Showtime! Cosplayers star at Kansas City’s Planet Comicon

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Wonder Woman was represented at Kansas City’s Planet Comicon this spring.

Comic con season is well underway. The Midwest has seen its share of large and small conventions. Hundreds of conventions based on comic books, sci fi and horror movies, television series and games are being hosted throughout the United States, including dozens in the Midwest. We plan to attend a few this year.

We will be attending O Comic Con for the third consecutive year this weekend. We’re looking forward to seeing cosplayers wearing their favorite character outfits and taking in celebrity question-and-answer sessions. We’ve seen some interesting celebrities at comic cons.

We attended our first Kansas City comic con earlier this spring. Planet Comicon is one of the largest fan conventions in the Midwest. We had a great time and hope to attend again.

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DC Comics characters at Planet Comicon.

My favorite part of comic cons is the people watching. People dressed in outfits of their favorite characters are fun to view. It intrigues me as to why people choose to be the character they choose. From Wonder Woman to Darth Vader, people have a reason for choosing their character. Kansas City offered us dozens of Star Wars characters, Star Trek crew members, as well as other movies and series.

Most cosplayers will pose for photos if you ask. The primary rule of comicons is do not harass or touch cosplayers. It seems odd that you must remind people not to touch another person without permission, but that’s the age we live in, I guess.

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A major rule at any comic con is treat people with respect when photographing them.

We spotted new characters at the Kansas City Planet Comicon. One man was dressed as the Goblin King from “Labyrinth,” a role portrayed by the late David Bowie.

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Does this person resemble David Bowie’s character or what?

Doctor Strange made an appearance in Kansas City. A cosplayer looked eerily similar to the Marvel character as portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch.

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Doctor Strange and friend make an appearance at KC’s Planet Comicon.

“The Walking Dead” was represented in Kansas City. The latest bad guy was portrayed by at least six people that we noticed. Negan carries a bat with barbed wire wrapped around it. He uses the bat to do some very bad things to some good people. A professional cosplayer resembled Negan the closest, followed by one more guy.

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Keith Zen is a professional cosplayer and cohosted a cosplay pageant in Kansas City. He has a knack for looking like a lot of characters, such as Negan from “The Walking Dead.”

Disney princesses made an appearance. One woman portrayed Belle from “Beauty and the Beast.” She looked amazing in her gold gown.

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“Beauty and the Beast” presents Belle.

“Star Wars” had so many cosplayers that a parade of cosplayers was held one morning. After Darth Vader gave me his choke hold sign, a Storm Trooper decided to shoot me. “You missed,” I said. “I know,” he replied. “Star Wars” fans will get that joke.

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A storm trooper and other characters take on a small Jedi in battle.

One section of the exhibition floor contained several “Star Wars” sets. Each was represented by characters.

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The emperor and friends.

Of course, I had to get a photo of Princess Leia. The woman portraying her was a very nice person to pose for a few minutes.

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Princess Leia.

I’m a huge fan of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” A few people dressed as characters. A man and woman each dressed as Star-Lord. She carried a stuffed version of Baby Groot. The kicker for me, though, was the father-son team portraying Groot and Rocket the Raccoon.

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Rocket and Groot from “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

The success of DC Comic’s “Suicide Squad” in 2016 launched quite a few women dressing as Harley Quinn. The character is known for her variety of clothes, ranging from one piece joker to skimpy two-piece outfits.

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A mother-daughter team pose as Harley Quinn and Batman. Harley is about the lay the hammer down on the youthful Batman.

Female empowerment was well-represented at Planet Comicon. In addition to Wonder Woman and Princess Leia, a couple more women dressed as Hawkgirl. The character made her first appearance in a comic in 1940.

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Hawkgril.

Comicons also include whimsical characters. We saw a group of people portraying Mario, Luigi and princesses, as well as another group played the Queen of Hearts and her guards (from “Alice in Wonderland”).

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The Queen of Hearts and her guards.

Cosplayers are my favorite part of attending comicon, because they are great photo opportunities. People have fun dressing up and sharing their love of their character. Besides cosplayers, celebrities take part in fun question-and-answer sessions and vendors offer some interesting items for sale. We recommend visiting a comicon in your area. They’re fun and we challenge you not to have a good time.