San Diego Comic-Con 2011: Day 3 – Costumes, girls, Disney Channel, zombies and more celebrity sightings

in Entertainment, Events, Movies, Television

With locals off work, Saturday is the busiest day of the San Diego Comic-Con, packing the convention center with countless costumed attendees. Cosplay is the name of the game for Day 3.

Each day of Comic-Con begins with a rush of hundreds of excited fans crossing Harbor Dr. from downtown toward the convention center. And on this third day, it’s extra entertaining to watch the mixture of plain clothes and costumes moving down the street.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Inside, it’s important to have a camera ready as the elaborate outfits being worn around the exhibition hall are impressive and quite photo-worthy.

Video: Costumes of San Diego Comic-Con 2011

Beyond the video above, here are some other favorites that I encountered, in chronological order throughout the day:

Battled-Damaged Spider-Man

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Big Boy

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Kill Bill duo

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Toad girl

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Sirius Black

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Powdered Toast Man

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Clawdeen from Monster High

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

AquaMan

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Ariel / The Little Mermaid

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Colonal Sanders

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Elvira

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Captain Jack Sparrow

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Cheetara and Snarf

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Deku from Zelda

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Chun Li

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Professor Layton

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Darkwing Duck

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Planking Winnie the Pooh

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This was the second San Diego Comic-Con to take place since Disney purchased Marvel, which was certainly a big deal for the comic fan crowd. So in that spirit, I offer a symbolic pair of photos featuring Ariel from above representing Disney, along with Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter, alongside a group of Marvel characters in a friendly meeting and even embrace:

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

And speaking of Marvel, everyone at San Diego Comic-Con seemed to be excited about the new “Captain America” movie, hitting theaters the same weekend that the convention was happening. One Marvel display featured a Captain America costume:

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

But it was throughout the hall that many Captain Americas (and variations thereof) could be found…

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Any female version of a costume, particularly one showing off plenty of skin, instantly is a hit on the convention floor. And it’s often the case that when a girl in a tight outfit stops to pose for a single photo, a swarm of guys with cameras quickly gather around, each wanting a photo of their own. After the photo above, one of the girls above was heard saying, “That was overwhelming!” Indeed.

But it’s clear that many of the scantily-clad women who attend San Diego Comic-Con do it specifically for that type of attention. Some of the skimpy costumes are put-together enough to make it clear what character they’re supposed to represent. Others just appear to be tiny outfits with no purpose other than to be a tiny outfit.

So here, for your viewing pleasure, are plenty of Comic-Con girls in costume (some barely), with no captions to clutter up the sights:

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

The photos above are only a small sampling of all of the costumed attendee photos we have from Day 3 of San Diego Comic-Con, so check out the slideshow at the end of this article for the rest. But that’s not all from Day 3.

Even on a day when thousands show up in costume, posing for tens of thousands of photos, presentations and panels continue throughout. On this Saturday, I only had a chance to attend one panel, put on by Disney Channel and Disney XD previewing new animated shows Motorcity and Tron: Uprising followed by a panel discussion with the voice stars of Kick Buttowski.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

The group was rather hilarious, particularly in their responses to kids’ questions (“Will Kick Buttowski get a girlfriend?”), but the appearance of Orlando Magic basketball star Dwight Howard stole the show.

He provides a voice for the series and was happy to demonstrate his Barry White-esque tones for the audience. And when one boy asked if he could have Howard’s name badge, Howard gladly obliged.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Tron: Uprising, by the way, is sure to please Tron fans, with a visual style straight out of “Tron: Legacy.” It will kick off with ten 3-minute mini-episodes that lead up to the full show’s debut in mid-2012 on Disney XD.

Panels weren’t the only place to spot celebrities on Saturday. In the artists’ area of the exhibition floor, I happened across a booth guarded by event security where director John Landis and Mythbusters’ Adam Savage were chatting with a few others.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Meanwhile the Profiles in History booth featured a screen-used “Back to the Future 3” DeLorean and plenty of BTTF props, guests could meet actors Billy Zane and Claudia Wells, both of whom were in the film series, along with Hollywood Treasure’s Joe Maddalena.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

At another small booth, actor Michael McMillian who played religious fanatic Steve Newlin on “True Blood” was happy to talk with fans of the show.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Elsewhere on the floor, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creator Kevin Eastman was signing autographs.

Celebrity encounters are not at all uncommon throughout San Diego Comic-Con. While walking the convention floor, I came across Anthony Head who played Giles in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” (More on him below.)

After a day of costume watching, conducting a few great interviews (which I’ve shared on Show 329), and a failed attempt at getting into the “Mythbusters” panel, the exhibition hall closed and it was time to head back into the streets for dinner and a few more activities to finish the day.

On the way out… ZOMBIES.

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It was the annual San Diego Comic-Con zombie walk and I found myself in the middle of it, walking against the limb-dragging, brains-seeking, slow-moving crowd. The zombie costumes depicted below were fantastic, but not for the squeamish. You’ve been warned.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Amidst the zombies, giant balloon versions of Gonzo and Kermit the Frog delighted crowds. They were actually puppets resting on the shoulders of their creators.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

Further down a few blocks, the South Park “Year of the Fan” experience honoring 15 years of the show was being torn down. Apparently costs were too high to keep it around for the last day of Comic-Con, so anyone looking for the advertised free T-shirts, snow cones, and Cheesy Poofs found themselves out of luck as crews quickly turned the town of South Park back into a parking lot.

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San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

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Elsewhere in town, the star-studded premiere of “Cowboys & Aliens” was taking place, with some lucky fans in attendance. I was not one of them. Instead, I hung around outside the Entertainment Weekly Comic-Con Celebration party, expecting a few celebrities to be driven down the blocked-off street. From a distance, I caught another glimpse of Anthony Head.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 - Day 3

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A few minutes later, I spotted Yvette Nicole Brown (“Community”) and Pierre Bernard, one of Conan O’Brien’s graphic artists and a regular on the talk show. But as the day turned to night, it was time to give up on playing paparazzi and wrap up the excitement, with one Comic-Con day remaining.

More photos from Day 3 of the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con:

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