oz comic-con sunday

I can now officially say that I've been to a con...thanks to my buddy Josh who had a couple of free passes to the Adelaide outing of Oz Comic-Con.

It was about what I expected, to be honest... lots of people, a fair number of decent costumes, lots of people in half a costume or just an interesting hat, and far too many people lined up to see actors who haven't produced any new work in over a decade.

And I have to say that nerds in costume are lovely folks... everyone I asked if I could take their photo was very gracious... although between you and me, the best ones were those people who had their poses down, even if they were simple. Granted if you're wearing a costume you've put a lot of time and effort into, you know a ton of people are going to ask to take your photo.

The only thing I really had trouble with is my usual problem... I found it far easier to ask the young ladies in skin tight outfits if I could take their photos than the handsome young gentlemen. Which meant that I missed out on a couple of Tenth Doctors, a gorgeous and broad-shouldered Joker in an Arkham Asylum straight jacket amongst others.

But I still managed to get a bunch of very cool photos.

If you feature in any of my shots and would like me to credit you properly, please let me know. Also, if you'd like a copy of a shot I took of you, drop me a line.

Poison Ivy was a popular choice amongst the ladies (although these were three very different interpretations of Dr Isley)... as was Harley Quinn, but surprisingly there weren't any Catwomen...

The folks from both the Southern Dewback Garrison of the 501st Legion and the Ryloth Base of the Rebel Legion were in attendance. There was also a Biker Scout floating around... he's in the background of the shot at the top of the post, but that's the only time I saw him, which is a shame, because the biker scouts were always my favourites.

I think I counted at least four versions of Firefly's Jayne Cobb, including a genderbent version, but this guy was the best in my opinion. However this young lady was the only version of Kaylee I saw... and her party dress was a sight to behold...

There were a ton more elaborate TARDIS costumes floating around, along with over half of The Doctor's regenerations (which I didn't get a single photo of), but this one was my favourite... it was also the only guy to do a TARDIS costume (that I saw anyway). I almost walked past him without realising what he was, but the note pinned to his pocket made me look back, only to see "POLICE BOX" pinned to the back of his jacket. So I called back to him and asked if I could take his photo, Portal turret and all.

And there were either about a dozen Rorschachs wandering around, or else this guy was there just about every time I turned around... I did love the moment of Watchmen's resident sociopath taking some time out and enjoying a tasty beverage... but not exposing his whole face, just like Rorschach in the comics. Plus it's a Farmers Union Iced Coffee.

On the other hand there were Deadpools coming out of the walls... and all ages, from about six on up. This particular guy was great though, I didn't even need to ask if I could take his photo, I just raised the camera and he stopped and struck a sassy pose.

These monochromatic Marvel folks were both awesome... it's a little hard to see, but Tony (who was actually with the Vine Ivy above) had the light up arc reactor under his shirt, which looked a lot better in person. He was also one of those people who had his pose worked out... the "gang sign" thing from the first Iron Man movie.

These are two ladies that you don't want to get on the wrong side of... The Mother of Dragons and the Goddess of War. Daenerys was the first person I asked to take her photo... and I was eavesdropping as Lady Sif was telling a couple of people about how she made her costume... pretty impressive given that it was her first attempt from what I understand.

This was one of those instances where costume and cosplayer came together perfectly... from a distance you would have sworn that this was really Thranduil (actually up close he was pretty convincing too). And the costume was amazing, with that big flowing cloak.

I loved these cosplayers too... the couple on the left are Twoflower, Rincewind and The Luggage from Terry Pratchett's Colour of Magic, the first Discworld novel. And I must have gone past Princess Mononoke half a dozen times before I asked if I could take her photo. It's a really simple costume, but it's perfectly accurate in every detail, which is awesome.

I'm not going to lie... this was my favourite stall in the whole con, The Puppet Workshop... I've always had a thing about puppets, and Chester there (being given life very adorably by the guy you can just see behind him) was so gorgeous. If I'd had unlimited cash, I would have ordered one on the spot (I wonder if a cat version would have been as adorable). What the hell I would have done with one, I have no idea, but it would have been an awesome talking point.

I was going to say that these two photos represented the range of costumes, from the very simple to the very complicated... and I'm not going to lie, there has been a shit ton of work that went into making that Ghostbuster proton pack... but when I took a closer look at 9 from the movie of the same name, there's actually quite a bit of work in that costume too.

There were also a couple of anthropomorphic My Little Ponies around... Applejack (and I did sneak this photo while she was playing in the Nintendo booth) on the left and Fluttershy on the right. Fluttershy was with Torchwood's Jack Harkness, Pokemon's Bellossom and Bob's Burgers Tina Belcher as The Con Artists... they were singing acapella in the wonderfully accoustic corridor outside the main hall as I was leaving. And it was a great way to either leave or enter the con.

And this was pretty much what the con was about for some people... getting folks to sign things, and playing games. There was also a whole Magic the Gathering area, but I don't know if they had any additional tabletop gaming stuff set up yesterday given that it was International Tabletop Day.

Speaking of signing, I saw (from a very great distance) Nana Visitor (Star Trek Deep Space 9's Major Kira Nerys) looking as svelte as hell as well as Shannen Doherty and Brian Krause (from Charmed)... plus some of the bozos from Scrubs, but I'm not counting them. It's always weird to see famous folk breathing the same air as you... even from a distance... it never seems right somehow.

The girls from Frozen were also a popular costume choice... there was also an Anna running around in the ballgown costume which was absolutely gorgeous, but I didn't manage to get a shot of her. The Elsa on the left was also with a junior genderbent Legolas at one stage who looked great (although I have no idea who her friend is... something anime maybe).

This Jolteon Pokemon was another awesome costume... I saw the guy earlier inside the hall, and he was carrying the arm extensions and he had a buddy behind him carrying the head. I couldn't actually make sense of the costume at the time, but we saw him outside later in full gear, and it was definitely a sight to see. The two boys in the onesies actually turned around at the wrong moment... they looked so cute facing away with the Pikachu and Stitch heads on their costumes hanging down behind them.

I saw Wheelchair Harry Potter and his friend (who I worked out thanks to Mr Google was Tobi Uchiha from the anime Naruto) while I was waiting for Josh to arrive, but then ran into them again later on inside the hall. It's a shame that Tobi wasn't standing up, his mask wasn't that great but his robe was pretty good. The guy on the right was one of the Priors from Stargate... I had no idea that was even a thing... but he was pretty cool with his pale contacts and his light-up staff.

In my head the shot on the left is a little bit like a Skywalker family portrait... or something... given that there's Mini Anakin, and possibly two different versions of Luke.

The Joker and Harley on the right aren't necessarily the best ones wandering around... to be honest, there was a Joker with long green hair and a purple suit that I saw right at the beginning of the morning that was awesome (although the best Joker prize has to go to the broad-shouldered Joker in the Arkham Asylum straight jacket I mentioned earlier), and the best Harley was the girl with the sparkly corset carrying the giant hammer. But these two looked great clowning around with Batman.

So, wrapping up, I'm very glad I went (thanks again to Josh for letting me use his free ticket), but it's not necessarily something I would feel the need to rush out and do again. It was definitely a different way to spend a Sunday morning though.

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