By Jon Waterhouse

It’s a steady rumble of conversation and laughter in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis, one of the hotel hubs of DragonCon. It’s a time of geeky revelry, but in a certain room on the fifth floor, it’s all business.

A group of cosplayers are busy getting their outfits together in time to show off their wares at the convention.

Mandy Akins has her sewing kit spread out across her bed. She’s busy adding some steam punk bling to a belt for a costume she describes as “heiress meets mercenary.”

“There’s no back story to this character,” she says. “The best part about steam punk is it gives you creative license.”

And Akins is taking that fact to heart. For her original character, she grabbed a Renaissance dress and built a bustle for it. She’ll crown herself with a wig with a giant feathered hairpiece in the back. Her weaponry are refashioned Nerf and Super Soaker guns. Both boast cool features, but on closer examination it’s just a couple of air caps off of a pair of tires and some fuses. But it works.

Cosplayer Mandy Akins fashioned Nerf and Super Soaker guns into steam punk cosplay props.
Photo credit: Jon Waterhouse

“I’ve been doing cosplay at DragonCon since 2002,” says Akins. “It’s kind of an instant gratification kind of thing. I love to sew and have been sewing since I was 10. And it’s great to get the satisfaction of finishing a costume and then showing it off.” Read more...

Tags cosplay, Dragon Con

While comic books and fantasy characters made up a fair amount of the costumes at this year's Dragon-Con, movies and television also played a huge role. Of course, there tends to be a crossover with comic book-based movies, but the looks are generally so different that it's almost like a different character completely. Here's a look at some of our favorite movie and TV-based costumes from the show!

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Tags cosplay, Costumes, Dragon Con, Dragon-Con 2011, Iron Man, Joker, mtv, MTV Geek, Terminator 2, Wilfred, WWE

Judging by our travels here at Dragon-Con, our fellow geeks have been very busy in propagating our species. Kids of all ages are here with their parents this weekend, enjoying the con as much, if not more, than their elders. Of course, it definitely helps that they get to dress up in costume for a few days straight-- like an extended Halloween! Below, you'll find photos featuring some of the cutest geeks you'll ever see, and our future comic artists, movie directors, and world leaders!

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Tags cosplay, Costumes, Dragon Con, Dragon-Con 2011, Ghostbusters, Hulk, kids, mtv, MTV Geek, Spider-Man, Supergirl

Most of us have grown up in an age of terrific animation that will always hold a place in our cold, black hearts. Whether it be anime, adult swim, or nostalgic 80s properties, a lot of fans here in Atlanta are showing off their cartoon-love by dressing up as their favorite characters during this year's Dragon-Con! MTV Geek roamed the hotel hallways, food courts, and bars searching for a variety of great animation-based cosplay and you can see some of our findings-- like that affectionate Skeletor up above.

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Tags Cartoons, Costumes, Dragon Con, Dragon-Con 2011, G.I. Joe, Harvey Birdman, Jessica Rabbit, Masters of the Universe, mtv, MTV Geek, Skeletor, Trigun

Dragon-Con has become known for its passionate fans and their love of costuming, and the yearly parade succeeds in letting all that hard work get seen by both con attendees and locals here in Atlanta. The parade began at 10 a.m. and proceeded to work its way through the downtown area to the delight of onlookers. People began staking claim to their spot of the sidewalks at 7 a.m. and we were as well. That's right, we stood around aimlessly for over 3 hours to bring you these pictures. Remember that the next time we need to borrow something!

The parade was so huge this year, that there's no way we could put all of the cool photos in one post, so this is Part 1 of the Dragon-Con Parade!

Stay tuned to MTV Geek! for all your Dragon-Con coverage, including Part 2 of the Dragon-Con Parade!

Related Posts:
Dragon-Con 2011: Day 1 Cosplay Roundup
Art Show and Artists Alley Wow at Dragon-Con!
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Tags cosplay, Costumes, Dragon Age, Dragon Con, Ghostbusters, mtv, MTV Geek, Parade, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Steampunk, superheroes

Those Canadians sure know how to throw a convention...and to get into the spirit by coming up with amazing cosplay outfits! Here are 20 of the most amazing we saw at FanExpo Canada this weekend:

Squirrel Girl

Harley Quinn and the Joker

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Tags cosplay, FanExpo Canada

Cosplayers are getting better and better at creating amazing costumes for their convention outings. We recently saw some incredibly accurate Mark I Iron Man armor created from scratch and before that we were put back by this awesome LEGO Master Chief armor. Now, Robert Rodgers of My Wicked Armor has created a remarkable Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect 2) costume.

Apparently, the suit took weeks of on-and-off work to complete and features over 75 LED lights to finish the futuristic effect. As you’ll see in the video below, the mouth actually moves and the feet are shaped just like the in-game character’s -- essentially making Rodgers walk on his toes to pull off the look. Read more...

Tags cosplay, Costumes, Garrus Vakarian, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, My Wicked Armor, video games

Rorschach, of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Watchmen fame, has one of the coolest masks of any vigilante and the way it constantly changed shape in Zack Snyder's feature film only made it cooler. It looks like Paint with Pearl has a great DIY way to make our own, and it will have the same 'shape-shifting' effect that we saw in the movie. With some kind of magic paint combo they take a standard white tank-top and turn it into the final, and most important, piece of a Rorschach cosplayer's next con get-up. Check out the video below to find out what you need for the project and see the mask in action!

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Via Major Spoilers

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Tags Comic Books, cosplay, Movies, Paint With Pearl, Rorshach, Watchmen

It’s almost time people! Halloween is practically upon us, and you need to hurry up picking out a costume! What’s that? You have no costume ideas? Seriously?! Well, lucky for you, we here at MTV Geek! are stepping in to save the day by hooking you up with some awesome suggestions for this October 31st!

Behold in unspeakable awe, and/or point while laughing snarkily, at our Top Ten Geek-ily Awesome Halloween Costumes! Read more...

Tags Avatar, Batman, G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters, Incredible Hulk, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Kick-Ass, Muppets, Star Wars, X-Men