Come on, Comic Con!

ATTN: The Salt Lake Comic Con Community but also Mr. Brandenburg and Mr. Farr

Christmas is the season for Wish Lists, so right now seems like the perfect time time to post my wish list for Salt Lake Comic Con. These are the people I want to come period that I think bear special mentioning but that don’t get mentioned on the community polls quite as much.

The Cast of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command

We like voice actors, right? And the Star Wars animation panel last September proved that they come better in groups. Why not gather up the stars of this excellent but obscure Disney TV show from back in the day? Patrick Warburton was at my first-ever con in September 2014 and his panel was excellent.  But calling himself ‘the Poor Man’s Buzz Lightyear’ ? Dude, you are the BEST Buzz Lightyear IMO.

Let’s look at the other costars (*pulls up IMDB*). XR was voiced by two different guys, Larry Miller who was Paulo in The Princess Diaries and Niel Flynn who stars in The Middle. What's not to like?

We’ve got Stephen Furst, Adam Carolla, Wayne Knight...that’s most of the top stars right there. And of course Nicole Sullivan plays Mira Nova and if I’ve asked for her to come once I’ve asked a million times. Sullivan is also the voice of Shego in Kim Possible--guaranteed I see at least one Kim Possible cosplayer at every event, I even saw a Shego once. This needs to happen. And if Salt Lake Comic Con brings Nicole Sullivan to whatever event, I will cancel whatever other cosplay I had planned and do Mira Nova to go meet her.

Star Wars Voice Actors

While we’re on the subject of voice actors, let’s talk Star Wars. Yes, please keep bringing James Arnold Taylor because he is a peach. But let us add to the mix Vanessa Marshall, Cat Taber, Matt Lanter, and Ashley Eckstein because AHSOKA!!!! One of my cosplay friends does Ahsoka and deserves to meet her.

The Wookie Gunner

Also, random author request--John Jackson Miller. He wrote A New Dawn and Kenobi. You should seriously consider him.

The Cast of Supergirl

The cast of Supergirl is A. MUST. I am hoping to build a Supergirl costume sometime in the new year and I would LOVE have it to wear to a photo op with Melissa Benoist.

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I would also love to meet Chyler Leigh because Alex Danvers is one of the most hardcore fictional characters to ever exist.

Shows Chitchat

Jeremy Jordan is also a cinnamon roll and I would die of happiness if I met him.

Revisa Tviso

I also really need David Harwood and Mechad Brooks. Laura Benanti is so regal and graceful whether she is Astra or Alura, she’d be an awesome guest. And Tyler Hochelin is literally the only Superman I care about--literally.

The Supporting Cast of The Martian

Matt Damon might be a long shot, and it should be obvious how badly we want Sebastian Stan back. But might I suggest, Michael Pena, who was also Luis in Ant-Man, and Chitewe Ejofor and Benedict Wong who were both in Doctor Strange. And Jessica Chastian because Commander Lewis is one of the greatest space moms ever.

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The Cast of Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean is a fandom that deserves more respect, but that’s another blog post. Maybe not Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom but please consider Geoffrey Rush, Jack Davenport (I have the hots for Norrington),

PotC Wiki

Lee Arrington and Mackenzie Crook who brought Pintel and Ragetti to life,

PotC Wiki

and Kevin McNally.

Disney Wiki

And I would never say no to Keira Knightley.

Miscellaneous Movie Stars

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Okay, I really want Tilda Swinton to come. She’s awesome even though, yes, she is the White Witch. But she's the Ancient One now, too. And she's really nice off-camera. So yes, bring her.

I absolutely MUST have Liam Neeson

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and Ewan MacGregor is, like, THE MAN.

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And Will Arnett--we’ve got The Lego Batman Movie coming out next year. Lego Batman is literally the only Batman I like.

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And how about Sam Riley?

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Or Lee Pace with his fabulous eyebrows?

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And then Warwick Davis--YES PLEASE!

Demon's Resume

I liked Fantastic Beasts, get Eddy Redmayne if you can but also consider his costars: Katherine Waterston, Dan Folger, and Alison Sudol.

Heroic Hollywood

Marvel people are always great. A few to consider would be Stallan Skarsgard, Paul Bettany, and Cobie Smulders. As a Scarlet Witch Cosplayer I definitely want Elizabeth Olsen to come (and plus, she’s another Elizabeth).

GIF Huntress

And I need Clark Gregg to come the way I need air. He's just, one of the greatest people ever. And he is COULSON. So there.

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Bringing Mira Nova to Life

It's time for Salt Lake Comic Con FanX, and this Friday I will be debuting a new cosplay, Mira Nova from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.  If you read my most recent post at The Geeky Mormon you'll learn more about the show and the character.  I want to focus this post specifically on building my cosplay for this character, which, admittedly, was one of the most difficult and ambitious projects I have ever undertaken.

I wanted to make the princess dress that Mira wears in the episodes "First Missions" and "It's a Zoo Out There."  It looks like a simple gown, but bringing together all of the different pieces was not easy.

Disney

Probably the least complicated part was building the gun.  I found a sci-fi looking water pistol at the DI and painted it.  I first gave it several coats of red spray paint.

This was followed by silver and orange acrylic paint for the details of the gun.

I ordered the tights and shirt under the dress from Amazon and Walmart.  I got a cheap sequin tiara at JoAnn's, face paint from Michael's, and a wig from a Halloween store.

The actual gown, of course, was the hard part.  I made a mock-up out of muslin and then cut up the different parts to use as a pattern when I cut the actual fabric.  I got the fabric around President's day: silver material for the collar and hot pink for the stomacher from Hancock's, pale pink crepe for the gown as well as interfacing for the collar from Walmart (because I'm cheap like that). I spent most of the last three weeks cutting, re-cutting, sewing, and re-sewing.

The stomacher I made as a separate piece and sewed one side with the hot pink material.

I sewed the skirt separate from the bodice and attached it after I had sewn on the zipper on the back. Then I attached the stomacher to the front side of the bodice, sewing through the front on top of the seam.  It took several tries to get the bodice sewn to the right part of the bodice.  When this was finally finished, I sewed the collar on.  The collar is two long pieces of silver fabric wrapped around stiff interfacing.  After being sewn on, I turned the sides of the collar up so they would stick up.

Trying on the dress

In the cartoon, Mira's dress has a gold pendant on the collar.  For my gown, I got a gold pendant from Hobby Lobby and sewed it onto the top of the stomacher near where it meets the bodice.  Like everything I sew, this outfit didn't turn out perfect--the waist is too big and it's kind of tricky to take off.  But it's wearable. I feel good wearing it.

The most aggressive problem I had for the entire costume was the shoes.  Mira has silver boots for her ensemble.  Owing to time and costs, I was unable to find silver boots for my own dress.  I did, however, make covers to go over my calves out of silver fabric I found on sale at JoAnn's.  I got white shoes and white socks for my feet. 

I did the makeup test yesterday.  The face paint actually wasn't that difficult, the trick being to make sure it goes on evenly across the face.  This is my first time cosplaying a character with face paint.  Or a wig.  This costume requires both.  But the results are amazing.

I really like this shot of me without the tiara.

Full view of the gown and the "boots" taken with the cruddy camera phone.

I suppose I could always build another version of the dress if I want to, someday when I have the money and time.  But for now, who says I shouldn't wear it because it didn't turn out perfect?  It's not so much about showing off my skills as it is showing off the character--showing off that I love Mira and how you don't have to have your face plastered on merchandise to be an inspiration to someone else.

  

I'm looking forward to being Mira Nova on Friday and seeing how many people recognize her!