By C’loni Bailey, Assistant Manager for Bookmans Mesa

The 2016 convention season is in full swing and it’s time to celebrate those amazingly talented geeks who make comic conventions entertaining and visually stunning. That’s right, I’m talking about cosplayers! Most of time, media attention focuses on female cosplayers, particularly those of the “sexy” persuasion. The Men Vs. Cosplay project seeks to balance that out by shifting the focus to talented male cosplayers of many skill levels.

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Cosplay, which stands for “Costume Play”, is the act of dressing up as a favorite comic book, video game or pop culture character at conventions or other geeky events. With the popularity of conventions and geek culture in general, cosplay has become a prominent way for many geeks to express their fandom. Skilled cosplayers gain media recognition for their talented work, allowing some professional prop-makers and cosplayers to build careers out of their hobbies.

The brainchild of local artist Anabel Martinez, Men vs. Cosplay is an annual cosplay calendar that celebrates the diverse and talented men of the cosplay community. Men vs. Cosplay launched in 2014 with a Kickstarter for their 2014 18-month Gaming Calendar, which features men in video game cosplays. The format evolved into a 365 page-a-day style calendar that spotlights a different cosplay guy every day! This allows for inclusion of more cosplayers than their previous month-to-month calendars.

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Men vs. Cosplay has grown in popularity and the scramble is on to be included in next year’s calendar. Recruitment for the 2017 page-a-day style calendar began April 15 and continues until June 15 (or until all 300+ spots are filled). The Kickstarter to fund the calendar launches this summer.

Bookmans appreciates all those who cosplay. We covered #28DaysOfBlackCosplay because geeking out is for everyone. Diversity matters in cosplay as much as in books and movies and life. We welcome cosplayers in our stores, even when there is no special event occurring. Let’s face it, cosplayers make any outing an event. We hope to see you boldly representing your fandom this convention season and throughout the year!

For more information about the Men vs. Cosplay calendar and recruitment requirements visit menvscosplay.com.