New York Comic Con 2021 cosplay gallery

After last year’s online festivities, New York Comic Con is back in person. Although everyone must be fully vaccinated before they can enter the indoor venue, the attendees seem more excited than ever to return to the con. Cosplayers are the most excited after being away for a year. These cosplayers love to use masks, and they have even found creative ways to make them part of their costumes.

Each cosplayer we talked to had their own reactions to the pandemic. Some people found it difficult to find inspiration in a hobby that is meant to be shared, and others used this time to think about their hobbies and craft.

Everyone agrees on one thing: New York Comic Con has arrived and people are super excited about dressing up as their favourite characters. NYCC has become a favorite event for cosplayers. The thing that got them into cosplaying — seeing people dressed up in incredibly creative costumes, paying homage to favorite characters, and having fun. A year apart made the heart grow fonder, but now they’re back and ready to show off their costumes — be they handmade, bought, sourced, or any other combination — and celebrate the characters that they love.

Katie — Steampunk Adora from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

“Adora is a queer icon. She is a wonderful character. The show’s setting is industrial and rugged. I was inspired to make her costume Steampunky and incorporate this world. Most of the sword was created over quarantine. This sword is made from wood. It’s carved. [The costume]It took three months. I cosplay now for my own enjoyment and not to please others. I do it for fun and to be proud of my costumes.”

Katie’s Instagram

Ashley Davis — Bowsette Starting at

“The pandemic has made me more okay with cosplaying AnythingIt is. You see, before I was like Oh, I must cosplay someone of my size or color!It is. But no — now, screw it: I cosplay who I want!”

Drax & Kris — Carnage Punk and Venom Punk

They are: “Kris has been doing this for about five years, since he was about three. Then Drax was there for the last three years. We’ve been coming to Comic Con for a while and we just said Hey, let’s get dressed! Let’s put some costumes on and work from thereIt is possible to do this by clicking here Each mask was completed in three to four weeks. Layering the paint is what’s the most difficult part.Every time you do a layer, you have to let it dry and that takes a week.”

Kris’s Instagram | Drax’s Instagram

Juni — Wave from Marvel Comics

“I am dressed up as Wave from Marvel — Filipino representation! It’s my first Marvel cosplay. I’ve been cosplaying for about nine years, and weirdly, I’ve never done a Marvel hero. I’ve always done anime. I’m such a weeb. I got into cosplay because of Pokémon. Slowpoke was the first time I cosplayed. That’s how it started and after that it just went off.

Everything I made for this costume, I sewn. Everything was then constructed. They were finished last night. It was difficult to make the spandex suit. It was not a problem for me because I use a lot foam armor. That’s probably why I avoided superheroes — cuz it’s more of a spandex outfit.”

Juni’s Instagram

Able Tong — A Disney Carousel from Disney Parks

“The hat took a whole summer. The hat was a laborious task that required a lot more assembly. My friend called it ‘paper engineering.’ I drew the rides. These were designed by me. The frames, and flags. They are an amalgamation of my favorite characters and the colors that I think would be most prominent. The design was made so that characters could be removed and new ones added if needed. The only thing I didn’t make were the murals inside them, but everything else I made myself. I don’t even really consider myself a full cosplayer, since it’s really just the hat!”

Able’s Instagram

Philip Odango — Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop

“The hardest part is actually keeping the collar up! It is holding together because I only have one piece of thread. The entire costume was sewn from top to bottom. One of the challenges was actually trying to find material that matched in color — this is a stretch material, this is a non-stretch material. To get the exact same sheen as the original color, you had to shop at several stores in order to find the correct material.

I’ve been cosplaying since 2003. My first attempt was with Edward Scissorhands, which I made from pizza boxes. The fingers were attached to a garbage bag and the body was made of a plastic bag. Ever since then, I’ve made over 60 costumes. I’ve been a judge at international conventions. Multiple business partners and sponsors are part of my work. I’ve taught classes. I’ve been able to contribute to my community by creating masks for our frontline workers and working with organizations that distribute them.”

Philip’s Instagram

Betty & Jenna — Riddler and The Batman Who Laughs from DC Comics

Jenna: “We make everybody smile with the Baby Yodas! These [Robin ones] took a little over a month, because we had to make the heads and cut their mouths open.”

Betty: “The Riddler one is actually made out of an older build of a jacket of mine.”

Jenna’s Instagram

Kat, Angie, and Nelson — Maki Zenin, and Nobara Kugisaki, and Itadori Yuji from Jujutsu Kaisen

Kat “I’m Maki from Jujutsu KaisenI love her character. She is a character I love and I picked her. Two different weapons are hers and she wanted me to create them. I decorated the whole thing over a week.”

Angie “I’m Nobara Kugisaki from Jujutsu Kaisen. I chose her because she’s also a badass. I think she’s one of the better written female anime characters. We’re friends, so we decided to all cosplay together!”

Nelson“I’mItadori Yuji … but at the same time Sakuna. When he’s transforming like halfway. That’s when all the tattoos come out. I think it’s really cool to cosplay half-and-half.”

Kat’s Instagram | Angie’s Instagram | Nelson’s Instagram

Noni — Isabelle from Animal Crossing

“I usually love to make my cosplays, but I just didn’t have time. AliExpress and Amazon were two of the most popular sources. In the past I’ve made a Princess Mononoke costume, and I actually used clay and papier-mâché to make the mask. I really want to get back into it.”

Steven — Steve from Blues Clues

“It may sound egotistical, but I do it because people react. They look at me as I approach them, and they remember their childhood. I love making other people smile. That’s why I’ve been doing this for the past five years. It is something I keep up to date. Blue was my first notebook. Then I got the Handy Dandy. Magenta came to me. I got mail. I got sticky note pawprints.

Find this ShirtThe hardest was. It’s a legit rugby shirt. You get green shirts, but they’re not the right colors. One day, I was lucky enough to find the right shirt. It cost a lot of money and it’s really heavy, but it’s too perfect.”

Tina and Emily — Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens

Tina “This is pieces I’ve had in my wardrobe, or bought separately. My only creation was the chest tattoo. It was difficult to find the hat. The hat should be flat and wide so that it doesn’t look too witchy. And I didn’t want just a standard Fedora. I wanted a nice feminine-looking one!”

Emily“Finding things that would coordinate color-wise and look-wise is harder than you think. You see stuff all the time, but then once you’re actually looking for it, it’s like you can’t find it.”

Tina’s Instagram | Emily’s Twitter

Danni — Hawkgirl from DC Comics

“I like winged characters! She’s my favorite DC character. The wings are a pulley system and there’s about 4,000 feathers on them. This took about 25 hours. It was finished last night. The pandemic got me more into cosplay, because I had nothing to doAnd I threw myself into learning how to hand make things.”

Danni’s Instagram and TikTok

Sophia — Elenka from Shining Nikki

“This is Elenka from Shining NikkiI. It was beautiful. Oh my God, that’s terrible! I’ve been working on it many hours a day for two and a half months. [Cosplaying]It is so creative and a fantastic use of art and craft. This is my first cosplay I’ve done in over two years.”

Sophia’s Instagram

Lexis — Shirley the Fortune Teller from Courage the Cowardly Dog

“The hardest part was actually figuring out what her makeup would be, because she’s a dog. I wanted to do a more modern take rather than actually like a dog.”

Rachelle — Cruella from Cruella

“I’m Cruella in the 10 seconds she’s on top of the car. It was amazing and fascinating and dramatic and I loved it … so I decided to make it. It was July, and I completed it last night. This is the only exception to this [front]All other items are handmade except for the skirt. My first sewing project was the skirt. [the back]Then, I ran out of time so just hot-glued it. This is my first very major build, the first one I’ve ever really done.”

Rachelle’s Instagram

Jack and Van Brown — Tanjiro and Nezuko from Demon Slayer

Jack: “It’s quality time, dad and son, spending it together! The box is meant for me to actually carry the boy and also roll him. We were gonna do Anime Japan, and it’s designed to break up so you can actually get it on a plane. We made the entire box and we tricked it out for New York Comic Con by adding the lights.”

Van “[The hardest part was]I’m likely to get the measurements of what it would be like for me. I’m average height — not a super teeny tiny person. I was determined to find something light but sturdy enough that he could carry me around on his back. And also small enough but I could still fit.”

Jack’s Instagram

Jason Hettel — Steampunk Batman from DC Comics

“I’m Steampunk Batman. Version two is this. Two years ago, I did an original version and was awarded the New York Comic Con third-place best in show. After that I decided I’d do a whole new one. Batman was my favorite Batman. I chose steampunk, because I love old stuff.”

Danielle — Furby from … real life

“I just think Furbies are neat! It’s a puppet, so getting it to blink and stuff was the hardest part. I like making puppets — I was an animation student and I’ve made films with puppets. I just wanted to make a big ol’ Furby.”

Danielle’s Instagram

Ben — Mayor McCheese from McDonalds

“I picked Mayor McCheese, because it’s funny. Usually when I cosplay, it’s because I dress as things that make me laugh. In the past I’ve dressed as Man-Ray from SpongebobCaptain Crunch. The most difficult part was figuring out how to manage the weight and make it so I won’t die while walking around.”

The Rivera family — Doc Ock, Kraven the Hunter, and Spider-Gwen from Marvel

Paola Rivera “I have [the tentacles]The backpack is basically a wooden plate. I’m just praying to God they don’t fall. Hot glue was used. It worked this year [my daughter]One of the best! We’re dressing up all four days. She decided to dress up as Spider-Gwen, Batgirl, and Spiderman. These are her favorite characters. So we did our cosplays around that.”