Last Wednesday I was unable to post a Pete’s Wednesday Comics Picks because I was flying to Chicago to attend the first ever Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2). But now I’m back and I come bearing photos!

The show was a lot of fun and there were a whole lot of very talented people who created and wore some of the best cosplay outfits I’ve seen in a while. I plan on posting more information all throughout the week but my first post is dedicated to those folks who stopped and let me take their picture. So as a special edition of Pete’s Wednesday Comics Picks, I am picking out some of my top favorite cosplayers of C2E2.

I will also link to all the photos below at the end of the post. If you find yourself or a friend in one of the photos, please comment and let me know what you think! If you find any where I didn’t know the character as well, please let me know who they are.

First though, I’d like to talk a little about the photography itself. As you can see on this post’s main image I created a backpack rig for myself that set me up with a flash umbrella. I think this made a world of difference in the shots this year as I had a nice nearby indirect source of light to brighten all the subjects up. When you’re in those big convention halls with the super high ceilings its tough to get your subject lit without a flash, and direct flash sucks as it leaves them too bright or washed out. This interesting concept really paid off and I am really proud of it. I may have to try it again at some other shows.

What really cracked me up was that no one really seemed to find it odd to see me walking by with this giant umbrella looming over my shoulder. A few people, mostly other photographers, approached me and commented on the uniqueness of the idea. At least one guy in artist alley started creating a back story for me, calling me Satellite Man! It was very funny. It was also very painful. The bag with extra lenses, my netbook and other miscellaneous gear easily weighed at least 20 lbs and I would definitely start feeling it after a few hours.

Anyway, on to the picks!

Best of show
Starting this off with a bang, here is my pick for best outfit at the show. This took a lot of thought because there were so many people who did such a great job. But there was one person who pulled off such a great job not only with the costume itself but staying in character as well that it had to be him. Best in show goes to Captain Jack Sparrow who not only looked perfect but put on a fantastic show of mimicking the character just right and a voice to match.

Most Creative
While everyone who donned a costume and strolled up and down the many alleys on the show floor are incredibly creative people, this award goes to a person who I thought really was very clever with their costume. The award goes to Neytiri for many reasons. First, she painted her whole body blue head to toe, did a great job with the outfit itself, had awesome little ears and made a prosthetic for the nose. But the best part? The part that I found to be such a creative idea? She painted the big yellow Avatar eyes on her eyelids, and when asked to pose, would simply close her eyes and suddenly come to life as Neytiri. Very, very well done!

Funniest
Not everyone who sets out to a comic-con like C2E2 in costume are going for laughs. Some do. In particular this next guy had me cracking up every time I saw him, which by just looking at the picture you’d have to ask yourself why. To be honest I don’t know who he’s supposed to be, maybe just some creation of his own. If you know, please do tell me. But he won because he on several occasions made me laugh out loud. The first was when I handed him my information slip. If you were photographed by me at the show, you’ll remember this as the little piece of paper that had info to come find this very post. I don’t think anyone could have been more excited than he was. He didn’t talk ever during the weekend but instead made a bunch of happy squealing noises and emoted his excitement through and through. Another highlight was when a Stormtrooper went after him and he tricked the Stormtrooper and got away by pointing at nothing, getting the Stormtrooper to look then taking off in the other direction in as cartoony a way as possible.

Cutest
I know what you are thinking. “Cutest? Really? At a Comic Convention?” Bear with me… I don’t know why but there was such a presence of cute little kids dressed in costume this year. Even if their parents weren’t these little tikes were sporting the gear of their favorite (or maybe their parents’ favorite) superhero. I in fact can’t give this award to any one in particular as they were each adorable, so they all win this award equally for being such good sports.

Hottest
Again you are proabably saying to yourself, “Hottest? Really!? At a Comic Convention?”. Plus you might also be saying, “Right after you showed me adorable children in costumes?” Well to the latter, I am shameless. And to the former, we geeks can be a very hot crowd when we want to. While I can personally only attest to the hotness of the ladies at the event, I’ll give an award for this to both one girl and one guy to be fair. I am also not giving it to “booth babes” because they are hired to be there and I’m not sure you’d see them within 10 miles of the place otherwise. (I did get an email from one who told me she especially took the job to be there, so kudos to her and anyone else who did! I’m sterotyping a bit, going for the cheap joke at least, but so many in my experience have been people that couldn’t have been any less interested in the material at hand. I’m sure there are tons of people who pride themselves on being ranked amongst us geeks, so I’m really happy to hear even more confirmation there are those of you out there who are! Thanks Maygin!)

For the hottest lady award, I am giving it to Ironette. The shiny red and gold short-shorts and top plus her clever flashlight energy repulsors certainly weren’t repulsing the male fans who passed her by. For the hottest man award, I am giving it to a Jedi I spotted who opted for shiny blue body paint instead of a more traditional Jedi tunic. And I can see why, as this guy seriously works out.

Coolest
You’ll see a lot of different people in costumes at con’s like C2E2 that are trying to look heroic or villainous. Many who look charming or disgusting. But there is a sect of people that no matter what, just look freaking cool. This guy dressed as Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7 is amongst them. I mean just look at this picture. He exudes cool.

Most Badass
There  were seriously a lot of people in costume that looked really badass. But one stood out as one scary mofo and that goes to Red Skull. With that crazy red skull for a head, the imposing uniform and those icy blue eyes, I would not want to run into him in a dark alley. He also had a pistol he pointed at people constantly and some crazy glass cube (apparently the Cosmic Cube; I’m not up to speed on my Captain America villains to be honest) which makes him even more badass!

Best Team
There were many groups at C2E2 from Ghostbusters to Batman Villains. But the best group as far as I’m concerned went by X-Force. I didn’t get to ask them about themselves but I think they are a family. It shows just how out of the loop in the Marvel universe I am right now that I can’t name any of the characters besides Wolverine and X-23, so please feel free to help me fill in the blanks. I especially liked the little wolf creature who had the hardest job of the bunch if you ask me.

Best costume from TV or a Movie
This is a category for all those who don’t fit in the realm of comics but have a big presence at this types of shows anyway. Icons from tv and movie pop-culture who you instantly can recognize in a crowd. There were many to be seen, many of which were from Star Wars as tends to be the case at these conventions. There were oh so many to chose from but ultimately I keep spotting this one guy as one of my many favorites. When you walk by a bunch of Stormtroopers or Darth Vaders, their outfits are always so impressive. But you can also have a hard time telling if it was the same guy you saw before. That was not the case with the winner of this category. While he was dressed as the well known bounty hunter, Jengo Fett, he didn’t have a helmet with him, insofar as I saw anyway. And he happened to look a lot like Temuera Morrison, the actor who plays Jengo in the movies. So Jengo Fett gets this award not only for the great outfit but for standing out of the faceless crowd.

Best costume from a Video Game
Like the previous category, this is for those I spotted dressed specifically as characters from Video Games. This was another hard pick as there were some great cosplayers in this category. I saw more than several people from Team Fortress 2 which cracked me up, especially one Blu Scout who had the mouth to match the character. But the winner for this category goes to a guy who created his very own COG Soldier from Gears of War. His armor lit up and the outfit looked great. The hat really completed it and while I’ve not personally seen this character in the games, it feels like he could easily fit in to the next installment.

Best costume from Other categories
What do I mean, from Other Categories? Well there was a shocking amount of people dressed as Steampunks or in Renaissance garb. There’s the always popular anime and manga based characters and some I had no idea who they were. The winner for this goes to the Steampunk category. While I spotted one guy who had a wheelchair built out in steampunk, this guy just had on a plain old steampunk outfit. But something about it really caught my eye. I still can’t tell you what exactly, maybe that boss pipe, but the photo will speak for itself.

Best Comic Book Hero

As the last but certainly not least photo I’ll talk about, I wanted to call out the best hero from a comic book. A lot of people really shone in this category from the many Green Arrows to the Rorschachs to the members of the various Lantern Corps. But one stood above the rest and did so in flesh-colored tights. My good friend Thom spent Saturday of C2E2 patrolling the show floor as the caped crusader’s ward, the boy wonder, Robin. Everywhere we walked people stopped him to take pictures. In the costume contest he was called the bravest man at the con for his outfit choice, and I have to give him the same. So congrats to Thom for best Comic Book Hero!

For everyone else, You all looked amazing. Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. I make posts like this every Wednesday and I would love for you all to stop back and check them out. If you find an image of yourself, please comment and let me know what you think. And a very special thanks for letting me take your picture! Here is the link to the rest of the set of C2E2 Cosplayers Pictures. Check back in the next few days for more pictures from around the show floor.

http://tinyurl.com/C2E22010

And of course, I can’t forget to actually post this week’s comics picks! I’ll post last weeks as well since I couldn’t post then. Happy Reading!

Tags: C2E2, Comics, Photography, Wednesday Comics Picks

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 2:37 pm by Pete Labrozzi and is filed under C2E2, Comic-Con, Comics, Photography, Wednesday Comics Picks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.