Cosplay goal achieved: Spider Jerusalem.

So this weekend was MCM Comic Con at the NEC in Birmingham.  I've been off the convention circuit since Birmingham Comics Festival in April of last year for various reasons, but managed to come back this time with a brand new cosplay: Spider Jerusalem from Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson's Transmetropolitan.

For many years Spider's been my favourite comic book character and Transmet has been my favourite comic book series, but as I've had no experience in making props I've always had to put him on the cosplay back burner due to those pesky glasses!  But this year I finally had a crack at them and came out with something workable, bought a cheap suit on sale, picked up a cheap shoulder bag with radioactive decals and a transient smiley badge, and put the whole thing together!  Ended up having a great time at Comic Con.

So first of all came the big disaster.  Got up at 4am to start the tattoos, which I actually thought was overkill.  Turned out I needed every minute of the 3 hours until 7am when I had to set off for the train!  However, seeing as this is the first time I've cosplayed with asymmetrical makeup, I forgot to flip the head tattoo in the mirror and painted it onto the wrong side.  I didn't realise this until I was already on the train en-route to the NEC, so I just had to grin and bear it throughout the day.

Fortunately no one picked up on it, and on the rare occasion I was recognised I pointed it out to avoid any heckling.  Every time I did point it out, folks just shrugged it off with a "dude, you're still Spider, and it's awesome", which was really encouraging.

All in all I was stopped by people who recognised the character a grand total of 6 times, which made a somewhat relaxing change from the 100+ stops I usually have to make as The Joker!  It left me much more free to enjoy the rest of the convention, in spite of my inability to recognise colours for the entire day.

For once I had a bit of spending money, so I was able to pick up a few bits and pieces, including the Hostage Negotiator board game, a Harry Potter scarf (Slytherin all the way!), and some Christmas presents for family.

Of the two show highlights though, the first was meeting Alix Wilton Regan, a fantastic voice actress and bloody lovely person to boot.  As a Bioware fanboy she's Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor from Mass Effect 3, and my chosen Inquisitor from Dragon Age Inquisition.  As she didn't have a queue I was able to chat with her for a good few minutes about Dragon Age, Mass Effect (she liked my tattoo), Andromeda, and she seemed genuinely interested in the character I was dressed as.

I loved the message on this one :)

The second highlight, was getting my photo taken on the Iron Throne, from Game of Thrones.  There was a booth there where for £10 you could get your photo taken on the Iron Throne, or for £25 you could have it taken on the throne with Joffrey's crown and a sword of your choice.  Both options were expensive, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity and went with the cheaper package.  After a little bit of photo editing to move the head tattoo to the correct size, this was the result...

House Jerusalem: We Hate it Here

After a few hours of wandering the halls, admiring the cosplay, buying things with money I don't have and enviously staring at things I couldn't afford, it was time to go home.

Seeing as I was only stopped for a couple of photos and I wanted some more cosplay images to mark this occasion, I took a few more outside the flat after I got home.  Again, I had to tweak them a little to get the tattoo moved, but was happy with the outcome.  A couple were just bog-standard poses, but I also tried to replicate a couple of my favourite cover images from the series... not always accurately due to working from memory!  But here they were...

All in all, pretty amazing day.  I am, however, having to come to terms with the fact that I'm not as sprightly as I was when I started cosplaying 10 years ago, and my hips are the ones to suffer from walking around a convention hall all day.  Perhaps I should switch to the version of Spider later in the series when he becomes ill and has to walk with a cane...

Anyways, I'm by no means done with Spider.  For one thing I want to go back and do him properly, actually putting his tattoo on the right side of the head, and I want to tidy up the arm tattoos (which were far more visible than I was expecting).  Prop-wise, I'm also hoping to have a bowel disruptor, two-faced cat, or Chair Leg of Truth to take with me on my next outing... time will tell which one wins out!

Birmingham Memorabilia/Comic Con November 2014: Show Joker some love!

Last weekend was Birmingham Comic Con again, and for once I wasn't a zombie!  I'd spent the last 6 months planning this outing, and spent the weekend as The Joker from Arkham Asylum :) So I'm now begging favours and asking please give my photo below a Facebook 'like'. The pic with most likes will get posted across MCM'c social networking sites, and together we can all spread some Mr J love! :)

Post by Mcm Expo.

Last weekend was Birmingham Comic Con again, and for once I wasn't a zombie!  I'd spent the last 6 months planning this outing, and spent the weekend as The Joker from Arkham Asylum :) So I'm now begging favours and asking please give my photo above a Facebook 'like'. The pic with most likes will get posted across MCM'c social networking sites, and together we can all spread some Mr J love! :)

Birmingham Memorabilia/Comic Con November 23rd 2013

It's been a while since I last posted (as usual!), sorry about that.  It's been a busy few months with my board game review blog taking off massively, a new relationship on the go, zombie appearances being booked (and subsequently cancelled), and a load of fun hobby times!

 

Well today's update is all about Birmingham Memorabilia/MCM Comic Con which is taking place over the course of this weekend!  I attended yesterday, and Zombie Walter White was putting in an appearance once again!  As with most zombie days, it started at an unreasonable hour of the day.  I was up at 5am so that I could start makeup at 5:30, in order to be leaving for the train station at 7:00 for an 8:30 arrival.  I went by myself, mostly so that I could spend the majority of the day not breaking zombie character, and I managed to achieve that fairly well :)  I did start speaking normally when people asked me direct questions, or broke character to wave at a couple of kids who were otherwise probably about to start crying at the sight of me!  Oh and I saw a couple cosplaying as Jon Snow and Ygritte out of Game of Thrones, so I chased after him shouting "Jun Snu!", but was happy to break character for that!

 

Anyways, I arrived at the NEC on time (I just made it onto the train as the doors were sliding shut!), and once I was in I immediately starting shuffling and groaning about the place.  I didn't have a massive budget, and the zombie contact lens obscured my vision so badly that I couldn't see most of the stalls' wares anyway, so that helped me to keep from overspending!  I did pick up one massive bargain though, in the shape of Sedition Wars - a tabletop system/board game which normally costs around £50, and I picked up a sealed copy for £10!

 

 

Aside from bargain-hunting (and taking any opportunity to dress up as Heizomberg), my main aim for the day was to meet Chris Barrie, aka Rimmer from Red Dwarf.  In past Memorabilias I've met Danny John Jules (Cat) and Craig Charles (Lister), and I've got Robert Llewellyn's (Kryten) autograph from sending him a fan letter when I was younger, but Chris Barrie was the one crew member I was yet to add to my collection.  The queue to meet him was quite long, but I was happy to wait, and he was happy to post for a photo with my very own Mr Flibble, which brought a massive smile to my face :)

 

 

Aside from meeting this legend and picking up my lovely cheap game, I managed to refrain from spending for the rest of the day (aside from lunch, obviously).  I was stopped for plenty of photos as usual, but on this occasion I actually made the effort to drop out of character and take photos of other folks' amazing costumes!  But before I end this post with a stream of photos, I have a begging favour to ask my readers...

 

 

Please like my photo by Mcm Expo on Facebook! :)  They were taking official photos and whichever one gets the most likes wins a Nintendo WiiU, which would make me a very happy zombie.

Anyways, here are my other photos of the day...

 

Zombies & TV

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned an exciting project which had been confirmed and given the green light, so I think it's about time I elaborated a little.

 

Back in January I had a phone call off the lovely folks at Wish (who I am now starting to think of as my zombie agents) saying that they'd been approached by a company filming a documentary series for the Discovery Channel, who were after someone who is just a little bit nuts about zombies.  Oddly enough they thought I'd fit the bill :)  After a few weeks with no news I'd started to forget about it (if the This Morning cancellation taught me one thing it's that nothing is set in stone), and started playing the waiting game for my next zombie role.  But eventually I was contacted again, put in touch with the show's producer, and a week or so later was sat in the corner of the flat as the film crew started tweaking the room to make it optimal for filming.  To say it's been a surreal experience doesn't quite do it justice!

As it's still yet to air I stll don't know how much I'm allowed to say about the show, but it should be hitting the small screen around the world in a few months time, and once it does I know I'll be safe to spill the beans entirely!  The working title for the series is Extreme Worlds, but with a while to go until the broadcast date that's subject to change.  Obviously I will be posting updates closer to the time.

 

In other zombie TV related news, I've got a bit part in a popular british drama series just over the horizon, along with many of the zombies from the Warm Bodies photocall, so it'll be great to work with them again :) Even better to work with them in a capacity that involves actual zombie behaviour rather than just zombie poses!  Don't get me wrong, I loved the photocall, but I do enjoy letting rip with my zombie growl, and that doesn't really come across in a photo!  Once more, I'm not going to jeapordise things by revealing more than I'm allowed to, but as soon as the show hits the air I'll be the first one jumping up and down whilst shouting "Look! It's me!!!"

 

In non-TV zombie news, my makeup attempts are coming along in leaps and bounds.  Last weekend I attended the Birmingham Memorabilia/Comic Con as a zombified version of Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, and here's how I looked...

There are a few elements I'm still looking to improve, but with each passing attempt these grow fewer. I'm going to use a blacker/scabbier blood to fill in the cheek and forehead wounds in the future, as I'm still not happy with the fresh red look.  If I'm as rotten as my skin makes out, I certainly shouldn't be bleeding those kind of shades. I was happy with the teeth and the mouth blood on this occasion, but on reflection I was a bit disappointed with the eye shading.  I've done better than this before so I know I can do so again.  Oh and I love the white contact lens, I think it rounds things off just perfectly.

 

So I guess that's it for this update.  I can't wait for the documentary to air so I can embark on a full-on ramble about what an amazing weekend it was!  And I can't wait for the filming on this show in a couple of weeks!  All systems are go in the world of zombies at the moment, and here's hoping they carry on this way!



It's official!

I can now officially say I'm moving out! :)  The estate agent called today to confirm that my credit checks and references have all come back fine, and so I can go in to pick up the keys and put down the deposit on February 1st.  Now that all doubt has well and truly been put out of my mind I can bring some boxes home from work and start packing my assorted bits and pieces.  The priority (aside from the fish tank, obviously, and essentials such as clothes etc) has to be my books, dvd's and Xbox games.  Once I've got those in then it's just a case of taking over what I can until I have a comfortable living space which isn't cluttered.

So while I'm settling into my new place my Friday Night Magic attendance will be taking a dip, and my cosplay efforts will be put on the back burner, but once I'm settled I can get back to my weekly FNM reports and my quest for the perfect Prefect :)

Pop back at the beginning of February to see some photos of my new home!

Cosplay progress?

A few days ago I posted about my dream cosplay - Colonel Commissar Ibram Gaunt, from Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts series of novels.  Since then I've been on the hunt for that perfect Napoleonic war-style officer's tunic to get the constume started.  It hasn't been going too bad - fortunately The Black Parade made that kind of style very popular in goth/alternative clothing circles, so there are things like that out there, even if you have to wade through mountains of chaff to find something worthwhile.

However I was talking about it at work with my sister yesterday, and one of our clients overheard our conversation and told us that his brother's friend owns a shop in Wednesbury which sells replica old-style military uniforms for historical recreations and the like.  They're probably going to cost an arm and a leg, but for Ibram Gaunt I'm willing to spend the money and assemble the costume slowly over time :)
With regards to my more immediate cosplay plan - Ford Prefect - the search continues to go well.  Although I still haven't found the perfect Argyle sweater/boating jacket combo I've come incredibly close, and that's only after one week of searching.  So with that in mind I have every confidence that this costume is going to come together nicely for Spring Memorabilia :)

In the grim darkness of the far distant future, there is only... cosplay?

On stage at Memorabilia this weekend I was asked what my dream cosplay would be, and I have to admit my mind went completely blank.  In spite of the fact that I was expecting that question, I just suddenly couldn't think of a single thing I'd like to do.  But if my brain had been in gear and I'd been thinking straight there would have been one dream cosplay, and one alone, which would have come to mind...

From The Black Library, and the pen of Dan Abnett, Colonel Commissar Ibram Gaunt.  The commanding office of the Tanith First and Only from the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  I've always loved the commissars in 40k, and their uniforms are just fantastic, and Ibram Gaunt has that edge over the rest of them with the iconic Tanith camo cape and the sword of Heironymo Sondar.

So there it is, my dream costume.  And ye gods I promise to myself that one day I'm going to do this, and grace the stage at Memorabilia as one of the greatest military commanders the Imperium of Man has ever seen!

For Tanith.  For the Emperor.