We’ve shown you cosplay and art from Long Beach Comic Con last weekend, but now I’d like to talk about panels. Now, if you’ve been to LBCC, you’ll know that it isn’t heavy on panels or programming, but the panels they do have are usually very interesting. In fact, this year they had a lineup under “The Wardrobe” of panels devoted only to cosplay creation, cosplay culture, and fandom apparel. One of the panels I attended was “The Many Colors of Cosplay.” A cosplay friend of ours was on the panel and so of course we showed up to support and to hear cosplayers of color discuss their talent and experiences in the community.
Panellists: Chief Geek Photography, Hobachi_08, Francheezy24_7, and bamf_425
This particular panel featured four black cosplayers, one of whom is also a cosplay photographer, and was moderated by CrystalRoseCreations, another member of the cosplayer community. You can find the panelists here on Instagram:
There were so many things I took away from the panelists’ discussion, and the most important one was the strong support that they receive from one another, especially when it comes to selecting which characters to cosplay. I filmed a few clips of their panel, so that you could hear their thoughts on cosplay culture.
I apologise in advance for the crappy iPhone videos. Next time I’m taking a better camera, I promise!
On The Support They Receive From Their Family and Friends
On Choosing Which Characters To Cosplay
On Carrying Prop Weapons
On a more serious note, toward the end of the panel, the cosplayers addressed the question of carrying prop weapons to a convention, namely guns. Every single cosplayer addressed being uncomfortable at times because of other peoples’ reactions to their fake weapons.
This was the first time I went to a panel with the intent of filming part of it for use later in the post, but I think I’m going to continue doing it in the future because I believe it’s important to address cosplay culture as much as the costumes.
What kind of cosplay content would you like to see on The Collective? Let us know in the comments!
-TC
acollectivemind.com 