Phoenix Comicon 2011

For all of you who know that I pretty much started this blog to showcase my son Todd’s work, he now has is own site where you can see what he is up to these days. It is at www.toddcookdesigns.com.

I realize I haven’t posted anything here in almost a year, but I will get a couple of posts up soon.

Phoenix Comicon has been over for almost a month and I have been so slow getting these pictures up.  I actually prepped the photos shortly after the convention was over.  Unfortunately, other things took precedence in my life so this blog post was differed until now.

There were lots of great costumes this year, but here are only a few with , of course, my son as Spiderman and an Arizona Ghostbuster.

Click on any of the thumbnails to see the full picture.

 Wow! Free Comic Book Day was a blast this year!  I just want everyone who I took pictures of to know that I am trying really hard to get your pictures up on this blog. But over 400 pictures were taken on Saturday so please have patience with me as I sort through all of them and make sure I have at least one good picture of everyone.  I should have the next post with all the pictures by the end of this week.  Until then, I hope you enjoy this look back at the great cosplay characters that volunteer their time to make your day more fun.

This is a project that has been in the works for over three years and it looks like it may just come to completion for the annual “Free Comic Book Day” on Saturday, May 1^st.  Months of research and testing has gone into the right combination of silicone, dye, graphite, and mold release to get to where we are today.  The actual one-piece spandex bodysuit was constructed in 2007 complete with gloves and covered shoes.  While Todd was responsible for printing the pattern on the fabric, I did the sewing per his instructions.  He created molds by laser cutting Plexiglas sheets for all the webbing he needed.  When this costume is complete it will probably only be worn for two events, but with all the work that went into it, one has to remember that it is not necessarily about the end result, but what we learned along the way.

Gluing was tedious as each web corner needed to be pulled out and tacked while the bodysuit was being worn.  Later the entire web was glued with the suit over a duct tape body double.

All the shots here are of the unfinished project.  Stay tuned for pictures of the completed costume sometime in May.

Special thanks to David Stipes (www.davidstipes.com) for helping to document this process.

Some of the people who read this blog really like Halloween.  This household revolves around Comic Cons, Halloween, filmmaking, and various other costuming ventures.   Sometimes I can get an entire costume with accessories finished in a season and other times a costume doesn’t come together for years. One that I have been working on is another pirate costume; one for my other son, Shaun.  Shaun’s costume got put on hold for Todd’s black Spiderman costume about two years ago.  Here is the pirate coat in its completed form.

My other son, Todd, is basically in charge of making his own garments, but although I have taught him to sew, working with stretch fabrics can be a challenge.  I took over sewing the main costume for him after he painstakingly painted the fabric to resemble the print from the original suit. 

 This costume still isn’t finished and was also put on hold as Todd was trying to figure out the best method for the webbing.  He is back to work on it, so hopefully he can have it completed by Free Comic Book Day and Phoenix Comic Con in May.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

www.freecomicbookday.com

AZspidey and friends are really trying to get some mileage out of their Halloween costumes this year.

This dedicated group of over-aged trick-or-treaters spent more time getting dressed than they actually were at the gig.   The spectators (young and old) seemed to have really gotten a kick out of the whole thing!

These clowns are pretty creepy, so I could see how they would work in a haunted attraction. Although I have been known to make a clown costume, it was never as scary as a killer clown.       

The closest I have come to a spooky costume was when I made Frank the Rabbit from the Donnie Darko movie (another cult classic) for AZspidey’s friend, Ron.

Of course the part I was sewing was the fluffy bunny body, which if worn separately from the mask, couldn’t scare a bunch of carrots (Hey, I live in a world around animators; of course carrots can be afraid. They can even scream!).  The mask was purchased online, but was not painted.  AZspidey completed the final touches on it for that special ‘don’t even think you’re gonna to make it home’ look.

How could Ron see (or pee) you may ask?  Let’s just say somehow he found a way!  See you in an another universe, Frank!

This group is a fan based costume club, but what makes them really special is their spirit.  I am not talking ghostly spirit here, but charitable spirit like in doing community service work for many of the organizations helping children and families.  These guys are not paid for their services and spend countless hours of their own time attending events and collecting donations for many charities.  The Arizona Ghostbusters are committed to not only having Marshmallow Man-size fun, but to making a difference in the lives of many people.

You won’t need Ecto Goggles or a PKE Meter to find these guys, just go to www.arizonaghostbusters.com and look for their next upcoming event!  See them in California at San Diego Comicon 2009 in July!