The Art of Cosplay at Lagos Comic Con 2022

“I’m done watching on repeat The sand man on Netflix a few weeks ago and was drawn to the character,” Tonia told OkayAfrica.

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

Over time, cosplay has been used primarily as a means of self-expression. It is about representing and bringing to life characters from anime, cartoons, comics, TV series and video games. And Lagos Comic Con is one of the biggest conventions that makes cosplay flourish, creating a community – and more so – a subculture in Nigeria. This year marked its 10th editionbringing together dozens of cosplayers.

Additionally, there was a cosplay contest, with a cash reward of N50,000 to the winner. Among those cosplayers is 21-year-old first-timer Tonia, who played the role of The Sandman, a fictional DC Comics character. Tonia has always enjoyed dressing up, which sparked her interest in cosplay. “I’m done watching on repeat The sand man on Netflix a few weeks ago and I was drawn to the character,” Tonia told OkayAfrica. “I loved everything about him and the way he was portrayed.”

“I don’t believe in cosplaying white people because it won’t look good.”

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

Disun, another first-timer, used cosplay as a way of self-expression as a black person. Cosplay as Marvel’s beloved character Nick Fury The Avengers, the 29-year-old looked minimalist in black outerwear and an eye patch. “I will mostly choose black characters when cosplaying because I’m black,” Disun said. “I don’t believe in cosplaying white people because it just won’t look good. I would probably cosplay black characters like Luke Cage.

Guardian Prime is a superhero character from Comic Republic, one of Africa’s largest comic book publishers.

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

After cosplaying as Marvel Thor in 2019, David decides to revisit his costume. “As this year was the 10th anniversary of Lagos Comic Con, I wanted to do something different, so I chose to come as Guardian Prime,” David said.

Guardian Prime is a superhero character from Comic Republic, one of Africa’s largest comic book publishers. David’s appearance as Guardian Prime was profound, as it helped highlight the often overlooked African comic characters at these conventions.

Other cosplayers drew inspiration from Japanese media culture. The first is 21-year-old Tony, who lived in Ukraine and often cosplayed at anime-themed events. However, when she moved to Nigeria – before the Covid-19 pandemic hit – she found solace in cosplaying frequently during this time, focusing only on Japanese-inspired characters.

“What I love most about cosplay is how it lets you bring any character to life, regardless of race or gender,” Tony said.

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

At Comic Con Lagos, she looked stunning in a school-inspired outfit alongside a sword. She cosplays the character of Sekai Saionji from the Japanese anime school days. “I feel unique,” Tony said. “What I love most about cosplay is how it allows you to bring any character to life, regardless of your race or gender.”

David Ajidahun was cosplaying as Japanese fighter character Ryu from the video game street fighter. He believed that Comic Con only existed outside of the African continent. “Having Comic Con here in Nigeria shows you the progression of creativity all over the world,” Ajidahun told OkayAfrica. “Cosplay, as a form of self-expression, allows me to create myself as an artist while finding that connection to the character I’m cosplaying.

While cosplay is a form of self-actualization, the youngsters at Lagos Comic Con all face one overriding hurdle: finding their costumes and props. Some of them spend the money to purchase and ship their costume from overseas, while others go the DIY (do it yourself) route.

David Ajidahun cosplayed as Japanese fighter character Ryu from Street Fighter.

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

For example, Tonia spent four days bringing her outfit to The sand man live. She loves the time she spends designing her costume. But, for someone like Deola, her Yor Briar costume from the Japanese manga Spy X Family cost around $70 and was shipped overseas.

For her, it’s a huge challenge to find the right materials and props to create the vision for whatever character she decides to cosplay. And for Tobi, who played the role of Luigi in the Super Mario videoGame, she had to look for a friend who was also into cosplay to help her create her costume.

Tobi cosplayed as Luigi from Super Mario videoGame.

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

This year has seen the appearance of some bigwigs in the creative industry, such as media mogul Obi Asika and Nigerian filmmakers Biodun Stephen and Niyi Akinmolayan, all of whom have led panel discussions on various topics.

In the coming years, Comic Con Lagos looks forward to expanding the number of convention days to accommodate more attendees, to keep the event indigenous to Africa, and to push African creatives and talent to the rest of the world. But the festival is not easy to put on. Ayodele Elegba, the founder of Lagos Comic Con, says it has become difficult to convince sponsors to invest in the event.

“They just don’t get it. Without sponsorship funding, Lagos Comic Con becomes difficult to organize,” Elegba told OkayAfrica. “One of the reasons why we have adopted ticketing this year is to be able to alleviate some of the costs of the event. And we are happy that people can pay for their tickets in order to contribute to the growth of the creative industry in Nigeria. .”

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica

Photo by John Ezekwem for OkayAfrica