Convention for the unconventional: a day out at Comic Con London

It’s Halloween and monsters have gathered at Royal Victoria Dock in London. There’s a Klingon on the tube and I’ve just seen Dr Who sprinting up the escalator. The Joker is buying a bottle of Coke from a vending machine and a battalion of stormtroopers has just marched past. It’s as if an imaginary world has come to life and one of the many storylines from a Marvel Superhero film is about to kick off. More than 100,000 fans of comics, TV, film and video games are expected to descend on London’s ExCel centre over the course of the weekend for Comic Con and It’s Nice That, along with photographer Louis Porter, went down to see what the fuss was about.

Comic Con is an annual gathering of enthusiasts, fans, and, most importantly, cosplayers. It’s a giant trade fair conceived to extract cash from one of the most loyal fanbases, or tribes, in the world with photo opportunities with minor stars from the small and big screen and merchandise a-go-go. The sprawling and drab interior of the Excel is transformed into a technicoloured frenzy of enthusiasts who have spent days, or even months, creating new outfits to wear for the weekend. Over the course of the weekend two incarnations of Doctor Who, the cast of Red Dwarf and a load of minor characters from Game of Thrones would appear on stage and to sign autographs for adoring fans.

The first character we stop and speak to is the Alien Queen, who hails from Yorkshire and is a working cosplayer. Her full body costume took three weeks to make and is a composition of a thermoplastic called Worbla and exercise mats. “I have a degree in fine art,” she explains. “But I tend to make each outfit up as I go along, there isn’t a design process. I started with the head, because if you can’t realise that, you can’t make the whole costume.” I ask why she chose to make this particular outfit, that is incredibly detailed and looks very uncomfortable. “My favourite character from the Alien film is the Alien Queen, after Ripley,” she explains. “I was going to meet Sigourney Weaver so I rushed to create this. I managed to get a photo with her, so life is complete.”

At first, it’s hard to discern whether cosplay is a fashion parade or a popularity contest, there is certainly a healthy sense of competition. The sheer number of girls dressed as Harley Quinn is dumbfounding, apparently in earlier years it was all Lara Croft and Tank Girl, and there is a suspicion from certain cosplayers surrounding those who simply come to get photographed – this isn’t about looks, it’s about hero worship.

That said, there is a fair amount of posing going on, particularly outside in the gardens. Stood above the bank of steps that has become a grandstand-cum-carnival of colour, is a figure with a metre-long snipe rifle staring through the scope. It’s a brave move considering our proximity to Canary Wharf, a major financial centre of London, and the police presence in and around the exhibition centre. Ruby works in TK Maxx and today she is dressed as Sinon from Gun Gale Online. “The gun is made made of a handgun from Poundland, an aluminium broom handle and a real scope, then Worbla and foam,” she explains. “Most of the materials used to make this outfit were sourced in and around Lewisham. Everything you need to know is online, if you break it all down piece by piece, it’s easy to make.”

MrZ has come as part of the Brotherhood of Steel, a heavily armoured soldier that features in the game Fallout 4. MrZ is 6’3” tall, but in his armour that took over four months to create from laminated foam that he “origami-ed together”, he’s easily pushing 7’. So much of the information a cosplayer needs is readily available online. “I watch lots of cosplay tutorials,” he says pulling a cigarette from a concealed compartment in the suit – cosplayers really do think of everything. “There are loads of useful videos that tell you how to work with UVA foam. They really helped me make my own stuff.”

Torbjörn the dwarf from Overwatch agrees (Overwatch is a common theme this year – the extensive cast of characters in Blizzard’s video game provide a lot of cosplay options). “Blizzard make things easy,” he explains in broad sheffield accent from beneath a fetching, pleated beard. “There are 3D images of every character online, so you just spin them around and work out what details you are going to copy. Also, I work in the freezer department at Asda, so I get all the free cardboard I can carry when I am making things.”

It’s not just characters that embody violent films and video games: there are gangs of Disney princesses preening themselves in the cafeteria and cutesy creatures that defy categorisation. There are changing rooms should you wish to change persona during the day, and a repair station with glue, foam and paint should you damage your outfit. Overall, aside from the unashamedly commercial reality of this massive convention, there is a palpable sense of togetherness. Visitors are running around playing games, posing for selfies and excitedly discussing the nuances of each others’ outfits and what they have seen.

There are people from all walks of life here, of all ages, races and religions: cosplay and comics are what unite everyone. It’s embarrassing to have to ask who people are dressed as and to confuse a particular gun with an axe, but everyone is extremely open to talking and participating. It’s an event that is inclusive and welcoming – not because of the way it is organised, but because the people who are attending are free to express themselves in the most fantastical and creative way. Comic Con is a place where passions come to life realised with imagination, foam mats, paint and a glue gun.