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This last Saturday of March, in Los Angeles, off Sunset Blvd., in a lovely comic shop, there was a meeting of superheroes, villains, magical people, and everyday citizens to unite under one banner, one of karaoke.

Meltdown Comics is a fine establishment with plentiful amounts of comics and other things to whet your collectible appetite. Models, statues, pen-and-paper RPGs, and more are available, and with having the Nerdist venue in the back of the store, the place has something for everybody.

Cosplay Karaoke is hosted by Nicki Hunter at Meltdown Comics. The event is exactly as its title says – people in cosplay (and those who aren’t are welcome as well) get up on stage to belt out their favorite songs. Nicki keeps the flow going and makes sure people get their chance to shine on stage.

The venue was big enough to hold all the guests and keep us warm and out of the rain that was coming down hard outside. Even with such weather, plenty of people came in full costume, some subtle to the point that only the biggest fans would get, and others that were easy to recognize as soon as they were seen.

The night started with just a few people singing, but by an hour in everyone had started getting comfortable and more singers took to the stage. Now let’s get to some more cosplay spotlight.

His lightsaber was really cool looking, it was actually made of metal, and he was jokingly dubbed “Jedi Git R Dun” by Nicki. He got the night started and helped set the mood.

Johnny Bias and Samantha Terry showed up as steampunk Han Solo and R2-D2. They didn’t sing, but they were there for the whole event classing it up.

There was a moment when this man was introduced where I saw several audience members have to remember that there are two different District 9’s in science fiction. This was from the 2009 film District 9, not the District 9 from this year’s Hunger Games. Either way, he did a good job singing multiple songs throughout the night.

Harry Potter showed up and did a well done rendition of the Barenaked Ladies’ “One Week.” It was his first song and I really enjoy any time someone can keep up with that song.

Chris Gore showed up as depowered Ben Grimm. He spoke of the unreliable cosmic rays and how you can’t always be an orange, rocky Thing. When he saw this picture he said it looked terrible, I said it looked Fantastic. (Sorry, but I had to make that joke.)

This was a really impressive costume; it was an Emma Frost without going into being Emma at her most extreme costuming. It’s the kind of outfit you’d see her wear around students since that’s as professional as she’d be willing to go there.

I liked this cosplay since it took the standard Hogwarts student attire and added the wolf aspect to make it something special. It also works in-world since she can either be an animagus or a lycanthrope. I’ll stop before I make fanfiction.

This is Chris Fett and Nobo Fett (no relation) as a Steampunk man and a panda. I just love the idea of a man of steampunk technology and a panda teaming up to fight crime and explore the world. Here I go making fanfiction again.

I kept wanting him to use the Psycho Crusher to get on stage, alas, that was not in the cards. Watch as I’m wrong on what his costume is.

This is Chrissy Lynn as Jill Valentine and Dave Pereyra as Elwood Blues (I say Elwood without being positive, since I just always loved his name the most out of the two Blues Brothers). Chrissy was the one to give me the heads up on Cosplay Karaoke, and I’m glad she did.

As the night began to wind down, we started getting more group songs. This included a men and women divide singing “Summer Nights” from Grease. This was pulled together from everyone who had already been singing or just felt like being on stage. People were singing in-character and having an all around good time.

So with the last song of the night, one more group got together to sing us out with the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way.” Everyone seemed to be laughing and dancing along while trying to be the most grandiose in their singing. This was the end of the night, and where as it was pouring outside to get everyone inside, it was clear skies as we left for the night. I’m not sure when the next Cosplay Karaoke will be, but I hope it’s soon, because I plan on going again and bringing friends with me.

Alexander Bustos

drbustos@comicattack.net