I have always loved Wonder Woman. The character is strong, powerful, truthful, kind and inspirational. In 2017, after watching the film, I ended up seeing it multiple times. It still remains one of, if not my favourite superhero film. After attending my first Comic-Con I planned to return in 2018. I was going through a lot of mental health battles and my best friend drew my portrait as Wonder Woman (knowing how much the character meant to me and how much I respected Gal Gadot for bringing this character to a modern day audience). She remarked that I should cosplay Wonder Woman, which I initially laughed off. But her words live with me, “If it’s a character you admire, someone who brings you joy, why does it matter if you’re not a woman, you should cosplay her.” So I did.
My first attempt, I sourced a sword and shield, a metal tiara, rubber gauntlets and a leather costume. After my first event, where I became incredibly overwhelmed, I wanted to try again. NoxuCreates sent me patterns and inspired me to try again. I ordered EVA Foam from Poly Props and began working. I printed out the patterns after sizing it up and began building. I even created my own patterns for the leather straps. I created the armour and painted everything, then weathered everything. After a few wears, I repainted and varnished the armour to give it a better shine. After an incident at the first Comic-Con as Wonder Woman, I covered the rubber of my gauntlets to protect my forearms. Lastly, NoxuCreates made me a lasso that lights up.
After doing this cosplay again, I felt amazing. It is one of my proudest builds. It even won me second place in an online competition. Moreover, it caught the attention of DC Comics, who shared a trinity photo on their social media and sent me a Wonder Woman bundle on the 80th anniversary!
I have not worn this cosplay since 2022. I gained a lot of weight during Covid. I managed to lose just enough in 2022, but I was still too big for the costume, because it kept ripping apart. I have not worn it since. I am on a weight journey which is going in a positive direction. My goal is to wear her again; even if I have to add extra panels!
Fun fact: when I was attending a photoshoot with CosplayAcademyUK, just before the first Covid lockdown, we shot this cosplay in Enfield and a dog walker asked CosplayAcademyUK if I we were doing a historical Boudicca photoshoot.
Foam by PolyProps.
Patterns, support/guidance and lasso by NoxuCreates.
This Red Hood was an ongoing project for me between 2017 and 2022. It has seen many upgrades over the years, a lot are very subtle (change of under clothes, improved props etc.). This does not directly follow any true version of Red Hood, it’s almost an amalgamation of different versions. The mask follows the Injustice 2 design. The red hoody follows the Arkham Knight DLC design. Whilst everything else follows the classic comic look with additions of Batman-inspired armour based off of Arkham City’s design of the boots and gauntlets.
I initially sewed a red emblem onto a tight fitted shirt, spray painted an “army of two” mask and wore an old bomber jacket with added motocross armour. Upon my second year of cosplay I used EVA foam for the first time. I started off by designing armour on Adobe Illustrator, sizing it up for print and assembling. I then put the pieces together. I spoke to a Nightwing cosplayer at a SQUAD UK meet who gave me advice on the texture, regarding using carbon fibre with the armour. I took inspiration from many Batman armour designs and plated the emblem within the chest pieces. I also used patterns for the Arkham City design to make boot covers and gauntlets. I used worbla to make the under mask and I cut up an old hoody for the red hood. The helmet 2.0, a friend recorded a scale of my head (with a PlayStation EyeToy) and then digitally designed the Injustice 2 helmet around my head. He then 3D printed it for me, he accidentally knocked the plates during printing though and I had to save up to pay him again to replace the filament. This caused a slight set back. It was also, unfortunately, scaled too big. Which I appreciate the thought because too big can be adjusted, whereas too small; there’s nothing that can be done. Therefore, I had to add foam insulation inside to keep it in place. I got the helmet as a raw print, so I used wood filler and various tools to sand and smooth out the helmet. I had to drill holes for the eyes and then use fibreglass resin to seal the outer layer (I now know better with 3D prints, nowadays I use filler spray and sanding). The final touch was painting it. It was far too vibrant and clean, so I used black acrylic paint and kept washing it off. I also used this technique with my foam armour. For the eyes I used wired mesh which I painted white and hot glued that inside.
I have not worn this cosplay since 2020. But in 2022, I was gifted a new helmet by JaegerCollects. It’s a match for the one I made but a smaller scale and more accurate to the Injustice 2 game. If I was to wear this cosplay again I would definitely try it with that new helmet.
Fun fact; this cosplay enraged a child at my second event as Red Hood. A child got angry and told me, “Batman does not have guns, and he is not red!” I told him I was Red Hood and that I was a sidekick of Batman. The child angrily told me, “Batman does not have sidekicks!” DiceyGlueProps, who was dressed as Batgirl, laughed and disappeared whilst the child’s mother huffed and said, “Just pose with Red Batman for a photo already.”
Helmet 2.0 designed, scaled and printed by MathewWheatley
This was my first ever comic-con presenting as female.
(Potentially triggering topics within this post.)
After my first event, I was beyond excited about returning. Again, naive, because I thought it was an annual occurrence. Of course, now I know better, there are Comic-Cons happening monthly (sometimes weekly) around the country.
The build up to this event, I was originally planning to upgrade my Red Hood and even made a contact who was going to help me build a better helmet.
7 months before this event took place, my Dad had a cardiac arrest in front of me. Fortunately, he was brought back by paramedics. This felt like the longest time in my life, I disassociated and was frozen to the spot. I was processing a lot at this time in my life, as well as my focus being tunneled into supporting my family and visiting my Dad. Thankfully, he recovered, but during this time, I also had a lot going on. I was depressed and in a dark place. I felt like I was trapped in one spot in my life; not utilizing my degree how I would have liked, stuck in a stop gap job and unable to progress. I felt lonely because I had toxic friendships where I was constantly told to, “Man up” and overall dismissed when I was too tired to mask. Additionally, I seemed to lose people I got too close to.
One person who had my back at the time was my best friend. She continuously supported me and as her way to give me a boost; she drew my portrait. Now, at the time, she knew me better than anyone else knew me. I actually think now, on reflection, she knew me better than I knew myself; because we had banter back and fourth regarding me having a feminine side. Long story short, she knew I was obsessed with Wonder Woman so she drew me as Wonder Woman.
After gifting this to me at Christmas time of 2017, she encouraged me to dress like Wonder Woman for comic-con. I laughed it off at first, but she told me something that has stuck with me, “If it’s a character you admire, someone who brings you joy, why does it matter if you’re not a woman, you should cosplay her.” This quote has lived with me, because she was right; if it’s a character I love, why shouldn’t I cosplay them? So I did.
I sourced a cosplay online, managed to track down a sword and shield, the cloak, a metal tiara etc. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. Did I feel great? Best I felt in a while. I did however order too much stuff in my haste to track things down. I ended up selling Wonder Woman stuff to someone online. This person happened to be going through the same journey as myself and they directed me to a group called: ‘The Geek Asylum’.
I had not discovered I was non-binary yet, but wearing this made me feel powerful. For a while, only my parents and my best friend knew I was going to do this. But, I ended up biting the bullet and sharing pictures online because, hey, I needed to face people at comic-con, so I needed to test the waters now, right?
This felt like a social experiment, I actually lost people as friends, I got laughed at, teased, told, “No, I prefer you as male.” and generally it was not well received between a lot of friends and family (not exclusively, I had some support and encouragement as well, but that was generally shadowed by negativity.) However, I joined the Geek Asylum and shared the same pictures in there and had over 500 strangers flooding my comments with the kindest and most supportive words. I mentioned this publicly in a rant and some friends/family actually changed their tune when they realized how their actions affected me, which made me feel a bit better.
I established my presence in the Geek Asylum and even built up a little repertoire of cosplays which included the 2016 Suicide Squad Harley Quinn (See the Harley Quinn section in the About Me page for details). After sharing some posts on The Geek Asylum, I was invited to another group called Squad UK and subsequently invited to attend their meet at MCM London 2018.
It was now the build up to comic-con, I had nobody to go with until I mentioned it to football friends (not an Inbetweener’s reference) and I gratefully attended with them. We had a good time, but I did lose them for much of the event.
Along the way, we stopped for a McDonalds breakfast, where I publicly walked in, full in costume as Wonder Woman. This felt fine, there was not many people around and I was getting used to people seeing me as female. I was proud of myself though, because this was actually the first public place I was femme presenting, McDonalds.
We got to the docklands and parked up at the ExCel centre. After much queuing, we finally got in… but by this point, I had faced a problem. My feet were blistered already. I ended up walking around bare foot until I found a stall that fortunately sold socks. They were very expensive but they rescued me! I learnt a lesson, about looking after my feet that day. Moreover, I learnt another valuable lesson this day; I took with me, my props (shield and sword), a shoulder bag containing: camera gear, lunch, water etc. I was over-encumbered. The props alone were a lot to carry, but factoring heavy DSLR equipment as well… I made a massive mistake, which my shoulders inevitably paid.
After doing some exploring with my friends, I had a photoshoot to get to. On the way, I met my first friend in the cosplay community, SentientOctoCustard (who I mistook for LoveTheBat89), we spoke briefly about Kevin Conroy, then I tried to shake his hand but his peripheral vision was compromised by his bat cowl… Which to this day, his son still teases him about. After meeting my friend, I was off to meet a genuine hero of mine; Kevin Conroy. That’s right, THE Batman. Which was such an amazing experience, he spoke to me in the voice after I told him, “It is your voice I hear when I read any Batman comic.” Additionally, he gave me a hug and made time for everyone who visited him. I was shell-shocked. So shell-shocked that even after meeting him, I was not looking where I was going and walked into Victor Garber upon exiting. I looked at him with a perplexed face because I recognized him, he noticed the moment I realized who he was because he smiled at me and walked on with his security detail.
By this point of the Comic-Con I had lost my friends. But, I remembered what the people on Squad UK told me, so I attended their meet. I was walking around outside searching, I got stopped by a few people who took photos (some even recognized me from my posts online) and I made my way through a sea of people. My feet were hurting, my shoulders were hurting, my gauntlets of my costume had a funny reaction to my skin on my forearms (causing them to burn). I was in pain, tired, over-stimulated and it suddenly dawned on me how much I was out of my comfort zone. Then I began remembering what some friends and family said about me being Wonder Woman and my anxiety built up. Moreover, by this point of my life, I had not overcome any of my social anxiety yet. I must have appeared like a lost lamb, but my friend BadPanda_Ig (and her partner of the time) found me and introduced me to everyone. Fundamentally, I was a stranger to them on this first meeting, but they still dropped what they were doing to make time for me and introduce me to everyone. During this point I must have said no more than five words. I was even introduced to nparkerphotos, who took some photos of me. Everyone was super lovely. I felt a little like an imposter though.
After meeting everyone in Squad UK, I reached my breaking point of being overwhelmed. I sat on the wall having a panic attack. What was I doing there? Why was I Wonder Woman? Why do I not have the courage to speak? Why did I bring so much stuff with me? Are people judging me? Everyone else’s cosplays look so much better than mine…. all these thoughts were looping around my head and I silently shut myself off from everyone.
Then, another friend (I met for the first), AnyoneButMeCosplay, came and sat with me. She body doubled me and distracted me from my thoughts. She was the person I managed to speak to more cohesively. I will forever remember this moment because I was quietly breaking down and she helped me through that difficult moment. Still to this day, I am very grateful.
Once I plucked up the courage, I said goodbye to everyone around at the Squad UK meet and headed back inside because someone else I had been speaking to on the Geek Asylum was by the entrance. This was where I met PezMatron and her friends for the first time. I got a photo with her before searching for the friends I arrived with. I ended up sitting in one of halls, where I had some food and took a selfie declaring, “I am knackered!”
I was emotional, but I had had an amazing day. It probably exceeded the first event I did. I was just lacking resilience and was over-stimulated. I also learnt too many lessons all in one go. I eventually managed to get ahold of my friends who were heading to the car. I limped my way down to them and we headed back home.
In my naivety I never knew comic-cons were big in England, I thought it was just an American thing. I was pleasantly pleased to be proven wrong.
This was brought to my attention by one of my friends. She invited us to join her and recommend we all buy priority tickets. Which, in hindsight, was a huge waste because (although we had priority) we all didn’t arrive until the time that general entry went in. All we managed to do was beat the queues a little!
In our group, we had Red Hood (me), Cher Horowitz, Dean Winchester, Scarlet Witch, Princess Fiona, Emma Frost and Liv Moore. (Later on a horse when one of our friends brought a horse mask 🤣). We all had a great time!
I was excited about cosplaying for the first time. I have always loved dressing up. My favourite time of the year was always Halloween. Moreover, I was always excited to attend themed parties. It’s part of the reason I loved the nightlife at University as well. In fact, at one point I was making a costume with no end goal for it. I was making a Link costume over the course of a couple of years and it ended up getting sold off and dismantled. Therefore, getting the opportunity to dress up again was amazing. I only had a few weeks to get ready for it, but I managed to throw together a basic Red Hood costume; with the limited amount of skill or experience I had at the time.
I was also excited because I thought (naively) I would be the only Red Hood there. The reason I thought this was because (within my circle of friends, family and colleagues) nobody knew the character. I saw several when I was there. I tried complimenting them but pretty much all but a couple turned their noses up at me… which introduced me to the elitist part of cosplay very early on. However, fortunately, it was a mere few. Most were very positive about my cosplay, even if it was evident that I was a new cosplayer.
Upon arrival, a Green Arrow cosplayer invited me to a DC cosplays meet, which I inevitably I was unable to find! I also met someone who kept following me and calling me, “Nightwing.” The same person also creeped around our friend who was Emma Frost.
My main focus though was to attend a photoshoot, which due to our late arrival; I didn’t have much time to get a lay of the land. With help, I found where the celebrities were and queued up to meet one of my heroes. This comic-con coincided with the release of Rogue One. Now, for those not in the know, I have been training Wing Chun Kung Fu since 2016. This was due to Donnie Yen inspiring me to adopt this art form. So meeting a hero of mine was incredible. I queued for half an hour and when I got there I tried to tell Donnie Yen that he inspired me to learn Wing Chun and midway through me trying to say those few measly words; the photographer aggressively shouted at me to pose. I asked Donnie Yen if we could do the stance and the photographer didn’t even give him a chance to get his hands up before taking the photo. Then I was ushered out quite aggressively. So although meeting Donnie Yen was a dream come true, the experience of paying to see guests left much to be desired. I told myself that I would henceforth only pay to meet someone I am passionate about meeting (which I have stuck to; subsequently having better experiences as well). This was both a positive and negative experience, both the positive and negatives being very overwhelming.
After my photoshoot I tried calling my friends to realise phones don’t work in the excel centre during comic-con. I managed to text my best mate who informed me they were on the steps outside. I found my friends and enjoyed watching the cosplayers outside. Once everyone caught up with each other we explored the inside. Taking photos where we could. I went to the DC Comics area and got a mystery box and we all had a laugh. We eventually took a rest on some seats by the canteen area. Showed each other what we brought, took some more photos and then left.
For most of my friends, that was their first and last Comic-Con. For me, as I write this now, it has been over a 150 events and 8 years of cosplaying. I fell in love with the whole experience (warts and all). The next con I struggled to get people to come with me, but that ended up being good for me.
TJC Cosplays 