40 Jaw-Dropping Cosplays At Comic Con New York 2019 By Photographer Ali Reza Malik
Comic Con New York 2019 has passed, but cosplay never stops. Pictures of cosplayers in their favorite superhero (or supervillain) attire from this year’s NYCC are still surfacing on the Internet.
Ali Reza Malik, a Brooklyn-based photographer, is the artist behind a handful of iconic cosplay photographs from this year’s Comic Con New York. Ali’s work focuses primarily on South Asian communities, exploring the different forms of portraiture with the aim of promoting the visibility of these and other minority communities in the US. He may have taken a short break from his usual work once at Comic Con New York, but his camera had no rest.
Bored Panda got in touch with Ali Reza Malik, who was kind enough to show the Comic Con cosplay scene through the lens of his camera. Read our interview with Ali and vote on your favorite cosplay from NYCC 2019 below.
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Mario, Borderlands-Style Cell Shaded
The amount of details here is amazing! Can't imagine how long it must have taken him.
and, unfortunately, he has to take a shower/bath sooner or later.
Load More Replies...Again! I applaud your gift! Your makeup in the clothes & face was spectacular. I'd love to see a YouTube video of you getting the clothes & yourself ready. NUMBER 1
I think this took an incredible amount of time to pull off. You had to have your outfit ready to go yesterday. Then, after wasting a bizzilion dollars on makeup, you started learning what you wanted your face to look, for today. You've got the trophy from me. I've been putting makeup on for 51 years & I could never do what you've done & made it look easy. You are my clear winner! You'd normally get a trophy, a ribbon, a swag bag, & cash or a cheque.
Aang & Avatar Korra
Ali traces his photographic roots back to the mid aughts, when he got hooked on art submission websites and blogs: “[This] threw me on the path of design, music, writing, and photography (instead of my major—finance) by force-feeding inspiration for hours on end each day.”
It didn’t stop there. Ali’s passion for all things media was further fostered by a close friend. “It was only further perpetuated by a close friend of mine during that time—a constantly optimistic presence who never left her camera at home, even when we (bitterly) asked her to shelve it for a night,” jokes Ali.
Yondu
Yassss!!! That's my tattoo artist Angel!!! I remember him making this costume.
Mysterio
“I have her to thank mostly, and seeing photography in practice eventually triggered something in me to do the same.” This was enough to inspire ten years (and counting) worth of freelance creative projects and branded work.
When asked what drew Ali to attend Comic Con, he explained: “Comic Con is a haven for all of the interests that I've maintained since high school, but never found a community to enjoy them with. Even without hunting down exclusives or attending panels, the simple act of walking through an environment full of constant unadulterated excitement and recognition for every type of fandom makes NYCC feel like home.”
Landlady From Kung Fu Hustle
it's so disappointing that BORED PANDA writer doesn't know Kung Fu Hustle movie :(
What was the picture originally titled? They obviously got the hint.
Load More Replies...Storm
Way cooler, more creative and artistic. In more ways than I have ever seen or thought. I thinks is better than Hollywood studios still.
“Cosplayers best exemplify the peak of what NYCC offers, not only in terms of dedication but in artistic prowess and creative ingenuity. It's a judgment-free zone that celebrates instead of competes, and everyone has the chance to feel part of it,” continued Ali.
Finally, we asked Ali to name some of the more memorable cosplays at NYCC: “The standout cosplayer is the obvious choice: Borderlands Mario, created by Akellyz. I caught him in a rare display of widespread awe in the middle of the convention floor, where a tremendously wide and complete circle was formed around him—wider than anything I'd seen at NYCC before.”
Groot, Gamora & Yondu
Colossus
Is he wearing a bra below the blue shirt? Not condemning, just wondering...?
No he's probably just wearing an under shirt if he's not comfortable with his nipples showing through the shirt
Load More Replies...“I also had the pleasure to shoot a group of cosplayers, all donning a hijab, getting together to portray different Marvel villains with immaculate attention to detail while tweaking the characters to fit each of their individual styles,” carried on Ali.
Of course, Comic Con isn’t only about cosplay. “Outside cosplay, I was lucky enough to be part of a booth run by Omar Mirza of The Last Ansaars, who had his own hectic weekend trying to maintain wild demand for the release of the third issue of his political satire series, The Incapable Trump (@theincapabletrump).”
Aquawoman
Just because they're all wearing headcovers does not mean they're all the same person.
Load More Replies...Why the negative points. Good for her! If you are not going to say anything nice, don't say anything. It was probably very brave to participate at all!
It’s so cool how she found a minty aquamarine scarf/hijab to go with her cosplay. She looks awesome!
This is gorgeous- I love her interpretation of the character and use of traditional fabrics!
Newton Scamander
“We've been handing out a limited number of issues for free for the past few years, and started seeing them flipped on eBay for upwards of $1,000. Someone even returned this year with their 9.8 CGC copy of the first issue, and it was signed by Stan Lee—that was, by far, the highlight of the weekend,” added Ali.
If you haven’t had your fill of cosplay, continue scrolling to see the rest of Ali’s NYCC experience and check out more Comic Con New York cosplay here provided by Bored Panda. Let us know if we’ve missed any cosplay character names in the comments!
Captain America
This is amazing! He looks perfect for a slightly younger version of Steve
Him
*shivers* Why have you come to haunt me again? That’s a very good cosplay.
Luiji (Luija Board)
Venom Bowsette
Shy Guys
Captain Jack Sparow
Wario
Mario & Luigi, Samurais
Thanos
Love how she used just every day type clothes as costumes. Same clothes she can wear at family wedding and will get away with it. Genius.
Gambit
In this pose, yes. But in general he's more like... "Come to me, chere ♥" How I know? Hence my avatar. ^_-
Load More Replies...Katana & Joker
Female Pennywise
Lara Croft
Scarlet Witch
Wouldn't it be really creepy of the head displayed movements and spoke?
Cruella De Vil
Kilmonger & Black Panther
Princess Leia
Lisa Vinci- You know what I hate, when people judge others for their appearance. Or, just in general judge. Kind of what you are doing. I think these women are beautiful, and any dignified person would agree. Of course you have you oppinions but some are meant to be kept quiet. The both of them look stunning, and the fact that she is brave enough and confident enough to walk around like this is inspiring. She looks so badass! Let her damn well take advantage because this is what this event is for! Be your weird nerdy selves for a day, your gorgeous nerdy selves. You should too, sometime.
Yeah cosplay is for everyone and every shape. Let people enjoy doing what they love
Load More Replies...As said one of those ladies "who just take advantage of the opportunity to walk around basically naked", I (1) work out HARD and eat properly throughout the year to look a certain type of way, (2) build my costume with tons of care to represent the character that I love, and (3) don't demonize the female human body. I feel sorry for you for thinking it's a dirty thing and hope you change your mind about the situation.
People are really quick to judge especially women wearing revealing costumes as being slutty/objectifying their bodies, and not realising people have the right to dress how they choose and represent the character however they choose! Like said earlier, you can see much more skin on beaches and no one is going there accusing women of objectifying their bodies.
Load More Replies...Both look amazing but I feel like the "Slave Leia" costume must have been chilly. Was not the warmest weekend
Wow.....reading all tHese comments. Just mind blowing. I just want to say I love it that these two women agreed to pose in the same photo together. That is the most awesome thing about this picture, IMO.
Why? Shouldn't everybody be able to wear whatever they like? I think the two of them are rocking it!
Load More Replies...Princess Zelda
I have Zelda’s Lullaby stuck in my head now. She has some talent. I wonder how long that took. I think I’m going to play Breath of the Wild now.
I love that this is beautiful, accurate, and you can tell it’s been slaved over and handmade! Not some custom ordered by a rich “famous” cosplayer. This is awesome!
The Good Fairy
This is a really beautiful and well-made costume. Can anyone tell where this is from?
It’s an original creation by me. You can see it light up on my Instagram: rjnovelline
Load More Replies...You can see this gown light up here: http://instagram.com/rjnovelline
Deadpool
I can literally hear Ryan Reynolds voice, 😂as he swipes at Wolverine or Avengers pics on his phone
Mr. Reflection
Yep, that's me. The photographer told me to just lean on the railing..... totally different from what I was asked to do fron all the other photographers that day. Lo and behold, I look pretty cool! Kudos to Ali Reza Malik. "Mr. Reflection" is indeed a cool name. I do thank you. It's a nice change from being called "Mirror Man" through the whole convention all day.
The Wicked Witch Elphaba
omigosh I literally read this while listening to the Wicked broadway soundtrack OH. MY. GOSH. It is SO GOOD
its a good cosplay but i'm getting a bit tired of the whole "sexy" version
If you're tired of sexy costumes then stop dressing in sexy costumes! However, let others choose what makes them happy.
Load More Replies...Raiden
Jane Foster & Lady Loki
More importantly what does her 4-5 finger sign mean?! Makes me horny, though - am I wrong? Should I talk to my shrink about this?!
Load More Replies...Yes that's Jane Foster as the new Thor, and Lady Loki from the comics, since Loki is a genderfluid character
Load More Replies...Rey
Oh so that isn't a man bun? Is she/her or is he/his or he/hers - damn I'm confused. Please post the correct male/female pronouns and adjectives that they/it prefers so I don't offend them/it.
Load More Replies...Nice! You see girls dressed as male characters all the time, but almost never the other way around.
I know, I wish I saw more men dressed as female characters, this is really cool!
Load More Replies...As a Rei Cosplayer, this is so cool. And I also genderbend so many make characters, it's a regular thing in the cosplay community.
The women who dressed as male characters get labelled lady whoever but dude just gets Rey and not Man Rey
because lady Loki is the name of the character, this is just Rey.
Load More Replies...Samurai Gengi
Alladin, Jasmine, & Jafar
I'm pretty sure that's actually Aladdin. Also, you forgot Rajah in the stroller.
Maybe he asked them and the guy was trying to be funny by saying he is Abu...? Otherwise calling him Abu makes no sense
Load More Replies...Space Ghost
I need some Holy Water for my eyes!! White, really? Tuck and tape dude!
all the comments on this one...i literally am here in the office laughing out loud and everyone is staring at me..that was great yall. thanks :-)
Fun fact just to um. Draw your attention away from that... Space Ghost had a live action miniseries where he physically resembles Batman.
Powerline & Roxanne
Shy Guys, Domino & Storm
you forgot Ghost Rider in the background without his fire though lol
Ha! I was Domino. We actually weren’t together .. but that’s the awesome thing about Comic Con. We were having a great time with the Shy Guys.
Load More Replies...Captain America
Magneto, Hela, Thanos, Ms. Marvel, Ronan, Dr. Doom, & Mr. Sinister
Jane Foster
Wolverine, Venomized
@cosplaykris Venomized Wolverine and @cosplaydrax HipHop Deadpool!!!
Scorpion
Scorpion to the left is holding subzero's skull.
Load More Replies...Leonardo, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
I like the way the TMNT wear masks for disguise, because apparently that way nobody's going to notice they're GIANT HUMANOID TURTLES in a human world.
that's what you get when people take photo's from resting cosplayers
Load More Replies...Waluigi
Princess Leia, Darth Wader, & The 13th Doctor
Peter Parker, Into The Spiderverse
Charlotte Flair
Thanos
Domino, Storm, Shy Guys
Rey & Darth Vader
The May Queen
Magneto & Dr. Doom
Ms. Marvel
OMG so the same person was the flash and now is his wife....meanwhile the actual character is not even from the same company...
Thor & Mysterio/Spiderman
Princess Leia
Great costume, but why is she in so many photos? Take some of _other_ people!
She's killing it in every costume, of course they want to take pictures of her
Load More Replies...why not? these women's costumes are very well made, likely by hand, and they obviously put a lot of work into this
Load More Replies...Batman
Ms. Marvel
i love how everybody got defensive when they said the wrong name XD
Who is writing the title to these characters? Yo, check yourself before you post it! Lol
You guys really don't know some of your characters, do you? Like you incorrectly named a bunch of them.
As someone who lives in a country where marvel / dc comics is not available, yeah I don't recognize a bunch of them. Only know characters that has been made into movies.
Load More Replies...I.. I think they were trolling with the names. They can't be that bad at this.
I was lucky enough to have a booth up on the fourth floor in Cosplay Central and got to see, speak with, and in some cases, help repair some cistumes from some of the most amazing Cosplayers! NYCC rocked! Can't wait for the next con!
Love to photograph the cosplay characters during our Youmacon show in Detroit, but I can never recognize nor name most of them. Youmacon is this weekend in downtown Detroit - October 31 to November 3. Youmacon20...a53822.jpg
This was amazing. But I don't understand why labels like "Lady Loki" were used but not "Male Rey".
Lady Loki is an actual character from the comics, you should Google her
Load More Replies...When I see this, I wonder why people are crying for more representation , because 'I have no hero to identify with'. So many wonderful costumes of men being female characters and women being male characters. You don't need to LOOK like your favorite hero to identify with them!!
It's incredibly powerful to see yourself on screen and not just dress up as a character. You dressing up as a character isn't representation on screen, but little children seeing for an example a disabled hero or a hero that shares their skin colour or a hero that shares their nationality can be really empowering! Representation on screen is really important, because seeing only straight, white, able-bodied people on screen can make a lot of people feel alienated.
Load More Replies...You guys really don't know some of your characters, do you? Like you incorrectly named a bunch of them.
As someone who lives in a country where marvel / dc comics is not available, yeah I don't recognize a bunch of them. Only know characters that has been made into movies.
Load More Replies...I.. I think they were trolling with the names. They can't be that bad at this.
I was lucky enough to have a booth up on the fourth floor in Cosplay Central and got to see, speak with, and in some cases, help repair some cistumes from some of the most amazing Cosplayers! NYCC rocked! Can't wait for the next con!
Love to photograph the cosplay characters during our Youmacon show in Detroit, but I can never recognize nor name most of them. Youmacon is this weekend in downtown Detroit - October 31 to November 3. Youmacon20...a53822.jpg
This was amazing. But I don't understand why labels like "Lady Loki" were used but not "Male Rey".
Lady Loki is an actual character from the comics, you should Google her
Load More Replies...When I see this, I wonder why people are crying for more representation , because 'I have no hero to identify with'. So many wonderful costumes of men being female characters and women being male characters. You don't need to LOOK like your favorite hero to identify with them!!
It's incredibly powerful to see yourself on screen and not just dress up as a character. You dressing up as a character isn't representation on screen, but little children seeing for an example a disabled hero or a hero that shares their skin colour or a hero that shares their nationality can be really empowering! Representation on screen is really important, because seeing only straight, white, able-bodied people on screen can make a lot of people feel alienated.
Load More Replies...
