I have a new favorite superhero. Or, maybe I should say antihero. His name is Mr. Justice. He’s flawed, starved for attention and refreshingly likeable. His partner, Powerful Girl, is his voice of reason. Together, the “super” duo set out each day to perform what they consider a good deed for humankind, like raising awareness for rabbit adoption.
I can’t let go of my infatuation with Dr. Horrible and Capt. Hammer…but I’ve carved out a special place in my heart for the quirky Mr. Justice (and not just because of his costume). Take a look at this video and you’ll see why.
An estimated 10,000 people wore costumes at Comic-Con last weekend. Lots of great photos are showing up online. Cinemablend.com just published a gallery with dozens of excellent photos.
Wow, everybody looks great! Be sure to visit Cinemablend.com to view the entire gallery.
You know how they say that life is stranger than fiction? Maybe that’s because sometimes life tries to mimic fiction but it doesn’t go so well.
This past weekend, Spencer Taylor, 20, of Three Rivers, Mich, tried to steal posters and other items related to the new Batman movie from a cinema lobby while dressed up as the Joker.
Unfortunately Spencer, who was wearing a purple suit, green wig and face paint in the style of the Dark Knight’s nemesis, is no criminal mastermind. He was detained by the theater employees until police arrived.
Now our young not-so-super villain may face larceny and malicious destruction of property charges.
We’ve been blogging quite a bit about Dr. Horrible, the supervillain musical that’s taken the Internet by storm.
Today, we’ll take a closer look at making a Dr. Horrible costume.
Lab Coat
Dr. Horrible wears a white lab coat. You can find a basic lab coat at any costume shop, but if you want to be picky you’ll need a coat that buttons on the side, not down in front. Look for the “Howie” style coat.
Here are some places that sell this type of lab coat:
EDIT 9/10/08:Irongate Gallery is selling a custom lab coat that is perfect for around $100. Includes the caduceus sewn in and the goggles. CLICK HERE
Edit 11/05/08:Shadow Dale Creations now also offers an authentic Dr. Horrible lab coat for $200. Available in white or red. CLICK HERE
EDIT: Word on the street is that these goggles actually are green in color. Apparently, the manufacturer picture is wrong and they are NOT silver as shown.
White Gloves
Dr. Horrible wears a pair of white work gloves. Some people have found that fencing gloves work, too. You can try these stores:
It’s that joyous time of year again — Comic-Con! And thousands of people in costumes flock to the big event in San Diego. All the great costumes… it’s brings a tear to my eye.
Wired.com has a good article and photo slideshow of this year’s costumes. Looks like so much fun!
Well I hope everyone has a fun and safe Comic-Con. I know it’s sold out, and I’m so jealous for the people who get to go.
To view all of these great photos, head on over to Wired.com’s entire photo gallery.
Have you heard of the Wolfpack Elite? When it comes to costumes, conventions and cosplay, these guys are the best of the best. When they say Elite, they aren’t joking.
They are well known for throwing big costume parties at every major comic/sci fi convention in America, “because there’s nothing like throwing back a few shots with Batman on one side and a storm trooper on the other.”
Heh, I like the sound of that!
You can literally spend countless hours on their website, browsing through the photo gallery and forum. The forum is especially helpful for sharing ideas and costume-making tips, and just talking about costumes in general.
The members of Wolfpack Elite seem to be a very fun, welcoming group of people. If you love costumes, you should head on over there and say hello: www.wolfpackelite.com.
You love superheroes, and you love fashion. But other people don’t share your appreciation and they laugh when you wear your Batman cape to the grocery store.
Apparently, those people haven’t been to the Superhero Fashion Exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art. Running through September 1st, The Superhero Fashion Exhibit aims to explore the symbolic and metaphoric associations between fashion and the superhero.
Some of the exhibits are for pure, fantastical enjoyment while others offer practical variations of super hero costumes in high performance sports or fashion wear. Hey, you can even buy a hot pink and green Batman-esque scarf at the gift shop, for $35.00, that’s classy enough to wear to work!
So let people laugh at your every day Batman attire…bet you won’t see their clothes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Going to Comic-Con? Marvel Comics will be teaming up with costume vendor Disguise to hold the first ever Superhero Costume Fashion Show at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego.
The Fashion Show begins in the Marvel Booth (Booth #2429) Friday at 2:00 and will be followed by a photo-op with the models.
This is no cosplay; these are seriously fierce costumes worn by incredible models, strutting their stuff down the catwalk, for the debut of the sexiest line of costumes ever created and inspired by Marvel super heroes.
Dressing up as a super heroine in the past would have meant spandex and tights. No more! Disguise has tossed this old and unflattering cartoonish concept and instead made fashionable, wearable and fun costumes that not only fit great but look fabulous. These costumes are inspired by some of the hottest and most iconic heroes to grace the pages of Marvel, and this will be your first chance to see them live as they make their Comic-Con debut!
This looks awesome! I’m pretty sad I won’t be going to Comic-Con this year.
For a special preview of the costumes, CLICK HERE.
Do you like superheroes and supervillains? Are you a fan of musicals? Then wait no longer.
Head on over to www.drhorrible.com to view Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!
It’s the story of a low-rent supervillain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.
This musical will be free to watch for one week only. After July 20th, 2008, the video will only be available for purchase on iTunes. A DVD packed full of fun extras will be released sometime in the near future.
For an additional back story of Capt. Hammer, be sure to check out his “Be Like Me!” Capt. Hammer online comic published by Dark Horse Comics.
Sometimes, a costume is more than just the clothes you wear. Sometimes, a costume is less than just the clothes you wear.
Makeup is something we haven’t talked too much about around here. That’s because makeup is usually an accessory to the costume, something that finishes the costume to make it more complete. It’s not often that a costume is defined by the makeup alone—but sometimes, it can be.
The brilliance behind zombie costumes is that you can wear whatever you want—or just whatever you normally wear. If you had really turned into a zombie, that’s what you would be wearing. As far as costumes go, it’s about as simple as it comes. It’s the makeup that’s really the costume.
To be a zombie, you’ll need pallid, sickly-looking skin. Maybe with a bit of a greenish tint to it. You’ll need at least one wound—that’s the zombie bite that turned you. And if you want to be really dramatic, blood splatters are the way to go.
Fake blood can be easily made by mixing corn syrup with red food coloring. Adding a little cocoa powder to the concoction will give it a darker blood color and ensure that when it dries, it will look just like dried blood.
Making your wounds takes a little more work, but it’s so much more fun. There are plenty of recipes for this kind of thing. I’ve done it with cotton balls and gelatin. I have a friend who made amazing realistic-looking zombie wounds with marshmallows. You can experiment with other textures too, like tissue or corn flakes. The wounds can be glued on with latex (the kind they use in theater to attach fake beards and the like), and painted with makeup and fake blood.
You don’t have to wait until Halloween to do this, either. Grab some friends and make a fast and fun zombie film. Or better yet, participate in one of the many zombie walks that occur every year across the country! Zombiewalk.com is a good resource for finding one, or organize your own in your neighborhood.
Just when I was starting to despair that I wouldn’t find anything clever and unique to say about costumes, I stumbled upon Ennio Marchetto while doing some internet research. I was floored by this guy’s creative ingenuity when it comes to quick costume changes on stage.
Ennio Marchetto is world renowned and has performed in over 80 countries for more than a million people. His unique show has earned numerous awards and international critical acclaim.
He performs alone on stage, without any backstage help, changing character almost every minute, often in front of the audience. All his costumes, wigs and props are made out of paper and cardboard, flipping and folding to change from one character to another.
Marchetto and his costumes impersonate 350 characters including a wide variety of icons, from pop stars to opera singers, from works of art to mythological figures and each show is adapted to the particular country he’s performing in.
I could go on and on about this guy…but I’ve gotta go see some paper and scissors about a costume.
British photographer Stephen Schofield has published a gallery of ordinary Britons wearing American costumes. His goal is to explore the way American pop-culture affects citizens in the UK.
Schofield states:
My practice is concerned with exploring the fascination that the British public has with American popular culture and the sub-cultural world of fandom.
It seeks to offer a glimpse into seemingly ordinary lives of my subjects and allows the private to become public. The work hints at the depth of people’s fantasies and the methods they employ to adopt this culture as part of their own lifestyle as a means of escapism.
Very interesting! I can definitely see how costumes can be used as a form of “escapism” — but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. There’s nothing wrong with bringing a little imaginative excitement into our daily lives.
