Comic-Con 2022: The Most Wildly Creative Cosplay Masks
Comic-Con wouldn’t be Comic-Con without cosplay.
As much a part of the event as Hall H panels and comics themselves, getting decked out in elaborate costumes—or looking at people decked out in elaborate costumes—is one of the main reasons people attend. This year, cosplay felt even more crucial. Due to health concerns over the spread of Covid-19, there hasn’t been an in-person Comic-Con for the past two years. Last weekend, when the event once again filled the streets of San Diego, the cosplayers came back too.
But not without some, um, modifications. Just because Comic-Con held an IRL event this year doesn’t mean Covid is over—far from it—so people had to take precautions to stay safe, namely by wearing masks. Now, cosplayers are used to wearing masks, but the kinds required to stop the spread of infectious disease aren’t necessarily the kind that Spider-Man wears. So, as should be expected, fans got creative.
WIRED asked photographer Daniel Gonçalves to attend last week’s convention and look for cosplayers with some of the most creative masks around. He found some great ones—and a few that didn’t have masks at all.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesMaria Aly, a 24-year-old pianist from Colorado, 3D printed the headband for this Scarlet Witch costume.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesIn a bit of Stranger Things-themed cosplay, Caitlin Findley dressed as Billy Hargrove wearing a Scoops Ahoy uniform.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesThirty-four-year-old Kelly Hanken came to Comic-Con dressed as a Surfer Boy delivery driver, a la Argyle in Stranger Things. “Surfer Boy is all about the jazz vibe,” Hanken told Gonçalves, “[I] had to have a good mask to match that vibe.”
Photographs: Daniel GonçalvesTwenty-five-year-old Allison Wall made the armor for this Elden Ring-themed costume out of foam. Actually, she made the entire outfit, minus the helmet.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesMarta Balusek, a science teacher from Wisconsin, came dressed as a mashup of Ursula and her human persona Vanessa from The Little Mermaid. She crafted her mask to match her outfit when she found out about Comic-Con’s mask mandate.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesThis mask—if it can be called that—is one that Jordan McGhee made out of cardboard and fiberglass. The costume the 32-year-old from San Diego is wearing is Pyramid Head from the Silent Hill horror game series.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesMiguel and Lucy Capuchino came dressed as mashups of Boba Fett and a mariachi. The pair have been doing cosplay for more than 40 years.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesKia Well, a 20-year-old student from San Diego, dressed as Spirit Blossom Ahri from League of Legends.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesKia Haynes found a very interesting way to incorporate a zippered mask into her version of Ken Kaneki from the manga Tokyo Ghoul.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesThirty-eight-year-old Sarah Scheidegger’s costume is an MTV Moonman. (Not pictured: A sign made out of cardboard and a Swiffer handle.)
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesJosh Shepheard, a 33-year-old media professional from Fontana, California, came to Comic-Con as a zombified version of Captain America. He made his mask by melting a Halloween mask and adding it to his Cap garb.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesLizz Metcalf, a 32-year-old UX designer from LA, made her cyberpunk costume.
Photographs: Daniel GonçalvesMark Sherman, a 59-year-old doctor from San Diego dressed as the Rocky Horror Picture Show’s iconic Frank N. Furter.
Photograph: Daniel GonçalvesSheila Noseworthy dressed as Athena from Army of the Dead. The 45-year-old from San Diego made her costume from scratch.
Photographs: Daniel GonçalvesEvan Ohl is a 29-year-old brand designer from Valencia, California. He calls this outfit his Skiff Bandai.
