Spock's Pickled Brain

As we all know, there are a ton of comic book movies and series out there, and quite a few of them are fantastic. Nearly everyone can at least name one Avenger, and many more have watched the ups and downs of Batman. With Marvel steamrolling their competition in blockbusters and streaming services alike and DC gamely trying to match them, it's easy to forget the lots of little films and series that don't exactly align the recognizable Avengers or Justice League brands. Some of the ones I looked at are in fact part of the Marvel or DC universes, but they often get classed with the broader action or horror genres. 1. The Tick (2017-present) Arthur Everest is a normal guy with a tragic backstory who is just wants to hold a steady job and to not believe the hallucinations. But destiny cannot be denied! In trying to determine what's real and what's just conspiracy Arthur runs into the Tick, a superpowered amnesiac in blue who's aimlessly bouncing from bad guy to bad ...

Background Some say clothes make the man. Sounds like a trite phrase with very little in touch with reality. But let's say for costuming's sake the costume makes the character. Well if you follow this logic, then we can presume that the superhero's costume can tell us a lot about their powers, alignment, etc. And a big part of superhero's costumes are capes. Capes of course have a history long before the age of superheroes. In historical clothing "cape" usually refers to an outergarment worn more for fashion, whereas a "cloak" may have slits for the arms or have a hood and are generally more for protection against the elements ( for more cape vs. cloak differences ). Depending on the superhero/supervillain, the cape may be purely fashion or function. Fashion-wise, they look fantastic swishing around and in the comics they give the scene dynamic energy, especially if the character is flying through the air. But many comics subsequently tr...

So, the local renaissance festival is in full swing, and the Loonatic and I recently spent a day seeing the sights. The Loonatic has already put up a post about the parts of her costume, so I thought I would do the same! I didn't make a specific character for the faire, but instead put together a look with a couple major pieces (a pair of wings and horns I made myself), with a motley collection of things from my closet. The end result is sort of a weird dragon-lady, which is pretty much what I always wanted to be, so: Mission Accomplished. Costume Parts 1) Skirt This is a thrift store skirt that I think may have started out as a dance skirt. It's made of a lightweight but draping fabric, and it's a full circle skirt, so it has a lot of swirl-a-bility. 2) Corset Not a thrift store find, this is a black and silver/lavender over-bust corset with black leather accents. It's pretty comfortable, but after 7 hours or so, my ribs needed a serious bre...

How to Make Dragon Wings (big, cheap, and light-weight) I've always loved wings, from bird wings to insect wings to bat wings (or angel, fairy, and dragon wings, depending on your interests). So for this year's medieval faire, I decided to try making my own! In general, I've found that the wings you can buy in costume stores are small and flimsy (personally, I'm not really moved by "sexy vampire wings," but maybe that's just me). And if you can find large wings, they're hideously expensive. I spent some time thinking about the important components of the big three types of wings (angel, fairy, and dragon), and decided that dragon was the way to go this time. I love them all, but angel wings seemed a little more difficult for a beginner, and fairy wings weren't peaking my interest at the time. If you're looking for other resources on building large wings, I would recommend HCC Cosplay (http://whatishcc.com/tutorials/angel-wings/), whose ...

Every time the medieval fair rolls around I'm ready to try another costume variation. In the past I've gone as a Pict warrior, berserker, temple guard, mercenary, and a Jedi (because really the only thing missing from Europe's medieval era is a laser-sword-wielding monk from a galaxy far away). But this year I aimed to create a character drawn from the rules and world of Faerun, as featured in the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons . Asking me why I chose this is a totally rational question. I have never played Dungeons and Dragons , or any of its spinoffs or imitators. Nor have I explored the world of live-action roleplaying (aka LARPing). But I have seen some of the movies inspired by the franchise, and I like the structure and world that it's built. Dungeons and Dragons provides an insane amount of background for a fictional universe's terrain, peoples, mythology, and magic. There are also several online character generators that help you build balance...