The Best of DragonCon 2012

Is it possible to take TOO many pictures at Dragon*Con? Because I think I did. I've been cropping and tweaking and sorting cosplay pics for a solid week now. EEK!

My pain is your gain, though, as I've weaned down my favorite shots to the best of the best that D*C had to offer this year. So let's get right to it!

The four House founders from Harry Potter. AMAZING.

And while I'm at it, here's the rest of my favorite Potter cosplay from the weekend:

 

Why yes, that IS Snape in Neville's grandmother's clothes - right down to the vulture on his hat & purse! And Hagrid there spoke to everyone in character, and his voice and accent were perfection. (See his pink umbrella?)

Here's a fun group of look-alikes:

When possible, I love chatting with cosplayers. These next guys were so, so nice; they're actually brothers, and they have some fantastic costumes:

 

You see a lot of girls in Tardis and Dalek dresses, but these are the only male versions I've seen. And those steampunked Wonder Twins? SO COOL. Check out the details:

They made the space monkey Gleek into a robot!

(Confession: I'm not really that good; I had to wiki the monkey.)

Some cute geek girls in spandex:

That's a fabulous Seven of Nine - and such an adorable Harley!

I may have had an extreme fangirl moment with this jaw-dropping GLADOS puppet:

Yes, she really is a kind of puppet, and the guy operating her made her movements perfectly smooth and sinuous - PLUS he had a speaker wired up so that she could talk to you. It was SOOO COOOL.

And this one just made me laugh:

Here's the prettiest portrait I took the entire con, snapped quickly on the street corner while we waited for the light to change:

Isn't her makeup lovely? If only I had sunlight for all my shots! (This seriously makes me want to camp out on the street corner for photos next year!)

Speaking of great makeup, check out my friend Christie again with her sister, Robin:

They were dressed as the Ponies of the Apocalypse, Death and War. They each did everything themselves, from hand-sculpting Christie's rib cage to cutting the sheet metal for Robin's shoulder guards. These ladies are so darn inspiring with their cosplay, it's not even funny. Love it.

The hardest part with big group shots is getting everyone to look at you:

Or getting anyone to look at you. Ha!

I love the girl Spy's coat dress in this group:

Wait - I just realized the one on the left is also wearing a skirt. A matched set!

Some scary baddies:

 

And a sexy Cat Woman:

 Her cameo has a cat on it. :) I love the lace mask!

This little girl was crawling around on the floor, making me seriously fear for her safety - but doesn't she make a cute dragon?

I think this was John's favorite: they're the soldiers "combing the desert" from Space Balls:

Hee!

And to show you that nothing at Dragon*Con is ever truly what it seems, take a look at this:

I took a picture of the black and white lady last year, and have since been told that she is actually a he, wearing a strategically padded body suit. If you look closely, you can see the wrinkles in the fabric on her shoulder. If it's true that's a guy (anyone know for sure?), then this could be the best illusion costume EVER. I salute you, sir! [Note:Yep, he's a guy!]



I'm about half way through my favorites, so check back soon for part 2!