Jared AxelrodWriter of Adventure

There comes a time in every costumer’s life when she or he must look at the various and sundry items the have in storage and say: “I haven’t worn this stuff in years.” Such has that time now come to the Axelrod/Blackwell household, as we are now selling off a great deal of costumery that we do not see ourselves wearing again. After all, we gotta make some more room for new stuff!

What you see here is the very tip of the iceberg (my wife has a small representation of some of the women’s wear we are selling over at her journal). We’ve got loads of other costumes. The actual sale is on the 5th, but if any of you lovely internet folk want to stake a claim on anything here, shoot me line. I’m sure we can work something out.

Steampunk Superman jacket SOLD!

Just the jacket, which is real leather with replica Civil war buttons. Cape is not for sale.

Flash jacket

Red and gold vinyl. Cowl is not for sale.

Green Lantern jacket SOLD!

Green and black vinyl. Gloves, mask and ring not for sale, but I will throw in the belt buckle if you want it.

Booster Gold jacket

Yellow and blue lightweight denim. Pants and glasses are not for sale, but the spandex “head condom” is included.

Monarch Henchman costume

Mask, belt, shorts and tunic. Body suit and gloves not for sale. Not shown: giant butterfly wings, unopened

Venture Brothers shirts

White shirt and kerchief, off-white collared shirt and sweater vest

10th Doctor suit SOLD!

Brown pinstripe women’s suit. Shirt, tie, and sonic screwdriver not included.

ate-night Twitter stakling rarely leads to anything good. You do it because it’s late and you have nothing to do, and want to see what other people are doing. But more often than not, if people are on Twitter it’s because they don’t have anything to do, either. If they are doing something, it’s either something jealousy-inspiring, or they’ll talk about how awesome it was the next morning. No, Twitter-stalking rarely leads to anything good.

So imagine my surprise when my friends Skott of The Nerd Signal and Dan of Geekadelphia and the Suicide Girls Blog within minutes of each other tweeted about their intention to go to Brave New World’s midnight release party for SCOTT PILGRIM’S FINEST HOUR, the sixth and final volume of Brian Lee O’Malley’s epic comic series (soon to be a major motion picture)! As a hardcore SP fan, I had to go.

“Hey,” I said, walking into the office where JR was being productive. “Wanna go to a SCOTT PILGRIM release party?”

“Sure! Right now?” she said.

I looked at the clock. “Actually…yeah. It starts now. But it goes ’till midnight.”

We wasted no time raiding Volumes 1-5 looking for appropriate costumes to attend the event. Our hopes of being Evil Exs were dashed, but we figured we could pull together kickin’ versions of Scott and Ramona’s Halloween costumes. And so we did:

We didn’t take any pictures ourselves, and this was the best pic I could find, yanked from Brave New World’s Facebook Gallery. As a bonus, Skott’s in the shot. Hello, Skott!

We had a good time at the event, despite arriving too late for the pizza. We did, however, win free passes to a preview showing of the SCOTT PILGRIM movie, which I take as clear proof that the universe loved our outfits. When we bought out book, the cashier said he was glad we won the tickets, “because you guys came all dressed up.” So let that be a lesson to us all.

Also, I clearly need to spend more time on Twitter. The evidence of it’s benefits are abundant.

The portfolio continues.

X-Men Jacket
I’ve called this a “Cyclops” costume in the past, but it’s all about the jacket. Like the “Mountains of Madness” explorer, this is a handful of commercially available elements. I haven’t “made” anything for this costume, but as a consequence, it looks a great deal more real. So, something to be said for that. I wear this jacket all the time in the fall and winter, and get compliments on those who recognize the reference. I unexpectedly met Chris Claremont while wearing it, but the best story comes when I woman at the farmer’s market asked me where Xavier’s is.

“Westchester, New York,” I said.

Pulp Batman
My good friend Rae Winters was planning a Batman shoot for a “The Golden Age of Comics and Animation” show, and wanted to borrow some Batman costuming stuff. And while we certainly could have done a shoot with my other Batman suit, I took advantage of the opportunity to craft a pulp inspired Batsuit just for her shoot. It’s a step to the side away from the traditional uniform, but it evokes the same feeling. This photo expresses exactly the mood I was trying to evoke with costume, though other shots are prettier.

The Question
Anyone who’s watched the  JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED animated series knows how awesome The Question can be, which goes doubly true if you’ve also read the Dennis O’Neil/Denys Cowan comic series from 80’s (despite the animated Question and the comic Question having extremely little in common). This was a technical challenge, as I wanted to achieve a faceless look without gluing something to my face. It’s also nice to have bright blue hat in group shots. Like the X-Men jacket, the blue fedora is something I’ve worn in my daily life. It’s a great hat.

Steampunk Night Vision Goggles
These things have all the details that make steampunk props so much fun: there’s a owl motif, a power source in a leather pouch with a toggle switch stuck in the flap, and creepy, defused LEDs. They are part of a much larger steampunk project, but they work just fine on their own.

G’onthultu
An ancient evil from a faraway planet, G’onthulthu is my favorite puppet to opperate. Part of the appeal of prop, costume and puppet making is the problem solving portion of it. How do I get this concept to work in real life? For G’onthultu’s mouth tentacles, the answer was exceeding simple. There’s a delightful surrealism to the puppet, which a hand standing in for tentacles standing in for mouth. He’s both creepy and cuddly at the same time.

Captain America
This is a commissioned costume for my friend Jerry, and while it is finished, I don’t yet have a photo of him in the finished product. When I do, you can bet that will rate a post of it’s own. But I do have the cowl, which is everything one could hope for out of a Cap mask.  This costume was one of the more detailed superhero costumes I’ve done. It was made in a headlong rush over two weeks, and to my glee, does not look like it. I am extremely proud of it. I’ll have more pics soon.

The wondrous Kyle Cassidy, admist talking about all the things that make up his fantastic life (hey, look! I’m in there!), has asked that today, July 1st, be a portfolio day. Kyle talked about the importance of a continually updated portfolio in a “photography advice” post. I’ve been tempted to steal the good ideas he included in there for a post about writing, but his advice is so great that it applies to almost any creative endeavor without changing a thing.

I’ve been feeling burnt out on costuming and prop-making recently, so I’ve decided to take a look back at my favorite 12 pieces.  Because I want to be cool like J.R. Blackwell, I’ll also be a writing a bit about each piece and identifying my favorite parts about them. The first six go up today, part 2 will go up tomorrow.

Pulp Raygun
This was one of my first cold-cast pieces, and  remains on of my favorites. I’ve had difficulty with the mold every time I try to recast, so this might as well be one of a kind. It feels real when you heft it, and the copper filaments embedded into the resin have corroded naturally. Cold-casting is an expensive hobby, so I haven’t done much with it. But it is something I’d like to get back too.

Batman
I love this costume. I’m constantly reworking it, so great is my love. If I were to go up to my 8 year old self and tell him I owned this costume, his tiny head would explode. It is, once again, in progress: there’s a new cowl, soon to be joined by new boots and gloves. The version above is from Dragon*Con ‘07, which was a great–if hot–costuming experience.

Sonic the Hedgehog
A lot of firsts in this one. First time making a children’s costume. First time making a video game character. First time making a mascot style character. First time working entirely in fleece. Considering all those firsts, it came out spectacularly, and is a nice, unusual addition to the portfolio.

Wigwam Bam
This puppet is such a wealth of character details. The little hat, the cigar, the bionic attachment. Plus, the Nerf gun that can fire foam darts into the audience! What’s not to love? It could be overwhelming twee, but there’s something the puppet that creates such a strong, clear character. Plus, Tee does such a great job giving him a voice.

Mountains of Madness Explorer
Ah, the literary costume. I have to explain this one a lot, but it means I get to talk at length about Lovecraft, so I don’t really care. Most of it is purchased: the goggles and jacket came from eBay, and patches from the great Propnomicom. The shuggoth is what makes this costume, though, a collection of tentacles and raggedy fabric. It has shown up in other costumes, but this really belongs to this one. This is a costume that came out exactly the way it looked in my head, which is a rare thing.

Steampunk Superman
This is a weird one. There is nothing inherently steampunk about Superman, as he remains a character fully grounded in the myths and ideals of the 20th Century. My original idea was to do a steampunk Green Lantern, with all sort of green-glowing-gadgetry (wishing rings work in all eras). But the idea of translating such a 20th century idea into the 19th  was a difficult idea to let go. While I love the costume, I wonder if I missed the mark a bit. In any case, this is certainly the kind of uniform Superman would wear if he was soldier in the late 1800s–the shield-shape on his chest is based on an actual uniform from the Civil War–and the brass cape-clasp is a detail that always make me smile. It’s a striking variation on a old design, and in that, it is a success.

Tonight is all sold out, I’m afraid. Which I did warn you all about.

Luckily, providing costumes and custom jewelry  gives one a certain amount of clout amongst the company, so I was to snag two seats for JR and myself. If you already have your tickets, I expect I will see you there.

If you have not, there are still a few performances to choose from.

-Men are the name of the for this month’s Superheroes Who Are Super. It’s a double feature of sorts, with director Daniel Student taking on both The Uncanny X-Men #127 & #128. This means you get the “The Power of Proteus, The Deadliest Mutant Alive” and “The Day Reality Went Wild!” all in one show, which should be a fantastic time.

What with planning for our upcoming much-belated honeymoon (more on that in a minute), and my responsibilities with as steampunk adviser for Curio Theater’s production of Twelfth Night, I was not able to do as much for them this month. But I think I pulled together some fantastic pieces:

Originally, I had offered my NEW X-MEN style Wolverine costume. But the  jacket is falling apart (I should really remake it), and the claws were broken.  Wolverine’s important to the story they’re doing, so I called upon the help of the fabulous Chrisco, who whipped up some awesome new claws. For my part, I did this spiffy ASTONISHING style jacket.

I also made  a new Cyclops visor, in the classic style. It does not light up (yet), but it does stay on one’s face without ear-pieces.

The show is tomorrow night at Plays & Players theater. JR and I will not be in attendance, as we are leaving on a belated honeymoon cruise to Bermuda.

Which is very exciting, let me tell you!

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