The most elaborate costumes we spotted at Comicon

The most elaborate costumes we spotted at Comicon

While most of the city was guzzling green beer this weekend, thousands of hardcore gamers and devoted comic lovers congregated at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for Comicon. In addition to browsing rare memorabilia and meeting celebrities like Joonas Viljami Suotamo (the Finnish actor who recently took over the role of Chewbacca) and Kristian Nairn (Hodor from Game of Thrones), visitors also partook in the time-honoured tradition of showing off their painstakingly assembled costumes. Here are 22 of the most eye-catching looks.

Doug Dowdy

50, engineer

Who are you dressed as? Saltire, the immortal Scottish guardian
How much did your costume cost? Approximately $200

“When I was at Comicon a couple years back, Diamondsteel Comics introduced me to the character. He’s basically a combination of the best traits from the greatest warriors of the 12 regions of Scotland. I immediately went home and started working on the costume. It took a lot longer than it should have, because I wasn’t on speaking terms with my sewing machine at the time. But it’s still one of my least expensive costumes. I have one that’s more than $1,000.”

 

Tannis Doust

30, Teaching assistant

Who are you dressed as? Harley Quinn, from Suicide Squad
How much did your costume cost? $50

“A a feminist, I love how much agency they gave her in the movie and how she makes decisions for herself. I made the shorts and the bought the rest of the costume.”

 

Kara Mancuso

20s, Student

Who are you dressed as? Silk Spectre 2, from Watchmen
How much did your costume cost? $60

“I chose the character because I look a lot like her and love dressing up as superheroes. I’m very awkward in real life, so when I dress up I feel powerful. I bought this from a costume store but tailored it to fit better.”

 

Nicole Tetlock

30, retail worker

Who are you dressed as? Mercy, from Overwatch
How much did your costume cost? $60

“She’s a strong, independent woman, and I think we need more of those in video games. The lab coat is store-bought, but I customized it with patches and made the staff. It took two weeks of non-stop work.”

 

Vlad Tokarenko

28, grocery store clerk

Who are you dressed as? Soldier 76, from Overwatch
How much did your costume cost? Under $200

“This character is my ‘main,’ meaning it’s who I always play with in the game. His play style is pretty much the typical shooter guy. He always has his gun out. I bought the costume online.”

 

Kaili Haddock

22, law firm assistant

What are you wearing? A Lolita-style dress
How much did your costume cost? $80

“I’m wearing Lolita fashion. It’s a look that originated in Harajuku, Japan, in the 1990s. It’s a mix of Rococo and Victorian fashions, with a cutesy urban Japan look. Today I’m wearing a collab between Disney and a Japanese company that creates Lolita dresses. It’s got Duchess from The Aristocats on it. I love wearing Lolita to Comicons because the atmosphere is very geeky and creative. It’s a great way to express myself.”

 

Chris Van and Tesha Deosamy

26, Sales manager; 24, Chef

Who are you dressed as? Guts and Casca, from Berserk
How much did your costume cost? $250 each

Van: “Guts is a badass character who I relate to a lot. The costume took me about four months. I’d work on it every day after work, sometimes staying up until like 2 a.m.”

Deosamy: “I chose the character because I look very similar to her. The costumes took a lot of sewing, foam work and worbla.”

Stephen Quammie

New media designer

Who are you dressed as? Vision, from The Avengers
How much did your costume cost? $320

“I like doing characters that don’t get a lot of attention. You know the main guys, but what about the guy to the left? Vision is more human than most of the characters, even though he’s not actually human. He tries to understand and take his time to learn things. I like that about him. I bought the costume and re-painted the mask.”

 

Randy Paethae

28, Vet technician

Who are you dressed as? Lightning, from Final Fantasy 2
How much did your costume cost? $200

“She’s a very strong character and I love her look. If it’s a three-day event I usually do a different character each day. I make everything myself. This one took me about two weeks, and involved a lot of thermoplastics work.”

 

Chris Eyles

29, Writer

Who are you dressed as? Geralt of Rivia, from The Witcher
How much did your costume cost? $1,000

“Once I picked up the game, I fell in love with the character. Then people started saying I looked like him, so I thought, let’s grow a beard and get it done. He’s independent, powerful and honourable. The costume was a collaboration between a couple of people. I made the armoured parts and chain mail, then I had a friend do a lot of the sewing, since I’m terrible at that. I also had a friend 3-D print the emblem. It took a year and a half to finish.”

 

Jordan Stal

45, Personal trainer

Who are you dressed as? Corvo Attano, from Dishonoured
How much did your costume cost? $250

“It’s a lot of fun for people to watch me be Corvo, because the character sneaks around the whole time. Corvo didn’t start out this scary. He was a knight before he became a vigilante. He was accused of a murder and so he had to take a mask and cover his face. The mask alone took me six months to make, and the rest probably took a month and a half.”

 

Kevin Daniel

43, Entrepreneur

Who are you dressed as? Lego Superman
How much did your costume cost? “I don’t keep track.”

“Everyone loves a superhero. Superman is my favourite of all time. I always go as Lego characters. I’ve done Lego Batman, Lego Darth Vader, and I’m working on a Lego Flash.”

 

Alyssa Clark

11, student

Who are you dressed as? A forest witch

“We didn’t have a costume, so my aunt made this for me last minute. I like the headpiece. We come every year. My favourite part is the costume contest.”

 

Chloe Jung

11, student

Who are you dressed as? A forest witch

“I made the character up, and my mom and my stepdad helped me make the costume. It took about three days. I really like the skull on top the staff. I like Comicon because there are a lot of cool things to read.”

 

Maggie Harvey

23, Master’s student

Who are you dressed as? Flaaffy, from Pokémon
How much did your costume cost? Under $75

“I previously made this dress and was looking for a character that would go with it. It took about a month to make, since I had to sew everything. I love the sleeves because there are, like, 200 beads on them.”

 

Randy Meecham, David Tennant, Doug Cattrell, Glenn Cruz

52, Engineer; 52, registered nurse; 48, Editor; 43, Maui Teacher and Dancer

Who are you dressed as? Marcus Brody, Henry Jones Sr., Indiana Jones and Sallah, from Indiana Jones
How much did your costume cost? A few hundred dollars each

Meechan: “I like the actor, Denholm Elliot, and I love the movie, of course. A friend sent me the linen suit and I put the rest together from vintage shops.”

Tennant: “I chose the character because I’m bald and I have the beard. This is a real  1930s suit that I bought online. We come to Comicon together to raise money for the Children’s Wish Foundation.”

Catrell: “I know I don’t resemble Harrison Ford, but I wanted to push the envelope of what I could do with my costume. I usually do a lot of Star Wars characters, and I’m working on one from Lord of the Rings. But Indy is definitely a fan favourite. I distressed the jacket myself. ”

Cruz: “As much as we love Indy and his dad, it’s exciting to do the whole array of supporting characters. I’m good friends with all these guys. They’re like brothers.”

 

Ken Lariviere

36, Works in shipping

Who are you dressed as? Jeff the Monster, from Scud: the Disposable Assassin
How much did your costume cost? Less than $100. “I have built up a supply of stuff.”

“He’s a giant monster that absorbs everything around him and speaks in pop culture quotes. It took about a month to build on weekends. The hardest part was probably the feet, which are made from worbla.”

 

Heather Kennedy

29, Nurse

Who are you dressed as? Jormag, from Guild Wars 2
How much did your costume cost? $500

“My friends and I went as all of the dragons from the game. It took me about three months to make the costume. Getting the ice to sit right was really tough.”