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.
This Harley Quinn is the battle outfit from the 2021 film ‘The Suicide Squad’, as worn by Margot Robbie. This is easily one of my favourite designs. The film took inspiration from the Injustice 2 game and comic book Suicide Squad Conviction from 2018. All of which are stunning outfit designs for Harley Quinn.
For my own craft I merely made the second belt, the star belt accessories, the gloves and adapted the boots. I outsourced everything else; the boots are OnlyMaker (because they do the bigger sizes), jacket and corset are EMP, the HQ buckle is Icarus1UK (sanded and painted by myself), the wig is RedLedgerCreatives, (not shown in pictures) my new choker is AnimalSkin and the trousers are from a wholesale site (because EMP didn’t do my size).
I took a break from this cosplay for a while. The wig needed serious maintenance and I put on a lot of weight. When I wore this at MK Comic-Con I lost a lot of love for this outfit. Eventually, I built up the courage to undo the style for the wig, wash it, steam it and re-style it. Moreover, I have lost a lot of weight in 2025. So I finally plucked the courage to wear it again. Re-establishing my love for this cosplay. So much so that I’ve upgraded my choker!
Fun facts; this cosplay received fan art, replicating one of my cosplay photos. Another fun fact; this is the only cosplay that I wore to an event before model-testing the outfit at home for a photoshoot first. I was pushed for time, everything arrived late but most things were just in time so I could wear this to promote the film in Cambridge, I didn’t even have the correct boots!
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.
This is the Harley Quinn design; based off of the 2017 animated film “Batman & Harley Quinn”. Well, to be candid, this was just a generic jester Harley Quinn originally, I just ordered a Sehnsucht Harley Quinn jester hood to upgrade my original Harley. Then, I realised it matched the look from the film.
This is one of my favourite, (if not, the favourite) Harley Quinn look I do, so much so that it is the Harley Quinn in my logo.
For this cosplay, I painted the shoes, made the wrist cuffs (out of white elastic and white ribbon), the mask (using worbla and elastic) and the mallet. The mallet was a proud build of mine. The mallet is entirely EVA foam (with a ventilation pipe for the handle). I packed out the main part in bubble wrap so it wasn’t hollow, but was still lightweight. I used a soldering iron and dremel to make the mallet look like a wooden stump. For my other jester Harley I had previously made a cartoon bomb and Joker cards. When I upgraded to this, Icarus1UK 3D printed me a new Batman: The Animated Series – Harley Quinn pop gun.
This is a Marvel comics version of the Iron Fist. The mask I made by first heating and shaping worbla. Then, attaching four-way stretch fabric over the top. Lastly, by adding details for the eyes with white mesh and black leather. The mask has been made twice, the second time was to upgrade the appearance.
I met Finn Jones whilst cosplaying the Iron Fist. Before I could say anything, Finn Jones said, “Golden dragon, green suit… you must be; the Immortal Iron Fist!” He was so lovely, he made time for everyone who met him and we posed with the Kung Fu sign of respect. When I got the photo back I didn’t realise I was being side-eyed, which made the experience all the more entertaining! (Being star struck and it being a great interaction; I realised I got my hands back to front!)
Moreover, two years later, in August of 2021, I attended the Marvel Shang-Chi premiere. I was invited specifically to be Iron Fist due to the rivalry between Shang-Chi and Iron Fist in the comics. Marvel signed off on the cosplay and it was an amazing event. I was in a tough period of my life. I was taking exams; that my future career (as a teacher) depended on, I was facing redundancy and I had the weight of my future on my shoulders. So this was something exciting to break away from everything. I was beyond grateful! Additionally, being a practitioner of Wing Chun Kung Fu since 2016 and loving the film genre (of Chinese martial arts) for most of my life (and being a massive Marvel fan); I could not have asked for a better film to be invited to. I was so excited and I even met Simu Liu. At first, this was wonderful, because he was someone I admired. He had some banter with me which felt surreal in a good way (to begin with). He told me he didn’t like my costume and then explained it’s because, “We are enemies in the comics”… a little later, I politely asked for a photo and he told me, “I won’t smile with you.” Then, during his interview inside he pointed me out to everyone and told me to, “Read the room.”… I laughed at first… but then my RSD kicked in and I reflected on the banter becoming a bit more targeted. I sat loving this film… but, worrying the whole time that I had inadvertently done something wrong and I ended up hiding myself with a hoody… After the event, then came the BBC interviews, his personal instagram and Twitter/X where I was being berated online. Even called horrendous things by celebrities etc. Furthermore, Marvel staff making comments about me; when my friends attended their next premiere. Subsequently, I have never been invited to a Marvel event since. I tried to reach out to the BBC and to Simu Liu, to try and apologise, but to no prevail. I still get upset, because of the online slander, so much so that I haven’t re-watched the film. I wore my cosplay twice since and felt super uncomfortable at those comic-cons, so much so, that it took until 2025 to wear this cosplay again to raise money for children’s charities!
Iron Fist is important to me, because despite the rich part; I relate to the character. Finding Kung Fu to reinvent myself, adopting a style that inherently is adopted from another culture etc. is something I relate to. The cosplay was so important to me that it is still my logo, even today!
This is Daredevil, based off of the first season of the Netflix (now Disney+) series. This is the first appearance suit, when Daredevil was known as the ‘masked vigilante.’
I made a holster, sanded down a broom handle and even made ‘safe’ wooden clubs by wrapping pvc pipes with a wood texture. Prior to the wooden ones I made clubs out of kitchen roll tubes and black electrical tape. For the main costume I managed to source the sporting gear used in the show, including the (lesser known) wrist binders, gloves, hexagonal padding etc. I found lightweight fabric that can block out your face, but does not entirely obstruct your vision (which I used to make the mask) and put it all together. In this cosplay I met Charlie Cox himself, at Wales Comic-Con. I was so star struck, however, that when he asked, “Can you see me, in that mask?” I answered honestly and didn’t make a joke about being Daredevil.
For a long time, this was my favourite cosplay and it is one I am dying to wear again. After Covid, I gained a lot of weight (which I am still slowly working off) and I have not been able to comfortably wear this cosplay since.
This cosplay has been involved in a film documentary, life drawing and a recording for Mitchell Brook School, answering questions about being a superhero – which opened up an inclusive learning experience for that class to learn about braille.
This was one of my original cosplays when I started out on my journey and I hope to do it again soon!
This Jay Garrick is based off of the DC Comics Rebirth series. I liked the post modernism of the classic design but incorporating the military-esque jacket. This was then later seen in the CW Flash series and adapted.
Because the CW Flash adapted the jacket. I contacted Flesh and Hide and asked if they could make the outlined lightning bolt completely gold. Which they were more than happy to oblige! The helmet I ordered the CW replica. I decided to strip the vintage paintwork so I could repaint it. To my surprise, underneath had mirrored chrome! I originally made boots but eventually saved up and upgraded, adding my own EVA foam lightning bolts to them.
Whilst wearing this cosplay, I did get the privilege to meet John Wesley Shipp. Of whom paid me high praise. He explained that he wanted his Stargirl outfit to look more like mine. He admired the fact that he could view his own reflection in my helmet and genuinely made time for me.
Fun story about this cosplay; I get teased due to the irony of wearing this cosplay, when I arrived a week early to a Comic-Con. I made an ADHD blunder which coincided with being an early speedster!
This Batman is based off of the video game; Arkham Knight. This is the suit Batman wears when he gets his suit upgrade. This is my favourite design of the Batsuit, voiced by my favourite Batman actor; Kevin Conroy.
This was my ultimate dream cosplay. Batman was always my go to dress up as a child. I have wanted to cosplay him in adulthood for longer than I can remember. Since becoming a cosplayer, I never thought this one would be possible. Mostly due to skill and money.
This version, I saved up for a long time. I had planned originally to make it all myself. However, because it is my dream cosplay, I decided to outsource to make it the best it could be. I first began getting bits back in 2019. This suit took about 5 years to put together. I did originally make the boot covers, until I upgraded. As well as the boot covers, my main contribution was putting all the puzzle pieces together. I used various elastics and Velcro to ensure the armour was not only attached, but much of the armour was connected together and corresponded with movement. This took a while to do and much testing to get right. The neck armour I didn’t figure out to keep it in one place until after a few public events. Moreover, the cowl took some experimentation to get right. In my first trial run of wearing the whole outfit, the cowl was dull and baggy. Therefore, I used my latex treatment on the rubber cowl and I padded out the inside to ensure a snug fit.
Fun fact; when I first made this cosplay, I wore it to be interviewed by my own students, for creative writing purposes. They wrote to Batman with a list of questions for a newspaper report.
In 2025 I met Carl Newman. For those who are unfamiliar, he was the stunt double for Michael Keaton. We spent a while chatting about the Batsuits, movability and strain from prolonged wear. Genuinely a lovely interaction and he complimented me on my own suit.
TJC Cosplays 