Jared Axelrod

uperheroes Who Are Super, as mentioned previously, decided to do the Harley Quinn-centric comic “Mad Love” for Valentine’s Day. My dear friend Avalon happened to be be the same size (tiny) as the lead actress, and  loaned me her Harley Quinn costume which had been made by her loving husband, Dan.

The family that cosplays together stays together, I always say.

While Avalon’s costume was fantastic, it lacked the trademark hat and mask.  Luckily, all the snow allowed me to fix that problem.

In addition to that hat and mask and loaning my Batsuit to the cause, I whipped up a purple tailcoat (aka the “Project: Murder Clown” I kept referring to on Facebook & Twitter). Unfortunatly, the actor cast as the Joker was stuck in Amsterdam due to the snow, and a new Joker had to be found. The new Joker was fantastic, but, as you see in the pics, an very skinny fellow.  Great for the character, but bad for the costume.  Luckily, he had his own gear.

As you can see, the whole cast looks fantastic.  I’m not sure if there’s video of the show, which is a shame. Joseph Nevin, who directed the Flash & Green Lantern show I also did costumes for, pulled out all the stops on this one, creating so much more than the advertised “staged reading.” When you’ve got Batman lifting the Joker clear off the ground and punching the narrator, I think we’ve need a new title.

After a fantastic dinner with Dan and Avalon to celebrate their recent nuptials, the four of us took in the show. Holly and Steve braved the horrible roads to see the show as well, and I couldn’t think of better group to laugh along with. Despite the difficulty getting there, the show played to a packed house. What does this mean for next one, in April? Get there early, I imagine.

But what do to with the tail coat, then?  I’m sure I’ll think of something…

photo by JR Blackwell

MAD LOVE! 10:30! Plays And Players! My costumes on stage!

Be there!

r, how I spent Snowpocalypse II: Snowmageddon.

As is my want when the outside world turns this inhospitable, I’ve barricaded myself in the basement for much of the day. Much like the tailor in the title, I have spent most of the day crafting supervillian wear.

As you can see, the results have been quite grand:

But why, you may ask? Why, for no other reason than the latest Superheroes Who Are Super offering from Plays & Players! This month they are doing the classic comic “Mad Love,” the inspiration for one of the greatest episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. Show goes up Saturday, at 10:30.

What should you expect to see at a Superheroes Who Are Super production? Here’s taste what happened at one back in November:

You can find more clips here. And yes, I made the costumes for those, too.

I spent it with my wife, Kyle Cassidy (who took these snazzy photos), Trilian Stars and a Shuggoth. And well spent it was, too. How about yourself?

What did you do today

Local theater group Plays & Players have started a series called Super Heroes Who Are Super, staged readings of comics with costumes, props, and the appropriate combination of respect and silliness. Their first performance was the infamous “Boner Crimes” Batman story, which gives you an idea of the kind of comics they seek out for this series. I’ve seen two–they also did the first appearance of the Punisher, which proved that played straight, Frank Castle is far more funny than Spider-Man, quips and all–and loved them both. After talking with the organizer, I agreed to help out with the superhero suits for the rest of the series.

This month is the comic of choice is GREEN LANTERN #13 (June 1962): “The Duel of the Super Heroes!” the first meeting of Flash and Green Lantern, and after seeing my GL jacket, they asked if I could make a Flash one to match. So, I did.

There’s lots of charges from secret identity to superhero for both characters, so the director wanted something easily removable. I also made a Flash cowl and giant head extension (to mimic the cover). Dress rehearsal was Tuesday, so JR got some fabulous pics of the actors in costume.

Feel the power of the head extension:

I feel I should point out that is not the set they are going to use, but it makes a wonderfully surreal backdrop. More pics here.

It was so great to see the actors in the costumes. Doug Thomas, the actor playing Green Lantern, guy put his on an immediately struck a hero pose The director asked him how he felt in the costume. He said “I feel awesome!” He’s apparently been a Green Lantern fan since childhood. And Brian R. Caine, the actor playing Flash, was running all around the stage. The costumes really brought a physicality to their performance that they apparently didn’t have in the other rehearsals. Oh, the power of costuming.

Performance is this Saturday, the 14th at 10:30 on the 3rd Floor of Plays & Players Theater. Hope to see you there!

And so does the first 2/3rds of this year’s Halloween Costume Deal come to a close (the third was not actually needed for Halloween, so will be completed in the next few weeks). These costumes forced me to stretch a bit, as one was very complex, while the other was deceptively simple. Both, naturally, look awesome:

Steampunk Spider-Woman

Matt Wagner’s Grendel

I’ll be delivering these in person tomorrow, which has gotten me even more excited about the holiday than usual. I can’t wait to see these costumes worn!

I’ve been working on an Aquaman costume off and on for years. The appeal of this continually uncool character has a very strong pull to me, so when Rae Winters wanted to do some underwater shots, I lept at the chance to test the in-progress Aquaman costume in it’s proper environment.

I feel like the jacket needs some detailing, and the tights don’t really work. But as you can see, the photos themselves are fantastic. I cannot wait to get back in water.

I’m sure everyone remembers the epic Halloween Costume Deal of last year, which led to excitement and fist-pumping on the behalf of the young gentleman who received it. Don’t you too wish you could bask in the happiness that this young man possesses?

Of course you do. More than that, I want you feel that happiness as well. Which is why, this year I’m doing it again.

“But wait,” you say. “Jared, it’s August.  That’s way too early to be planning for Halloween.” And for some people, that may indeed be true. However, due the outcropping of hopes and dreams that were unfortunately dashed last year when I only had time for one costume, I am opening up earlier. More time means more costumes.

That’s right, for the low, low prices of $200 a piece, not one, not two, but three people can look as awesome as I do come Halloween. Or Dragon*Con, for that matter, since we’re still in August.

The first three people to email me and pay $200 in advance will get a costume whatever they want* custom made head to toe—props included—done to their specifications. Want to be a pirate? I can do that. An airship pirate? No problem. An airship pirate superhero? Consider it done.

I have an extensive portfolio, should you want to peruse it.

But don’t spend too long looking! This offer is limited to the first three people who pay! Act now!

AND IT’S OVER!!! All three slots are now filled!!!

*Within reason. Some costumes will not be able to completed in the time. A rule of thumb: if it has futuristic armor, it’ll take too long.

So, I’m in the kitchen making vast amounts of soup and Kyle Cassidy calls up and says “You and JR wanna be in a photo shoot?”

“What would we have to do?” I ask, keenly aware that while my ankle has healed enough for walking, I can’t do much else.

“Just stand there while Trillian hovers in midair. Maybe look like you’re reading something.”

That, we decided, we could do.

After the bus stop fun was concluded, Kyle and Trillian invited us back to their place to watch ONG BAK 2. This sounded like a fine time to us, but we had to get back and finish our soups. We resolved to return for the film. Kyle oft handedly mentioned that he had was trying to figure out the proper lighting rig for taking pictures of con-goers World Con, and since we were going home anyway, if we wanted to bring some costumes back he would try out some lights.

How many could we bring, we ask?

“As many as you like,” Kyle said. “You bring 10, we’ll shoot 10.”

We brought 11.

Something about seeing all these fantastic pictures at once has caused me to reconsider both my costuming and why I do it in the first place. I’ve said that my interest in costuming is mainly sculptural, and I’m going take the next few days to look at these costumes from that perspective, and in doing so, pinpoint where I’m going to go next.

Oh, and if you’re going to World Con, you’re a fool if you pass up a chance to get Kyle to take your picture. He’ll be set up on Saturday, right at the top of the escalators at the 5th floor.

Sometimes the perfect project just falls into your lap.

For instance, my good friend Rae Winters–of the Arcadia Winters, naturally—came to me and said “Jared, I’m planning a Batman shoot for the “The Golden Age of Comics and Animation” show, at Brave New Worlds Comics. I’ve heard you have Bat-gear.”

Which I do. Scads of the stuff.

But this was such an excellent opportunity, I wanted to do make some new stuff. A big-eared Bob Kane style cowl paired with a more pulpy buttoned shirt. Luckily, time was with me, and was able to finish not only the Batsuit, but a sultry femme-fatale style Poison Ivy as well:

Excellent modeling done by Russell Collins and Jennifer Rodgers. More pictures over at Ms. Winter’s Flickr.

The costumes and the shoot turned out fantastic If you want to see a handful of these photos in person, not to mention work by other members of the Autumn Society, Brave New Worlds Comics is the place to be.

That’s where I’ll be.