Dragon Con 2017: The Best Cosplay, Pt 2

Our power may still be out [whimper], but Dragon Con cosplay waits for no one.

Well, except me for a few days. But I've started lugging my Mac desktop around to friends' houses and setting up on folding tables and nightstands to get working again, so on your mark...

get set...

GAWK:

Because how magnificent is this winged Maleficent? Complete with her own mini-me!

As I've been describing my favorite Dragon Con finds to friends this week, this one keeps making the list:

[Milo Wesley & virylduck as Jane] 

It's Jane's dad from Tarzan, Professor Porter!!

I've never seen him cosplayed before, and that prosthetic nose & 'stache is perfection - not to mention he even has the pose down with that little pot-belly stance, ha.

I'm so impressed by this Tom Servo of MST3K that I have to show you a comparison shot:

She's even wearing slinky bracelets to mimic his metal arms! Such clever design work.

Another awesome take on a character: warrior Jasmine from Aladdin!

I like Rajah's face on her shield - that's a nice touch.

  

IT'S DAVID S. PUMPKINS, Y'ALL:

Any questions?

(If so, just click the link for the SNL sketch. No way I can explain it.)

Best of all, someone told me these three were camping out around the elevators and doing the dance when the doors opened, which fills me with irrational amounts of nerd joy.

GoT's Aegon the Conqueror with Visenya & Rhaenys, sharing a few pints:

 

It turns out Lilo & red-headed Mertle STILL don't get along:

Mertle brought up the biting incident again, and I think Lilo's exact words were, "Because she's a poopy head."  :D

 This Wonder Woman was bopping along to one of the many dance-offs in the Marriott lobby, and I couldn't stop staring at her glorious cloud of hair:

Plus she had such a cool vibe about her, like she could take on every villain at the con while rollerskating backwards in a complex dance routine.

[Update: Ermagosh, looks like I wasn't far off; that's Damita Howard, a professional stuntwoman who worked on Captain America & Guardians 2!]

Remember that insanely creepy Pennywise from my last post? Here's the same cosplayer again as an incredible blue Djinn:

[Brandon the Shape Shifter]

The Martian and Fallout: New Vegas:

These are another good example/contrast of my two photography techniques - both taken in the same place at the same time. I'm already adjusting the way I edit the blackout method in response to some of your feedback, and I plan to shoot a little differently in the future, too, to maybe include more of the background ala that Wonder Woman shot a few photos up. 

It's a tricky beast, trying to find the sweet spot between journalistic convention coverage (ie, making you feel like you're there with me) and doing the costumes justice with detailed beauty shots. Obviously the cosplayers prefer the blackouts - as do I, they're so fun to edit - but I promise to always have plenty of atmosphere and non-flash shots, too. 

Besides, where there's lots of light and minimal crowds, it's a no-brainer to go without flash:

Vi from League of Legends and Mantis from Guardians 2.

Day of the Dead couple & Croquet Harley.

This Cyclops had a video screen animation for his eye, which was suuuper cool and I'm so glad it shows up in this photo:

Also he is very tall.

I spotted this Harley/Belle and Joker/Beast sitting on the floor in the food court:

 

[Outsiders Cosplay]

I don't think I've seen this mashup done before, and they really nailed it.

Here comes my favorite father/daughter cosplay of the con:

Astrid with her dragon Stormfly!

I had a hard time photographing Stormfly because from face-on all you see is mouth, but he kept turning to follow my camera as I walked around him to get a side shot, ha. Later John went over to suggest a down-and-to-the-side head position, which worked loads better.

Sylvanas from WoW and a gender-swapped Aloy from the new Horizon Zero Dawn:

[Sylvanas: Jasmine & Rose Cosplay,  Aloy: By The Nine Designs]

This Balthazar Blatt & his robot crony from the latest Despicable Me made me SO HAPPY:

The nose! The mullet! The shoulder pads!

Can't touch this.

An adorable Maz Kanata from The Force Awakens and a mini Maleficent:

Not sure of this character, but her makeup was on point:

Update: Aha, she's Salem of the animated show RWBY. Thanks, Lewis!

Then there was the Chipotle counter... as a cosplay:

Ha!

I remember photographing this Groot a few Dragon Cons ago, but this year he got an upgrade:

Check out baby Groot eating candy on his shoulder! Squee!

The most popular green guy of the con had to be Pickle Rick of Rick and Morty, though, and this was the best one:

Plus some random Christmas cosplay, because Dragon Cooooooon!

Gaige from Borderlands with her XXX head variant:

 [Emma J.I.Q. Rubini]

That cell shading, though.

Oh! Here comes another of my top favorites: either a gender-swapped Wonder Woman or a Spartan/ Wonder Woman mashup:

Whichever, it is totally badass. Love how he incorporated her tiara design into the helmet.

This next warrior is a little less badass, but you guys: Samurai Hello Kitty.

Wha whaaaaaat. Love it.  Plus this is an Epbot reader, Chris Dimoff, who John and I got to chat with for a bit. It was really cool seeing all the detail he put into that helmet/head especially. So good.

Speaking of samurais, this Rorschach one had the coolest effect on his face covering: the ink blot changed from black to white as he breathed, I assume from a temperature-reactive dye:

 SO COOL. 

And now... Yoshi!

Don't you just want to hug him?

Dramatic Storm and Jessie Quick, aka the DC Bombshells version of The Flash:

[Jessie Quick cosplayer is Amy of Multipass Productions]

And finally, I'll leave you with the cosplay group that almost broke the con. Two words, gang: LEGEND. ARY.

It's the goblin riders from Labyrinth! Plus Sarah & Jareth, and even a Jim Henson with Kermit for good measure.

You've seen that Jareth and Sarah here before (they're my friends Dana & Alexie), so I was mostly going gaga for the goblins. Just look at these details!

Alexie is pointing the little Easter Egg on the back: a Sarah "WANTED" poster!

Here one of the goblins has (temporarily) lost its mount:

 

And one more:

I am completely awestruck. And yes, maybe a teensy bit sad we didn't have our Junk Lady with us this year for a photo together. Mostly awestruck, though, and so, so happy these Riders exist. After the past couple weeks of Real Life worries and assorted Irma ickiness, this is the kind of stuff that reminds me life is pretty dang awesome, and I'm so lucky to rub elbows with the best community of nerdy nerds on the planet. ;)

Smooches to all of you, and stay tuned for plenty more.

P.S. Please do ID any cosplayers you recognize in the comments, so I can credit them!