Cosplay and Heroes Alliance entertain at the Tampa ComicCon
Costumed fans are a mainstay at comic book and science fiction conventions around the country, and this weekend’s Tampa By Comic Book Convention was no exception. Coordinated with the non-profit Heroes Alliance, fans dressed up as their favorite characters, posed for other fans snapping pictures and competed in a friendly costume contest (each day).
John and Bert, from HA, confirmed they have assisted with the tradition for the last eight years (“atleast”) as Heroes Alliance raise funds for charities. Large Green Lantern standees were raffled off to raise funds for the St. Joseph Children’s Hospital.
“MegaCon is fun, amazing, the biggest one (convention) I’ve ever been to”, John said, describing last month’s Mega Convention in Orlando. “We were there assisting George Perez with the Heroes Initiative.”
CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM 2012 MEGACON – HERE
Bert offered a lot of praise for the Tampa show: “It’s small, local and accessible. Every couple months there is one, so you don’t have to wait. You can set aside some spending money, get to shop at a local show. I know I do.”
Dressed as a Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, Bert confessed his love of Transformer toys and how happy to have the regular Tampa show.
“The local shows disappeared for a while. You had to wait for the big shows to shop for what the local shop didn’t have.”
Regarding the cosplay during that time, Bert said that adults weren’t really trying: “The focus was the kids. Parents were showcasing them.”
To illustrate his point he pointed to a Gonk costume (from Star Wars) which is an amazing and detailed kids’ costume. (See a photo HERE)
“Now the costumes just get better and better!”
After some deliberation, John and Bert agreed that the best they had ever seen was the two War Machines from the previous Tampa Comic Con. (See a photo HERE)
CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM THE LAST TAMPA COMIC CON – HERE
Fans posed with the Joker, Darth Vader, and the Green Lantern before lining up for some fun cosplay competition. Check out the slideshow of photos from the convention.