Created by Nick Murphy, this is a pitch-perfect blob of weirdness, a slo-mo romance montage featuring the Monarchs frolicking in a sunset field, drinking wine, and contemplating how they are masters of all they survey. The costumes are great, and the final FX scene with their evil lair is just plain cool. After a minute or two of this, you start to think of how poignant the love affair between The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. Monarch really is.

[via Geekologie]

What I love about these pictures, taken from premiere Predator community site Hunter's Lair, is how incredibly beautiful and detailed the outfits are - and how much goofy fun people are having with them. I picked these images in particular because they all show the Predators in very human situations. It's my crazy dream to one day walk into my local grocery store and just run into a Predator in the aisles - or maybe out in the parking lot, being led around by a hot lady in leather. Hey, it could happen. And I've got the photos to prove it!

via Hunter's Lair Suit Thread

And this is just a small sampling of all the amazing, sexy, crazy, and brilliant costumes in our full collection on Flickr. If you want to see more of your fellow io9ers partying down cosplay-style, then check out the full io9 Halloween Costume gallery on Flickr. See you next year!

This picture is great for two reasons. One, classic Trek pose. Two, this was taken at a party for physics researchers and students. Pierre-W proves physicists know how to party!

Tmoogan is a smokin' Comedian. He even got the facial hair right!

Is it possible that Andrewswright is the coolest dad ever?
From mjollnir999, a snapshot of a party where everybody dressed up just right.
Bonus points to oy.veh for adding special effects to this shot of the Ghostbusters hunting ghosts in some kind of office . . .

Thank you, vulcanized75, for keeping Starbuck alive in our hearts. Somebody seriously researched that tat.

I am in awe. Seriously, grendl64, this is fucking awesome.

Steampunk and loligoth are two great tastes that go great together, right sexyphlegm?
It's Sweeney Todd vs. Captain Mal! A cage match I'd like to see, and now I have, thanks to Gaambit.

Oh my! It's the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt! Operaghost1 says he's going to split the Republican vote by reviving the Bull Moose Party.

M1khaela knows what gets Teen Wolf excited - meeting a girl from the Anti-Sex League! This coupling is full of 1980s meta-goodness.

io9 Halloween Costume Show 2009 via Flickr

All month long we're running the io9 Halloween Costume Show in a Flickr pool. Want to show off this year's duds, or gems from Halloweens past? Show us what you've got! The one rule is that you can only post pictures of yourself - or yourself with friends. Next week we'll post the final round of standouts from this Halloween weekend, but there are a ton of great costumes that we don't get to feature - so check out the whole set on Flickr!

Don't forget to take pictures of yourself this weekend and post them for all to see!

Frankenstein, from patherring.
Asari commando from Mass Effect, from Dynamite Laserbeams.
The monster from Buffy episode "Hush," which is possibly the most scary thing ever. From boozysmurf.

Steampunk mechanic in search of giant bolts (aren't we all?), from walkerspace.

Jack Skellington apparently has a digital camera, at least according to lbthai76.

This is one of the most bizarre and original costumes yet - Sarah Palin in The Birds, from NikiSublime. Nicely done.

Poor Tank looks lonely. Is he, bluerobsn?
Sweetums, also from boozysmurf!

You can see all the amazing costumes posted so far in our Flickr pool, and add your own! Halloween is just a little over a week away, so it's time to try on your costumes and show them off to us. See our Halloween Costume Show on Flickr.

What the hell is this? It gives me a dark, fuzzy, confusing feeling. A Yeti pervert? Posted by Johnejpowers.

Former io9 intern Andrew Liptak made this distressed Clone Trooper costume.

It's DJ Phantom Limb vs. DJ Hank Venture! Oh hell yes. Picture by Ines Maskell.

Cutest mind meld I've ever seen - and I've seen a lot of them, let me tell you. Your cutenizer, please, Byronotron!

Tinkerbell! Need I say more? From auburnkt.

DiY Tony Stark nuke heart! Created and worn by Justin.Brown.

All month long we're running the io9 Halloween Costume Show in a Flickr pool. Want to show off this year's duds, or gems from Halloweens past? Show us what you've got! The one rule is that you can only post pictures of yourself - or yourself with friends. Every week we'll be rounding up some standouts, but there are a ton of great costumes that we don't get to feature - so check out the whole set on Flickr!

I utterly love these cute, matching homemade Dalek costumes. This is girl nerdery at its finest. Posted by xfanatic501.

Nick Philippi gives us his best numberless henchman of Monarch impression. Just in time for the new season of Venture Bros!

This is just holy crap weird and awesome. It's a World War II Aviator Gremlin. Created by Kory Bing, who posted more great costumes in the pool too.

Halloween is an emo time, as Crow knows. From Tasayu Tasnaphun.

We have been feeling tragic all week that atomicglassworks never got a picture of herself in this gorgeous "shipwreck" dress. How lovely is this?

Here is atomicglassworks in her She-Ra incarnation.

DynamiteLaserbeams created this costume of Tali'Zorah nar Rayya from Mass Effect. Wow.

Of course this indictment of LARPing in the USA is itself an exercise in role-playing. "Kalle" is Viennese performance artist Johannes Grenzfurthner, who loves to mix geek culture with bizarro art and strange scholarly endeavors.

via Larpen Tumblr

The image you see here is from Miss Fawn (with additional effects by Jim Brey), who posted her picture in our Halloween pool last year. You can enter any picture of yourself, or yourself with friends, as long as you are in some kind of Halloween costume. Do NOT enter pictures of other people.

Be the first to post your picture in io9's 2009 Halloween Costume Show pool here, on Flickr. Yes, you have to create a Flickr account to play, but it's free! You can see pictures from the 2008 costume show here. Alright - let's see your stuff! Next week we'll post our first round of cool shots.

io9 Halloween Costume Show 2009 via Flickr

Krix, a graphic designer and propmaker, took Best Journeyman and Best Professional Costume Design at the con for his Big Daddy suit (as well as the accompanying Splicer and Little Sister). The suit took roughly seven weeks to complete (and, he says, was not quite perfected by Dragon*Con) and weighed between 50 and 60 pounds. You can see the spinning drill as well as some shots from his process below, but he has the entire step-by-step posted on his blog.

Big Daddy (Bioshock) [Volpin Props via Cherie Priest]

We know there was a lot of breaking news at the Dragon*Con this year. But we also really want to hear what you guys witnessed. Feel free to add your own photos to our gallery in the comments, and share your experiences.

All of our thanks to Matt Buchanan for taking a few snaps while in the presence of cosplay greatness.

Costume designer Wanda Piety and prop master Dragon Drohnet were two of the judges for Saturday nights Masquerade, and were kind enough to give us a post-mortem on the show and offer their insight into what makes for a winning costume or performance. This is just a taste of the nearly four dozen entries to cross the Comic Con stage, but includes some of our favorites as well as the judges':

Forty-seven individuals and groups entered this year's Masquerade, showing off their most innovative sketches and costume designs. There were G.I. Joes and Skeletors aplenty, a singing Dr. Horrible and a singing Dr. Mrs. Monarch, and even a group that attempted to reenact all the best scenes from The Princess Bride. We'll have video of the performances soon enough, but here are the outfits the judges deemed best:

Honorable Mention: Excellence in Costuming — Red Death Phantom of the Opera

The Masque of the Red Death version of the Phantom of the Opera danced to "Masquerade," while occasionally pulling off his many masks, until he finally reached a skull.

Honorable Mention: Blast from the Past — Muppet Labs Masquerade Machine

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew took the stage, subjecting his hapless assistant Beaker to his Masquerade Machine while Statler and Waldorf heckled them from their portable balcony.

Honorable Mention: Technical Execution — ATST Scout Walker
The ATST wowed the judges with its jointed legs that walked as the person inside it walked.

Honorable Mention: Performance — Jawa Pimp
Jawa Pimp has his own theme song, which he boogied to while showing off his bling.

Honorable Mention: Workmanship — Toro the Minotaur

Honorable Mention: Recreation — The Hulk

Honorable Mention: Rock Golem

Best Young Fan — Samurai Jack vs. Aku
This father-son team was one of the big hits of the Masquerade, taking home several of the individual sponsored awards as well as a Comic Con trophy.

Best Novice — Aquaman
Aquaman surfed onto stage and into the judges' hearts with the song "I am Aquaman" and a full blond beard.

Most Beautiful — Mirka Fortuna "Trinity Blood"

Most Humorous — Welcome to the Dollhouse
A group of dolls from around the world marched on stage with Igor (toting his iGor mp3 player) and performed a perfectly choreographed rendition of "It's a Small World After All." That would have been funny enough, but they quickly burst out into an equally well-done "Thriller."

Best Performance — Bring It On (Rock the Mouse)
When you reimagine Disney heroes and villains as rival cheer squads and end it all with a rousing rendition of Toni Basil's Mickey, your sketch is full of win.

Best Workmanship — Lady of Pain "Planescape"

Best Original Design — Onigashima Baba

Best Recreation — Spawn

Judges' Choice — Looking Glass Wars

Best in Show — The Four Seasons

Images by Annalee Newitz and Melishina.

No word just yet on the price, but I'm estimating it will cost one adult human's dignity. While the armor is ridiculous and looked hot on Bale (strange stomach-muscle ridges aside) I'm pretty sure nobody else could pull off this look, let alone on a motorcycle. But if you can afford it — and I'm sure it's coming with a hefty price tag — more power to you.

An Officially Licensed Replica Like No Other is Coming.

- Strong Cordura Mesh Base with Heavy-duty 4 way stretch Spandex
inserts.
- Removable CE Approved Body Armor in both Jacket and Pants
- Highly detailed, removable lightweight interior lining.
- Form Molded Leather and Kevlar Armor Sectons.
- Made from Quality Tanned Cow Hides

- COMING SOON

[Universal Designs via Geekologie]

A nefarious team evil doer, who is located somewhere on the "The Dark Side," has posted a Craigslist ad with a $10 bounty on the identity of Shadowhare. I wish you luck in the name of all things evil, and for those of us scarred by the great stretch of heroic spandex from the Allegiance of Heroes.

Fantastic and well done Consortium....R.O.A.C.H., we need to talk.

Many, many thanks to Geekologie for pointing this out.

Many of these crime fighters are a part of the The World Superhero Registry, which we've mentioned before. And I'm assuming the Registry will have to take responsibility for putting these heroes together once their mangled carcasses are discovered floating in a river somewhere.

According to Cincinnati's WLWT, Shadowhare has been teaming up with members Aclyptico in Pennsylvania, Wall Creeper in Colorado and Master Legend in Florida.

"I've even teamed up with Mr. Extreme in California — San Diego — and we were trying to track down a rapist," said Shadowhare.

As of right now Shadowhare has only experienced a dislocated shoulder while trying to help a woman who was being attacked.

While I'm happy that citizens are trying to rid the streets of crime, I cannot imagine what would happen if we dropped the Allegiance off in a real crime-ridden street. Imagine these costumed kids getting dropped off at "the towers" on The Wire, now that's a TV cross over show that should have been filmed. They're like moving targets for a superhero hate crime. Be safe, fellas.

[via Topless Robot]

via Echidnite's LJ Thanks, Mr. Baby Man!

For the "bargain" price of only $76.45 (not including $14.50 shipping), you too can own your very own Dharma Initiative worksuit, complete with your own name and choice of Dharma station patch. While I'd really like to be sarcastic about this, I have to admit, if I had the money lying around, I'd have bought one already. Just, y'know, in case of emergencies.

LOST Dharma Initiative Jumpsuit with choice of patch [eBay]