WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
Photo credit: Linnea Aasland
WonderCon is an annual convention, started in 1987 in the San Francisco Bay Area, transitioning to Anaheim for the last couple years, and now celebrating its first year in Los Angeles. It is part of the ComicCon International Convention family, making it one of the more popular annual conventions. People who attend WonderCon have interests which vary from comics to science fiction to fantasy and all the fun fandoms which fall in between. It is more general than such specialized conventions as LeakyCon (for Potterheads) or Gallifrey One (for Whovians), and attracts tens of thousands of fans every year to cosplay, sell merchandise and attend the conventions many programs and special early releases. This was the second year that my sister, father and I attended the event, and it was loads of fun! We were there on Saturday, March 26th, for almost 11 hours and didn’t even get close to seeing all this convention has to offer.
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
For collectors there is plenty to purchase at WonderCon, such as these Funko Pops, which range from discounted items to more rare figurines.
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
Artists’ Alley is also a pleasure to explore as dozens of artists sell fan based and original art pieces in their own unique style.
The cosplay is probably the best part though. “Cosplay” is short for “costume play”, a hobby that can take anywhere from a couple hours to hundreds of a cosplayer’s time. A person can cosplay as any sort of fictional character they desire, and the range of genres represented is impressive.
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
You have your Disney princesses…
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
Your Star Wars Sith…
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
Fairy Tail guild members…
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
And psychotic clowns.
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
You see about a hundred Harley Quinn cosplays every year, but most bring their own creative spin to the character.
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
You’re sure to see some pretty epic Game of Thrones cosplay…
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
And occasionally come across one that takes you a second to place. Props on this awesome Haunted Mansion cosplay!
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
Many artists bring a unique perspective to beloved fandoms. This booth was selling children’s books for popular movies and video games such as Doctor Who and PacMan…
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
And the lady at this stand made delightfully geeky cross stitching kits. “Fezzes and bow ties are cool.” 😉
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
I was super excited to see a strong Miraculous Ladybug presence at this year’s WonderCon, with some fellow Miraculers dressing as our favorite dynamic duo!
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
My sister was stoked to see a cosplay from one of her favorite video game series, Kingdom Hearts!
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
We saw an Ice Climbers cosplay last year as well. It’s a good one for couples <3
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
Mickey and Minnie are another classic couples costume.
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
Some cosplays were for more recently popularized characters such as Daredevil… Anyone else watching season 2 on Netflix?
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
There were also some commemorating hidden gems for anime fans. These Princess Tutu cosplayers were gorgeous!
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
Even musicals were represented as this stunning Elphaba cosplay drew many photographers in.
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
Some cosplays were so detailed and intricate you had to wonder how many months were spent constructing them. This Transformers cosplay was particularly impressive…
WonderCon Los Angeles 2016
And that’s all for now! Tune in next week for more awesome cosplays from this year’s WonderCon! We’re already counting the days until the next one!
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