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favorite fictional characters. For
the most committed, this involves
not only wearing the part, but
also taking on the personalities of
their characters.
Each year at San Diego Comic
Con brings a mix of the familiar and the unimaginable — for
every Batman, there’s a Sesame
Street Stormtrooper around the
corner. Ahead of the festivities at
this year’s international event, we
spoke to a group of cosplayers and
ALBERT L. ORTEGA/GETTY IMAGES
THE
CLASSICS
The most popular characters
to frequent Comic Con tend
to come from the Marvel and
DC worlds, according to Ejen
Chuang, author of Cosplay in
America. However, the fandom
universes are intersecting
ones, and Chuang says you’ll
see Iron Man at an anime
convention just as you will
bump into Naruto characters
at a comic book convention.
You’ll also find characters that
cosplayers grew up with —
“Princess Leia resonates with
a lot fans because they grew
up watching her be a really
strong female character,” said
Jill Pantozzi, cosplayer and
associate editor at The Mary
Sue. This year brings a new
spin on a classic — Superman,
Man of Steel edition.
CULTURE
HUFFINGTON
07.21.13
cosplay experts to pinpoint which
characters we can expect to see
at the convention this weekend.
The range — from comic books
and manga to video games and TV
shows — was overwhelming. But in
sifting through, we emerged with
five categories that every character could neatly fit into (with some
crossover). Read on for some of the
biggest costumes to watch for this
year, from those who wear
them best.
COSTUMES
TO WATCH FOR
Harley Quinn,
Sailor Moon,
Super Mario,
The Avengers,
The Joker,
Captain
America, Iron
Man, Batman,
Superman,
Mary Jane
from SpiderMan, Wonder
Woman,
Disney,
Star Wars
(especially
Slave Leia),
Naruto