Madame Mirage captivated me. One look at her classic beauty, dangerous curves, and ever-present air of mystery – illustrated to perfection by the talented Kenneth Rocafort – and the hook was set.

The intriguing tale woven by Batman: The Animated Series scribe Paul Dini ensured the story was as good as the scenery, and by the time I turned the last page I was consumed by thoughts of wanting more. Alas, an ongoing series wasn’t in the cards.

Naturally, I felt the best way to pay tribute to my brief tryst with the comic was through cosplay.

The costume itself was fairly simple to pull together. I purchased the dress on eBay after weeks and weeks of searching – eventually finding something suitable in an exotic dancer boutique. Go figure. To ensure modesty (and a seamless silhouette), I purchased a nude body stocking to wear underneath.

I commissioned the bolero, as I wasn’t sure enough in my sewing skills to work with such a heavy fabric in an equally difficult pattern.

I already owned the boots from my Zatanna costume, and picked up the hat from a thrift store. I attached a handful of black bows to dress up the hat and boots, and some netting to drape across my face. Lastly, I added a few metal accent pieces to a small plastic handgun I owned, before spray-painting it gold.

I finished the costume for SDCC back in 2009, but only just found time to shoot it with LJinto at NYCC 2011. We shot outside after the convention finished, finding some dark alleyways and other intriguing areas that played with shadow and light.

I’m actually very happy with how the photos turned out, but have officially categorized this costume as retired. Honestly? It’s nearly impossible to take a flattering image in. The skintight dress doesn’t allow me to properly breathe, which makes having a good time at a show difficult.

Still, I consider this costume a success! Hope you enjoy the photos!

Madame Mirage Portfolio

[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!

Update! Aphrodite IX 2.0 costume description and gallery added. Be sure to check it out below.

Aphrodite IX has been a favorite character of mine for a long time. What isn’t there to love? She is a hot android-assassin who forgets who she is after every mission. See? No baggage! Jokes aside, Aphrodite is one of many Top Cow babes who won my heart after I first set eyes on her. The fact that she doesn’t wear much was a plus, as it meant the costume wouldn’t be hard to make.

Aphrodite IX by Eric Basulda

And putting together Aphrodite IX’s garb wasn’t that difficult, but it required a large amount of time and effort in order to scrounge up all the right pieces. The torn shirt is a simple men’s tank, and the skirt I found at Goodwill. The bullet belt was ordered from eBay, and I already had the boots and holsters from my Lara Croft costume (which I still to this day have not shot). I used knee and elbow pads to simulate Aphrodite’s body armor, and topped the look off with custom sleeves made from striped socks and some aviator goggles. Being that Aphrodite IX is a sci-fi comic, the guns are always a bit out of the ordinary. I found a perfect Nerf gun to use as Aphrodite’s main firearm, and spray painted it black to look a bit more realistic. All in all the costume took me a month or two to finally piece together.

Aphrodite IX by David Finch

The wig was by far the hardest element. One of the biggest problems was that no two artists draw it the same color. After scouring the internet for weeks trying to find the perfect color and cut wig, I decided on a white wig and colored it myself. I had several options as far as dyeing was concerned, but somehow I ultimately chose to do it the hardest way possible – by hand with Sharpie markers. While it took weeks to finish, the color was close to what I imagined and was worth the effort. That is until I wore the entire ensemble for the first time.

I debuted the costume at SDCC in 2007, and was unbelievably stoked to show to the Top Cow crew. All and all the costume was a success, but by the end of the day my armpits and forehead were green from where the wig touched my skin. I guess some things you only learn by doing. Needless to say I won’t try that again.

Aphrodite IX by Marc Silvestri

I got some fantastic images by my friend Michael of Blanklogo Photography at the convention, but still wanted to get some studio shots when I got back to Minnesota. Shooting the costume after I got back from SDCC is a bit of an interesting story. A few months after my costume was finished I was standing in front of The Source Comics and Games – my personal one-stop comic-shop – helping to promote Free Comic Book Day in my Wonder Woman costume. All the costumed folk caught the attention of Chris Polydoroff, a videographer for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. He became interested in learning more about cosplay, and thought it would be a good variety piece for the website and newspaper.

In order to get the full scope of what cosplay entailed, I set up a photoshoot for Chris to capture on film. He recorded the entire process, from hair and makeup to the photoshoot. I hooked up with photographer Vincent Van Nguyen of VVN Photography for the event – who I was very excited to work with. My number one makeup artist Masha Chebotayeva helped with the look to make sure everything was perfect for print and film.

We decided to shoot up at The Source, which the guys kindly let us use. My friend Ashley shot one of her costumes – a stunning gothic Lolita dress – at the same time. Strength in numbers right? I think we turned the place upside down for a few hours, but it was fun.

The video was edited and posted on the Pioneer Press website, in addition to being featured in the newspaper. The fantastic thing is that the small piece helped promote The Source as well as an upcoming local convention I attend every year. You can check out the video below.

All and all I am very happy with how the costume turned out, especially considering that it was one of my first official attempts at cosplay. Still, I think I am going to revisit Aphrodite in the near future. I want to get a brighter wig and fix up some of the smaller details on the costume. I also feel a bit bad that I wasn’t exactly true to Aphrodite’s top, opting for a full shirt instead of a cutoff one. The goal is to hit the gym and gain the confidence to crop it.  Also, I need to figure out a way to make a Gatling gun she can lug around…

The long and short is, you haven’t seen the end of Aphrodite IX! Now that Top Cow is bringing her back in some of the recent Witchblade and Darkness events, I have even more material to draw from.

Aphrodite IX 2.0

This update has been a long time coming. As in over a year. Top Cow’s android assassin AIX was one of my first cosplay costumes I ever attempted, meaning that while I was proud of my work, looking back I wasn’t satisfied. Like Wonder Woman and Witchblade, I decided to whip up a 2.0 version of the costume to due it justice.

Revamping the costume wasn’t too much work, but the small details are what helped bring it together. I found a better skirt and shredded it appropriately. A pair of leather leggings was sacrificed to make better boot covers, and I remade the suspenders and the ammo belt to be more in line with the original art. I also picked up two Maverick Nerf guns, pulled them apart, and painted them for my sci-fi weapons of choice. I also was a bit braver with the length of the shirt, making it slightly sorter than my first attempt at the costume. Lastly, I swapped out my old wig (which as you read above, I colored in with a marker) for a better one with varying green highlights. It looked significantly more natural, at least for a neon green wig.

The bulk of the work went into the shoot itself. Scott Miron, one of my favorite photographers, whipped up an amazing gatling gun out of PVC pipes and the giant Nerf chain gun, something that took the shoot to a whole new level. I also talked my dad into stopping by with his sporty motorcycle so I could get some shots inspired by AIX’s hoverbike.

As with my Witchblade shoot, makeup was done by Katie Ballard. I’m extremely happy I took the time to pull together a second shoot for Aphrodite, as some of the pictures below are favorites in my entire cosplay portfolio. Scott also took the time to do some significant post-production work on three of the photos, as indicated by his watermark. One is our tribute to an AIX David Finch cover, which had me perched on the very edge of a stool for a good twenty minutes. I think the effort was worth it, however. Enjoy the photos!

[Update: 2/12] I’ve added a second gallery with recent photos from Katsucon 2012! I polished up the costume a bit, and am estatic with the lovely snaps by Anna Fischer and LJinto. Check them out!

I put on Patience’s black boots and chaps yesterday for Minnesota’s FallCon convention, and it motivated me to get my butt in gear and officially post my costume write-up and photos. Read on for more details about how this costume came to be.

Yes, another Top Cow girl. I think my new goal has become to plow through them all eventually. Wouldn’t a composite poster be cool?

Anyway…

It’s probably easy to see why Maggie made my most-wanted list as far as costumes are concerned. She’s a brunette, kicks ass and has a supremely cool outfit. The costume, which I debuted at SDCC 2009, is by far one of the most difficult that I’ve taken on to date.

The cape came first and was easy enough to find on eBay. The hardest part was deciding on the fabric. I eventually settled on black velvet for the outside and red satin opposite. The thing is super heavy and warm – not so great for SDCC, but fantastic for Minnesota in the fall.

The chaps and leotard came next. It was difficult to decide on a specific version of Maggie’s costume to use as inspiration. Michael Turner, Eric Basaldua and Joe Benitez all illustrate her differently. I decided on a hybrid costume, drawing slightly heavier on E.Bas’s design than the others. I don’t do cropped shirts – I simply don’t have the abs for it – so I opted for a black leotard that I found at American Apparel. I am still not extremely happy with it, but it was the best I could find when the one I ordered from overseas was “lost” while shipping a week before the convention. I would still like to switch it out with something that has a back so that my bra doesn’t hang out for the world to see. I found the chaps on eBay. The things were ridiculously tight at first – to a point that I had to wear them around the house for a few weeks while watching TV or cleaning…kind of an odd sight. But eventually they stretched out enough to fit like a glove. Much better.

Once I had the three main items taken care of, it was time to start on the details. All the little ornate touches are what ate up most of my time. The belt buckles came first. With most of this costume I really didn’t have a plan. I simply started walking down isle after isle at JoAnn Fabrics looking for items that would work. The buckles – one at the waist and one holding the cloak on – are medallions for holding back curtains. On the same trip I also found fabric for my belt ($29.99 a yard…ugh!). I decided on velvet so not to introduce too many different textures to the costume, figuring it would tie in nicely with the cloak. I also found some gold cording for the edges of the belt – another accent that carried over to the rest of the costume. Next came the crosses, which are used repeatedly on different items.

When home I painted the inner circle of the buckles red, then lined the outside rim with the gold cording. After that, I glued two of the crosses in the middle. The problem with the crosses was that the buckle is convex, so they wouldn’t lie properly. I ended up cracking the crosses in half and gluing them down separately, filling in the gap with plaster and paint once dry. It was a quick fix that I have already done away with; instead finding crosses malleable enough to shape to the dome. Once finished, I attached the buckles to the cape and belt with washers and a nut.

For the belt I created a pattern out of paper and then went to work, sewing it inside out to insure nice seems. I attached the parts together with clips and eyelets, then adorned them with a nice rose appliqué that I found. I scavenged for a small black purse similar to the one in the illustrations, and used the same treatment for the strap across my chest. I also attached a medallion and cross to the front to tie it in with the rest of the ensemble.

The knee pads were by far the hardest part of the outfit. I tried lots of different techniques before settling on using the red velvet once again for a base. I glued two foam knee pads together to get the nice dome shape, accented it with the cording and made the gold crosses out of foam. I actually made two sets of the pads, smaller ones for my shoulders and larger ones for my knees. After working my butt of on two sets, I realized that I had to choose between the cape and the shoulder pads. Ultimately, the two don’t play well together despite what the costume design leads you to believe. I plan on using them when I finally shoot my costume, bouncing between a cape and cape-less look.

The boots I found are intended for a pirate costume, but they work perfectly for me. After finding them the final touches were the leg band with small pouches, black gloves and a golden crucifix. The spear came last. We get lots of odd stuff around the office, including our fair share of weapons. The spear I used was actually a replica from the movie 300 and had been sitting around in the office for years. I asked if it would be alright to take it home and use it. My husband helped me grind down the tip so it was safe to take to conventions. From there I painted the spear head silver, added the ornamental medallions and crosses and some red velvet. I think having such an epic spear helps to make the costume.

The costume went over really well at SDCC. I ran into plenty of fans who knew my character. I expect many more will come out of the woodwork after the Magdalena movie debuts. I had a chance to stop by the Top Cow booth and show off my work. Marc Silvestri took some time to pose with me…it was pretty awesome. I also ran into E.Bas and got his approval several times over. I randomly ran into Joe Benitez yesterday, an artist responsible for helping to create Maggie, at our small Minnesota convention. I felt like a bit of an ass though, as I was browsing through his portfolio and didn’t even realize who he was till I spied his nametag after chatting him up for some time. Ugh. Smooth Meagan.

The costume isn’t quite done yet. I’ve made some changes since these photos were taken. First, I fixed the belt so that it doesn’t fall and obscure the cross. I added velvet cuffs with crosses to my wrists to add more detail to the costume. I also remade the leg band with larger pouches made out of the same fabric as the chaps – more in line with the original art. Like I mentioned before, I also added new crosses to the buckles and purse so to do away with the cracked ones. A few more tweaks to make sure that everything stays in place and I will be done. I plan on scouting out locations to shoot this costume soon. Spring sounds good to me!

Hope you enjoy the photos!

Katsucon 2012 Gallery

SDCC 2009 Gallery

(Huge thank you goes to my girl Hydred for the lovely makeup, and LJinto, EuroBeat King and Kevin Green for the photos!)

The Magdalena Portfolio

As a fan of Top Cow comics I tend to check out anything they publish. After hearing repeatedly about the Paul Dini books based off his Dinicartoon line, I decided to pick up Jingle Belle. My good friend Becky had already expressed interest in cosplaying as the main character, and once I read it I was psyched to find out that Jingle had a best friend who happened to be brunette!

While Jingle embodied the Christmas spirit, Polly (my character) celebrated Halloween year round. Fortunately, Polly’s costume was easy enough to put together. The first step was buying a white skirt and dying it orange – as naturally orange skirts are hard to come by. I already had the boots from my Zatanna costume, and borrowed a striped top from a friend. The hat came from Party City, as did the glasses. Add some tacky gold earrings and I was done!
Obviously Becky had it a bit tougher. Finding the overalls and dying them the right color was the hardest part. Still, she pulled off the costume perfectly – down to the piercings in her fake elf ears.

We had a limited amount of time to shoot the costumes because while I live in Minnesota, Becky lives in California. I decided to leave a few days early for a work trip so that we could catch up and finally have a chance to cosplay together.

The pictures were taken by our friend from Blanklogo Photography, and all in all I am very happy with the results… even though we got kicked out of the mall for taking them. Oh-well!

Enjoy!