Monday, March 31, 2014

ONE PIECE’s ROBIN NICO Cosplay by Rising Moon Cosplay!



Today, we are featuring the art of Rising Moon Cosplay on her interpretation of the character Robin Nico from the One Piece movie One Piece Film: Z. Photos featured here were taken at AnimeNext 2013.



When I asked Rising Moon Cosplay what she was the most happy about her look, she was proud of how much she was able to overcome her struggles with her weight. She says, "When I was in high school, I was over 200 lbs. It was getting out of hand, but in college, I noticed my health took a particular decline and it woke me up. Since then, I've been working hard at keeping my weight at a respectable level and finally started getting back to a healthy size. This is one of the first costumes since I started cosplaying 12 years ago that [I am able to] show off my mid-section, and I'm highly proud of my work. I did feature a "before and after" picture on my page with a bit more on the story."



Included here also is a video interview we did with her at PAX East where we talked about her Asami Sato of Legend of Korra Cosplay cosplay. You can see more of her cosplay work here!



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Interview with CAT-CHAN and CC Cosplay: Everyday Cosplay Heroes



Editor's Note: Nerd Caliber is doing a bi-weekly series of interviews with cosplayers from all walks of life. Our goal is to look behind the masks and make-up and discover who are these creative persons that make up the cosplay community.


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Photo Credit - The Tentacle Guy Cosplay Photography



NC: What inspired you to get into cosplay and how long have you been cosplaying?



Cat-chan: The very first anime convention I attended was Ushicon in 2004. It was my first year at college and I had just joined the anime club. They were all going to the con as a group. I was very shy. I had already registered, but I almost backed out of going because I was so nervous. After sound advice from my Mom that if I didn't like it I could just go home, I went ahead and drove down to Austin and stayed the entire convention, not wanting to leave once Sunday rolled around. I was hooked! Some of the girls I was rooming with were cosplaying and I was enamored. Seeing them and everyone else in costume made me desperate to try cosplay. So for my next con (A-kon 2004) I had three costumes ready.



CC: I've always loved dressing up and making believe. Back in 2006, when I found out that there was a whole community dedicated to recreating and wearing these fantastical outfits from anime and video games, I was immediately hooked.


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Photo Credit - The Tentacle Guy Cosplay Photography



NC: How did you two meet and when did you start cosplaying together?



Cat-chan: C.C. and I met through the ACDF, or Austin Cosplay Defense Force. While the group disbanded several years ago it introduced me to some very fabulous cosplayers and friends. After going to a few cons and events together, C.C. approached me about wanting to cosplay Maru and Moro from XXXholic and that I was perfect because we were about the same height. We could be disturbingly tall little girls together! I agreed on the condition that she would pay me back by cosplaying a pair of my choosing. We made Maru and Moro and then we made a bunch of other stuff together. Four years later, she finally paid up when I made her cosplay Ushio from Gentlemen's Alliance.



CC: Cat and I met in college, and not because we went to the same collage, but because someone organized a cosplayers of Austin meet-up. I don't think I knew anyone in the local community at the time, so I was incredibly relived to find that they were all so open and welcoming. Cat, of course, was no exception. We ended up doing a lot of Lolita and ren fairs together, but we didn't actually do our first group cosplay until we agreed on a cosplay trade off in 2008 in which I made Cat join me as the tallest Maru and Moro from XXXHolic that I have seen to date.


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Photo Credit - The Tentacle Guy Cosplay Photography



NC: Can you describe how you choose your cosplays?



Cat-chan: It can be very difficult to narrow down what costume to make next, but I try to adhere to the time, money, skill method. How much time do you have? How much money do you have to spend? Are you at a skill level capable of achieving the costume within those two parameters? The other thing I try to do is pick a costume I know I will be passionate about making. I've never cosplayed anything I didn't really want to make because at 2am when you are still up sewing the week of the con you need that love of the character, costume design or series to really push you to finish.



CC: It depends. For a series or costume I really like or want to do the first thing I will look at is whether or not, body/face wise, I can pull this off. It's not important to everyone (nor should it be) but I've always been a stickler for accuracy and detail and I make very few exceptions for myself. In some cases this means that given the costume do I look enough like this person for others to understand who I am. For example, if I wanted to cosplay Lupin III I would just look like a chubby girl in side burns and suite. I also look at whether or not the limitations of my own physical structure (height/weight, etc) or the group I am in will allow me to be happy with the results. For example, I'm not going to dress up as Chibimoon if the Sailor Moon is shorter than me. After that I will decide given my skill range, budget and time constraints if it is feasible for me to make the costume. I have been asked to join groups before, so I will first get familiar with the fandom and then in addition to what has been previously stated, I will decide if I like the series/character/others in my group enough to dedicate the time and money to the costume.


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Photo Credit - ALP Photography



NC: What is the most challenging costume you have done and how did you overcome the skills required to make it?



Cat-chan: I try to choose costumes that will challenge me in at least one aspect. One of my most challenging recent projects was Yukari Yakumo from Komajou Densetsu II, a Touhou doujinshi game. This is one of the most detailed and elaborate costumes I've made, with some very unique and challenging garment shapes. It was my first time making a full ball gown and I had to do a lot of stenciling and hand painting. On top of all of that I only had one month to complete the entire project. It was very intense.



CC: One of my most challenging costumes was Kanoe from X1999 because when I decided to make the costume I had no idea how I was going to complete certain aspects of it. I also had to work with a lot of new techniques and materials that I hadn't used before and that I wasn't necessarily confident in. Because of this I did a lot of mock ups and experiments on how the costume could go together. A LOT. I also did hours of research to see how others had constructed similar garments and accessories and most importantly budgeted in the time and resources for me to make mistakes.


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Photo Credit - Angelwing



NC: How have you've seen cosplay evolve since you have got into cosplay?



Cat-chan: When I started cosplaying nine years ago there was one place online to get quality wigs and you could only get natural colors or a hand full of party shades. If you needed blue you had two choices and if you didn't like those you either had to sacrifice accuracy or spend hours dying wigs on your front porch. Now there are people who loved cosplay so much they've started their own wig companies! How amazing is that?



Resources in general were much harder to come by, but I also think people were much more willing to share what they had learned through their own trial and error. I remember back then if you got stumped you could just PM a cosplayer on cosplay.com and they would explain how they did something.



In some ways our community is much more connected thanks to social media and I'm very thankful for the chance to get to talk to cosplayers from all over the country on twitter and facebook but at the same time I miss the old school networking when we used to do meetups at cons and various forums.



CC: As conventions have grown and become more known to the mainstream populace the cosplay crowd has gotten not only lager, but also younger. Additionally because of its emerging popularity the tools, knowledge and resources needed to cosplay have become way more accessible and commercial. As an example when I started there was only one well known website to buy wigs from and if you wanted anything other than a natural shade you were dyeing it yourself. While these changes have taken away some of the closeness and community feel of the hobby, I have been able to see better costumes at a wider range because so many more people are doing it. It's very exciting stuff to see a hobby you thought would be forever relegated to the shadowy underbelly of a culture begin to rise up. Though I will mention that with its current stint on national television it's been really weird when my boss starts asking me questions about cosplay and the inevitable, "you'll make me a Halloween costume right?"


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Photo Credit - ALP Photography



NC: What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out cosplaying?



Cat-chan: Never be afraid to try! If you don't know how to sew, find someone that does or take a class and learn. To me cosplay is all about expanding your knowledge and learning new skills. Research and never be afraid to try new things. Don't be afraid to ask questions either. There are some people out there who may not want to share their methods, but most of the cosplayers I know love to talk about how they made something, so don't be afraid to ask them.



CC: Do your research and build your knowledge and skill set in steps. Don't feel bad if you aren't WTF the BEST costumer EVER when you are starting out. You are going to make mistakes and have bad looking costumes. Remember you can always remake later if you want or just delete all the photos of it. Don't be afraid to try new things and try to find someone to do it with. It is so helpful having someone else who constructs to help me with things like fittings or even just to bounce ideas off of. If you don't know how to do something ask for advice and look at how others have constructed before you. And most importantly remember why you are doing the hobby. The stage on which cosplay is looked at is bigger than ever and the community is still growing. With more people come different and conflicting ideas. Don't ever let anyone else's opinion make you feel less joy in what you have done. You are the only one who can decided if you are happy with something and depending on why you are making costumes you may not need to have the best, most accurate cosplay. Always take constructive feedback into account and try to grow with its help, but don't let the pressure of outside criticism make you unhappy or keep you from doing something you enjoy.


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Photo Credit - Angelwing



NC: Congrats on your 1st place win for the USA Gulf Preliminaries for the World Cosplay Summit! What kind of preparations did you make with coming up with your skit and costumes?



Cat-chan & C.C: We went to the Gulf Prelims & Finals for 2013 at Anime Matsuri and by the time the event was over we had decided we were competing for 2014 at San Japan. We agreed on Card Captor Sakura fairly early because we are both huge fans of the series and we wanted to do something lighthearted and fun. Because we live about four hours apart, most of our time was spent alone working on each costume separately, though their was a lot of facebooking and texting going on throughout the process. We also had to plan several weekends together taking turns staying on each other's couches so that we could practice the routine.



We at Nerd Caliber wish the best to you at the WCS USA Finals! You can find Cat-Chan's website at www.catchancosplay.com or her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/catchancosplay and CC cosplay on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cosplaycaptain There conjoined team name is C4 Cosplay. Look out for them in the finals!



Photography Credits:



The Tentacle Guy Cosplay Photography. - https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Tentacle-Guy-Cosplay-Photography/147692488726263



Angelwing - http://www.fallingfeathers.net



ALP Photography - https://www.facebook.com/Amanda.L.PetersonPhotography


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Photo Credit - Angelwing








Sunday, March 30, 2014

Video - Rubik's Cube Mosaic Art of THE JOKER

WOW! Watch this artist create an image of The JOKER ( Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight, Batman movie ) using only Rubik's Cubes...it's pretty cool!



CLICK HERE For More Batman Video!


Video - Interview with GEORGE BARRIS, Creator of the 1966 BATMAN TV Show BATMOBILE

Here's a very recent interview with George Barris who we all know designed and created the Custom 1966 Batmobile Car for the Classic 60's BATMAN TV series.



CLICK HERE For More Batman Video!


Saturday, March 29, 2014

Brohawk's Weapons of Choice, The Art of David Williams


It looks like our buddy "Brohawk" aka David Williams has been pretty busy since we talked to him last. Check this out, he has published a brand-new hardback book of his amazing artwork titled "Brohawk's Weapons of Choice, The Art of David Williams". This cool "Book Promo" video was created ( see down below ) to promote it. He will have some copies at San Diego Comic Con 2010 at the "Big Wow" booth #4902 so look for him there or visit his website by clicking HERE!

CLICK HERE For More Batman Video!


BATMAN and ROBIN PARODY ART From The COVERED Blog!



Oh Yeah! The COVERED Blog is a website where they ask other Comic Book Artists & Graphic Designers to re-create some classic comic book covers in their own unique style. They usually show the original book next to the new piece & it's always very clever. This is such a great concept that I wish I would have come up with the idea, ha! Here are just a few examples that are Batman-related. There are many more at the site which you can visit by clicking HERE!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Batman BAT-MITE Pop Art Painting by Javier Hernandez


BAT-MITE! OK, I just saw this painting the other night & I have to sort of show it off...mainly because it's done by done by my good buddy Javier Hernandez and it's pretty cool. He did it as a donation for the Shel Dorf Artist Fund. Shel Dorf recently died & he was responsible for creating the San Diego Comic Con some 40 years ago. Now, you might have heard of Javier before. He does an indy comic book called "El Muerto", it's cool. Check out his website, right HERE!

New BATMAN DC Universe PRODUCTS By Funko Toys!!







There's a toy company I really love named Funko & they're mainly known for making Wacky Wobblers ( Character-Related Bobblehead Nodders ). Well, they now have the license to do DC Comics Comic Book characters. Yes!! Now, the Bat-Blog reported about most of these new toys awhile back but we finally got some actual photos instead of prototype pics! Plus, some extra news. First the pics: Shown here are the "Batman Computer Sitter" figure, it's sa-weet! Look for it around August, 2010. The next item is the "Batman Wacky Wobbler Bobble-Car". Basically it's a bobble-head inside a Batmobile car...very cool! ( There will also be 2 color variations, one black, another blue ). Now the new stuff: The next few photos are their Funko-Force 2.0 Vinyl Figures. Shown here is Batgirl & 2 different Batman variations. OK, they look the same in these pics but one of the Batman figures have metallic paint. OK, the very last picture is totally amazing! Here are the 1st seven figures that will come out. We have Batgirl, Batman, Robin, Green Lantern ( what's he doing in there? Ha! ), Penguin, Joker, & The Riddler! Oh man, all this stuff is totally cool. Is Funko trying to torture me?! Well, what do you think about these new pieces of bat-merchandise?

Thursday, March 27, 2014

PUG DOG SINGS BATMAN - Funny Humor Video

OK, I finally got around to posting this "PUG SINGS BATMAN" Video here at the Bat-Blog. The reason I didn't before is because it is so viral I know people are going to see it anyway ( it's everywhere ). But now I'm posting for the few who have not heard of it yet. It's pretty funny!



CLICK HERE For More Batman Video!


A Look Back at BATMAN: DIGITAL JUSTICE by Pepe Moreno



Back in 1990 DC Comics published a one-shot Batman Graphic Novel, written & drawn by Pepe Moreno, called BATMAN: DIGITAL JUSTICE. I remember when it came out & it was a very big deal. I bought it & have totally loved it all these years. The main thing about it was that the artwork was totally created on a computer and, at that time, it was extreme state of the art. I mean, it was groundbreaking! Now, by today's standards, the art may seem kind of cheesy ( no offense to the artist ) but back then it just blew everyone's mind!! Plus, the artwork was really great especially if you consider that it was drawn with the earliest of computer graphic programs. It must have been painstaking to draw between computer crashes, ha! The other cool thing was that the story was really good too. So, all around, it was just a very wonderful Batman book. Over the years it has been translated into many different languages ( the pic up above shows the Spanish version cover ). The sketch of Batman, up above, was the original mock-up drawing for the cover. Obviously the story was set in the far far future. It was actually way after the death of our modern-day Batman. Parts of it were almost sort of like the TRON movie, but not really. It dealt with a deadly "Joker computer virus" that was threatening the future Gotham City. Anyways, it's a book I highly recommend. Another thing, if you have already read this novel & you're a fan of it then you might be happy to know that the artist Pepe Moreno has been posting a lot of personal sketches from this classic book on his art blog. They're really great to see & they're a very interesting piece of bat-history. Here's a link to check it out, just click HERE!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

BATMAN, JOKER, and CATWOMAN - Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday




Oh man, is it Wednesday already? Well then, you know what that means. It's now time for "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday"! This week I thought I would mix it up & throw a few background graphics together that have a lot of variety to 'em. You know, just for kicks! The 1st one was made using some comic book artwork I found of Batman & Selina ( Catwoman ) together. The art was done by Paul Gulacy & that's always a fan-favorite. Next we have the Joker & he looks insane as usual! I also love that huge gun he has with the punching glove, it's crazy! The last one is sort of a tribute to the brand-new BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY video game that's gonna come out later. Of course we're talking about the sequel to the Batman:Arkham Asylum game so you know it's gonna be cool. I really like the limited color palette of black and white with a little bit of color, it's very graphic. So, go ahead & enjoy these. Also, please share them with all your friends.

CLICK HERE For More FREE Batman Desktop Wallpaper Backgrounds of The Dark Knight!


DC Comics Showcases New Bat-Suit For BATMAN in The Comic Book


This is pretty big comic book news, maybe not, but DC Comics announced the other day that Batman is going to get a whole new look. Here's a sneak peek at the latest version of his bat-suit (or costume). It looks like they have brought back the classic "yellow oval" chest emblem, that's cool. It also looks like he has a new utility belt in a light gray, almost white, color. So, I'm now curious. What do YOU think about it? Please leave some comments.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Happy Birthday Julie Newmar!!



Today, August 16th, is Julie Newmar's birthday! She will always be the very best Catwoman there ever was! Happy Birthday Julie Newmar!!

Awesome BATMAN Illustrations By Mike Henry




A good friend to the Bat-Blog sent a link to us yesterday about an artist named Mike Henry. It's the YUROCK website & his artwork is totally amazing! Shown here are just a few of them: Harley Quinn, Two-Face, & Catwoman. But he also did about 16 more at this LINK!

Monday, March 24, 2014

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD - Panini Sticker Album and Stickers


It looks like the Panini Company in Europe are doing "Batman: The Brave and The Bold" Stickers, cool! For Americans not familiar with Panini Stickers, they are sort of like the trading card thing we have here except instead of card stock they're stickers. Another difference is they also have an album book you can buy to collect them in. Plus, they make a TON of product. For example, this Batman B&B Set will have 192 stickers! The picture we have here shows the store display box & sticker packages, plus the album book.

1966 BATMAN AND ROBIN Papercraft Toys


Oh yeah! Here's a wonderful craft project to keep you guys busy! Over at the PAPER INSIDE website they have some templates you can download & print so you can make your own paper models of these 1960's-inspired BATMAN AND ROBIN figures!! While there you might also notice they have some other DC Comics Comic Book characters, like: Superman, Captain Marvel, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow and Black Canary! Here's the LINK to check them out! Also, if you're a big fan of these cool toys & you want to see all the "Paper Toy" posts we have done here recently at the Bat-Blog then click HERE!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Stephen Meets Batman, Robin, & Catwoman Too!



Our friend Stephen just got back from Wizard World Chicago 2010 & sent us these totally wonderful pics. Guess who he got to meet? He met Adam West ( 1966 Batman ), Burt Ward ( Robin, The Boy Wonder ), and Julie Newmar ( Catwoman )...all on the same day!! Oh man, I'm jealous...JEALOUS!! But I'm happy for him, it must have been totally super-cool to visit with the actors from the '66 BATMAN TV Show. Plus, the photos came out really good. Thanks for sending them Stephen. Yeah, I'm still jealous.

TRIO DC SUPER FRIENDS Batman STORE DISPLAY by Fisher Price




Our Batman Toy News Reporter BATMOBILLY spotted this amazing store display the other night at Toys-R-Us!! It's for the new Batman TRIO DC SUPER FRIENDS Building Block Toys by Fisher Price ( click on the pics for larger, more detailed, versions ). I bet that when he went around the corner & saw this thing his eyeballs must have bounced out of his head, ha! This new toy line looks pretty cool & if you wanna learn about some of the other figures then just check out this previous post, click HERE! Oh yeah, thanks for sending the amazing photos Batmobilly!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

BATMAN FUNKO FORCE - DC Universe Bobble Head Figures!






Anyone who has been reading the Bat-Blog for any length of time knows I am totally goo-goo over Funko Toys, ha ha, so check these out! Here's some wonderful photos of the brand-new FUNKO FORCE Mini-Action Figures ( with Bobble Head action! ) that will be coming out! At first I was just gonna show the BATMAN & JOKER ones, because this blog is mainly about "collecting Batman stuff", but the others were so cool I decided to add them too, ha ha! The extras include: SUPERMAN, GREEN LANTERN, & AQUAMAN. Oh man, I am totally loving these cool new toys & the JOKER one has got to be my personal favorite, ha! I also like that they all sort of have a retro-look about them, like they're from the 1980's. For information on other Funko products featured at the Bat-Blog just click HERE!