18th Century Joker & Harley Quinn

It's safe to say that you can't swing a comically oversized mallet at Comicon each year without hitting attendees that are portraying either The Joker, his femme fatale sidekick Harley Quinn, or both. Matt and Sarah Rader of Phoenix, however, created a nifty reinterpretation of the deadly duo as figures from the 18th century, from the Joker's green-colored powered wig and foppish look to Harley's Marie Antoinette-style 'do, ball gown, and Venetian-style masquerade mask. The period-specific ensembles, including the frilly undergarments, were hand-sewn by Sarah who came up with the idea.

Matt, however, admits he initially had his doubts. "I was against the idea because everybody does Harley Quinn and the Joker," he says. "But she came up with the idea and did all the work and it turned out to be fantastic."

Samurai Finn & Samurai Jake

Speaking of Comicon cosplay standards being remixed into something cool, Cole Weaver and Julian Gladysiewski of Mesa took geeky favorites Finn and his loyal dog Jake from the ultra-popular Cartoon Network show Adventure Time and sent 'em back in time to create samurai versions of the characters.

"We had seen fan art pictures online of Finn as a Samurai and Jake as a Fu Dog dragon," Weaver says. "So we transformed them into both being samurai." That included making feudal Japan-style segmented armor done up in either characters' color scheme out of plastic and creating unique helmets for each, such as a kabuto-like helmet with ears inspired by Finn's trademark bear hat.