My First Cosplay Convention Experience

Hello Adventurers,

With Supernova 2024 is coming up I have decided to share my experience going to a cosplay convention or ComiCon. I'm doing this as I am unable to attend this year's Supernova.

Who did I cosplay?

For my first convention I cosplayed as Bakugo from MHA. (My Hero Academica)

Who is Bakugo?

Katsuki Bakugo is one of the protagonists of the anime My Hero Academica.

In this show most of the population have a superpower know as 'quirks'. In this world there are Professional Heros to combat the criminals with superpower. The main characters in this show are going to a high school training to become Pro Heros.

What is Supernova?

Supernova Comic Con & Gaming is a pop culture convention that has been running since 2000. It is "a place where fans inspired by imaginary worlds emanating from comics, sci-fi, fantasy, anime, gaming, nostalgia and literature have been able to come together to celebrate." Supernova has lots of cosplayers, Artists and Event panels as well as awesome guest exhibitors.

I have attended this convention in Brisbane twice now, but it can be found all across Australia, and every time it is unique with different panels and Artist alley.

Why I Chose this Cosplay

I chose to cosplay Bakugo as he is a well-known character from a pretty popular anime, and he was a simple design to start with. I also like Bakugo and connect with his abrasive personality. I am not a fan of his worse personality traits, specifically how he treats Deku, but otherwise he was one of my favourite anime characters at the time.

Making the Costume

This cosplay has 3 main parts, the hair/wig, the outfit and his gauntlets. For the wig I bought a Bakugo wig online and slightly fluffed it up. Bakugo has very prominent spiked hair, but I didn't have enough wig styling skills to create a spiked wig as some Dragonball or Sonic cosplayers do.

For the outfit I sewed an x over the chest of a black shirt, and I used black cargo Panks which doubled to hold most of my gear at the con. This was a very simple way to create a cosplay that clearly represents the character.

As for the Gauntlets, these were the hardest and most time-consuming part of the costume. I believe they took over a year for me to complete as I slowly worked on them alongside other projects. The gauntlets have a cardboard skeleton covered in fabric and EVA foam to build the shape. The parts that make it look like a grenade are also foam and were attached on the outside.

The Cosplay Med-Bay

I didn't even make it inside the convention before my cosplay started breaking. while waiting in the line to enter the convention I knocked one of my grenade pins and it broke off. I was unsure if I could get it fixed inside but luckily Supernova has a dedicated cosplay med-bay which was the first stop once in the doors. they helped me glue the pin back in place and it didn't move all con.

My favourite Parts of the Artist Alley

My favourite part of the whole convention was the artist alley where a bunch of local small businesses share their art and products. There's also a large section of the alley that is for authors so it's great for people looking for new reads.

My favourite artists were a woman who turns books into bags, wallets and similar creations, I purchased a handbag made from a copy of Winnie the Pooh, and Jennie planet @jennieplanetink on Instagram. Jennie is an artist and tattoo artist with a really nice style. She is the exhibitor I have bought the most from in the artist alleys as I love her style.

The Cosplay Competition

Each year supernova has a couple of costume competitions across their 3 days and both of the times I've made it to Supernova I have missed the online application as well as the few in person spots. Hopefully I attend one of the competitions next year.

There are also a huge variety of cosplayers all throughout the convention, ranging from anime characters like Bakugo to Giant Warhammer 40k cosplays.

This was my first experience at a nerd convention, and I think this is a good reference point for beginners as it shows that everyone has to start somewhere.

It's important to recognise that you don't have to be perfect but just you should focus on having fun.