As the convention season winds down, cosplayers gathered in Los Angeles to put on one last show. There are many local conventions scheduled to take place in cities all over the world, but few will match the scale provided by the Los Angeles Convention Center. This is the building that hosts E3 and Anime Expo, after all.
The cosplay of LA Comic Con 2019 was big enough to match the venue, with giant wings, Halloween-appropriate thrills, and Joker memes galore. We were on site to capture it all, and here we have ten of the most impressive costumes that danced through LA Comic Con.
10 Take Flight With Zephyrmon
Once Azayaka Cosplay perched on top of this little pillar, she was surrounded by photographers. It's not hard to see why. Her cosplay of Zephyrmon is amazing. She matched impressive wig work with masterful sewing, and also made those giant wings herself. If that wasn't enough, she also has very realistic bird feet. Like, bizarrely realistic. She's either a master of the craft or secretly an actual bird Digimon. We're going to hope it's the former...
9 The New Fab Five
You may have heard of the Titans of Terror before. It's the name given to a group of iconic horror movie villains. Well this lot of fearsome dudes are Titans of Terror Cosplay. As the name implies, they've made a name for themselves with their accurate cosplays of Freddy, Jason, and the like. But that's only part of the story. They also go on lovely group outings, like this beach day. Even demonic entities need a vacation.
8 You Knew This Was Coming
With the Joker movie just recently released and pulling in amazing box office numbers, cosplayers are going to react. Everyone's going to react, really. We're bound to see tons of Jokers going around this Halloween. But how many of them will actually commit to the role and dance around in an awkward yet oddly endearing way? Few, probably, at least not with the devotion that Smilexdylan put into his cosplay. On a side note, where did he get the suit? Are there stores just selling this color in bulk now?
7 This Rose Has Thorns, Also It Isn't A Rose
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has truly proven to be the ultimate Smash Bros. experience. A lot of that is due to its sheer content. The number of stages is insane, and the roster includes pretty much every major character who's ever graced a Nintendo console. Also there's Piranha Plant. It's still anyone's guess as to why Sakurai decided a random Mario enemy should be in Smash, but people are actually liking it. People like Rosewater Cosplay, who made her own "Piranette" version of the Toadette transformation. Apparently there are Piranha Plant fans after all.
6 We Don't Have Time For This GIR
Invader Zim has had something of a comeback recently thanks to the Netflix special. Which means it's time to see more quality cosplay of its characters. What's striking about these cosplays, courtesy of Monkey Monsters Cosplay, is that they aim to match the crazy proportions of the actual cartoon.
Humanized interpretations of Zim are impressive, but this takes it to a new level. The oversized heads give the costumes life, as does Zim's expressive face. GIR just looks absentmindedly there, which is also perfect.
5 It's A Joker Kind Of Year
There were a lot of the usual comic book cosplays at LA Comic Con. There was a huge gang of Spider-people. Deadpools made an appearance to cause chaos. Lots of Captain Americas with broken shields found the one amazing Thanos and took pictures together. What stood out was an influx of Joker. The cause is obvious, the new hit movie, and we saw a lot of Joaquin Phoenix Joker. So thanks to Thejokerthatlaughs by mixing it up with The Batman That Laughs. Truly a chilling cosplay.
4 Classic Deadpool
As said above, it's not a comic convention without a Deadpool gathering. Thankfully these heroes were here to save the day. Particularly Paul Star Hero, who decided to mash up Deadpool and Mary Poppins. After all, who doesn't want their super nanny to double as a self-healing mercenary. Just in case. We here at TheGamer would certainly love to hear Deadpool's rendition of "Spoonful of Sugar."
3 Still Wonder Where That Mario Mask Came From
Cosplays of classic Nintendo characters are a dime a dozen, but it's hard to tire of them when they're good. Enter Constantlyk with a skillful take on the Happy Mask Salesman from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
Even better is that this particular interpretation has masks from other franchises. There's a Payday mask (maybe Starbreeze sold it to help with budget issues), Crash Bandicoot's Aku Aku on the other side, and more. Can you name them all?
2 Play Me A Song
Big conventions like LACC see a lot of epic cosplay come through. But if you look past all the giant wings and perfectly-styled wigs, you can find some ideas that are genius by being simple. Take Dave Amiott's Schroeder cosplay, for instance. Of all the characters to dress up as, he chose one of the Peanuts. He also had a working mini piano that he constantly played. Always true to character, he had his head down playing even as passerby snapped photos.
1 It Haunts Me
This... thing. Not even sure what it is, other than a reference to IT. Maybe cosplayer Todd M. Cosplay meant it as a commentary on the way fast food destroys the body. Or maybe representing Ronald McDonald as an actual monster is a clever representation of the inhuman power of large corporations. Or maybe it's just plain creepy. Probably the last one. Whatever it is, it makes a great cosplay and will definitely scare some kids come Halloween.