{"id":16792,"date":"2026-07-25T13:03:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T08:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16792"},"modified":"2026-07-25T13:03:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T08:03:57","slug":"san-diego-comic-con-2026-cosplayers-brave-heat-mishaps-and-months-of-work-to-showcase-fandom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16792","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Comic Con 2026 cosplayers brave heat, mishaps and months of work to showcase fandom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2Fnewspress-collage-4zdcclqyr-1784963976978.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261784949646\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Even though San Diego Comic-Con is known for news-making panels centered on popular culture, the annual California convention is equally famous for its elaborate cosplayers.<\/p>\n<p>Each year, fans of comics, video games, film and fantasy spend months creating costumes that showcase their devotion to favorite characters and franchises.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah Lu, 27, who recently moved to San Diego, began working on her costume of the dragon named Toothless from the DreamWorks movie \u201cHow to Train Your Dragon\u201d in January, spending about $400 on it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least for me, it\u2019s an intersection between theater and music and dance as well, so I kind of use all these skills to bring a character to life. I think there\u2019s some sort of magic to that,\u201d she told Reuters on the convention floor.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Cosplayers dressed as different characters outside Comic-Con in San Diego on July 24, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">London Entertainment<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>DareDevil fans pose in their costumes outside the 2026 Comic-Con in San Diego. <span class=\"credit\">London Entertainment<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Some costumes become crowd favorites at Comic-Con, while others attract less attention.<\/p>\n<p>San Diego resident Jose Samaniego, 21, said success often comes down to attitude.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBe confident in yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re not confident in your own cosplay you\u2019re going to give off a really bad aura and no-one\u2019s going to like you. If you don\u2019t like how you\u2019re dressing, then your outfit\u2019s awful,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Some costumes become crowd favorites at Comic-Con, while others attract less attention. <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Cosplayers in Spaceballs Troops attire attend the 2026 Comic-Con International: San Diego on July 24, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With Comic-Con taking place during the summer, cosplayers in intricate outfits must also contend with the heat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018How do you stay cool?\u2019 Hydrate, hydrate and hydrate,\u201d said David Martinez, 54, a project manager for a pharmaceutical company in San Diego, who attended dressed as a mashup of Spider-Man and the artist Bob Ross.<\/p>\n<p>Despite months of preparation, costumes can malfunction.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A pack of Comic-Con attendees wearing Pikachu costumes walk around the convention center. <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>With Comic-Con taking place during the summer, cosplayers in intricate outfits must also contend with the heat. <span class=\"credit\">London Entertainment<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Comic-Con attendees stand outside in the heat of San Diego during a surprise Green Day performance. <span class=\"credit\">Todd Williamson\/JanuaryImages \/ BACKGRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Glue can soften in the heat, causing pieces to fall apart, while fabric can rip or tear.<\/p>\n<p>That is where Bryan Mero, a costume repairperson passionate about helping attendees steps in.<\/p>\n<p>Dressed as Fix-it Felix from the Disney animated film \u201cWreck-it Ralph,\u201d Mero patrols the convention floor carrying a yellow hammer and a backpack filled with repair supplies.<\/p>\n<p>Lu told Reuters that Mero is the real \u201cMVP\u201d of the entire convention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI come and bring a supply of anything we need to fix a cosplay; superglue, duct tape, safety pins, bobby pins, hairspray, hair ties, all different colors, all the main colors for that, a soldering iron, a hot glue gun. I know I\u2019m missing quite a few things because my pack is about 15 pounds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s kind of what I provide and I do it for free only because I\u2019m just asking to just pay it forward,\u201d Mero added.<\/p>\n<p>San Diego Comic-Con is an annual multi-genre entertainment and comic book convention that takes place in San Diego, California, and celebrates comics, popular culture, and related media.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even though San Diego Comic-Con is known for news-making panels centered on popular culture, the annual California convention is equally famous for its elaborate cosplayers. Each year, fans of comics, video games, film and fantasy spend months creating costumes that showcase their devotion to favorite characters and franchises. Sarah Lu, 27, who recently moved to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/newspress-collage-4zdcclqyr-1784963976978.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1784949646&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}