Cosplayers Hardcover – August 16, 2016

There are two main intersecting storylines that make up this book. Both are humorous but also relatable and slightly tragic in a way. My favorite story is about a middle age guy who is a convention guest presenter as an expert on Osamu Tezuka, an early pioneer of manga and creator of Astro Boy, among a lot of other things. Tezuka is a fairly niche topic that only the OGs of manga would know about, but Tezuka's work is literally this guy's entire world. Shaw does a great job of showing how dedicated this guy is to his subject matter, having no money for food at the convention, and he gives a sincere presentation effort even when presenting to a total of four people in an otherwise large empty room. We get to see how Tezuka's work funnels into all his thoughts and works as a paradigm that he lives his life by. It is quite humorous, but also a touching portrait of a true geek in the purest sense. Even while chuckling, it is easy to relate to the guy as he searches to find hidden meanings in his life that correlate with Tezuka's work.The other story of two young cosplay filmmakers is also entertaining as they gain degrees of recognition for their insular activity. Cosplayers is a fun little read and one of the better pieces I have read by Dash Shaw. I would recommend it to anybody

I am not a cosplay fan, just an occasional graphic novel reader. But I enjoyed this book. It chronicles a quest for purpose in the world of anime and comic book cosplay by two creative young women who start a youtube channel together. At the outset they seem pretty eccentric to a non-fan, but soon they appear normal in comparison to the colorful characters they encounter. Wielding the minimalist style of comic art and dialogue like a master, Shaw shows both positive and the negative which can originate from active imaginations without any judgment in either direction, and always demonstrating great empathy for even the most absurd of his characters. They are never presented as "losers" but only people who process information in an unusual way.

Dash Shaw really knows what he's doing. The characters feel very real. It's very funny. The drawings are great. The production is great (as you'd expect from Fantagraphics). Shaw's sense of design is smart and playful. It's great it's great it's great. Read it. My favourite thing about it is the drawing of Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix and if Dash Shaw could go ahead and finish Tezuka's masterpiece for us that'd be really great too. Thanks.

As a cosplayer, I picked this up as soon as I saw it. But I felt the title and cover were misleading. The back promised "relatable stories for cosplayers, and some insight into the community from non-cosplayers." However, only ONE story in the entire anthology is focused on the activity of cosplay. And while, yes, it was a fairly accurate representation of the convention scene, the rest of the stories are offbeat dramas about the two main characters. And they lose all reliability/sympathy from the very first story when they assault two guys for the sake of their webseries. The vibe of the storytelling is that of a "pretentious" indy. Not recommended, don't waste your time on this like I did.

The best part of this for me was the small side story where a presenter at a conference can’t afford a hotel room and ends up sleeping in a dumpster. That part hit home.Otherwise, it is the story of two women who make movies on their own, find a brush with fame, and (spoiler alert) find that they were better off doing the thing they wanted to do, not doing the thing they wanted to do.I thought it was a bit weirdly episodic, until the end when I read that the stories were supposed to be looser and less connected and not 100% serve the larger arc. They were indie comics, as is the book.Worth reading, but maybe the title is a bit of a misdirection (though there are cosplayers, so only just).