Comic-Con fanatics gear up for Friday’s big event

Dubai: Don’t be surprised if you cross paths with Batman, Iron Man, Naruto, Sailor Moon, or Darth Vader on Friday.

These superheroes and iconic TV and film characters and more will invade Dubai this weekend not to shoot a movie but to join the second Middle East Film and Comic Convention (Comic-Con) at Mina Seyahi Hall, Dubai International Marine Club.

Comic-Con, which debuted in Dubai with a record 15,000 visitors last year, is the largest popular culture festival in the region open to comics, movie and science fiction fans. It is one place where fanatics can put themselves in the shoes of the characters they love through Cosplay or costume play.

Gulf News spoke with Giovan Anthony Paz, an avid Filipino cosplayer and confessed Star Wars fanatic, ahead of the event to see how his group’s preparations are doing. Paz, 38, is bringing 28 Star Wars characters to life this Friday—from just 12 last year—including R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Paz, an artist, works on the costumes on his own and has spent around Dh25,000 so far on this hobby. He sources materials from everywhere and transforms them into life-size costumes for real people. He said it took him one year to finish all the costumes for this year’s Comic-Con.

“The costumes that you see here are actually screen accurate. As much as possible, I emulate, copy whatever we see on screen down to the last detail, be it the buttons, or colour,” Paz told Gulf News.

“It takes skill, patience, and determination to be a cosplayer because these costumes are often not like ready-made goods you can buy off the shelf,” he added.

Cosplaying is no joke, Paz said, as they need to be in character and in their costumes for more than 10 hours, excluding preparation time which could take about four hours. Asked why they do it, Paz said: “Seeing smiles on people and kids’ faces when they see us in costume, especially those like me who love Star Wars, that’s where I get fulfilment.”

Mexican cosplayer Seyyed de la Llata, 15, who has been into cosplaying since he was 10, couldn’t agree more.

“It has an effect on people, they get shocked somehow and that makes me feel big and happy,” de la Llata told Gulf News.