The Cosplay Medics of Dragon Con

Paige Robbins repairing the Spiderman Thor mash-up.photo: Jim Stapp — Paige Robbins repairing the Spiderman Thor mash-up.
photo: Jim Stapp

We’re big fans of fancy dress and as such, HUGE fans of Dragon Con. We covered it a bit in the past, but these year we found something a bit different. Barely an hour into this years con we saw someone with a huge basket of supplies and a sign that said “costume help”. We realized that there was a subculture within the subculture that is Dragon Con - people who spend their con helping others.

When you see pictures of the costumes at these cons, you can tell a lot of time and effort goes into them. Imagine what a huge disappointment it would be if your work of art started failing. That’s where these heroes come in. They are out there offering their services - for free! - to fix and repair costumes when they can. It’s not an organized thing, it just kind of happened. The stories of how they became Cosplay Medics may vary, but the reason is all the same: they just want to make sure everyone has a great Con.

Kim talked to a handful of the medics and got their backstories. Sarah and Russell have made the first attempt to bring this group of do-gooders together. They pointed Kim to Alan, who is a bit of a legend to the medics - he carries a 40lb wooden cabinet on his back with just about everything you could need to get a cosplayer back in action. Next up is Liam- who like Alan, became a medic by chance – starting out by being a handler for a friend. Then there is Elliot, Steven and Coley, who each shared some thoughts on being a Cosplay Medic.

We were lucky enough to have Atlanta based photographer Jim Stapp tag along and take pictures. For more of the Cosplay Medics, visit his site here. For more coverage of DragCon at large, check out his photos here.