Monday, November 12, 2007
On Webcomic Cosplay
Cosplay. It's something we as geeks are all to some extent are familar with. We've all got that friend that's very much into costumes for cons, and is likely built perfectly to go as various characters. Most of the time people go as some anime character, or maybe something from a recognizable sci fi series (the stormtropper 501st anyone?), or perhaps some video game character. But today we are here to talk about a less known breed of cosplay that usually doesn't get as much attention at conventions: the webcomic cosplayer.
The problem with most webcomic characters when it comes to cosplay is that they are for the most part average joes. I mean there are the more recognizable ones like Gav of Nukee's or Dominic of Dominic Deegan. But most webcomic characters aren't that unusual looking. Which is the the bane of the webcomic cosplayer. A perfectly done costume of say Dave Davenport of Narbonic Labs is basically jeans, a plaid shirt, glasses and a husky cosplayer with a scruffy beard. Which to anyone other than a reader of the comic is pretty much unrecognizable. Which brings me to my next point, the limited audience of a webcomic cosplayer compared with an anime or video game cosplayer.
Well done Anime and Video Game Cosplayers enjoy a wider audience of fans at a con compared with a well done webcomic cosplayer. The audience of a webcomic is just by nature smaller than that of an anime or video games. Probably the only place where the webcomic fan has a larger audience is when dealing with a character from perhaps one of the biggest comics such as Megatokyo or Penny Arcade. And even then you'd have to compare with a pretty obscure anime or game. Which is a rarity since few conventions are big on webcomic fans.
But what can be really done about this? Not much honestly, while every con or so you'll see a really really well done say, Agatha Heterodyne or Helen Narbon, but you'll have had to have searched around for the webcomic fan amongst the hordes of Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, and Kingdom Hearts 2 cosplayers. This is for you, the guy that goes to Otakon and dresses as Gav, or the girl that goes to Conneticon dressed as Helen Narbon, or Mell for that matter. Keep at it!
till next time, I'm addicted to webcomics.
The problem with most webcomic characters when it comes to cosplay is that they are for the most part average joes. I mean there are the more recognizable ones like Gav of Nukee's or Dominic of Dominic Deegan. But most webcomic characters aren't that unusual looking. Which is the the bane of the webcomic cosplayer. A perfectly done costume of say Dave Davenport of Narbonic Labs is basically jeans, a plaid shirt, glasses and a husky cosplayer with a scruffy beard. Which to anyone other than a reader of the comic is pretty much unrecognizable. Which brings me to my next point, the limited audience of a webcomic cosplayer compared with an anime or video game cosplayer.
Well done Anime and Video Game Cosplayers enjoy a wider audience of fans at a con compared with a well done webcomic cosplayer. The audience of a webcomic is just by nature smaller than that of an anime or video games. Probably the only place where the webcomic fan has a larger audience is when dealing with a character from perhaps one of the biggest comics such as Megatokyo or Penny Arcade. And even then you'd have to compare with a pretty obscure anime or game. Which is a rarity since few conventions are big on webcomic fans.
But what can be really done about this? Not much honestly, while every con or so you'll see a really really well done say, Agatha Heterodyne or Helen Narbon, but you'll have had to have searched around for the webcomic fan amongst the hordes of Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, and Kingdom Hearts 2 cosplayers. This is for you, the guy that goes to Otakon and dresses as Gav, or the girl that goes to Conneticon dressed as Helen Narbon, or Mell for that matter. Keep at it!
till next time, I'm addicted to webcomics.
# posted by Darth Miho @ 2:14 AM 
