Wonder Woman of the Week and other flashbacks

My third trip to Emerald City Comicon was the best one yet.  In addition to bringing a few more friends along, I always look forward to seeing artists and cosplayers I have become familiar with and who have become favorites.  These three creative minds have already been featured here, but are too  great not to revisit. 
Liana Hee
This week's WWoW comes from one of my absolute favorite artists, Liana Hee.  I believe I have described her in the past as supremely talented, and I stand by that statement.
She is currently a designer for Nickelodeon Animation Studio! She was also recently featured at the Disney WonderGround Gallery as the Artist in Residence doing live paintings for what I must assume was an adoring audience.  Because I have commissioned her twice in the past, I was looking forward to a second in my Wonder Woman series.  Thankfully, she was on board; and I now have a Can-Can Wonder Woman to accompany my Flapper Wonder Woman from 2013. 
(Also, it was fitting, since our group caught a show at the Can-Can Cabaret at Pike's Place Market in Seattle.  I highly recommend that any trip to Seattle should include a show there.)
As always, the amount of detail in Liana's work is amazing and her work has so much life and energy. 

No one make any sudden noises ...

 

Catch our original post here.  And check out her blog and (for you superfans) her 365 day photo project.

Livio Ramondelli
If you're a fan of Transformers, you'll love Livio Ramondelli.  If you're a fan of Star Wars, you'll love Livio Ramondelli.  If you're a fan of laser guns, explosions and probably robots, you'll love IDW artist Livio Ramondelli.

Almost makes you wanna root for the villain!

If his work looks familiar, it may be because he has drawn for such comic titles as Transformers, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars.  He has provided art and Design for Google, Hasbro and Upper Deck as well.   I made sure to find time to hit his table alongside, my buddy Scott - the perpetual kid who never grew up.  His transformers collection fills a pretty massive assortment of shelves and closets in his house.  I saved the trip to Livio's table as a day three reveal at ECCC.  He did not disappoint.  What I have come to love most about his art is that he captures an entire story in one moment.   I assure you, that's no exaggeration. 

Check our first spotlight here.  And have a look at Livio's homepage and deviantart page. 

Ani-Mia
 Ani-Mia was one of the first well-known cosplayers we featured on the blog. (here) She makes made it quite easy, actually.  She is genuinely funny and approachable and there's a cheeky, very unapologetic sexiness to her cosplay.

I hate lanyards!

Really hate lanyards.

She has been featured in every cosplay and geek culture website and magazine we can think of.  She is always full of love and fan service on her Facebook page, and even with all the travel, she still finds time to fit charity work in with her cosplay with groups such as Comic Book Characters for Causes.  She is also a lovely model of non-geeky things too.

She'll be at Awesomecon next, (mark your calendars!) right in my own backyard. Woohoo! No jet lag necessary.  Check her tumblr for more of her thoughts and deviantart for more images.
Aaaand gratuitous Princess Leia in ...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

Back to the blog.

Costumes: Switching it up

S'now way this princess doesn't hit the gym.  haha!  (sorry)

One of the great things about cosplay I have witnessed in the past few years is that the small-but-unfortunately-loud group of people in the geek community judging and hating on other people's cosplay choices is being pushed aside and left behind.  The notion that one should only cosplay as characters that match one's gender, race or body type is finding fewer and fewer outlets and being taken less and less seriously.  In the meantime, I have personally seen a growth of creativity on the floors of pop-culture conventions like Comicon.  This seems especially true in the case of a character's gender.  At  ECCC there were male Captain Marvels, female Captain Tightpants, Lokis of indeterminate gender.  (so many Lokis...)

Some do so to be subversive and make a statement, others do so to be silly or to make others smile, some simply identify with a certain character and will be damned if they can't cosplay who they want.  But for just about everyone, it seems clear that the intent is also to have fun.  That's what I got out of it anyway.  Here's a small collection of the characters who made me smile. 



You do you, Leeloo



Maybe it's the facial hair, but this Jubilee seems
less annoying than usual.

Thor wishes he had that hair!

Their costumes were shiny enough
to be visible from space.

These two wonder boys were a riot.



Franky, this Han Solo was the most accurate costume at the convention.
Leia ... well ... what else can you say.  It's just staring right back at ya.
All that majesty.

Yeah, well ... how good is her Cajun accent?!

I see the appeal of the Mal/Jayne power couple
There were several couples there.
She gets to be in charge.  He gets the cool hat!

Back to the blog.
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Artist: Amanda Robinson

This friendly face belongs to artist Amanda Robinson.
Emerald City ComicCon is the largest pop culture convention I have been to so far, and it's definitely a struggle to find time to fit in everything I want to do.  After three years, I still kind of lose track of my plan.  That is especially the case when I'm on the floor in Artist Alley.  I have the attention span of your average Labrador puppy.  So after missing the entire row that Amanda's booth was on, I managed to stumble across it at the very end of the first day.  There, I saw a kickass Wonder Woman and Princess Leia -- which always baits me.  But then I saw a whole bunch of Disney Princesses and had to rush over.
Now, right about here I should probably take the time to explain that what made the princesses so cool was that Amanda had done them Roller-derby style, each one with a derby handle and an outfit that matched the character's theme.  I don't care how into Disney you are or aren't.  That crap is cool.
I'm now a huge fan of Amanda.  The shapes of her characters are sexy, but still convey strength and personality.  I'm a huge fan of minimalist character design and Amanda pulls it off in style, using brilliant colors and strong poses and expressions.  The end result is that even in a huge series, like her Derby Princesses, each character stands out unmistakably from the others.

Click to see bigger.  My favorite: Squid Vicious.

She did a Val Hallen from Dexter's Lab!
Now that's an artist I can instantly love. 

 Check out her Tumblr and her Deviantart page for more pop-culture, pinup and original characters.
Back to the blog.

Costumes: May the Tenth be with you ...

I had aspirations to celebrate Star Wars Day on May the Fourth (everywhere I looked, by the way, kept putting the label "unnofficial" Star Wars Day.  Are they afraid there's a real one no one knows about?  An Othrodox Star Wars Day?)
Anyway. my plan was to put up all the rest of my Star Wars themed photos from my last Comic-Con trip to Seattle.  Well, turns out they were crap.  But I did find several much better photographers who are willing to let me share their work (so be sure to give them love and check out the rest of their galleries.) 

Before i knew it, it wasn't May 4 anymore, but please enjoy anyway, a Star Wars themed look at Emerald City Comic-Con.

Mandalorians
At this point, I barely can keep track of who's who in which Mandalorian Armor.  So go easy on me.



Baby Boba?
www.dtjaaaam.com

I'm blue ... da ba dee ...
www.dtjaaaam.com



Ok, So I am like 90% sure this is not Boba Fett,
but I do like his lean-back kind of swagger.
www.dtjaaaam.com

Not making a Purple Rain joke here.
Also, that Sith, whoever she is, rocks!
www.dtjaaaam.com

Ok, now you're just messing with me.
www.dtjaaaam.com

Ain't no party like a Mandalorian party; 'cause a Mandalorian party ends
in planetwide destruction!  What what!
www.dtjaaaam.com

 Sith

It's fun to be bad.  Plus, who doesn't want a red lightsaber?


Mord Sith, I will admit is a badass costume,
but it should be clear that I first thought this
was a Lady Daredevil costume.
www.dtjaaaam.com

See?  A little duct tape and Darth Maul
is as good a new!
www.dtjaaaam.com



















A Sith and a Leia gone-evil.
www.dtjaaaam.com

Fan fave Aayla Secura with what
looks to be a Tony Stark Sith.
www.dtjaaaam.com

 

Are you ... evil?

You know him as Darth Nihilus.  I know him as
Aaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhh!  I hate that guy!
So creepy.
www.dtjaaaam.com

Princess Leia
Rebel Leader, role model, first crush. 


I definitely had to include another look
at punk Vader and Leia.
 www.dtjaaaam.com

They have those books for everything!
www.dtjaaaam.com






See what happens when you're
Han Solo? Seeee?
www.dtjaaaam.com

Hi, I'm Princess Leia.
And these are my abs.
www.dtjaaaam.com

A more Seattle-style Leia
www.dtjaaaam.com



Sitcom Idea:
Oh, no!  I asked both Leias to prom!
and they both showed!
Suzi-Pratt.com

Some folks should be allowed to be
exempt from lanyards.
www.dtjaaaam.com



This is the worst Princess Leia
costume I have ever seen!
www.dtjaaaam.com

Now, look, buddy.  I'm a Han fan, too.
But the lovely lady beside you was brave
enough  to go half naked to the Con.  The least
you could do is paint your gun not-orange!
www.dtjaaaam.com

Misc.



This has got to be so confusing to C-3PO
www.dtjaaaam.com

The D in R2D2 is for "Dapper!"
www.dtjaaaam.com



It's got to get crowded in her helmet.
www.dtjaaaam.com

Look, it's 1/4 of the women in Star Wars!
It's a fantastic Oola costume, nevertheless.www.dtjaaaam.com



Winners of the entire Internet!
www.dtjaaaam.com

AHHHHHHHHH!
Childhood!  Ruined!
www.dtjaaaam.com

Costumes: Star Warsing

Despite any of my other nerdy enthusiasms, It always comes back to Star Wars for me. 
I encountered a lot of Star Wars fans showing their love at the Emerald City Con.  What I enjoy about the SW crowd is the sheer creativity they put into it.  And, to be fair, especially for the women, creativity is a must for a SW fan.  There's not a lot of female characters to draw from, at least in the original trilogy.  In the prequels and EU, there are elaborate Amidala costumes and some Jedi/Sith that can turn some heads, but for those who grew up with Princess Leia, the options are as follows: 1. Any number of elaborate, unflattering white bedsheet dresses.  2. Bikini.


I'm not complaining.  Just observing.

 That's why it was nice to see female fans take matters into their own hands (or the hands of talented Etsy vendors).   Below are some of the themed dresses and outfits I saw on the floor. 

X-wing and Darth as hair accessories!? 
Girls get all the fun.



Love the dress.  Guys? ladies?
Does anyone NOT want to marry this woman?
find the dress HERE

Something, something
"The droids you're looking for."
Something.

And then sometimes, someone brings
a costume that makes you feel ashamed
that you never though to do it yourself.

And then, maybe someone says, "You know,
this is how that character SHOULD haver looked!"

Of course, there were also some great character accurate costumes out there.  You won't be seeing me in that crowd.  There's not a lot of demand for a dark-haried Porkins.

And no one ever dared to dress as Obi-Wan. Ever again.



Would you expect anything less from Han Solo?

And lastly, a question.  have you, even on your best day, been as badass as a bagpipe-playing Darth Maul on stilts?   The answer, understandably, is no.