Toronto Comicon celebrates characters from screen and page

March 28, 2018

Held from March 16 to 18, Toronto 2018, in Ontario, Canada, featured dozens of retailers, a large artist's alley, celebrity guests, cosplayers, and community groups. Wikinews was present and later spoke to some of the cosplayers.

Celebrity guests included, the new Chewbacca actor for Star Wars; of ';  of ');  of ';  of ', '); and  of '; among others.

Many of the actors and artists were featured in Q&A sessions, including Follows, Brave Rock, and Hodor from ,.

Cosplayers on their process, inspiration
One group of nine cosplayers, four of whom are pictured in this article, went as a group called "Eeveelutions". They collectively represented the  character, and its eight evoluions within the games. The group of individual cosplayers began to prepare in early January, communicating "through group chat, sharing tips and photos and getting more and more excited for Comicon," cosplayer Dayna the Sloth told Wikinews. "It was a great way for us to bond as well. We all became great friends."

Each woman in the group made their outfits by hand, Dayna noted. "Each girl made her own build. We are all incredibly proud of each other and couldn't have asked for a better group."

Regular attendees of Toronto Comicon and sister event Fan Expo Canada, the "Cosplay Sisters" were made official cosplay guests at this year's event. One of the cosplayers, Stephanie, told Wikinews "The cosplays keep getting better and better each year with more people dressing up! This con we decided to dress up as some of the X-Men: Emma frost, Psylocke and Mystique. We had a lot of fun getting dressed up as some of our favourite mutants."

Also an official cosplay guest with booth, professional model and cosplayer Holly Wolf told Wikinews she loves video games and movies, and "cosplay is an outlet to express that love. Cosplay and comic con is the perfect way to celebrate [your] favourite fandoms, and interact with Like minded people around you."

Another cosplayer, known as "iluvcookiess Cosplay", attended Toronto Comicon in a of a  named Berrie. Asked by Wikinews on why she dressed up, she replied "cosplaying and fursuiting gives you a chance to break free from your every day, it brings confidence, comfort, and creativity." Public reaction is also a key factor: "I love seeing the smiles on peoples faces when they see my fursuit [...] and the joy when they interact with her".

Said Trillian Zee, of why she chose the lead Sailor Scout, "wearing to a convention is always my favorite because it reminds me why I love my hobbies. I feel like I get so much love and support from other  fans and it really motivates me to make something bigger and better for the next con."

Cosplayers, in order of appearance

 * Cloud Berry, Seconddegreebyrne, Faraway Cosplay, Dayna the Sloth
 * iluvcookiess
 * The Cosplay Sisters
 * Trillian Zee
 * Holly Wolf
 * Spider Natalie
 * maz.made
 * Lisa Mancini, murphyemilyy
 * Jrom33
 * RoyalBunny, Wild Arum
 * Ceres Chan
 * Positively Riveting
 * Luminata Cosplay
 * Stavvycosplay
 * Tumbling Cosplay
 * Ayachi Cosplay
 * Magiicosplay
 * somanyjets
 * Macrame Owl Cosplay
 * Cosplayq
 * Luxlo Cosplay
 * Amy Vexx
 * Angie Pants Cosplay
 * Baeged Cosplays