who has costume extensions they can't see easily really should have a "wrangler" with them to make sure they don't whack someone in passing. One of the funnier moments for costumes like this was when we saw several people with very wide wings having to crab-walk through the hallways so they didn't snowplow the crowds.

Costumes don't always make a lot of sense. Take this one: it turns out that there's a video game where chickens will attack you if you do something wrong.

And some costumes are just eye-poppingly bright.

Many, many costumes had heavy body paint. Getting a good, solid black takes a LOT of paint. I was impressed that this character's paint hadn't smudged or smeared in the heat.

Even this service dog was in costume, as "Bane" from Batman!

Here we have a "Tale of two costumes." The two above are the same character, just differing interpretations. It really was interesting to see the variation in the way people chose to do their costumes. There were two different approaches to doing a cosplay: either "strictly accurate" or "my interpretation." For our costumes, Ian and I chose to go the accuracy route, while Diana chose to do an interpretation.

Someone in a goat costume. Not sure why. It's probably a character from a game, but I'm not familiar with most games. And again, this had to be uncomfortably hot.

Harley Quinn and Catwoman. There were a LOT of these roaming around, with mallets of varying sizes and styles.
And while we're here, let's have a word about spandex and other form-fitting costumes. Luckily, most of the people wearing them had the figures to pull them off. But there were a few unfortunate costume choices: Really, now; Spiderman shouldn't have a huge beer belly.

Jessica Rabbit! She was actually heading in to the dealer hall to work in a booth.

The garden patio at the convention center was a popular spot for photos. I loved the detail on this costume.

This guy completely encased his camera in Lego!

The Black Knight, King Arthur, and Patsy. See the Knight's left arm? It was held on with Velcro. Every now and then they would stage a fight and the arm would be lopped off.

I was sweating just looking at this furry orange costume.

I loved this bazooka! It was made with PVC pipe and toilet flanges.

A Pokemon (again with the body paint), and I think that's supposed to be Hulk Hogan on the right.

A character from the game "Resident Evil." The only reason I could tell is the Umbrella Corporation logo on the helmet.

There were half a dozen Robins there. I liked this one best because of the iconic sound effect graphic she had on her hand.

I took this guy's picture in the Artist Alley, and after I was done he said to me, "Why did I smile when you took my picture?"

Not sure what these guys were, other than winged unicorns. I suspect it might have something to do with My Little Pony. There was a LOT of that to be found; it's a cult following.

Another common costume element was the Morph Suit, the full-body stretchy unitard. We saw many in lots of different colors and patterns. But I always wondered: first, how did they eat or drink, and second, how did they use the restroom??

I'm told this is Hawkeye. I'll take Ian's word for it.

Elaborate armor and weaponry were common. What made me happy was that the vast majority of costumes were hand-crafted.

Another costume where you have to know the game to understand the reference. Evidently there's a video game with a running gag in it of a cabbage salesman.

This was a cute costume that she said was inspired by the little black fuzzballs known as Soot Sprites, which appear in "Spirited Away."

Again, not sure what or who he's supposed to be, but the glowing eyes were very cool.

I loved seeing little kids dressed up in costume and obviously relishing the attention.

This was a nice Phantom of the Opera costume, but their pose completely obscured her lovely dress.

The mask on the left was hand-crafted. And very disturbing.

Diana (in character) walked up to this Tintin and asked, "How attached are you to your little dog?" I don't think he got it.

So there you have some of the many pictures I took at Otakon. If you want to see more, you should do a Google image search and you'll see thousands.

Next up: Lessons learned.