This article can also be found on Step2Inspire.
Film and Comic Conventions always draw in a large number of Cosplayers… LFCC is no different. The preview night alone featured several costume-clad fans, and the weekend as a whole was coloured by the various characters from film, TV, comics and games meandering about the event. From Jessica Rabbit to Darth Vader and from Xenomorphs to Time Lords, there was no end to the array of spectacular costumes on display! There was even an exceedingly well created Warhammer 40k Imperial Priest costume, which wistfully took me back to my days of table-top gaming! If the opening night seemed strange, then the next few days were going to be even weirder…
After press night, I thought I knew my way around the venue pretty well, and seeing the queues of visitors waiting to gain access I elected to take the side door Liana and I had used the night before. It was here that the first surreal experience of the event took place. As I approached the entrance, Darth Vader, flanked by two Stormtroopers, emerged and forced me to halt. Hesitantly holding my pass up to the Dark Lord of the Sith, I asked for access. “
You passed directly through a restricted area.” Vader said accusingly. “
I am an accredited member of the press on a diplomatic mission to Comic Con.” I retorted, waving my pass hopelessly in his face. “
You’re a member of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take him away!” Vader exclaimed, gesticulating wildly. I was then escorted around to the main entrance by the two Stormtroopers, and it slowly dawned on me that Vader and I had just re-enacted the opening scene of Star Wars: A New Hope with me in the role of Princess Leia…
I was then informed by Boba Fett that I had attempted to enter via a catering entrance, and that press were to enter through the main door. So I did so and, abandoning my urge to rebel against the Empire, I continued with my day as planned. As mentioned in an earlier article, one of my goals was to chat with some of the costumed visitors and discover what it is they find appealing about cosplay. Thankfully, there was absolutely no shortage of people to talk to!
I started by attempting to interview someone dressed as Chewbacca (at least, I thought it was a costume?) but all I was offered in return was a series of grunts and roars. As far as a productive interview goes, this was not one of them! “
Grrhrrhuurrraaaarrghhh.” Chewie quoted, in response to my asking what it was that drew him to LFCC, and then he wandered off to go and bother an Ewok.
I then interviewed a Sith apprentice. Despite being swathed in black robes and wielding a lightsabre glowing a sinister shade of red, it turned out he was more tolerant of me than Vader had been! “
I just love Star Wars,” said the Sith, a broad grin on his face, “
To dress up as a Star Wars character is just amazing. The look on people’s faces when they see you, it makes you feel great.” As he was a part of the UK Garrison, a group dedicated to Star Wars Cosplay, I asked him about his experiences with other cosplayers. “
Everyone that does it enjoys it. We all help each other out when things go wrong costume wise… It’s a phenomenal experience. It is like a family. With the UK Garrison here, we’re all just like one big family really. Everyone gets on with everyone. We’re all nuts! All crazy.”
This was the kind of attitude that all of the Cosplayers I spoke to had towards the event. “
As a Cosplayer you’re accepted at these conventions,” said a mermaid I had stopped to chat to, “
So you can be someone completely different and put on a costume and not be ridiculed for it.” Ariel, although I suspect that’s probably not her real name, said that she’d taken up Cosplay as a hobby about 5 or 6 years previously after attending MCM Expo, and had recently roped her human boyfriend into it. “
I’m fairly new to this. First convention was Alcon just gone. I’ve been trying to get more into it, and started doing Prince Eric for her so…” Spoke Prince Eric. On being asked what he thought it was that drew Cosplayers to conventions, he said, “
You get to meet people like yourself. See what amazing costumes people come up with, getting tips…”
It was shortly after this that I encountered another surreal experience… I was being stalked by Cylon Centurion Model 0005. At first I didn’t notice I was being followed, merely that I had seen a very impressive Cylon Centurion costume and could occasionally hear the eerie “
aawooooo-oooo” of it’s scrolling eye (well, you think of a better way to spell it!). This was a novelty at first, my mind only registering it as a famous sound from Galactica, but that opinion soon changed when it got within a few feet of me. That noise, when it’s a few inches from the back of your head, certainly makes the hairs on your neck stand on end! I attempted to speak with the Cylon, but whenever I asked for a statement it would only respond “
By your command.” and stare at me, it’s ominous red scrolling eye scanning my soul. It felt like it was, anyway.
I was actually quite disappointed when the Cylon didn’t show up to Richard Hatch’s talk later on, as I would’ve paid good money to see Captain Apollo and his robotic foe duke it out live on stage…
I, as it happens, did not attend the event in costume, but this did not stop others believing I had come dressed as Matt Smith’s incarnation of the Doctor. I was asked about this on no less than seven occasions, and I answered an equal number of times that this is just how I normally dress! It was a situation most likely exacerbated by my use of a sonic screwdriver novelty pen rather than a regular biro, but that‘s irrelevant…
Overall, my London Film and Comic Con experiences were nothing short of magnificent and surreal. As far as first-convention experiences go, LFCC certainly opened my mind to the idea of visiting more conventions in the future - perhaps even in costume! Personally, I think any event where you genuinely have to say the words “
Excuse me Cat Woman” or “
Oh, sorry R2, I didn’t see you there” is an event well worth attending!
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