This was a dream project in every sense of the word. As is true for many, Wonder Woman was a first for me – the first female superhero I was introduced to in the world of comics. She holds a really special place in my fandom, and while I love the stars, stripes, and satin tights of classic Wonder Woman, I’ve always been drawn to her Amazon origins. I pictured Diana as a warrior first and foremost, and wanted to bring my specific vision for her to life.
Having enjoyed my Steampunk Lara Croft collaboration with the extremely talented Tess Fowler, I asked her to again aid me in putting an original take on a classic character.
Our collaboration kicked off with lots of research. I sifted through dozens upon dozens of incarnations of Wonder Woman, both official and fan creations. I knew I wanted a gladiator-style skirt and corset, a sword, shield, and bracers. I also wanted a half-helm and cape, the latter having the added benefit of modesty. I also envisioned practical footwear – flat sandals.
Armed with my notes and a slew of reference materials, Tess turned around an initial design that was drawn directly from my imagination. After a few minor adjustments and a quick color pass, Warrior Wonder Woman was born.
A shopping trip was in order prior to kicking off the costume – a rather expensive stop at Tandy Leather. My friend/leatherworking expert Tom Ignatius came along to ensure I picked out the right hides for the project – selecting an untanned hide for the skirt pieces and a nice finished red hide for the corset. Unfortunately, I couldn’t buy any less than a full hide in red, so I had to pick up the entire thing at a price of $300. In a fortuitous turn of events, however, the color worked perfect for my future Castlevania costume.
I grabbed a slew of blue leather dye as well as a few dozen decorative conchos, both for the tips of the skirt and for the apex of each armor piece.
Armed with supplies, I began the project with a massive amount of patterning on paper. Starting with the skirt, I calculated out the amount of coverage I wanted on both my front and back to determine the width and length each skirt piece should be. After confirming the fit on paper, I traced each piece onto leather, cutting it with a rotary blade and straight edge. This process took a few days. Once all the pieces were cut out, I made a protective tarp out of garbage bags and began dying the leather. This process took a very, very long time. Each piece needed 2-3 coats on both the front and back to get an even, deep blue.
While waiting for each coat to dry, I set out patterning and cutting the Wonderflex pieces for the bottom of each skirt spear. This was tedious, but not particularly hard. An aside – I made this costume a year or so back prior to switching to Worbla, which is now my preferred thermoplastic for armor. While Wonderflex works just fine, it is laced with a mesh similar to duct-tape, making it less versatile than Worbla.
After giving them a quick coat of paint, each armored tip was attached to the leather skirt pieces with brads, although looking back I’d rather have used rivets to ensure a polished look on both sides. I also added a concho to the tip of each skirt piece.
The armor came next, and once again I patterned out everything on paper to ensure it was properly sized to my appendages before switching to Wonderflex. The armor consisted of multiple layers aligned on top of each other, with a thin layer of Wonderflex used as trim around the sides. I bonded all the pieces together while flat to achieve maximum adhesion, then shaped them to fit my arms and legs. I used a soldering iron to smooth out the edges and give it a more polished look.
The helm, eagle, belt, and hand guards were made much the same way – pattern layers on paper, transfer to Wonderflex, heat and bond, shape, repeat. Once all the pieces were done, I used a grommet tool to make holes for leather laces. I also lined each piece of armor with self-adhesive craft foam to act as a buffer between the Wonderflex and my skin.
On to accessories – I purchased a wooden gladius on eBay to guarantee it was safe for conventions. I roughed it up quite a bit and added leather to the grip. I then set to work on the shield. I found most of the pieces I needed in one trip. The shield is comprised of a wooden barstool top, an ornamental eagle from a giant necklace, a candle plate holder, bisected Christmas ornaments, and leftover leather. Per my personal cosplay philosophy, I always look for form instead of function, and was super happy to find all of the above while wandering aimlessly up and down the aisles of hardware and craft stores.
Prior to painting the armor and props, I proceeded to distress everything. I used my soldering iron to burn in weapon grazes, as well as various heavy-duty files and sand paper.
Knowing that I’d be using hammered metal paint, I skipped priming all my armor with gesso, something I recommend otherwise. The base of each piece of armor is silver, mimicking Wonder Woman’s classic bracers. I then used a muted hammered gold as accent on the trim. Next, I traced the edges and seams of each armor piece with a fine line of black paint to add some dimensionality, just prior to stippling on a light coat of black and brown paint to simulate dirt. Lastly, I used a much brighter silver in the damaged recesses of the armor, making it look like a raw layer of metal. The final touch was a bit of stage blood, sprayed out of a bottle and allowed to drip down each piece and dry.
With the armor done, the next step was to tackle the corset. Having never made one, I was a bit apprehensive about attempting it on my own. Luckily, Tom is also a master corset maker and offered to help with the process and let me use his industrial sewing machine.
We looked through his huge collection of corset patterns to decide on the general style and shape, modifying it slightly to have a sweetheart neckline. I played assistant in the corset’s construction – tracing and cutting out all the pieces while Tom sewed them together. I sewed a handful of the pieces under his watchful eye towards the end, though, to ensure I learned proper technique for the future.
Once finished, I attached the skirt pieces to the corset with rivets, a long and painful process when you’re exhausted and have horrendous depth perception.
Last came the cape. I’d ordered some fantastic Greek trim in contrasting colors from overseas, and attached it to a simple solution for a quick cape – an oversized circular tablecloth with a circle cut out the middle. Once the trim was attached, I put the entire thing in a bath of coffee and tea to age it. It was then attached to my costume with grommets and the matching conchos. With everything finished I took to the leather and cape with a cheese grater for additional wear and tear, and used black and brown hairspray to dirty it up a bit.
The final touch was the wig. I went for a slightly wavy, shoulder-length look, adding a braid to each side of my face for an ornamental and utilitarian style – the braids keeping stray hairs from obstructing my vision.
I debuted Warrior Wonder Woman for the first time in Bogota, Colombia, for SOFA 2012. I made sure to dirty myself up to match my attire, using the black and brown hairspray on my skin. The process involves diluting the hairspray for an initial pass, wiping it on with my hands. A second layer is then stippled on with a brush for more distinct patterns of dirt.
Despite the challenge of wearing a corset in high heat and altitude, I had an incredible time wearing Warrior Wonder Woman at SOFA, especially considering how long I’d wanted to bring this vision of her to life.
I brought Warrior Wonder Woman back out for a second time at SDCC 2013, where the lovely Hydred took care of my makeup. I had the great fortune of shooting with a slew of talented photographers in San Diego, as well as at Dragon*Con a few months later, making this the most well documented costume I have to date.
Coming full circle, Tess used my photos as reference for a final, polished piece of Warrior Wonder Woman art. You can see her process in the gallery below.
At the risk of looking silly, I pushed myself quite hard to look aggressive and intimidating during the various photoshoots. While there may be a few giggle-worthy images of me failing spectacularly floating around, I think the risk paid off, as many of the below images capture the warrior spirit I was so eagerly aiming for.
I hope you enjoy the photos, and feel free to ask questions should you have any!
Warrior Wonder Woman Concepts
Warrior Wonder Woman WIP
Warrior Wonder Woman Portfolio
Thank you to the following for the photos! Ljinto, SGH PhotoArt, Joits Photography, Jason Chau Photography, Estrada Photography, Dru Philips, Elysium Entertainment, Chris Fink, Darryl Pamplin, OnLivo, & Eurobeat Kasumi
The second I saw Infinite Crisis’ Atomic Wonder Woman, I knew I had to fit her in my costume roster. Her look struck me as a cross between Mad Max and Dead Rising with a dash of roller derby charm. I also loved the slightly obscure Wonder Woman iconography – the swath of yellow fabric on her top, the “WW” on her license plate bracers, the massive chain where her lasso would be, and the word “Aletheia” carved into her weapon, which loosely translates to “truth” in Greek. Her short hair and Rosie the Riveter-esq bandana had me saying “I can (and should) do this!”
I fully committed to the costume a week and a half prior to SDCC, so time was of the essence. I kicked the costume off with a trip to several thrift stores, managing to scrounge up the top, ties, belt, footballs, and boots in one go. There was no need to buy anything new since I was aiming for an apocalyptic look.
Securing the ties to the belt wasn’t too difficult; neither was adding the caution tape trim (spray painted elastic) to the tube top. The football cups were slightly more challenging. Firstly, I played surgeon and moved the laces from one side of the football to the other – the original placement was next to a slew of obnoxious NFL logos I didn’t want distracting from the design. In order to get the bisected balls to fit right, I added a dart down the center, which resulted in a rounder shape. I then secured them to the top with rivets to ensure they wouldn’t move.
The armor – stop sign pauldron, license plate bracers, kneepads, and belt buckle – are all made of Worbla. If you’ve never used a thermoplastic to make armor before, starting with a project like this is a great way to get your feet wet, as imperfections only add to the character of the final piece.
When making armor, I always start out patterning on paper to ensure I’m not wasting supplies. I drafted the stop sign to size and then folded and cut up the paper to approximate how WW would have constructed the piece. I sized the bracers to my arms, using Worbla on one side and EVA foam on the other. The belt buckle is entirely Worbla, which I heated up and rolled to use as trim around the edges.
I really enjoy distressing clothing and armor. When working with Worbla I use a soldering iron to simulate battle damage, bullet ricochets, and general wear and tear – wear a mask when you do so! After this initial pass, I start with a base coat of paint – whatever primary color the object calls for. After drying and blocking in any other colors necessary, I’ll add bright silver into recessed areas that look damaged (if the item is intended to look like metal). I’ll then polish off the armor by sponging on a layer of black, brown, and grey paint to simulate dirt, oil, and other unsavory substances. Lastly, I’ll sand down all of the paint – a dull finish looks more realistic in this instance. As a final touch I’ll fleck a bit of orange on a few of the raw edges to hint at rust.
After knocking out the armor I moved on to the smaller details. I had a hard time finding a pair of blue leggings and eventually ordered white ones and dyed them. The red leather gloves were also grabbed from online, and then accented with metal spikes made from Worbla. The massive metal chain came from a costume shop online, as well as the red hair kerchief, black wig, and colored tube sock on Atomic Wonder Woman’s right arm. I aged the leggings and the tube sock by soaking them in a pot of black and brown hairspray – the same thing I use to dirty up my body before going out on the show floor.
The chainsaw spear was the most fun to make and my favorite part of the outfit. I opted to keep it as genuine as possible, picking up a metal signpost from the hardware store. The bottom was made from two cans of expandable spray foam. Once dry, I used a knife to carve up the edges before coating it with textured spray paint to mimic concrete. I then padded the metal post with sponges before wrapping them in the orange duct tape, giving myself a comfortable grip.
I found the chainsaw online and painted/distressed it to match the source material. I then used the soldering iron again to burn “Aletheia” into the blade. I was able to secure a good six inches of the post inside the back of the chainsaw, and then tied it down with the yellow rope.
Overall I’m incredibly happy with how Atomic Wonder Woman came out out, especially considering the short time frame. I can’t wait to wear it out again. Not only do I feel like a BAMF running around with a chainsaw spear – the costume is extremely comfortable.
Thank you to these incredible photographers for helping bring Atomic Wonder Woman to life: LJinto, Bitspitter, Andrew Ho, Adam Patrick Murray, and Jason Chau Photography.
Also, be sure to keep an eye on Infinite Crisis – it looks like a blast! I hope to join the Beta soon and can’t wait to kick some butt in character.
Atomic Wonder Woman WIP
Atomic Wonder Woman Portfolio
After spotting a Wonder Woman costume at Party City one Halloween, I knew that I had to give Diana Prince a whirl. Pun intended.
DC's Wonder Woman Costume
There isn’t much to say about this costume. Because it was one of my first attempts at cosplay, I didn’t have much knowledge when it came to sewing or prop making. For this reason I kept the whole effort pretty simple. The Wonder Woman costume was direct from DC, and came with a cape and bootcovers. I tossed the bootcovers out the window immediately, then went on to find a pair of thigh-high Wonder Woman boots from eBay. They are a bit taller than the ones that Wonder Woman actually wears, but I think they are more fun.
I also replaced the cloth bracelets that came with the costume, added the red earrings and make a Lasso of Truth out of some cording from JoAnns. Simple enough!
I shot the costume with Mason Hladun of Shattered Glam and did my own hair and makeup for the photos. I did things a bit more low-key back then 
Mason had a fog machine which made for some pretty cool photos if I do say so myself. We also took some “action” shots of Wonder Woman busting out of her suit to save the day.
Since this shoot I have altered my Wonder Woman costume fairly extensively, which you can find here. Enjoy!
Wonder Woman 2.0
This project has been a long time coming. I have always loved Wonder Woman in all of her incarnations, but when I laid eyes on Michael Turner’s Wonder Woman, I was in love. While Alex Ross and Adam Hughes do a fantastic job of bringing Diana Prince (or whoever is currently filing Wonder Woman’s shoes) to life, Turner sold me on the idea that even an Amazon could be feminine. While Wonder Woman was usually portrayed with hulking shoulders, a square jaw and hard face, Turner brought pulled her back a bit, and instead brought out her strength and fight in her eyes, her determination and in her poise.
Michael Turner's Wonder Woman
After Michael died, I knew I wanted to pay tribute to him. Seeing as I am not a fantastic traditional artist, I decided to try and recreate one of my favorite Wonder Woman images of all time. In order to recreate it, I recruited the help of Michael Novak, a fantastic photographer who knows more than a thing or two about great lighting.
When it came time the capture the shot, Novak took no shortcuts. All in all I think shooting the pose took an hour. After every shot he would stop, look at the result, and make changes to the lighting or to my pose accordingly. After a while my arms started to hurt a bit from being suspended in the air, but it was well worth it to get the shot. While not perfect, I am very very happy with the end result of the shoot.
Having the pose dead-on meant that we didn’t have to do much in the post-processing department. However, once we did get the image into Photoshop we did some fine-tuning to make the image pop. Obviously, in the absence of an actual glowing lasso, we added the golden hue after the fact. We also brightened up the colors a bit, and removed a harsh shadow from my eye (which is why it might look a little grey in that area). After adding a smidge of texture to the background, we were done! Like I said, I am very happy with the results, and I think Michael would have been too.
Michael Turner's Wonder Woman
After getting “the shot” we took a few more Wonder Woman images in his honor. One of my favorites was holding a white rose, which reminded me of another Turner cover I had seen.
We also took some more traditional Wonder Woman images, with a projection of the Minneapolis skyline in the background. You can see all the remaining images below.
Costume Details: As far as the costume is concerned, I used my original Wonder Woman costume and modified it further. I created the wonder woman crest out of Wonderflex, which I layered after making a mold of my chest (which burned, don’t try it at home kids). I created a new belt out of Wonderflex as well, but while it looked much more realistic, it caused more problems than I anticipated. The long and short is that it didn’t hug my body right because it was too ridged. Still, it looked much better than the original one did.
For the photos, I also had to turn my skirt into something resembling the bottoms from the image. For that I carefully folded and secured all the extra fabric behind me, so you wouldn’t end up seeing it in the shot. Its not perfect – in fact it looks a bit like I am wearing a diaper – but it looks far better than the skirt would in terms of accuracy. I also finally added the tiara to my costume, also made out of Wonderflex and secured behind my hair. I didn’t end up adding the red star, but I am sure I will at some future date.
Michael Turner and I at the 2007 SDCC.
I figure a good place to end this post would be with some thoughts I put together after hearing the news that Michael had passed. The context is from a thread in the Aspen forums, where other fans were sharing their grief in his passing. More than anything I hope it illustrates that Michael will truly never be gone.
“It is still a bit bizarre to read these comments, knowing what they imply. How can Michael be gone? I sit in my office every day – which is entirely dedicated to his work – and ask myself that. How can the man who created such beauty be gone? Losing Michael was tragic. It was tragic for his family, tragic for his coworkers, tragic for the comic book industry and tragic for his fans. True, the comic industry will never be the same without him, but look what he left in his wake. Michael changed the industry. The comic book world was destined to transform the moment he put pencil to paper. Just look at the number of people who cite Michael as the reason they pursued a career in comics. He inspired the next generation of individuals who are going to push the industry beyond its limits. He awoke the imaginations of those who are going to inspire us in the coming decades. He did all that before he hit forty.
It is funny reading these comments because many of you tell my story. When I got the news of his death I momentarily felt selfish in my grief. Michael was my hero. He was the sole reason I am into comics. I felt butterflies at the thought of talking to him and I cried when I finally got a chance to meet him face to face. I felt such a deep connection with his work that it felt personal. How strange is that? Reading through these comments helps to illustrate how many people felt that same way about his work. How many people were moved by his art. How many people felt a personal connection through something printed on a page. That is magical. That is what he gave us. In that sense Michael is not gone. No, we won’t be seeing new art coming from his studio, but you can’t take back what he gave us. You can’t take back the passion and enthusiasm he instilled in all of us. For that reason, Michael, you will never be gone.”Rest in piece Michael.
Recently I took on a very personal project – recreating one of my favorite Wonder Woman images in a tribute to the late Michael Turner. Read on for costume, concept and shoot details – and of course…photos!
This project has been a long time coming. I have always loved Wonder Woman in all of her incarnations, but when I laid eyes on Michael Turner’s Wonder Woman, I was in love. While Alex Ross and Adam Hughes do a fantastic job of bringing Diana Prince (or whoever is currently filing Wonder Woman’s shoes) to life, Turner sold me on the idea that even an Amazon could be feminine. While Wonder Woman was usually portrayed with hulking shoulders, a square jaw and hard face, Turner brought pulled her back a bit, and instead brought out her strength and fight in her eyes, her determination and in her poise.
Michael Turner's Wonder Woman
After Michael died, I knew I wanted to pay tribute to him. Seeing as I am not a fantastic traditional artist, I decided to try and recreate one of my favorite Wonder Woman images of all time. In order to recreate it, I recruited the help of Michael Novak, a fantastic photographer who knows more than a thing or two about great lighting.
When it came time the capture the shot, Novak took no shortcuts. All in all I think shooting the pose took an hour. After every shot he would stop, look at the result, and make changes to the lighting or to my pose accordingly. After a while my arms started to hurt a bit from being suspended in the air, but it was well worth it to get the shot. While not perfect, I am very very happy with the end result of the shoot.
Having the pose dead-on meant that we didn’t have to do much in the post-processing department. However, once we did get the image into Photoshop we did some fine-tuning to make the image pop. Obviously, in the absence of an actual glowing lasso, we added the golden hue after the fact. We also brightened up the colors a bit, and removed a harsh shadow from my eye (which is why it might look a little grey in that area). After adding a smidge of texture to the background, we were done! Like I said, I am very happy with the results, and I think Michael would have been too.
Michael Turner's Wonder Woman
After getting “the shot” we took a few more Wonder Woman images in his honor. One of my favorites was holding a white rose, which reminded me of another Turner cover I had seen.
We also took some more traditional Wonder Woman images, with a projection of the Minneapolis skyline in the background. You can see all the remaining images below.
Costume Details: As far as the costume is concerned, I used my original Wonder Woman costume and modified it further. I created the wonder woman crest out of Wonderflex, which I layered after making a mold of my chest (which burned, don’t try it at home kids). I created a new belt out of Wonderflex as well, but while it looked much more realistic, it caused more problems than I anticipated. The long and short is that it didn’t hug my body right because it was too ridged. Still, it looked much better than the original one did.
For the photos, I also had to turn my skirt into something resembling the bottoms from the image. For that I carefully folded and secured all the extra fabric behind me, so you wouldn’t end up seeing it in the shot. Its not perfect – in fact it looks a bit like I am wearing a diaper – but it looks far better than the skirt would in terms of accuracy. I also finally added the tiara to my costume, also made out of Wonderflex and secured behind my hair. I didn’t end up adding the red star, but I am sure I will at some future date.
Michael Turner and I at the 2007 SDCC.
I figure a good place to end this post would be with some thoughts I put together after hearing the news that Michael had passed. The context is from a thread in the Aspen forums, where other fans were sharing their grief in his passing. More than anything I hope it illustrates that Michael will truly never be gone.
“It is still a bit bizarre to read these comments, knowing what they imply. How can Michael be gone? I sit in my office every day – which is entirely dedicated to his work – and ask myself that. How can the man who created such beauty be gone? Losing Michael was tragic. It was tragic for his family, tragic for his coworkers, tragic for the comic book industry and tragic for his fans. True, the comic industry will never be the same without him, but look what he left in his wake. Michael changed the industry. The comic book world was destined to transform the moment he put pencil to paper. Just look at the number of people who cite Michael as the reason they pursued a career in comics. He inspired the next generation of individuals who are going to push the industry beyond its limits. He awoke the imaginations of those who are going to inspire us in the coming decades. He did all that before he hit forty.
It is funny reading these comments because many of you tell my story. When I got the news of his death I momentarily felt selfish in my grief. Michael was my hero. He was the sole reason I am into comics. I felt butterflies at the thought of talking to him and I cried when I finally got a chance to meet him face to face. I felt such a deep connection with his work that it felt personal. How strange is that? Reading through these comments helps to illustrate how many people felt that same way about his work. How many people were moved by his art. How many people felt a personal connection through something printed on a page. That is magical. That is what he gave us. In that sense Michael is not gone. No, we won’t be seeing new art coming from his studio, but you can’t take back what he gave us. You can’t take back the passion and enthusiasm he instilled in all of us. For that reason, Michael, you will never be gone.”
Rest in piece Michael.