Cosplay at Comic-Con 2013: colorful, outrageous, and Internet-friendly (pictures)

A regular Comic-Con attendee, Pirate Pimp Vader is caught here taking a moment to watch the Star Wars clips being shown on the big screen at the Star Wars booth. Or, as he might call them, "home movies."

Not everybody who wears spandex at Comic-Con is worshiping their favorite superhero. This wrestling fan has gone for style with his Ric Flair costume.

If some of the most popular sites on the Web were women garbed in Victorian-style underclothes, you'd have Lauren B. as Google; Chloe D. as Reddit; Jenny N. as Twitter; Michele M. as Pinterest; Crystal T. as Facebook; and Isabelle L. as Wikipedia. The women detailed their outfits to evoke the feeling of the sites they depicted as much as possible, explained Chloe, who organized the group. The tiny squares on the front of Pinterest's corset are photos, the birds on top of Twitter's fascinator bounce around ephemerally; and Reddit's hands have Up and Down votes.

Adventure Time and its Ice Queen, depicted here, continues to grow in popularity with both children and adults for its ability to showcase whimsy.

There's nothing like wearing a wolf-head mask and a T-shirt offering "free hugs" to inspire people to give you a wide berth at the Con.

Even the local bands busking outside the San Diego Convention Center get into (or is that pander to?) the cosplayers with some hastily thrown-together costumes.

General Prism is the creation of Blake Marnell, a San Diego resident, who said that the character expressed his feelings about the National Security Agency domestic spying scandal. "I had another costume in mind," he said, "but I changed my mind about a month ago." Surely, a coincidental timing with the NSA revelations.

The Google Glass set he's wearing is fake, 3D printed by a friend of his, and he outfitted the costume with numerous spying devices, such as sound-amplifying remote microphones.

Doctor Who has been a big hit at Comic-Con for years. This group of the show's fans has included a cardboard cutout of the Seventh Doctor, played by Sylvester McCoy.

Gender-bending is a time-honored tradition in cosplay. Here we have a female Han Solo, which would make her companion ... Prince Leia.

The best cosplayers at San Diego are the ones who make their own costumes, such as these characterizations of the Spider-Man villains Hobgoblin and Green Goblin.

Costuming brings together strangers who otherwise would never meet, including this child Hulk and an adult Captain America who happened to be walking near each other.

The last Iron Man movie showcased several dozen Iron Man armors, but we don't recall seeing this Mrs. Iron Man ... er, Iron Woman, version before. It's probably the only effective way to turn Tony Stark into an honest man.

A very dapper Riddler.

Travis Carter, a Palm Springs member of the popular Star Wars cosplay group, "The 501st Legion," takes a break from the action.

What would happen if musicians were superheroes? These two fans have mashed up the iconic mouse head of Deadmau5 with Spider-Man and Deadpool.

He may look like he's in costume, but he's actually just hawking utilikilts on the Con floor.

Otto the Octopus and his handler, Victoria, have steampunk adventures on the Con floor. Although Victoria and Otto aren't exactly household names, Kate MacIlvanie enjoys cosplaying as the title character because she presents "a strong role model" for women.

The Con floor this year played host to several highly detailed costumes for promoting special effects, makeup schools, and this: Aliens in L.A., a photo project involving costumed oddities in Los Angeles.