[Update 12/30/10] Just added a handful of new photos to the gallery thanks to LJinto! check them out!

Velocity – the resident speedster of the Cyberforce crew – was the first character I decided to debut at SDCC 2010. I already had her in mind during the convention the previous year, even before finding out about her timely return to comics via a solo book releasing at the show.

The costume description for this one is fairly short, as I realized almost instantly that my meager sewing skills wouldn’t be enough to pull off the complex patterning in the spandex body suit. Making Elektra’s leotard was enough of working with that treacherous fabric for a lifetime. With this in mind, I had the cosplay experts over at Limebarb.com take care of the suit for me.

I’ll admit it was a nice change of pace to shoot off some money and have a completed costume returned to me. It was infinitely higher quality than anything I could have pulled off, and I had more time to focus on my other costumes.

Everything fit nicely – the bodysuit and the arm pieces – when they arrived. I eventually had to take in the bodysuit a bit the night before I left because I lost a bit of weight, but that was easy enough to do.

My additions to the costume were the wig, which I purchased overseas on eBay, the belt, and the shoes. The belt is made out of silver banding that I bought by the yard and custom button covers glued onto silver shower rings. This is one of those instances that I wandered around JoAnn Fabrics for an hour, not knowing exactly what I was looking for until I found it. The belt is held up with snaps sewn onto the costume.

For the shoes, I raided a few local Goodwill stores to find something that looked very athletic and streamlined. When I did, I used various fabric paints and glitter glue to match them to the outfit.

The look really didn’t come together until Thursday of SDCC, as the bulk of Velocity’s character comes from the Kevlar coated skin that gives her a white wash. Hydred Makabali, one of my favorite makeup artists who we hire every year to help us pull off our SDCC costumes, did a fantastic job on Velocity’s look. She started by painting the green lightning bolt across my face, then used a white cream to even out the rest around the sides. For the rest of my body she used a white spray, which made the process significantly easier and faster.

As far as costumes go, Velocity was one of the most comfortable I’ve ever worn. Considering that I worked out for months prior to slipping on the spandex suit, I wasn’t paranoid running around in it, and the sneakers were an unprecedented treat for walking the show floor. The only real catch was making sure I didn’t touch my face and smudge Hydred’s hard work.

I made sure to stop by the Top Cow booth to take pictures with Ron Marz and Kenneth Rocafort, and got them to sign the exclusive SDCC 2010 issue of Velocity #1. As I was walking back to the hotel to change, I ran into Marc and Bridget Silvestri, a funny coincidence as they were popping onto the show floor for the first time as I was leaving it. Some photos with them were the perfect way to wrap up debuting Velocity.

The costume itself got a decent amount of publicity. I ended up with a photo on the LA Times website, and in a video with Raychul Moore for USA Today.  You can watch the video here. Pay close attention for the amazing look Raychul gives me when I answer their question in an unbelievably nerdy way. It made my day.

The photos come courtesy of photographer friends Chanh Tang (unwatermarked ones) and LJinto. I expect some more photos in the near future, and will update the gallery below when I do. I’m not sure if I will shoot Velocity again unless I find the perfect location and a makeup artist willing to commit to the complex look. That, or unless I can find a Ballistic and Cyblade to recruit!

Enjoy the photos!