Community of Canberra Comic-Con

Liririen, cosplaying as Bloom from The Winx Club. She is wearing a orange wig, blue and gold wings, blue sleeveless top with a yellow circle in the middle of the top, blue tipped gloves and blue skirt. She also has tattoos on her stomach, right arm and right leg. The writer Sarah (dressed in black tshirt, blue jeans, check blazer and caring a coffee cup. They are posing for a photo in Artist Alley of the convention
@Liririen cosplaying Bloom from The Winx Club.

Oz Comic-Con has come to Canberra again this year!

It may be smaller to the sibling conventions in Sydney and Melbourne but it still came out with a bang.

Nerds from all over Canberra and surrounding country towns gathered at EPIC.

Large crowd at the convention, with a spirit vendor on the left of the photo.
Exhibitors area at Oz Comic-Con.

The EPIC centre was packed on Saturday, from families of all ages to die hard oldies – there was something for everyone.

The con was split into three sections: Artist Alley, Table Top Area (board games), and the Panels.

Compared to the bigger cons with their American stars making the trek to Australia, Oz Comic-Con Canberra focused on the cosplay community.

Jeff cosplaying as Luffy from One Piece. He is wearing a short black wig, a red and yellow ear piece, a red dress with gold stripes running down the front. The left side of the dress has SSG on the bottom, he is wearing red boots as well as a black shoulder bag with various different pins. Nina is cosplaying as Bernadetta Von Varley from Fire Emblem. She has a light purple wig on, with a black bow in the right side. Her dress is purple with a gold design on front (two gold lines on the front with swirling design under the lines. On the top is a gold cape, with a red shoulder pads on top. On the left side of the dress, there is a red and gold diamond design and a gold design with a thick gold line under it. She also has a red shorts under the dress, with red shoes and a purple accent on top). Nina is carrying a light colour tote bag, with two bag charms. Nina is also wearing a media pass around her neck, and posing with a piece sign.
Nina (@auscos_mag) and her brother Jeff. Cosplaying Bernadetta von Varley from Fire Emblem and Luffy from One Piece.
‘Home Grown’

Those in attendance on Saturday and myself included, felt that Canberra Oz Comic-Con was more for the community.

‘Home Grown’, was the term that was thrown around most.

To understand why that may be, I spoke to AusCos Magazine Admin Manager Nina. Nina explained the location connection.

“When Oz Comic-con first came it was marketed as ‘Aussie CC Home Grown.'”

She mentioned that for many who attend these cons, they “crave community.”

Australians also love anything that is made in Australia, we take pride in our creativity and work ethic. Oz Comic-Con is no exception as all of the stalls in Artist Alley and Exhibitors are small Aussie artists.

She spoke on the cosplay scene in Australia.

“You see the same cosplayers at every event, and it is great to see them keep coming back.”

By seeing the same faces at every event, the community only grows stronger.

Cosplay at Oz Comic-Con

I’m from Melbourne, I’m used to large crowds and expected the Canberra Comic-Con to be smaller. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see the turn out on Saturday.

Nina also felt that the con was bigger than last year. She recognised Sydney cosplayers making the trek to come to Canberra as well.

By speaking to passer-by’s throughout the event, it seemed that most event goers were excited to explore Artist Alley.

When walking through I did get that sense of excitement in the air. You could hear gasps and squeals when someone found a drawing of a character they liked (for me it was Bloom from the Winx Club).

Liririen, cosplaying as Bloom from The Winx Club. She is wearing a orange wig, blue and gold wings, blue sleeveless top with a yellow circle in the middle of the top, blue tipped gloves and blue skirt with blue boots with tall heels. She also has tattoos on her stomach, right arm and right leg. She is posing with her arms up, and her hands are crossed at the top. She also has her left leg up with her heels at off the ground.
@Liririen cosplaying Bloom from The Winx Club.

Turning around and seeing a cosplayer as Bloom felt like fate, and just like other cosplayers I spoke to and observed – they were more than willing to get a photo and have a chat.

That sense of community could be felt.

For many that are apart of this community, it can sometimes feel isolating. To like Star Wars or anime was seen as ‘geeky’ or ‘weird’, but yesterday, if you did not like what was deemed ‘weird’ then you were the outsider – and not part of the nerd community.

Amelia Torresan is dressed as the Fairy Godmother from the Shrek films. She has a high light purple, sparkly wig on, wearing glasses ad bright red lipstick. She has a form fitting sparkly red dress on, with a sweetheart neckline. The dress also has a high slit on right side, showing her leg, red high heels and half of her thigh - her thigh also showing a partial tattoo. On the right side of her body she is wearing a potion bottle bag, with blue potion inside - the text on the front of the bag says, Happily Ever After. She is also posing with her right arm up, holding a gold wand with a purple star on the end - the purple is the same shade as her wig. Azzie has a black tshirt on, with a design on the front, they has a black cross body bag, and black leggings on. They also have a black and red jacket tied around their waist. Their shoes are grey converses.
Amelia Torresan as Fairy Godmother from Shrek and Azzie.
Community at the Con

At the end of the day, the purpose of any convention is about bringing people together who love the same thing – and on Saturday Oz Comic-Con definitely did that. From Anime to Star Wars, Furries to Marvel, everyone was represented and felt welcomed. The buzz and excitement was palable, and I’m already planning my next Oz Comic-Con, with the goal to cosplay as the character The Chosen from Smosh.