Cosplayers and con-goers crowd the queue line in front of giant red letters reading “C2E2” in McCormick Place on April 11. X-Men Gambit and Rogue chat with a Jedi and a hobbit, Sonic the Hedgehog adjusts their shoes, Jester Lavorre trades trinkets with Imogen Temult. The air buzzes with compliments and conversation, the weekend of nerdom already beginning before the venue even opens.

McCormick Place has hosted C2E2, or the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, since the convention started in 2010. Running this year from April 11-13, the weekend was packed with panels, signings and photo opportunities with celebrity guests, meetups for fans of specific media and a dealer’s hall filled with vendors, artists and writers selling products. Fans attend to engage with their favorite media — whether it be comics, video games, anime, TV shows, movies or books.

Bella Ball, a DePaul Cosplay Club member studying media and cinema studies, dressed up as Frodo in preparation to meet Sean Astin after his reunion panel with his “Lord of the Rings” costars, but that wasn’t the only celebrity appearance they wanted to catch. Members of the “Once Upon a Time” cast held a high-demand reunion panel.

“The line was so long,” Ball said. “It was cool to see so many people still wanting to see ‘Once Upon a Time’ stuff however many years later.”

C2E2’s celebrity appearances are one of its biggest draws for fans, bringing them face-to-face with the actors and creators of beloved media. Signature guests included the previously mentioned “Lord of the Rings” cast members like Astin, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis, “Star Wars” actor John Boyega, “Starship Troopers” actors like Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards, as well as the countless internet micro-celebrities and artists lining the artist alley booths in the main floor.

But there’s more to C2E2 than meeting the big names.

“I know that the panels and seeing celebrities is pretty cool, but I just like wandering the hall, seeing all the cosplayers,” Haven Follmar, president of DePaul’s Cosplay Club and IRL lab coordinator, said. “I like meetups where you get to go to meetups of people in cosplay like you. … There’s a lot of community in it.”

There’s a name for this community phenomenon: fandom. It’s where nerds can be nerds, a place where cringe is dead and expression is paramount.

“I adore fandom, and I adore characters and media. It’s what really inspired me for my career,” Follmar, an animation major, said. “It’s another way to creatively express myself.”

This creative expression is seen in the vendors in the dealer’s hall. This main room is where most con-goers spend their time — and money. It’s split up into sections: main vendors, signing booths, artist alley, the writers block and cosplay central. Attendees can buy dice, leatherwork goods, tea blends, art prints, pins, novels, jewelry, photograph sessions, plushies and everything in between.

Nestled in a sea of booths cordoned off from one another by a series of black curtains, The Theatre School had a presence in the Cosplay Central on the main floor.

Maggie Hoffman, head of costume technology at The Theatre School, oversaw the booth during the weekend. She’s had a presence with DePaul at C2E2 for the past three years.

“I’ve been a costume maker and cosplayer for a number of years,” Hoffman said. “When I started this job, we realized that there was a lot of overlap and interest from our students in having a presence here at C2E2.”

The Theatre School’s cosplay repair booth, staffed by students, allows attendees with broken costume pieces an opportunity to have their work fixed while giving a learning experience for students going into costume design and repair.

Mia Meza, a second-year costume technology student at DePaul, had the opportunity to work the booth over the weekend.

“My freshman year I really wanted to be a part of the cosplay repair booth, but unfortunately, I was working on a show. So when the opportunity arose again this year, I begged Maggie,” Meza said. “It’s just fun to help and be a part of the cosplay community. I used to (cosplay), I understand wanting to look good and the fear of knowing that something’s broken. Being able to help fix that is fulfilling.”

The booth was host to different showcases over the weekend as well, such as gold painting and how to texture certain items in one’s costume. DePaul had other presences at C2E2, including the esports team, which hosted mini-tournaments of different video games, and the College of Computing and Digital Media, which held pop culture trivia games throughout the event.

But what C2E2 does best is bring people together to bond over shared interests and creative expression.

For John Buss, a member of the live action roleplay (LARP) group Amtgard, conventions like C2E2 are an opportunity to expose new people to the joy of fantasy roleplay. This year was his second running Amtgard’s ‘Boffer’ section at C2E2, a dedicated space for simulated combat with foam sticks and shields.

Buss’ affection for LARPing goes beyond the physicality of the sport. He’s a part of the Kingdom of Polaris, a smaller subgroup that operates in conjunction with Amtgard, where he goes by the name “Cena.”

“It’s a great group of people to hang out with on a weekly basis,” Buss said. “It’s a chance to get to know new people. Obviously, there’s great health effects, running around and hitting your friends with foam swords. Here, not only do we get to attend C2E2, but we get to introduce ourselves to a wider community and let people have a good time.”

Follmar is a big supporter of the convention experience.

“I think everyone should give it a try if they’re interested in any type of fandom because the stuff you experience is so heartwarming,” Follmar said. “You see so many people getting to be exactly who they are, exactly who they’ve always wanted to be, and it’s really, really beautiful.”

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