Underneath their makeup, cosplayers are ordinarypeople, who, now and then, get to beextraordinary. You get into the costumes, you getinto a new character. You get to be somebody elsefor a day. Cosplayers sometimes buy costumes andmasks, but most of them create their own outfits andoften compete in contests at events such asComicpalooza, a convention that showcases genres including comic books, science fiction andfantasy, as well as gaming.

They get to really show off different types of craftsmanship andthere is a lot of pride in that and a lot of professionalism for some of them. We are a part of agroup that let us smith, we work under a master of smith, and everything you see here, weactually had a part in creating. While many cosplayers may seem like extroverts who enjoyshowing off in public, quite a few are introverts who are more comfortable with a mask ormakeup covering their face. One self-proclaimed introvert is Jim, who came to Comicpaloozafrom San Antonio, Texas. It helps me socialize and it has really helped me a lot. Jim said heoften recommends it to young people he meets who may suffer from shyness.



Because theymight be introverted just like I was. So, [I am] kind of helping them come out and talk andsocialize. Cosplay helps people to get a girl. But for most cosplayers, the real thrill is justgetting into costume. It is really exciting to step outside of your life and be somebody new.There are cosplay events all over the world now and an international competition is held everyyear at the World Cosplay Summit in Japan.