New York Comic Con 2021 cosplay gallery

Following last year’s online festivities, New York Comic Con is back in person. Although pandemic restrictions require anyone entering the interior space to be vaccinated and masked, attendees are more eager than ever to brave the crowds and return to the convention space. And after a year of absence, no one is more excited to return to the scam scene than cosplayers. Even with restrictions on the masks, enthusiastic cosplayers have found ways to incorporate them into their costumes.

The pandemic has had a varying effect on the cosplayers we spoke to. As a hobby designed to be shared and seen, some found the lack of conventions and dating drained their inspiration, while others used the free time to reflect on their hobby and work on their craft. .

But there’s one sentiment everyone agrees on: New York Comic Con is here and everyone is super excited to dress up as their favorite characters. For many cosplayers, NYCC is the thing that drove them to cosplay – seeing people dressed in amazingly creative costumes, paying homage to their favorite characters, and having fun. A year apart has made the hearts more affectionate, but now they’re back and ready to show off their costumes – whether they’re handmade, bought, bought, or any combination – and celebrate the characters they like.

Katie – Steampunk Adora of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

“Adora is a queer icon. I love it. In the show, where she’s from is very industrial and rugged and I wanted to incorporate that Steampunky-esque world into her costume, so I redesigned it to fit that way. I made most of them in my forties. The sword is made of wood. It’s sculpted. [The costume] took about three months. The pandemic definitely made me want to cosplay for myself rather than other people. I do it for fun and to be proud of my costumes.

Katie’s Instagram

Ashley Davis – Bowsette by Nintendo

“The pandemic made me more okay with cosplay anything. Because before I was like oh i have to cosplay someone my color or size. But no, now shit: I cosplay who I want!

Drax & Kris – Carnage Punk and Venom Punk

Their daddy: “Kris has been doing this for about five years, since he was about three. And then Drax for three years. We’ve been coming to Comic Con for a while and we just said Hey, let’s get dressed! Let’s put on costumes and work from there. Each of the masks took about three to four months. The hardest part is layering the paint. Every time you make a diaper you have to let it dry and it takes a week.

Kris Instagram | Drax Instagram

Juni – Wave from Marvel Comics

“I’m disguised as a Marvel Wave – Filipino representation!” This is my first Marvel cosplay, actually. I’ve been cosplaying for about nine years, and strangely enough, I’ve never done a Marvel hero. I’ve always done anime. I am such a web. I got into cosplay because of Pokémon. My very first cosplay was a Slowpoke. That’s how it started and after that it’s gone.

All this costume that I sewn. And then I built everything. The wings were last night. The hardest part was making the costume out of spandex. I do a lot of foam armor so it wasn’t a big deal to me. That’s probably why I avoided superheroes, because it’s more of a spandex outfit.

Juni’s Instagram

Able Tong – A Disney carousel of Disney parks

“The hat took a whole summer. It took a lot of mending. My friend called it “paper engineering”. I designed the rides. I designed them. And the frames and the flags. The characters are a mixture of what I like and also whose colors would stand out. I specially designed it so that I could remove characters and add new ones if I wanted to. The only thing I didn’t do were the murals inside, but everything else I did myself. I don’t even really consider myself a full-fledged cosplayer, because it’s really just the hat! “

Able’s Instagram

Philip Odango – Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop

“The hardest part is actually keeping the collar up! I have a piece of yarn right now, holding it together. I sewed the whole costume from top to bottom. One of the challenges was actually trying to find a color-matched material – it’s a stretch material, it’s a non-stretch material. But to get the same shine and so close to the same color, you had to buy in several stores, try to find the right material.

I’ve been cosplaying since 2003. I first started with Edward Scissorhands making pizza boxes with his fingers and a garbage bag for the body. Since then, I have made over 60 costumes. I have been a judge at international conventions. I work with several business partners and sponsors. I gave lessons. I have been able to contribute to my community by creating masks for our frontline workers and working with organizations that distribute them. “

Philippe’s Instagram

Betty & Jenna – Riddler and The Batman Who Laughs from DC Comics

Jenna: “We make everyone smile with Baby Yodas! Those [Robin ones] took a little over a month as we had to face and open their mouths.

Betty: “Riddler’s is actually made from an older version of one of my jackets.”

Jenna’s Instagram

Kat, Angie and Nelson – Maki Zenin and Nobara Kugisaki, and Itadori Yuji from Jujutsu Kaisen

Kat: “I am Maki from Jujutsu kaisen. I chose her because I love her character. She has two different weapons and I just wanted to craft them! I decorated everything in a week.

Angie : “I am Nobara Kugisaki from Jujutsu kaisen. I chose her because she’s also a badass. I think she’s one of the best-written female anime characters. We’re friends, so we decided to cosplay together!

Nelson: “I am Itadori Yuji… but at the same time Sakuna. When he turns halfway. This is when all the tattoos come out. I think it’s really cool to do half and half cosplay.

Kat’s Instagram | Angie’s Instagram | Nelson’s Instagram

Noni – Isabelle from Animal Crossing

“Usually I love doing my cosplays, but I just didn’t have the time. Much of it was AliExpress and Amazon. In the past, I made a Princess Mononoke costume, and I actually used clay and papier mache to make the mask. I really want to get back to it. “

Steven – Steve from Blues Clues

“It may sound selfish, but I do it because people react. I walk towards them and I see the light in their eyes, because it reminds them of their childhood. It makes me happy to make others happy. That’s why I’ve been doing this for five years. I’m trying to keep updating it. I started with Blue, then added the Handy Dandy notebook. I have magenta. I received mail. I have sticky paw prints.

Find that shirt was the hardest part. It is a legitimate rugby jersey. You get green shirts, but they’re the wrong colors. I was lucky one day and found the perfect shirt. It cost a lot of money and it’s really heavy, but it’s too perfect.

Tina and Emily – Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens

Tina: “These are pieces that I had in my wardrobe or bought separately. The only thing I have done is this tattoo on my chest. The hat was the hardest part to find. I wanted a wide, flat brim to make it look a bit wizarding. And I didn’t want a standard Fedora. I wanted a beautiful and feminine one!

Emilie: “Finding things that coordinate in terms of color and appearance is harder than you might think. You see things all the time, but once you search for them, it’s like you can’t find them.

Tina’s Instagram | Emily’s Twitter

Danni – Hawkgirl from DC Comics

“I love the winged figures! He’s my favorite DC character. The wings are a pulley system and there are about 4000 feathers on them. It took me about 25 hours. I just finished this costume last night. The pandemic made me more into cosplay, because I had nothing to do and started learning manual crafting. “

Danni’s Instagram and TIC Tac

Sophia – Elenka from Shining Nikki

“It’s Elenka from Shiny nikki. I saw the art for it and I was like uh, I have to do that! I have been working there several hours a day for two and a half months. [Cosplaying] is such a great use of arts and crafts and creativity. This is my first cosplay that I have done in over two years.

Sophie’s Instagram

Lexis – Shirley the Fortune Teller of Courage the Cowardly Dog

“The hardest part was figuring out what his makeup would be because he’s a dog. I wanted to do a more modern take rather than like a dog.

Rachelle – Cruella de Cruella

“I’m Cruella within 10 seconds of her being on top of the car. It was amazing, fascinating and dramatic and I loved it… so I decided to do it. I started in July and finished last night! Apart from that [front] skirt, everything else is handmade. I started to sew [the back] then I ran out of time and just hot glued it. This is my first very important build, the first I have ever really done.

Rachelle’s Instagram

Jack and Van Brown – Tanjiro and Nezuko from Demon Slayer

Jack: “It’s quality time, dad and son, to spend together! This box is actually designed for me to carry it, as well as to roll it around. We were going to be doing Anime Japan, and it’s designed to come apart so you can actually have it on a plane. We made the whole box and rigged it up for New York Comic Con by adding the lights.

Through: “[The hardest part was] probably get the dimensions of something that I would fit into. I am of average height – not a super tiny tiny person. Definitely find something light enough but strong enough to carry me on his back. And also quite small but I could still fit in.

Jack’s Instagram

Jason Hettel – Steampunk Batman from DC Comics

“I am Steampunk Batman. It’s actually version 2. I actually did a version about two years ago and won New York Comic Con, third place for best show. After that, I decided to make a whole new one. I chose Batman because I love Batman. I chose steampunk, because I like old stuff.

Danielle – Furby from … real life

“I just think the Furbies are cool!” She’s a puppet, so making her blink and that was the hardest part. I love making puppets – I was an animation student and I made films with puppets. I just wanted to make a big old Furby.

Danielle’s Instagram

Ben – Mayor McCheese of McDonalds

“I chose Mayor McCheese because it’s funny. Usually when I cosplay it’s because I dress like things that make me laugh. In the past I have disguised myself as a Man-Ray from Spongebob and Captain Crunch. The hardest part was figuring out how to manage the weight and make sure I didn’t die while walking.

The Rivera Family – Doc Ock, Kraven the Hunter and Marvel’s Spider-Gwen

Paola Rivera: “I have [the tentacles] on a wooden plate, basically, inside the backpack. I just pray to God they don’t fall. I used hot glue. This year [my daughter] chose a few! We get dressed every four days. She chose Batgirl and Spider-Gwen. These are his favorites. So we made our cosplays around that.