Tag Archive for: cosplay

AN OVERFLOWING GUEST LIST AT DRAGON CON 2024

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 8/6/24

JOHN CLEESE, WALTER KOENIG, DANNY TREJO, JODIE WHITTAKER,

GIANCARLO ESPOSITO, VINCENT D’ONOFIRO, MING-NA WEN, AND COBIE SMULDERS

HEAD UP AN OVERFLOWING GUEST LIST AT DRAGON CON

Comics Legends and Creators Jim Steranko and Marv Wolfman Will Meet Fans

Newbon and English Lead a Large Cast of Baldur’s Gate III Voices; McFadden, Spiner, and Frakes Host a Meetup of Star Trek: Picard Fans; And Roswell Cast Reunites for its 25th Anniversary

Website here.

A trio of living legends – John Cleese, Walter Koenig, and action movie icon Danny Trejo – lead a stellar list of celebrity guests headed to Dragon Con, Atlanta’s internationally known pop culture, fantasy, science fiction, and gaming convention, for Labor Day weekend.

They will be joined by Giancarlo Esposito, Doctor Who’s Jodie Whittaker, Emmy-nominated Vincent D’Onofrio, Disney princess Ming-Na Wen, Firefly’s Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk, Marvel’s Cobie Smulders, and comics legends Jim Steranko and Marv Wolfman, all coming out to meet fans, lead panel discussions, and sign autographs.

Other top guests from television and movies include Resident Alien’s Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Alice Wetterlund, and Meredith Garretson; Baldur’s Gate III’s Neil Newbon, Jennifer English, Devora Wilde, Theo Solomon, and Aliona Baranova; Star Trek: Picard will be represented by Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Johnathan Frakes, John de Lancie, and Todd Stashwick and fans of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can see Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Dan Jeannotte, Melissa Navia, and Babs Olusanmokun.

Fans of WB’s hit aliens-among-us drama Roswell will have a chance to celebrate its 25th Anniversary with an original cast reunion featuring Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr, Majandra Delfino, Brendan Fehr, and Nick Wechsler.

Karen Prell, better known as Red Fraggle, will lead a band of puppeteers – and their Fraggle Rock puppets – from Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock television series in a series of sing-a-longs, panel discussions, and puppetry demonstrations. She will be joined by John Tartaglia (Gobo), Kevin Clash (Uncle Travelling Matt), Donna Kimball (Mokey), Jordan Lockhart (Wembley), Frank Meschkuleit (Boober/Pa Gorg) and Ben Durocher.

For Gen X fans, Dragon Con welcomes the cast of the original 1980s animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles including Barry Gordon, Cam Clarke, Renae Jacobs, Rob Paulsen, and Townsend Coleman – all four pizza-munching, crime-fighting turtles plus reporter April O’Neil.

Other media guests will represent Smallville, Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D, Heroes, 12 Monkeys, X-Men 97, Star Trek: Lower Decks, the Harry Potter franchise, and video game Demon Slayer.

An estimated 72,000 people are expected to attend Dragon Con over the five-day Labor Day Weekend – Aug. 29 to Sept. 2 – with events and activities across AmericasMart Buildings Two and Three and five host hotels – Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Marriott Marquis, Hilton Atlanta, Westin Peachtree, and Courtland Grand.

English actor and writer Cleese is best known as a co-founder of the Monty Python comedy troupe, responsible for Monty Python’s Flying Circus television show, three Monty Python films and an assortment of television and movie specials, video games and live tours. Outside of Monty Python, Cleese has had roles in dozens of television shows, movies, and video games, winning an Emmy for his guest appearance in the sitcom Cheers.  Cleese will be at Dragon Con on Saturday and Sunday only.

Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original 1960s Star Trek television series, brought teen idol good looks to the bridge of the USS Enterprise. Koenig also appeared in all seven motion pictures featuring the original cast. Later in his career, Koenig had a featured role in the science fiction television series Babylon 5.

Trejo, the self-described ex-con turned icon, has appeared in over 350 movies in his career and is best known for his leading role in the three Machete action films and the first three Spy Kids films. With his distinctive, tough guy looks, Trejo regularly plays gangsters, convicts, and other criminals. Despite his appearance, he is also known as one of the nicest people in Hollywood.

Giancarlo Esposito, best known to fans for playing a series of wicked characters in Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Mandalorian, The Boys, and Once Upon a Time, will next appear as the villain Sidewinder in Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World.

English actress Whittaker is best known for her five-year turn as the Thirteenth Doctor in the long-running Doctor Who television series, followed by her work in the crime drama Broadchurch. Whittaker, who will be at Dragon Con on Sunday only, will appear with Doctor Who castmate Catherine Tate.

D’Onofrio is best known to fans as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Daredevil, Hawkeye, (Georgia-produced) Echo and two new series slated for 2024 and 2025. Other key roles include Pvt. Pyle in Full Metal Jacket, Edgar the Bug in Men in Black, Hoskins in Jurassic World, Jack Horne in Magnificent Seven, and eleven years as Det. Robert Goren in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Wen, the voice of Mulan in Disney’s animated movie and television spin-offs, has appeared in a wide variety of fan-favorite television, including Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D, Star Wars’ The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, and Stargate Universe.

Fillion, best known to Dragon Con fans as Capt. Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds on television’s Firefly and its follow up film Serenity, currently stars in television’s The Rookie. He has previously starred in television’s Castle and made appearances in the Marvel films Suicide Squad, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and, in theaters now, Deadpool & Wolverine.

Tudyk, who appeared alongside Fillion in Firefly and Serenity, currently stars in SyFy’s Resident Alien and previously appeared in Star Wars Rogue One, American Dad, and pop-culture convention take down series, Con Man.

Cobie Smulders has played Agent Maria Hill in six Marvel Cinematic Universe movies between 2012 and 2019 as well as reprised the role in several MCU television shows, including Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D and What if? She was also a lead actor for nine seasons of the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Comic writer and artist Steranko changed the look of comics with innovative artwork featuring surrealism, psychedelia, op art, and graphic storytelling that became a benchmark of 1960s pop culture and the Silver Age of Comic Books.

Wolfman is an influential comics writer for DC and Marvel who created or co-created dozens of characters, including Cyborg, Raven, Deathstroke, Tim Drake/Red Robin, and Blade. In January 1970, Wolfman was the first comic writer to receive printed credit for his work, kicking off an industry wide change of practice.

DRAGON CON 2023: COME ON BARBIE LET’S GO PARTY!

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 9/25/23

Last year we said, “Every year, Dragon Con takes on a life of its own.” This year again was no different with fun trends like The Loyal Order of the Ribbon growing and even making the Dragon Con schedule, as well as the influx of Barbie and Super Mario Brothers. We’ve never seen so many Princess Peaches! That’s all on top of the fantastic cosplay, Mardi Gras vibes, Indepth panels, snaps with celebrities, themed parties, and live performances! 

Trends 

Not only was the Barbie movie with Margot Robbie a huge hit, so was her dress! Barbies in all shapes and sizes emerged this Dragon Con like a swarm of pink and blonde. You’d see gaggles of them taking photos and laughing. Not only did they do the new dress, but there were also barbies in boxes, themed barbies, and barbie mashups with other cosplays. Then, on the other hand, the huge 80’s and 90’s game returned to the big screen, Super Mario Brothers. This was the biggest surprise to see so many of them, every character too from groups with Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, and even Yoshi. This was mostly group costumes, couples, or friends, not lone cosplayers. The group makes more of an impact. We accidentally ran into a horde of them taking photos at the Hilton. Wow! There were so many. Finally, The Loyal Order of the ribbon is going STRONG again this year. More and more people had multiple ribbons, attended swaps, made the Dragon Con schedule, and even had a big competition for most. We think someone had upwards of 200 last we checked.  

Panels 

We’re not going to lie, this year was weird with the actors and writers’ strike and not being about to talk about movies or shows these celebrities were in, working on now, or upcoming. We attended the Elija Wood panel where they talked about a day they would like to relieve over and over, about their lives, families, memories, and more. We’re sure that people really wanted to talk to him about Frodo, but the questions were good anyway and we had a good time listening to a more personal panel. Dragon Con did a good job keeping it fun and light! Plus, we were surprised how many people wanted to attend this panel without even talking about any shows or movies! The panel was bursting at the seams with people and even more wanted in!  

Where are they now? 

There were some stark drops in several cosplays that were dominant last year. The biggest ones are Stranger Things and Eddie Munson. There were a few people sprinkled about with Hellfire Club t-shirts but not the groups and numbers as last year. Another one was there were visibly fewer blow-up dinosaurs this year. Being large and hot inside, we don’t blame them for not suiting up this year, but we thought we would see more since they trended high last year. And lastly, our beloved Deadpool, this has really fallen off the map this year, we may have seen two which is an interesting development.  

You must check out our photo journal of all our favorite cosplays, bots, costumes, and moments! 

NETHERWORLD HAUNTED HOUSE JOININGTHE ANNUAL DRAGON CON LINEUP THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 9/1/22

Kicking off the start of the official haunt season, NETHERWORLD Haunted House will once again bring its terrifying monsters, elaborate costumes, and an over-the-top parade float to the annual Dragon Con. Known as the largest multimedia pop culture convention in the world, Dragon Con draws thousands of fans of comic books, sci-fi, cosplay and gaming to Atlanta each year for a five-day event that brings their favorite characters and fantasy worlds to life. This year’s Dragon Con will take place from Thursday, Sept. 1 through Monday, Sept. 5, spanning through Labor Day weekend.
 
NETHERWORLD has played a significant role in Dragon Con every year since its creation in 1997, including acting as a sponsor for the official Dragon Con Parade broadcast on WUPA-TV, Atlanta’s CW-69. Taking place this Saturday, Sept. 3 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., this will be the first time the parade is operating without Covid restrictions since 2019, and the excitement is high among fans and regular spectators.
 
In addition to sponsoring the televised broadcast of the parade, NETHERWORLD is also bringing the element of horror. Fans can expect multiple vehicles, including an elaborate float, and over 50 NETHERWORLD characters fans love to fear! The Dragon Con parade will also mark the public debut of many terrifying creatures from its upcoming 2022 haunts, PARASITIC and THE UNDYING HORROR.
 
Additionally, the highly acclaimed haunted attraction is proud to once again sponsor Dragon Con’s horror track, the convention’s home for tales of terror and dark fantasy with a nightmarish lineup of panels, topics and guests. NETHERWORLD will have a booth set up in the Atlanta Marriott Marquis for the entire weekend where patrons will have the opportunity to talk to NETHERWORLD team members about the latest haunts and take photos with a few famed monsters.
 
Following Dragon Con, true horror lovers can look forward to NETHERWORLD’s official opening weekend on Friday, Sept. 23, and Saturday, Sept. 24. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at FearWorld.com.

Best of Dragon Con Saturday and Sunday 2019

Supernatural Group Shot, Meeting Harvey Guillen, Hilton Dance Party Part Deux, and Our Top 10 Groups, Costumes, or Cosplays

On Saturday, we headed to a Supernatural panel staring Sebastian Roche, DJ Qualls, Kim Rhodes, Samantha Smith, and surprise guest Ruth Connell. She didn’t have a seat so she sat in Kim Rhodes’ lap until they got her one. DJ Qualls came up with a game for us to play during the panel and the prize was an 18k gold tooth brush. I’m not sure it really was 18k gold, but there was a toothbrush he pulled out of his bag. How to play: everyone who asked a question picked a number and whoever was closest to the number he pre-picked won it. There was one lady who dressed up for the day as Mary Winchester in full nightgown and all and she ended up winning. Sounds perfect to us. They also discussed their favorite episodes, which included Baby, French Mistake, Regarding Dean, and Party On, Garth. A fan recently participated in GISH Mischa Collins’ (Castiel) charity that is the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt. We personally hadn’t heard about this and looked it up. Wow! Those are some daredevils that do these “tasks!” All the cast members said that they had done it. Interesting.

On Sunday night, we were walking out of the Hilton after watching a huge dance party when we walked into Harvey Guillen who was coming in the side door. I (Liz) recognized him and he was talking to another fan. When they were done, I went up and shook his hand and told him we loved him in What We Do in the Shadows as Guiermo and he was very nice. We haven’t seen the original “documentary” but he said was more of the same, but urged us to watch it. Maybe we will now that Harvey wants us to watch it! REALLY wanted to ask him about his character’s twist on the show, but we’re sure he couldn’t divulge anything.

Hilton Dance Party Part 2 on Sunday was bigger, “badder,” and even more blow-up costumes. So, it all comes full circle as we ended up back at the Hilton for an huge dance party that erupted into a dozen dinosaurs, one very large Chewbacca, several Pikachu, even a group of Pac Man ghosts. What a way to end Dragon Con 2019 with all these characters from all the genres dancing together to Party in the USA. Personally, can’t stand the song, but it was fun to watch.

Our top 10 Groups, Costumes, or Cosplays (no particular order):

Dragon Con 2019

Date: Thursday, August 29th to Monday, September 2nd

Time: 24 Hours

About: Dragon Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe! With over thirty-five fan based tracks, 3500 hours of panels, workshops, gaming, a parade down Peachtree, film festivals, art show, comics and pop art, nightly concerts and parties, bands and DJs, tons of costume contests, dealers, and exhibitors, all squeezed into four short days, Dragon Con is non-stop FUN! Dragon Con 2019 is expecting some 85,000 attendees with an estimated local economic impact of $93 million. Depending on the number of days you want to go you can get any badge for any budget. Badges ranges from $15 for a one-day membership (Thursday) to $140 for the entire 5-day weekend.

More Information:

https://www.dragoncon.org/