Universal Cosplay Convention 2016 Attracts Dangerous Villains (and Some Heroes Too!)

by contributing writer Michelle Chee.

This year’s Universal Cosplay Convention (UCC)  was held once again at The Place, in One City, Subang from March 5th to 6th 2016. This is the second time UCC is being organized and the first time that it lasted for two days straight. UCC actually grew out of the annual Cosplay Ball event, which was a sit down dinner get-together for cosplayers in the Klang Valley. This is the reason why UCC has always incorporated a Cosplay Ball that takes place after the daytime activities.

So much to see and do, where do we even start!

The theme this year was ‘Celebrating Villainy’, and with that we expected a lot of villains to show up, with their more heroic counterparts in tow. To be honest, we were not at all disappointed as the selections of both were pretty impressive.

UCC's layout.

Outpost Productions, which is one of the supporters of UCC, opened a booth this year featuring a selection of new and pre-loved NERF guns for sale, as well as some of its quality costumes, both new and used.  Right in front of the stall, a small obstacle course was set up for visitors to play ‘Eggs on a Spoon’, with a small prize offered for those who successfully completed the challenge.

The outpost booth when all its shy crew members disappeared, except one.

Ye olde obstacle course by Outpost Productions.

The event hall was really spacious with a lot of room for visitors to move about, and there was even an area complete with tables and chairs for cosplayers and their friends to rest and hang out. What was even more comforting was the fact that the rest area was positioned in front of small food stall set up by the One City Hotel staff, offering both light snacks like sandwiches to full meals of fried rice with chicken. 

A musically inclined visitor taking some time out to practice his skill in the rest area.

Can your resist these mouthwatering sandwiches at the makeshift cafeteria?

The event was livened up with the presence of two guest cosplayers from Japan, namely Mr Tatsumi Inui and Ms Kotori, who conducted the Cure Cosplay Collection competition on Day 2. The competition’s aim was to find the best cosplayers from contestants who were given a chance to parade in their costumes and pose for both guest cosplayers, who were also the judges. Both of them also took some time to give comments on the local Malaysian cosplay scene, and offer some words of advice. 

Mr Inui mingling with some fans.

The Cure Cosplay Collection participants, all in a row.

Of course, and event celebrating villainy would not have been complete without selecting the ‘Villain of the year’. Although the preliminary stage was judged in the old fashioned way, the finalist were literally made to battle it out with an actual physical one on one match involving fats suits ( duly provided by us, the happy people at Outpost Productions). The match was fun yet nerve wrecking, as both finalists attempted to knock a plastic water bottle from each others’ heads. The fat suits were a real hit as spectators roared in laughter every time both contestants clashed, since they resembled large mounds of wobbling jelly.

Villain of the year finalists in a ‘Calm before the storm’ moment.

Intense nail biting action worth betting on!

In the end, Danieal Aidid, who was cosplaying the Joker from Batman, emerged victorious and was lifted up in the air by friends and supporters after his win.

Danieal Aidid @ Dee Joke , ‘Villain of the Year’ winner.

The venue saw its fair share of cosplayers, representing a wide variety of genres from western comics and movies, to Japanese anime and games.

Friendly cosers posing away, including a very familiar Sith Lord!

Cosplayer Manni Corbone in her original creation, which looks a little like a Skeksis from The Dark Crystal.

Deadpool joins the party by showing off his ample derrier!

While waiting for the night’s Cosplay Ball to start, visitors were entertained by a variety of fun activities, like a voiceover game, a life sized snakes and ladders game, a dance-off and performances. Some people took the chance to browse around the numerous doujin booths available, and on the upper floor, there was a figurine display by the folks over at the Hobby and Collectible community, as well as the DC Comics Fan Club Asia.

Guys representing DC Comics Fan Club Asia.

DC comics collection on display.

As day turned to night, some of the attendees got ready to attend the annual Cosplay Ball, anticipating a night filled with good food, good friends, good dancing, and even more fun activities! Here’s to another successful UCC, and more to come!

Fans of Western Comics and Movies Unite at Comic N Toys Geek Fest (CTGF)

by contributing writer Michelle Chee

The Comic N’ Toys Geek Fest (CTGF) was held recently on the 21^st and 22^nd of March 2015, which fell on a Saturday and Sunday respectively. This particular event was targeted mainly at fans of western comics and series like all the beloved Marvel and DC characters. It was also a chance for local comic artists and other related art doyens to showcase their craft. The brains behind this event were the people at Lil’ Monsters, Batcave Malaysia and the Comic Society of Asia, who pooled their resources together and pulled off this extremely successful gathering.

Overview of CTGF at ground concourse of Jaya Shopping Centre.

Among the highlights of the event was a comic panel, a workshop on toy customization and a cosplay competition. Also present was guest cosplayer Liui Aquino from the Philippines, who had his fans in a frenzy during the fan activity session on the first day.

Apart from the stage activities, there were plenty of artist booths to browse and shop at. While walking around, I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Edvinder Singh who was there to sell prints from a series he’s working on called Children of Ga’ia, which is inspire by Vedic Scripture. His artwork was very detailed and vibrantly coloured. When asked about the storyline of Children of Ga’ia, Edvinder said that it was about a battle between good and evil, but more importantly how good and evil are actually complex and difficult to define, giving rise to a grey area that the characters have to struggle with. He and his writer partner Meninder Aujla have planned five volumes and we wish him all the best.

Friendly Edvinder from Children of Gai'a.

Another interesting booth belonged to some representatives from MY Comic Community who were selling their latest collaborative effort called Garaj Komik, which is a fanzine featuring several standalone stories. A total of four artists contribute to these stories in mixed degrees, giving the fanzine a very Indie and raw feel.

Heng Kok who was manning the Garaj Komik booth.

Geekdom gatherings are never complete without the presence of cosplayers and CTGF was awash with characters from various comic books and movies. We spotted a group of Avengers mingling with the crowd and posing for photos with curious onlookers and avid fans. They also took some time out to goof around with one another. Apparently all that saving the world business is rather stressful and there’s nothing like a day out with the gang to cure the mental anguish.

The Avengers (and their buddy Spiderman) taking the day off.

Two Thor-iffic cosplayers.

Of course we musn’t forgot the entire bunch of people from the Batman franchise, one of which was Ezard Bob Zuhaili, who did a perfect rendition of the Penguin, complete with slow shuffling movements and a walking stick.

Would you offer him a fish?

Of course everyone at the event was looking forward to the cosplay competition themed "Marvel vs. DC" with many gathering around the stage area to watch. It has to be noted that one of the judges was Liui Aquino, a professional cosplayer from the Philippines who was a guest at this event. There were many fangirls (and fanboys) crowding around him for a chance to get a picture in his Nightwing costume.

The esteemed judges, a very intimidating bunch. Or maybe not.

As the cosplay competition went underway, it was obvious the crowd was excited and took every opportunity to interact with the contestants who were equally creative, injecting in witty banter with the host, Andrew and acrobatic moves (for some). In the end, the first place went to the affable Louis Megami as Spider-man, who won the hearts of spectators by engaging with the crowd and being such a great sport when questioned by the judges. The twenty two year old, who has been cosplaying since 2011, was very humbled by the win when I met him afterward.

Liui (Aquino), left and Louis Megami.

Later on after the excitement had wound down, I went to check out more figurines that were on display. A large collection came from the Comic Society of Asia, headed by David L., who was at the booth recruiting for the group as well as trying to raise awareness of western made figurine collection.

Comic Society of Asia’s figurine display.

Another highlight during the event was a sculpting demonstration by Mufizal Mokhtar which was both educational and entertaining. However since his booth was small and the crowd was thick, I only managed to catch snippets of it on an extension screen. Impressively he managed to make a full figurine of Hang Tuah (or is it Jebat?) in just over 20 minutes.

Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat in Silat poses

The final bunch of people I spoke to were from MyLARP, the Malaysian LARP community promoting the first ever LARP event in Malaysia on 29^th to 31^st of August this year. However, Sacha, who heads the group says that plans are still ongoing and they’re targeting about 60-100 players.  

Some crazy-ness expected from cosplayers at cons!

Finally, a big Thank You is in order for the organizers who have worked so hard and pulled off a successful maiden event which was relaxed and informative. Here’s hoping for more action in the future. Check out more photos of the event at the Comic & Toys Geek Fest photo album on Facebook.

Fans of Western Pop Culture who would be interested to attend international conventions like Supanova Australia, Dragon Con Atlanta USA, New York Comic Con and more stay tuned to Away Missions being organised by Outpost Expeditions.

Disclaimer: This blog post is written for fan engagement only. All referenced trademarks remain copyright to their respective owners.