The first question from those who miss out on Dragon*Con is always "how were the costumes?"  Too great to explain in words.  The amount of craft, effort and sometimes sheer genius that goes into Cosplay is overwhelmingly amazing.  Dragon*Con distinguishes itself from other conventions by having more of a fantasy angle than specifically sci-fi or comics, but the Cosplay is all over the board -- from movies to TV shows and fantasy novel series, almost no fandom goes unrepresented by the devoted.  One of the biggest parts of Dragon*Con is the parade, and though I don't know the exact numbers yet for this year, I know that the con grew 30% in attendance from last year, which means about 60,000 folks, plus all of those who just showed up for the parade and to see the costumes and sights.

For pictures of all kinds of incarnations of the Avengers, Star Wars, Star Trek, Catwoman, Bane, MegaMan, Doctor Who, Avatar, even Legends of the Hidden Temple (a personal favorite), and some things that just can't be defined, hit the jump.