A cosplayer dressed as X-Men's Wolverine showing off his claws.

(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)

Fans of all genres spilled out of Rutland Centennial Hall for Kelowna Comic-Con yesterday.

This event was smaller than the typical summer Comic-Con, but it still attracted hundreds of fans of comic books, video games, film, and television.

Comic-Con could be compared to a flea market for everything related to science fiction and fantasy.

Dozens of people were dressed in costumes, also known as cosplay, to check out more than 25 vendors selling everything from original comic books to handmade art and collectibles. Cosplayers were also able to enter into the costume contest at the end of the day.

Some cosplayers spend more than $1,000 on their costumes for Comic-Con, others are more economical and make their costumes out of whatever they can get their hands on.

A cosplayer geared-up in a $1200 Star Wars Mandalorian costume.

(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)

One cosplayer was Scott Burke, a metal worker who spent more than seven months building a suit of armour from the video game series Halo. Burke made the entire suit except for the helmet. It took him about 30 minutes to get the suit on as his daughter helped him assemble the various pieces and clip them into place in the parking lot.

A cosplayer on stilts to be a towering Jack Skellington from "Nightmare Before Christmas."

(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)

Burke has been a judge for cosplay contests at Comic-Con in the past and enjoys seeing people’s artistic abilities come through in their costumes.

“They are amazing artists and they are amazing with their abilities in terms of creating and making costumes. They really have a creative capacity. There are some people who are really skilled especially in the sewing area and they can just look at something and make it,” Burke said.

Burke's daughter clipping pieces of his armour together.

(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)

Burke says cosplay is a labour of love and his approach is a lot of trial and error.

“I made it in the evenings just having fun bending some metal. I don’t quite have that skill, it’s more pain and I have to try something eight times to figure it out,” he said. 

Scott Burke kitted-out as Halo's Master Chief.

(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)

Cosplayers like Burke came to Comic-Con in a swarm to see local artists.

Nate Bennett and Matthew Senn are two members of the local art collective Okanagan Comic Creators. Bennett and Senn were showing off their latest original comics yesterday.

Nate Bennett on the left and Matthew Senn on the right at their booth at Comic-Con. Senn was dressed as comic book detective Dick Tracy.

(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)

“I’m from Vernon, we’re all local B.C. boys,” Bennett said.

Bennett and Senn have been making comic books from start to finish as a side job and hope to eventually make comic books full time.

Bennett has been working on his “Ill Will” series as a passion project since 2020. Bennett described his work as “Robert Pattinson’s Batman meets John Wick.”

“I’ve written and drawn pretty much everything. I start with sketches on paper, then I scan them, and add colours and effects digitally,” Bennett said.

Senn was showing off his latest book “Poppy,” about a girl who falls asleep in the 1920s and wakes up in the 2020s.

“I’ve been drawing comics since I could hold a pencil or a crayon. I worked on notebook comics in high school. Then I went to a convention like this and asked some creators how to get into doing it professionally and they said, ‘just do it. Make some comics, post them online and keep at it.’ So that’s what I’ve been doing,” Senn said.

Kelowna Comic-Con will be having their next big event on June 22-23, 2024.

Find out more about Kelowna Comic-Con here.

Check out Senn’s work here.

Check out Bennett’s work here.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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