Subcultures and Identities

Happy Hour: Duck Wings and Sangria at Blue Cow Kitchen in Downtown L.A.

Place: Blue Cow Kitchen, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 621-2249. Hours: Weekdays 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (drinks); 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (food) Deals: A two-sided, postcard-sized menu begins with $5 well cocktails -- vodka, rum, gin, whiskey or tequila -- with a choice of mixer. There are ... More >>

A Different Kind of Fantasy League

Doctor Who Convention Gallifrey One Sells Out, as 3,200 Fans Pack the L.A. Airport Marriott

See also: *Doctor Who Fans Refurbish TARDIS Console From 1996 Movie for Gallifrey One Convention (From Gallifrey One 2012) Last weekend, Gallifrey One, Los Angeles' Doctor Who convention, sold out its 24th annual show. That's 3,200 convention memberships scored before the day of the event. Back in ... More >>

The American Wine Market: More Good News

Market research from the Wine Market Council, in its annual analysis of the American drinks market provides more irrefutable evidence that the United States is becoming a wine culture. The country's drinking habits continue to move toward wine above beer and spirits, making it as the fastest growing ... More >>

'Cosplay is Not Consent': Anime Conventions Attack the Problem of Harassment

I was flipping through the pages of Anime Los Angeles' program guide when I stumbled upon this line: "Harassment of any kind, including physical, verbal or unwelcoming attention, will not be tolerated." There were a few paragraphs after that -- more on what constitutes harassment as well as the repe ... More >>

Bent Con

International Cosplay Day is Saturday. But Why Do People Cosplay in the First Place?

Dressing up as famed characters from across the pop culture landscape for events other than Halloween is nothing new. Certainly, people were doing it well before the term cosplay came into being. But, with every passing year, the image of the superfan dressed in detailed, oftentimes complicated, cos ... More >>

Nation's Restaurant News To The Rescue: Young People For Dummies

Kids these days! Who can tell what they want? Nation's Restaurant News, that's who. The industry magazine, which, to be fair (or actually to be really, really condescending but still accurate), mainly caters to the owners of Applebee's somewhere in rural Ohio, has published a story about the 7 ways ... More >>

Top 7 Lessons Learned at San Diego Comic-Con 2012

See also: *"San Diego Comic-Con 2012: Hasbro Listens to Fans With New, Exclusive Toys" *"San Diego Comic-Con 2012: Dethklok Gives Metalocalypse Fans a Sneak Preview of Upcoming Tour" *"San Diego Comic-Con 2012: Firefly's 10th Anniversary Symbolized by Jayne Cobb's Hat" *"Cosplay on Display at Comic- ... More >>

Hipster Holocaust Indulges Our Sweetest Fantasy

Hipster Holocaust should grab attention, if only for the name. "Hipster" is still a hot-button word, and combining that with unchecked bloodshed and you're probably onto something. The film, which premieres tonight in L.A. at Laemmle's Royal Theatre, is the story of two working class goons who win ... More >>

Anime Expo 2012: Cosplayer Yaya Han on Turning Her Hobby into a Business

See also: "Anime Expo 2012: Tiger & Bunny and Puella Magi Madoka Magica Draw Huge Crowds at AX" On Sunday afternoon at Anime Expo, I met Yaya Han. The Atlanta-based cosplayer was at her booth inside the exhibit hall, surrounded by cat ears, unicorn horns and pegasus wings. Han is part of a growing ... More >>

5 Essential Cosplay Tips for Beginners

See also: *"Kit Quinn and Tallest Silver: The Great Pretenders" *"14 Essential Items to Bring to Every Fan Convention" Every once in a while, I think I might try my hand at cosplay. I'll read a comic book or watch an old TV show and get an idea for a great costume. Sometimes, I'll message one of my ... More >>

Kit Quinn and Tallest Silver: The Great Pretenders

Two of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2012 issue. Check out our entire People 2012 issue here. Kit Quinn and Tallest Silver keep their legal names off the record. The best friends' fear is that, as their images circle the web, boundaries blur. Online, strangers want to g ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: More Aussie Music, Boris

KCRW Broadcast #164 for Saturday, May 12, 2012 See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! R.I.P. MCA Fanatics! Hello from beautiful Western Australia! This will be the last Saturday I will be here. Soon, off to South Africa for a few shows and then, on the 26th, of this month, we will be live on the rad ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: World Debut of J Mascis/Heavy Blanket Album

KCRW Broadcast #162 for Saturday, April 28, 2012 See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! Down Under and 
Hard to Find Fanatics! Hello from beautiful Sydney, Australia. I am a few hours away from another show here. I have been finding some great records here that will find themselves in our upcoming ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday

KCRW Broadcast #155 for Saturday, March 10, 2012 See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! Justice, Texas Style Fanatics! I am writing you from the backstage area of the House of Blues down here in Orlando FL. The next four shows are in the Sunshine State. So far, the US leg of the tour has been going ... More >>

Reality Bites: The Ultimate Sellout?

Irony behind celebrating the movie as an indie classic

5 Standout Cosplays of 2011

See more photos in "2011: The Year in Cosplay." Read more in this years "Best of the Cons," Part 1 and Part 2 and "Top 10 Cult Stars of 2011." While some conventions attract more people in costume than others, there's no denying that cosplay has become a very important aspect of the fan convention ... More >>

Top 10 Cult Stars of 2011

Shannon CottrellWhere's Andrew W.K. on this list?​I had the chance to interview quite a few people this year. Some were famous. Others weren't. However, most of this year's interviewees had a few things in common. They all created something, be it an event or a piece of art, that is memorable. ... More >>

Cosplay Karaoke at Meltdown Comics' Nerdmelt With Dr. Strange, Lana Kane of Archer, Nicki Hunter as Lara Croft and More

For the debut evening of Cosplay Karaoke last month, the promo literature asked, "What would Harley Quinn sing if she had a chance? What would Peter Parker belt out? You have a chance to find out as NerdMelt hosts COSPLAY KARAOKE!" and warned "YOU MUST BE IN COSTUME IN ORDER TO SING!" The rules we ... More >>

Best of the Cons Part 1: 8 Standout TV Shows, Cosplays, Games and More from 2011

There are still a few more conventions left for 2011, but it's not too early to begin the countdown of the best of the superfan scene. This week, I'm counting down a few of the most popular trends spotted at conventions this year. This list avoids perennial favorites (i.e. Star Wars, Star Trek and D ... More >>

Dragon*Con vs. San Diego Comic-Con: Which Convention Should You Attend?

Shannon CottrellSan Diego Comic-Con 2011​For the past three years that I've been covering conventions for LA Weekly, people have been telling me to go to Atlanta for Dragon*Con. I've heard it from commenters, friends and professional contacts. There are many who believe that Dragon*Con is the ... More >>

Industrial Dancer Tank9 Releases Anime Expo 2011 Video 'Dance to Space Electro'

Shannon CottrellFilming Tank9's new Anime Expo video​For the past three years, Tank9 has been filming himself dancing with cosplayers at Anime Expo. The popular videos are filmed in some of the busiest portions of the Los Angeles Convention Center-- including the food court and the South Hall ... More >>

The Venture Bros. : Convention Do's and Don'ts for Fans

Shannon Cottrell​See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's gallery, "The Venture Bros. @ San Diego Comic-Con 2011." Adult Swim's cult hit The Venture Bros. was back at San Diego Comic-Con this year. Friday's panel featured show masterminds Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer along with James Urbaniak, ... More >>

Chocolate Covered Cosplay Debuts at Anime Expo, Next Stop San Diego Comic-Con

Shannon CottrellChocolate Covered Cosplay​Roughly two weeks before the start of Anime Expo, Chocolate Covered Cosplay was born. The group of six women-- Ashphord Jacoway, Neko Nivi, Ginger Burton, Angel Drake, Danielle McRae and Deanna McRae-- came together for cosplay with a purpose. "No ma ... More >>

Ejen Chuang Brings Cosplay in America to Anime Expo

Shannon CottrellEjen Chuang at the book release party for Cosplay in America, May, 2010​Check out Ejen Chuang's photography in "Cosplay in America: Ejen Chuang's Portraits from Anime and Comic Book Conventions." In 2010, Ejen Chuang self-published Cosplay in America, a photography book filled ... More >>

Huffington Post is Optimistically Off by Several Years in Naming its Baby Boomer Section 'Huff/Post 40'

Wilson!​While some news organizations are known for inventing a generation every time Apple introduces a new product (the iPad generation!), there are limits. Historians William Strauss and Neil Howe have come up with perhaps the most cited and widely trusted framework: A generation is a coho ... More >>

Patton Oswalt: Geekdom's Pundit

Otaku Sanctuary Presents SoCal Cosplay Ball

Shannon CottrellGinger Burton of SoCal Cosplay Ball​See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's photo gallery, "SoCal Cosplay Ball." Back in January of 2009, when Shannon Cottrell and I covered Anime Los Angeles together for the first time, we met Ginger Burton. At the time, Burton was a student at ... More >>

Long Beach Comic Expo: Five Things We Love About Small Conventions

See more photos in Dianne Garcia's gallery "Long Beach Comic Expo 2011." As fan conventions gain increasingly more mainstream attention, with focus leaning towards the biggest events of the year, it might be easy to forget the smaller gatherings dedicated primarily to comic books. On April 23, thou ... More >>

Eight Reasons We Love Anime Los Angeles

Over the past few years, Anime Los Angeles has become a special convention for us. It was the first convention one of us attended and, after that, the first Shannon Cottrell and I covered together. This year, it became the first con where we sat on panels. Shannon Cottrell​ We think ALA, as i ... More >>

Best of the Cons 2010

From internationally known events like San Diego Comic-Con and Anime Expo to smaller, single-franchise conventions like Power Morphicon and MacrossWorld to non-con events like the L.A. screening of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, there was no shortage of fan gatherings in Southern California t ... More >>

Power Rangers Fans and Stars Gather for Power Morphicon

See more photos in "Power Morphicon: Celebrating 17 Years of the Power Rangers." We had no idea what to expect when we first arrived at Power Morphicon Saturday afternoon. There wasn't a huge crowd of people hanging around outside the venue, no visible sign from the street that there was any kind o ... More >>

Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Conned?

The search for authenticity at Comic-Con 2010

Top 10 Memorable Cosplays of Anime Expo

Check out more photos in "Anime Expo 2010: Thursday, Day One," "Anime Expo 2010: Friday, Day Two," and "Anime Expo 2010: Saturday, Day Three." For Fourth of July weekend, tens of thousands of anime fans headed downtown to the Los Angeles Convention Center for Anime Expo. Many of them were in cospla ... More >>

Cosplay Guide: What to Expect at Anime Expo

Going to Anime Expo for the first time this year? If so, prepare yourself for the onslaught of cosplays. Even a diehard anime-watcher could get stumped trying to identify every character on the convention hall floor. With that in mind, we created a small sample of the titles you're likely to see rep ... More >>

WARNING : THE FOLLOWING BLURB CONTAINS SENSORY OVERLOAD

Cosplay in America Celebrates the Diversity and Creativity at Anime Cons

In 2008, photographer Ejen Chuang decided to head out to Anime Expo, which had just moved to downtown Los Angeles. He thought he would be there for just a few hours, but ended up spending the entire weekend at the anime mega-con photographing cosplayers. A year later, Chuang was setting up his porta ... More >>

Cosplay in America: The Interviews

Throughout 2009, Ejen Chuang spent five months traveling to anime conventions across the U.S. The result of his labor is Cosplay in America, a slick photography book documenting the creativity within the cosplay community. Sunday night, Royal/T will be hosting a release party for the book. Chuang a ... More >>

Exquisite Mana "Le Ciel" Cosplay Documented on YouTube

Ashley Conyers is a cosplayer who has undertaken the seemingly daunting task of transforming herself into rock star and fashion icon Mana for Seattle's anime convention Sakura-Con. Not only has she tackled the artist who popularized gothic Lolita, but she chose one of Mana's more elaborate costumes- ... More >>

Shogun Vader, the Ultimate Cardboard Cosplay

For those who look down upon the idea of using cardboard in your cosplay, we suggest checking out this ridiculously cool Shogun Vader design created by Alexander Lam. We first met Lam at Tune in Tokyo's New Year's Eve party and then bumped into him poolside at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott during ... More >>

Metalocalypse Cosplayers Found at Anime L.A. Convention

Imagine our surprise when we walked into the Los Angeles Airport Marriott on Saturday for Anime LA and ran into Dr. Rockzo. Yes, the "rock 'n' roll clown" from Metalocalypse. Soon after, we found Dethklok lead singer Nathan Explosion and band manager Charles Foster Offdensen. We heard that Murderfac ... More >>

NOT FOR BETTY OR VERONICA

Best of the Fan Conventions 2009

Photographer Shannon Cottrell and I started off 2009 with Anime L.A. and then proceeded to hit up every convention and non-con fandom event we could attend. Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind year of panels, cosplay, ball-jointed dolls and "Hare Hare Yukai" dance-offs. We decided to end the year ... More >>

IT'S THE LOVE OF THE ART, MAN!

THE LITTLE ZINE THAT COULD

Tim and Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job! and The Mighty Boosh: Friday Night at Comic-Con

View more photos in the "Comic-Con Parties" slideshow. Shannon CottrellTim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! at 4th & B, San Diego Comic-Con 2009After running on very little sleep throughout a day of squeezing between throngs of people and Storm Troopers at San Diego Convention Center for Comic-Con, ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Kick Out the Clots Benefit, Texas Heat at Crewest Gallery, Anime Expo 2009

Between not buying illegal fireworks in Chinatown and enjoying the fact that we could sleep in Friday, our Fourth of July Weekend was pretty packed, with Pool party/BBQ after Pool party/BBQ to attend. In between nursing our sunburn and our hangover, we got to hit up some of the most happening event ... More >>

There's No Porn Like '70s Porn!