WonderCon cosplay photos, Power Girl, Catwoman, Lara Croft, Green Lantern, GI Joe, X-Men, Cylons and one very unhealthy Stormtrooper
WonderCon always had a knack for looking less like a convention hall and more like a crossover event that broke containment. Superheroes, sci-fi soldiers, pulp icons, horror ghouls, toy-box legends, and comic-book chaos all crashing into one room, all fighting for camera space.
That is what gives a gallery like this its staying power. It is not only a set of costume photos. It is a snapshot of what fandom wanted to wear, celebrate, remix, parody, and show off. A good cosplay page is never just about fabric. It is about visual myth.
Girl Power, and a reminder that few characters in DC history arrive with a more instantly recognisable silhouette than Power Girl.
Why WonderCon galleries work so well
The best cosplay galleries are built on recognition. Power Girl reads in a second because the costume is inseparable from the character’s long and messy DC history. Kara Zor-L has always stood in that fascinating space between Kryptonian powerhouse, alternate-universe legacy figure, and highly self-aware comic-book icon. That is part of why she remains such a popular cosplay pick. The costume is famous. The character behind it is weirder and richer than the costume alone suggests.
That same rule applies right across this page. Buzz Lightyear brings toy-box heroism. Catwoman brings Gotham attitude. Captain America brings patriotic iconography. Lara Croft brings video-game archaeology and action-movie cool. A Cylon helmet brings all the dread of Battlestar Galactica in one chrome stare. Strong cosplay lives or dies on that kind of visual shorthand.
Toy Story meets Gotham
Yesterday we brought you some hot Wondercon cosplay costumes, and this page keeps the parade rolling. From zombie Stormtroopers to Power Girl, Green Lantern, GI Joe, and one very sharp Catwoman, WonderCon looked like it had absolutely everything.
Here is a kid classic, Buzz Lightyear. Disney’s official line on Buzz is still basically perfect: heroic space ranger action figure, laser beam, wings, and mission-ready optimism. That is why the design remains so cosplay-friendly. Even in live-action fan form, the white, green, and purple palette does most of the storytelling before the pose even begins.
To infinity, and probably the next toy aisle after that.
Then the mood shifts and Gotham strolls in. Catwoman has always been a gift to cosplay because Selina Kyle sits in that delicious space between thief, antihero, love interest, and troublemaker. She is sleek, feline, dangerous, and always just a little amused by the whole room. It helps that black leather and a set of cat ears still do an absurd amount of work on camera.
Got milk? No, but definitely got Gotham energy.
Big and blue, and exactly the kind of convention-floor visual that makes mixed-character galleries feel gloriously unpredictable.
Captain America, Kick-Ass, and the appeal of comic-book silhouettes
Here is Captain America and another green friend. As ever, the Steve Rogers effect is immediate. Marvel’s official character framing still says it best: World War II hero, Super-Soldier, Avenger, moral centre. That weight means Captain America cosplay always carries a bit more symbolic heft than many superhero outfits. The shield helps too, of course. It is one of the great props in all of comics.
This is the power of comic-book silhouettes at a convention. Captain America, Snake Eyes, Kick-Ass, even Kill Bill references, they all work because the audience can decode them from shape and colour almost instantly. A red, white and blue starburst. A black ninja visor. A green wetsuit vigilante mask. These characters travel well.
Dude in a red tie, Kick-Ass, Snake Eyes, and a Kill Bill nod, the kind of mash-up convention logic that always makes sense in the room.
Lara Croft and the birth of modern game cosplay
Here is an oldie, but still one of the most durable cosplay choices ever made, Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. It is tempting to joke that they invented cosplay for this, but there is something close to the truth in it. Lara became one of the first truly global video-game icons whose look jumped immediately into costume culture. Twin holsters, tank top, boots, braid, adventurer stance, done. Instant recognition.
The official Tomb Raider site still describes Lara as a fearless archaeologist and adventurer, renowned for chasing ancient secrets and relics. That is exactly why she works so well in fan photography. Lara Croft does not need much explanation. She arrives with danger, exploration, and pulpy momentum built right in.
Gotham families, Power Girl, and the strange joy of comic-book excess
Dare I say it, but it looks like Ma and Pa wanted in with the kids and so went old school Gotham. That is part of the charm of convention culture. It breaks age barriers better than almost any other fan space. Batman, Robin, and Poison Ivy costumes do not need to be screen-accurate to work. They only need enough of the old comic spirit to trigger the memory.
Poison Ivy remains one of DC’s most cosplay-friendly villains because she looks lush and dangerous at the same time. Pamela Isley is never just decorative in the lore. She is an eco-terror edge wrapped in vines, glamour, and botanical menace. That mix always photographs well.
She is going to kill you, Dick, which remains an excellent caption for any old-school Batman tableau.
Here is Power Girl and friend. Power Girl always creates a little extra electricity in a gallery like this because the character has long lived at the intersection of genuine superhero pedigree and knowingly exaggerated comic-book design. That tension is exactly why she lasts. People may show up for the costume, but longtime readers know there is an entire alternate-universe Kryptonian history sitting behind it.
X-Men, GI Joe, Green Lantern, and the beauty of franchise shorthand
Team X-Men in the house. Professor Xavier’s finest, Scott and Jean, or at least the broad convention-floor energy of them. Cyclops and Jean Grey remain perfect examples of how much lore can be conveyed by one visor or one red-haired psychic look. Marvel still frames Jean as a telepathic and telekinetic founding X-Man, and Cyclops as one of the core mutant field leaders. That gives even a simple cosplay photo a lot of narrative weight.
The X-Men have always been good cosplay material because the team concept does half the work. Matching colours, familiar iconography, shared universe. The group identity makes even casual convention snapshots feel like part of a larger saga.
Here are some real American heroes, a cosplay team of old-school GI Joe. There is a kind of toy-line sincerity to GI Joe that still reads beautifully in cosplay. The colours are loud, the archetypes are broad, and the names feel like they were engineered in a lab to sell lunchboxes. That is not a criticism. It is the whole magic trick.
Sgt. Slaughter in particular remains one of the most recognisable Joe figures because he is pure drill-sergeant iconography turned up to cartoon volume. Beach Head, Shipwreck, Snake Eyes, Flint, Duke, they all work the same way. You remember them not because they were subtle, but because they absolutely were not.
Here is a Green Lantern cosplay, and the basic idea never really stops being cool. DC’s official description of Hal Jordan as a legendary human Lantern says most of what needs saying. A power ring that turns willpower into visible constructs is one of the cleanest superhero concepts ever devised. Green, black, symbol on the chest, cosmic police energy. It all lands immediately.
Watchmen, Battlestar, and the darker corners of the room
Silk Spectre. Nuff said, though in truth there is a lot more to say. Watchmen cosplay tends to hit differently because the characters are built less as fantasy escape and more as damaged reflections of superhero mythology. Silk Spectre carries the glamour, yes, but also the inherited identity, the unease, and the entire Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons deconstruction project humming away behind the pose.
Then there is the toaster from Battlestar Galactica. Calling Cylons toasters is one of those fandom terms that never really dies because it is too good and too dismissive not to last. The joke also hides the dread. SYFY’s own summary still captures the core premise beautifully, the Cylons are intelligent machines designed by humankind who turn on their makers and nearly wipe them out. That means a single chrome Cylon head can bring an awful lot of existential science-fiction dread into an otherwise playful cosplay room.
And then, because conventions always need one more idea, the zombie Stormtrooper
Last but definitely not least, and quite possibly our favourite outfit in this whole gallery, a Star Wars trooper that appears to have been bitten by a zombie and is now shambling his way through the galaxy.
This is a perfect example of why mash-up cosplay can be more memorable than straight recreation. Stormtrooper armour is already one of the most famous costumes in all of cinema. Add undead body horror to it and suddenly you have something both instantly recognisable and unexpectedly nasty. It is silly, gross, and weirdly brilliant, which is exactly the kind of idea a convention floor exists to reward.
Let’s hope it does not spread too far throughout the galaxy.
Final thought
What makes a page like this worth restoring is that it captures something older internet cosplay culture did very well. It was not over-curated. It was enthusiastic. It was messy in a good way. It let Lara Croft sit next to Cyclops, a Cylon, and a zombie Stormtrooper without anyone demanding genre purity.
That looseness is part of the charm, but the characters themselves are why the page still holds. Power Girl, Catwoman, Captain America, Green Lantern, Silk Spectre, Buzz, Lara, the X-Men, and the Cylons all endure because their designs do not merely look good. They carry stories with them. That is why the photos still work.
