Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo 2018 recently arrived and it did not disappoint! It featured several different guests such as David Tennant (the 10th Doctor from Doctor Who), Ray Park (Darth Maul from Star Wars), Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman) and more! The true passion at the expo comes from the people attending. The amount of cosplayers this year was incredible! No matter where you were, you could see several well made cosplays from superheroes to anime.
Interviewing cosplayers at Edmonton Expo allowed us to see how much cosplaying meant to them. All around they shared the interest of being able to be someone they’re not. Putting on a suit and mask can bring you into a whole different world.
Dakota Strongman was cosplaying the classic Raimi Spider-Man suit. When asked why he came to cosplay at the Edmonton Expo he said;
“Because I’m a nerd and I love meeting new nerdy people while dressing up as my favorite character, Spider-Man.”
Peter Fourlaris and Franz Miguel are two cosplayers who dress as Superman and Batman every year. They said they cosplay because they love the characters. When kids look up and see them, they think they are the real Batman and Superman. Kids get so excited to high five real looking superheroes.
Where there’s cosplayers there will always be photographers. The halls are filled with cosplay photoshoots. We met up with Billy Wong, who has been taking photos for 16 years . When asked how many pictures he took throughout the weekend, he replied;
“I’ve approached this con a little differently so we are going to assume probably like… 2000.”
Being honest, everyone is in it to nerd out over the celebrity guests that come out every year. We were lucky enough to sit in on the panels of voice actors Josh Grelle (the voice of Yuri from Yuri on Ice) and Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman). The take away from listening to them both talk on stage was the best part. They both shared in different ways how their characters have affected so many people around the world.The shows they voice in are truly life changing – they have inspired people to overcome fear and not be afraid to take risks.
The convention ended Sunday evening with a final photoshoot for every cosplayer. The halls began to get less busy and the vendors began to close. People left with bags full of “nerdy” items in a rush to avoid the crowd in the cold weather.
If you missed out this year and want to join the fun next time, Edmonton Comic and Entertainment expo happens every September with new guests each year! If you don’t want to wait that long, Calgary also has a similar expo that happens every April.
– Hunter Murray and Chelsea Richardson
