Episodic story about two cosplayers who start making movies without the consent of some of their stars. Also some portraits of cosplayers. Although the plot largely occurs at cons and the main characters are cosplayers, it's a teeny bit less cosplay-centric than I would have expected. At least from a mainstream writer.Originally published as pamphlets. Honestly, it's one of the most accessible works I've read by Shaw. Full-color illustrations, and a relatively mainstream plotline. ;)

The art style and central storyline didn't do much for me. However, it made me want to go to a convention and hang out with my nerd brethren so badly, so the actual con storyline was clearly very evocative.

Every personality in here I have personally met in real life. A+

I hated this. The two lead females were terrible people. They creepily filmed people without permission. They filmed a fake date with an innocent guy where the girl was hiding a knife behind her back inside his home. Wtf. They started a real fight with people at a bar just for the sake of their stupid YouTube channel. They're mean to an old classmate, calling her a bitch and using footage of her without consent. They again go on a fake date with another guy.Then, they go to a con. There's this T...

Apparently I read this ages ago because it has a cool title, forgot I read it... and picked it up again, because it has a cool title.I suppose the joy of having a bad memory is getting to experience the same things for the first time multiple times over?Anyways. Plot is kind of meandering and seems to go nowhere (like the typical life of a millennial, if I'm being cynical). It's snapshots in the lives of two geekgirls wandering through the convention/al backdrop of our lives and hobbies. And I v...

I read stuff from lists and reviews and recommendations. Often I don't remember why I'm reading something until I go to review it and look at the book again. This one was one of those where I was thinking, we the heck did I read this? And I'm thinking it had to be a Steve review - and it was so good for me for figuring it out. Now I've just got to understand, what was he thinking? It's not that this was awful. Umm wait, it was awful. Or pointless, umm again. The main character was mean spirited

Quirky. Some fun moments but the main characters are a little mean-spirited and manipulative. I like the episodic stories and some parts feel like they're going to touch on something deeper, fanboys projecting personalities/creating romance where there is none onto cosplayers, feeling aimless, being a black(?/ Verti appears to be black, but idk) person/minority in the cosplay/anime community, and the seedy side of the film industry (view spoiler)[(I really thought it was going to go there with t...

Easily the most conventional and accessible Shaw work I have read. About two cosplaying girls, released serially, 7 interlocking stories about the girls, cosplay, comics, fantasy, manga (Tezuka, Myazaki), making films, using other people. Feels like in large part an homage to Daniel Clowes and Ghost World. Some of the drawing here is like Clowes for sure, and there's the two-girls-growing-up comparison, they're in both stories trying to find themselves, coming of age, trying on different clothes...

Is this Ghost World 2017? As a geeky female, I feel insulted. The book is described as "affectionate", but really, the two main female characters come off as creepy, deluded stalkers. They dress up and film themselves tormenting unsuspecting people, and put them for their YouTube videos without consent. As nerds, we're supposed to celebrate that? How is this book affectionate or kind towards female friendships, or women participating in geek culture? This book reinforces gross stereotypes about

I love what Shaw is doing with his Cosplayer stories, treating his subjects with respect and curiosity and not holding them up for ridicule. This "Prefect Collection," as it is called, brings together the earlier stories from the two comic books released in 2014, as well as the stories included in the FCBD Hip Hop Family Tree Three-in-One comic. And never before released stories, as well.

I didn't expect to like this one but I was pleasantly surprised. The characters in here are complex and their dynamics and interests push against conventional narrative in ways I really appreciate. Here's a very long sentence about the book from the fantagraphics site: "Artfully celebrating both the culture’s obvious theatricality and uniquely D.I.Y. beauty, as well as its often awkward conflation of fantasy and reality, Cosplayers explores these delicate psychological balancing acts via a serie...

This just didn't connect with me. The stories are unremarkable, and the characters were neither likable enough nor interesting enough to make me want to see more of them. Very obviously inspired by Ghost World, so I suppose if you're looking for more of the same, but geekier, here it is.

I enjoyed reading this book and thought it was a lot of fun. I'm noticing that it's getting mixed reviews. I think people who are into fandom/nerd culture, like me, are more likely to relate to the stories. Also, it is a certain brand of humor: wry, witty, a little snarky and sarcastic at times, so it worked for me. It is a pretty accurate snapshot of CONs, cosplay events, comic shops, and who tends to frequent them. I needed a good laugh during this political season, and this book accomplished

This was fun, if rather on the slight side. Annie enjoys dressing up in costumes. Verti enjoys taking photos and videos of her doing so. They start improvising short films and posting them online, and go to a few anime conventions. It's a fun celebration of the fan lifestyle. Shaw writes with a light touch, never over-explaining or wallowing in the minutiae of his subject matter. I really like the collage work on some of the covers. There's no real ongoing story, just the two girls having advent...

A cute little book.  A little over a hundred pages.  Two young women who make no-budget movies with cell phone cameras and post them to youtube, encounter random, over-the-top nerds.  I agree with other reviewers that this reads more like a Daniel Clowes book than Dash Shaw's previous books, in that it's more character reaction rather than character driven.  But the vignette format keeps it from getting tedious.  I would have liked if it had gone somewhere, though.

Interesting exploration of modern day fandom, YouTube youth culture, and geeky hobbies. The stories are a bit disconnected and end abruptly -- I feel like we're only getting brief glimpses into the lives of some of the main characters and the people they encounter, and I wanted to learn more about them. Some of the storylines are unusually bleak for a volume that's supposed to be focusing on a creative hobby and its scene -- the focus on a side character, an anime "expert" who is fighting both p...

I did not enjoy this. Pretty much every character is some kind of assmunch, with the possible exception of A.J., who states, "I'm at peace with myself" because he's at the con to be a nerd and do nerdy con things. It reads as if the whole point is to perpetuate shitty nerd stereotypes while pretending to be sympathetic.I don't care enough about it to elaborate. Others have already stated some of the things I didn't like (see links below).If you identified with this, I'm sorry.https://www.goodrea...

More like 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding down. I really liked the metaphysical tributes to Tezuka and Kirby, and the jokes are generally very funny throughout. But Shaw doesn't seem particularly interested in his main characters. There's no development and very little tension, and in one story he traps them in a tired and extremely basic sitcom plot.

I'm not sure I understood the point of this. Is it to make cosplayers more sympathetic and understandable? Is it making fun of them? Or it just cashing in on people who are titillated by the concept of cosplay? It fails at all three of those and offers only bland stories with bland art about bland characters.

Ehhh... A couple of disaffected youth have a lot of ennui and they cosplay. The art is loose and not particularly emotive. Definitely a meh for me. I wasn't too into the indie comics of the 1990s, and this harkens back to that era in terms of tone.