The last week of July, cosplayers around the globe gathered in Southern California to show off their newest looks at the 2024 San Diego Comic Con. Zeon Santos and I were lucky enough to capture the fun. Here are some of our favorite cosplay pics from the convention.

It was hot at the convention this year, so I'm sure Nick Wilde had no problem selling off Pawpsicles whether or not he had the proper permits.

And speaking of foxes, if Nick was looking for a girlfriend, he could do worse than this Foxy Tails or her friend Sonic.

If you like sexy costumes inspired by video games though, it's hard to beat this near-naked Pikachu.

Personally, I couldn't get over the intensity of this badass Storm, complete with the white eyes she gets while using her powers.

I'm not a killer pinball player, but I am a fan, which is why I always stop by the Stern pinball room at SDCC. This year, I was actually treated to a special press presentation of the John Wick machine and I am so glad I got to play this game. As you can see above, John Wick himself had the chance to play the game at the con, but sadly I missed that opportunity.

There's so much to love on these machines if you're a fan of John Wick. His dogs serve as slingshots, enemies are on the ramps, the New York Continental Hotel is right there in the center, his weapons crate pops open during play —and his gorgeous car even moves! The gameplay is fast and entertaining —you'd hardly expect anything with John Wick to drag on, would you?

Perhaps one of the coolest features of this and other modern Stern games though is that you can actually play levels, save your progress, and update worldwide leader boards when you register an account and scan your QR code. Yes, getting one of these pinball machines for your home is a little pricey, being as how they start at $6,900 (about average for a machine of this quality), but the Stern Pinball account means you don't have to fork out the money to bring the game home just to be able to master it.

My verdict: if you like John Wick and you like pinball, find an arcade with this game ASAP.

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Have you always wanted to walk through the Slurm factory, enjoy a donut with The Simpsons or do an alien autopsy of Roger from American Dad? If so, you'll want to head to Hulu's Animayhem activation at this year's San Diego Comic Con.

There's a lot of fun to be had here, including a snack of green sprinkled donuts, refreshing Slurm, a Solar opposites stress test that gives you a relaxing squishy toy, and some incredible pins at the end.

If you are in the area this weekend, stop by for some fun. 

Kid Robot had been selling blank vinyl toys for years, making it easy to color your own designs amd create your own one-of-a-kind creation... But unless you start adding on to the sculpture, it will always be the same shape as everyone else's.

If you really want to let your inner artist shine, you'll want to check out Marmals. We spotted these at Comic Con and my son fell in love -and so did I. These adorable creations have magnetic parts so you can switch around the head, arm, and legs, and even change parts between different models to create entirely new creatures. You can even deck them out with adorable accessories like sneakers and beanies.

Need a little help getting your design started? They also sell sticker packs you can color in. Not into making your own art? Then check out the gorgeous galactic designs. Whether for an art toy, desk toy, or a kid's toy, these cute creations offer something for just about everyone.

One of the great things about the San Diego Comic Con is that there is always something fun to do - even if you don't have a Comic Con badge. A perfect example is the Paramount+ Lodge, where visitors can get an inside look at the some of their favorite shows. 

Want to get a better feeling for your favorite Ghosts character? You can smell a perfume representative of the sitcom's different ghosts. They even send you home with a small sample. 

If you prefer making ghosts over hanging out with them, you can always explore a little blood splatter at a killer's crime scenes from Dexter: New Blood. 

If you're hungry, you can grab a bite of pizza and a gourmet lemonade with the Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Or if you're thirsty, consider grabbing a drink at the Tulsa King Bred2Buck.

Other fun activities: get a custom-made Star Trek tee, go jellyfishing in Bikini Bottom, or get a picture with an imaginary friend from IF (though the photo op was broken when we went, so we didn't get to hang out with an IF).

If you find yourself in downtown San Diego this weekend, drop by the lounge for a good time. 

The San Diego Comic Con was a few weeks ago, and as always, the cosplayers came out to celebrate. We were there to capture the fun and here are some of the most fun costumes we saw this year.

All images by Zeon Santos.

This Mask cosplayer looked simply Smooookin' and he had the personality match.

There were Barbie cosplayers everywhere this year, but we really loved this great cowgirl Barbie.

Here's another great Barbie, who even had perfect matching nails for the cosplay.

Not everyone really seemed to be living in a Barbie World —this Other Mother was delightfully creepy, just like the one in Coraline.

Speaking of creepy, this Sandman crew was downright freaky, especially The Corinthian.

Along those lines, Leatherface is always a bit freaky.

Comic Con finally returned this year after two years of cancellations due to covid. While attendance was lower and the vibe was a little more relaxed than usual, the con certainly wasn't short on cosplayers who were thrilled to be back to one of their favorite hobbies.

All images by Zeon Santos or myself. While the con was a whole month ago, due to personal reasons, we couldn't get the images up until now. Hope you all enjoy them!

This guy was so great, when I asked him if I could get a picture, he yelled "why are you taking pictures of me when you should be out there taking pictures of Spider-Man?"

While I didn't happen to get any great pictures of Spider-Man, Zeon happened to catch this gorgeous Elektra in action.

When it comes to spot-on superhero cosplays though, it was hard to beat this Captain America posed right beside a bust of the real thing.

Then again, sometimes originality trumps authenticity -and it's hard not to love this chancla-throwing Wonder Woman.

I wonder how she would get along with this chimichanga-loving Deadpool.

The first WonderCon since the convention had to be cancelled back in 2020 took place last month and I was there along with Zeon Santos to photograph all the wonderful cosplays from the convention. Regretably, I still fell victim to the dreaded convention plague (though thankfully not covid) even while wearing a mask, so I wasn't able to get these photos together until now, but I'm happy to finally be able to share them all with you.

One of the great things about WonderCon is the number of awesome Disney-inspired cosplays since Disneyland is right across the street from the convention center. This brillliant Haunted Mansion cosplay was easily my personal favorite both for their impressive skill and because the source material is a personal favorite of mine.

This cosplay of Cinderella's evil step sister is also quite enchanting -even an awful character can have a brilliantly gorgeous dress.

After the regularly scheduled July Comic Con was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus, the organizers were finally able to put together a "Special Edition" version of the event on Thanksgiving weekend. This special edition was also a bit of a "limited edition" since the con was dramatically smaller than the regular event, with far fewer exhibitors, attendees, events and everything else that makes the San Diego Comic Con so famous. That being said, there was still plenty to enjoy, including plenty of fantastic cosplayers like these.

All images by Zeon Santos or myself.

This Final Fantasy group cosplay looked fantastic together and made me want to start playing the game.

Similarly, this Yennifer cosplay by Sewpoke is loaded with absolutely breathtaking details.

Every Star Wars fan has their own favorite bounty hunter, with many switching from the original fan-favorite, Boba Fett, to either The Mandalorian or IG-11 once Baby Yoda fever swept the internet. But while favorites are totally subjective, when you look at the bounty hunters from a legal perspective, Boba Fett is clearly the best bounty hunter in Star Wars, at least, according to San Diego defense lawyer Peter Liss. A short bit of his reasoning:

Boba’s insistence that Han be kept alive also means he is following the law to the letter unlike Greedo by not using deadly force unnecessarily. In fact, Boba even argues against freezing Han in carbonite despite Darth Vader’s insistence on it out of fear that his target could be harmed. While many people unfamiliar with the law like to argue that this would be false imprisonment, it would actually be a legal citizen’s arrest by a bounty hunter...

Wonder where Greedo, IG-11 and the Mandalorian fit into this attorney's rankings and who is the least law-abiding bounty hunter among the group? Then check out: The Best Star Wars Bounty Hunter from a Legal Perspective

Image: Boba Fett's Fugitive Recovery Service by ArtistXero

Many geek gifts consist of little more than tee shirts, posters and the like... but while those are great, they also aren't exactly sophisticated. If you're looking for a tasteful gift that still has a geeky edge, you won't want to miss this round up of classy gifts for the nerds in your life.

The list includes everything from original artwork to jewelry and from customized glassware to surprisingly naturalistic Minnie Mouse ears. Don't miss the full list here.

For Halloweenheads like myself, it pays to be spooky all year long, but, of course, fall is an extra great time to show off your love of the strange and unusual. That's where the pins from Etsy seller Santos Demonios come in.

You can choose from really spooky designs, like the skull above, or opt for something a little more whimsical, though decidedly still monstrous, like this delightful Muppet monster.

You can read more about the pins and see a few more designs over at Rue The Day.

Halloween will be here in only a month, which means it's the perfect time to start decorating -and you can either go cutesy or creepy when it comes to Halloween. If you lean towards the scary side of things, you'll want to check out this great post on Rue The Day with some truly horrific decorations like the guy escaping from his grave above.

You can make most of the decorations yourself, but if you don't have the time, there are also a few cool Etsy designs you can purchase, like this nightmarish corpsified cat skeleton.

Hope your neighborhood kids are brave if you actually incorporate these kinds of decorations in your yard or you might not end up giving out any candy at all!

It seems like just about everything has an award show these days, but while some of these are utterly superfluous, the idea of Etsy starting its own awards only makes sense. After all, Etsy is well known as the most popular marketplace for handmade goods and with that many artists coming up with their own unique creations, it's only logical to start recognizing some of the most impressive standouts.

Like most awards shows, the Etsy Design Awards is broken down into categories. In this case, Inventive Decor, which includes the wooden record player up top and this velcro dinosaur wall paper, Signature Style, like this whimsical swimming pool necklace, Festive Celebrations for celebrating special occasions, such as this custom pop-the-question book and this wedding arch made with delightfully oversized flowers, Earth-Friendly, including things like this cute bee hotel, and finally, the Creative Collaborations, which is made up exclusively of custom-order Etsy listings.

The Creative Collaborations one is filled with particularly creative and fun finds, such as AnimalAristocat's custom renaissance portraits of people's pets.

You can also immortalize your pet as a ceramic sculpture like these thanks to RyabaVoshCeramics.

If you prefer portraits of people over pets, don't worry, there are still some award entrants that can help you out there. For example, there are these beautiful paper portraits by the PurplePaperPeople.

The Etsy Design Awards will announce their winners in September, so be sure to come back in a few weeks to see who was officially named the best of the best.

From the panels to the exclusives and from the brand activations to the celebrity signings, there is a  lot to enjoy about the San Diego Comic Con. But perhaps the best part for those who don't get to attend the convention themselves is the chance to see all the amazing cosplays created by so many talented fans. And while it's easy to feel left out because you missed the con itself, the good news about getting to enjoy the cosplays online rather than in person is that you are able to avoid the dreaded Comic Con plague which managed to hit me and my family this weekend, as well as many of our friends who attended. So sit back, enjoy these fun photos and be happy for your good health.

All images by Zeon Santos or myself.

These cosplayers from Fathoms of Fantasy not only look perfect, they even handed out comic strips featuring them in their costumes in a classic Spy Vs. Spy tale.