Comic-Con Is Live And In-Person Again And Yes, That Means Cosplayers Are Back. Why They're So...

San Diego’s Comic-Con International — and all the cosplaying fans — is back this week for the first time in three years.

Cosplayers have been some of the most excited fans as live events start to return. They’ll be holding court and taking photos with onlookers at the con, which regularly draws more than 100,000 attendees.

Andrew Liptak is a longtime Stormtrooper cosplayer who also just wrote a book on the subject, Cosplay: A History. He’s been examining immersive entertainment and why fans love dressing up as genre characters.

“We’re trying to bring these worlds to life, by actually making the costumes and bringing them into the real world,” Liptak said. “Stories are really powerful things, and they move us, they inspire us, and they bring us together.”