Getting In Character: Cosplayers’ Boston Comic Con Costume Preview

Cosplayers put long hours—and a good chunk of change—into building their own costumes so they can spend a few days a year inhabiting their favorite works of fiction. From August 8 to 10, when Boston Comic Con hits town, they’ll finally get to strut their stuff for fellow fans. Here’s a preview.

By S. I. Rosenbaum· 8/6/2014, 1:00 p.m.

Captain America

Backstory: What if Marvel’s patriotic superhero had been born Stephanie instead of Steve?
Under the Mask: Tori Queeno, 22, a professional costumer from Bridgewater.
Why: “I love doing female versions of my favorite characters, because a lot of the time they’re the guys.”Photograph by Jared Leeds

Photograph by Jared Leeds

Ms. Marvel

Backstory: A teenage shapeshifter, and Marvel’s first Muslim superhero.
Under the Mask: Lisa Johnson, 26, an aerospace engineer from Cambridge.
Why: “She’s the kind of character I wish I’d had when I was 12, when I was getting frustrated that superheroines were so sexualized. It’s refreshing to have a character I don’t have to excuse anything for.”Photograph by Jared Leeds

Photograph by Jared Leeds

Storm

Backstory: Weather-controlling mutant, fashion icon, and key member of the X-Men.
Under the Mask: Aisha Beauchemin, 30, a grocery-store customer-service leader from Leominster.
Why: “I feel very strong, I feel very wise in that costume. I feel like a totally different person—that’s who I want to be. For all my faults and flaws, once I’m her, I feel flawless.”Photograph by Jared Leeds

Photograph by Jared Leeds

Louis Vuitton Stormtrooper

Backstory: A foot soldier from Star Wars’ evil empire who somehow joined the one percent.
Under the Mask: Jonathan St. Pierre, 28, a graphic designer from Auburn, New Hampshire.
Why: “If you’ve seen one Stormtrooper, you’ve seen them all, right? But you’re going to remember the guy running around in Louis Vuitton.”Photograph by Jared Leeds

Photograph by Jared Leeds

Khal Drogo

Backstory: The barbarian king from Game of Thrones.
Under the Mask: Estevan “Milo” Martinez, 27, a Web engineer from Cambridge.
Why: “I love to glare at people, but you can’t really do that in modern society without being labeled an asshole.”Photograph by Jared Leeds

Photograph by Jared Leeds

Daenerys

Backstory: Khal Drogo's dragon-hatching queen from Game of Thrones.
Under the Mask: Kaitlyn Webster, 27, a Ph.D. biology student at UMass Boston.
Why: “We’ve been making costumes together since 2006. We’re huge nerds.”Photograph by Jared Leeds

Photograph by Jared Leeds

Thor

Backstory: The Norse god of thunder, as reimagined by Marvel comics and, more recently, Kenneth Branagh and Joss Whedon.
Under the Mask: Tim Roberts, 24, a machinist from Walpole.
Why: “I’ve always been into Norse mythology. And I can pull off Thor. A lot of people, after they meet me, consider me to be Thor.”Photograph by Jared Leeds

Photograph by Jared Leeds

O-Ren Ishii

Backstory: A deadly assassin who battles the Bride in Tarantino’s Kill Bill.
Under the Mask: Lei Ann Resurreccion, 40, an acupuncturist from Watertown.
Why: “She’s badass. She’s a cool cat. You look at her and you’re scared of her.”Photograph by Jared Leeds

Photograph by Jared Leeds

Jack Frost

Backstory: The spirit of winter and champion of childhood in Dreamworks’ Rise of the Guardians.
Under the Mask: Konner Jebb, 20, student at Providence College.
Why: “The movie made me tear up and cry. Jack has a lot of personality traits I see in myself, that I want to be more apparent to people.”Photograph by Jared Leeds

Photograph by Jared Leeds

Getting In Character: Cosplayers’ Boston Comic Con Costume Preview

Keep your weekends full of the coolest things to do around Boston with our weekly Weekender newsletter.

Captain America

Ms. Marvel

Storm

Louis Vuitton Stormtrooper

Khal Drogo

Daenerys

Thor

O-Ren Ishii

Jack Frost

Trending

The 19 Best Restaurants in Boston's North End

Fifth Annual Snowport Boston Arrives in the Seaport

The North End Cannoli-Shop Shooting: The Story of a Blood Feud

The Best Places to Eat near TD Garden

Meet Noah Kahan, the Voice of an Emotionally Evolved Generation

Seven Sourdough Recipes That Aren't Bread – Boston Magazine

Where to Get the Best Massage in Boston

IN THIS SECTION