Comic Con cosplayers brave heat, mishaps and months of work to showcase fandom

Even though San Diego Comic-Con is known for news-making panels centered on popular culture, the annual California convention is equally famous for its elaborate cosplayers.

Each year, fans of comics, video games, film and fantasy spend months creating costumes that showcase their devotion to favorite characters and franchises.

Sarah Lu, 27, who recently moved to San Diego, began working on her costume of the dragon named Toothless from the DreamWorks movie “How to Train Your Dragon” in January, spending about $400 on it.

“At least for me, it’s an intersection between theater and music and dance as well, so I kind of use all these skills to bring a character to life. I think there’s some sort of magic to that,” she told Reuters on the convention floor.

Some costumes become crowd favorites at Comic-Con, while others attract less attention.

San Diego resident Jose Samaniego, 21, said success often comes down to attitude.

“Be confident in yourself,” he said. “If you’re not confident in your own cosplay you’re going to give off a really bad aura and no-one’s going to like you. If you don’t like how you’re dressing, then your outfit’s awful,” he added.

With Comic-Con taking place during the summer, cosplayers in intricate outfits must also contend with the heat.

“‘How do you stay cool?’ Hydrate, hydrate and hydrate,” said David Martinez, 54, a project manager for a pharmaceutical company in San Diego, who attended dressed as a mashup of Spider-Man and the artist Bob Ross.

Despite months of preparation, costumes can malfunction.

Glue can soften in the heat, causing pieces to fall apart, while fabric can rip or tear.

That is where Bryan Mero, a costume repairperson passionate about helping attendees steps in.

Dressed as Fix-it Felix from the Disney animated film “Wreck-it Ralph,” Mero patrols the convention floor carrying a yellow hammer and a backpack filled with repair supplies.

Lu told Reuters that Mero is the real “MVP” of the entire convention.

“I come and bring a supply of anything we need to fix a cosplay; superglue, duct tape, safety pins, bobby pins, hairspray, hair ties, all different colors, all the main colors for that, a soldering iron, a hot glue gun. I know I’m missing quite a few things because my pack is about 15 pounds,” he said.

“That’s kind of what I provide and I do it for free only because I’m just asking to just pay it forward,” Mero added.

San Diego Comic-Con is an annual multi-genre entertainment and comic book convention that takes place in San Diego, California, and celebrates comics, popular culture, and related media.