By Anita Wills
High quality amateur cosplayers and talented original artists helped brighten up a some-what dull Long Beach Comic Con at the Long Beach Convention Center held on September 2nd and 3rd, 2023. This year's con was in a small room smashed in between two other events which made finding the entrance very confusing. The attendees consisted of mostly families with young children, which unfortunately did not benefit the provocative professional cosplayers who acquired a booth for selling pics and making fans.
Among the vendors selling superheroes' faces on t-shirts and stickers sat the stand out original artist Karina Gazizova. With the clever use of markers on watercolor paper, Karina creates peculiar female characters against a stark white background, “It is important for me to do monthly art challenges to push myself. A strict personal goal of mine is to support myself using only my artistic talents, so far I have been successful.”
Notable eye-catching cosplays included a spot on Weird Barbie from the recent blockbuster film, a detailed Star Fire from DC’s Teen Titans, and a very fitting Crowley from the fantasy novel turned TV series Good Omens. Star Fire commented that she had been cosplaying for five years and also cosplays as crime fighter Black Canary, whose first appearance was in a 1947 Flash comic book. Crowley stated that they relate to the character’s backstory of a falling from grace in their own personal way.
It’s unfortunate that the talent who made the con worthwhile had to pay out of pocket. Perhaps one day the cosplayers will unionize. What do you think? Leave a comment to join the conversation.
