Baltimore Comic Con 2013 Coverage

The Baltimore Comic-Con took place Saturday and Sunday, September 7th-8th at the Baltimore Convention Center in  Maryland. The show had an impressive guest list featuring dozens of writers, artists and other talented professionals in the comic industry. This was my first time attending the show in roughly 6 years and I was very much looking forward to it. Im happy to report that the show was easily one of the best events I have attended this year. Professionals in attendance included George Perez, Billy Tucci, Mark Waid, and David Finch. A complete list can still be viewed on the Baltimore Comic-Con website: http://baltimorecomiccon.com/guests/   A large variety of vendors were also present and special events took place such as the Harvey Awards ceremony and Sundays Costume Contest. There were also many exclusives and panels headlined by top names.

My photographer and I arrived in the city on Saturday. After checking into our hotel, I changed into my dark haired variant of Supergirl and we headed to the show. There were massive crowds there enjoying the festivities. We caught up with many of our cosplay friends. We also visited our friend, artist Billy Tucci and I purchased a stunning Catwoman print from him modeled after Jennifer Van Damsel. After making our first tour of the entire convention floor, we made our way back to the hotel so I could change into Huntress. We went back to the show to resume touring the convention center. Upon speaking with some people in the lobby, former DC Comics President, writer and artist Paul Levitz introduced himself to me.

"As the creator of Huntress, I highly approve."

There is no greater honor than when a creator gives you their blessing on your portrayal of their character.


Many cosplayers and I spent some time in the lobby posing for what seemed like an unlimited request of photos. When the show was over, we spent the evening dining out with friends. On Sunday I was doing my very first group photo shoot that I organized. The theme was the television series Once Upon A Time. The cast included Kevin Diplacido as Captain Hook, Jacky Brodhead as Regina the Evil Queen, Shemika Demouchet Berry as Maleficent, Iggy Cosplay as The Mad Hatter, Lindsay Lou as Red Riding Hood and myself as Belle. All photos were shot by my photographer at Green House Photography. I was a bit nervous organizing my first convention shoot but it turned out even better than I imagined. My friends were completely gorgeous in their roles. Our first location for the shoot was on a ship by the harbor. The second was the patio at the convention center. We were all very popular as we walked the con as a group and were often mobbed for photos.


The remainder of Sunday included stopping by to see my friend, comic legend George Perez and catching up with anyone we missed Saturday. We left about an hour before the show closed to prepare for our drive back home.

The Baltimore-Comic Con has become one of my favorite shows and we will most definitely be attending next year and future years to come. The thing I love most about the event is that it has remained true to its roots. Its about the comics. Whereas others shows are more focused on pop culture, Baltimore keeps it real. The employees were friendly, helpful and the show was organized beautifully. I have heard nothing but positive feedback from those that attended. There was also a bit of excitement in the air, as rumor spread next years show will be expanded for 3 days. We are all keeping our fingers crossed hoping 2014 will mean 3 days of comic geek heaven in Maryland.

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For a full gallery of the show, visit my official Facebook Page

For a complete gallery of the Once Upon A Time shoot, visit Green House Photography

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Slaying the Trolls

In Internet slang, a troll  is someone who posts inflammatory,^[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response^[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.^[3] While the word troll and its associated verb trolling are associated with Internet discourse, media attention in recent years has made such labels subjective, with trolling describing intentionally provocative actions and harassment outside of an online context. -Wikipedia.com


In fairy tales trolls were normally found in a miserable state residing under a bridge, cave or in the mountains. In modern times they can be discovered on the Internet. Modern trolls spend countless hours behind a computer banging on their keyboards and using the world wide web to spread their hatred and misery. The ultimate bully, trolls start arguments, write mean comments about others and harass people with name calling, sexual comments and even death threats.

These guys are real winners.

Ive noticed a surge in Trolls and hateful people on cosplay pages via Facebook. They pick apart cosplayers and criticize everything from their costume to their weight and even their skin color. Apparently labeling yourself a fan boy and hiding behind their computer (while typing things they would never dare say to a cosplayers face) makes them an authority on costuming. The most hilarious part to me, is when I click on that persons Facebook and look at their profile photo. Believe me when I say that none of them are winning any beauty contests. Funny enough, I have fired back at people and criticized their  photo which usually results in the conversation immediately ending. Its always amazing to see that someone cant take a dose of their own medicine. Trolls will never go away but there is a way for them to be stopped and it involves slaying one troll at a time. The strategy is simple. Delete and ban.


A few months ago someone left a sex toy comment on one of my photos. Tired of my constant posts that this type of behavior would not be tolerated, I decided to make an example of this person. After banning him, I screen capped his comment for everyone to see. To my surprise, it lead to even more vulgar and sexual comments mostly coming from men HOLDING CHILDREN in their profile photos. To make matters more bizarre, people were threatening they were going to report my Fan Page for violating the members rights. I literally laughed. I am a woman who was saying you cannot talk to me in a sexual matter and people (both men and women) were saying that I deserved it and I was not a victim. What lunacy. I lost count with how many people I deleted and banned that day and in a strange way it made me very happy. I was getting rid of the filth; taking out the trash. I would rather have ten people on my page who appreciate my art than thousands of dirtballs. And the threats of getting my page removed proved empty (as I knew it would being that I did not violate TOS) and I have gained two thousand more members since then.

I have a policy on my Fanpage: if I find anything to be offensive towards me or my cosplayer friends, your comment is deleted and you are banned. End of story. Sadly, there are hundreds of pages dedicated to cosplayers (which often dont credit the cosplayer or photographer) run by men whose goal is to get as many likes as possible. Many of them dont even care about the art of cosplay or photography; they just want to collect pictures of hot girls and run a popular page. The crude and hateful comments grow rampant and are not moderated because they would rather have a high number of traffic rather than moderate the page and risk loosing numbers. If you see a photo of yourself on one of these pages, you can report it to Facebook for Stolen Intellectual Property. If you run your own page, you can indeed make it a safe and happy place to share your work but dont encourage the trolls. Immediately delete their comment and ban them from your page. I know its hard and I have certainly slipped up and threw someones criticism back at them.

Deleting and banning trolls is an action every moderator should take. The reason why the hatred spreads like wild fire is because people allow it to happen. You have the power to make it stop and that especially goes for people who create Cosplay Fan Pages just to be popular. If youre spending dozens of hours downloading pictures of cosplay artists, take the time to actually moderate your comments.

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Cosplay Spotlight Jessica Carroll

The lovely Jessica Carroll is a well known talent within the cosplay community. She has been practicing the art of costuming all of her life and it shows in her exquisite work. Jessica took some time to chat with the Confessions of a Cosplay Girl Blog about the many changes made to Harley Quinn throughout the years, her love for crafting, attending conventions and dressing up with her fellow cosplayer husband, Jonathan Carroll.






Victoria: How long have you been in the hobby of costuming?

Jessica: Gosh all my life? I have always made costumes for something. When I was younger I played dress up as part of my daily routine. As I got older I did theatre and worked extensively on costumes there. The first costume for a play I can remember was in 5th grade. My first convention in cosplay I was in high school, 10th grade I believe. My first costume was Queen Beryl with my best friend as Mistress Nine.

Victoria: What was the very first convention you attended? What costume did you wear?

Jessica: The first convention I attended was Megacon. I was 15. I didnt costume, I had no idea what cosplay was or really what to expect from a convention. I wore my sailor moon tshirt, jeans, and my hair in odangos. You know, just like a good weeaboo.

After that, the next year my best friend and I decided to costume. We never wanted to go to a con without the full experience ever again. We did Queen Beryl and Mistress 9, Eriya and Naria from Escaflowne the movie and then goth punk school girls on Sunday I think.

Victoria: How can people contact you for commissions and view a portfolio of your work?


Jessica: For commissions the best thing to do is hit me up on my facebook https://www.facebook.com/supernovago or you can head straight to my etsy to see what I have up for sale. www.etsy.com/shop/SupernovaCostuming    I have some other projects I work on as well including geeky bridal accessories that I make with my mother in law www.etsy.com/shop/UniquelyYoursBridal

As for a portfolio, Im so bad about keeping my own personal projects up on my facebook, but I try to post plenty of commission progress photos.

Victoria: You have a large variety of impressive costumes and creations under your belt. Youre best known for your amazing Harley Quinn. What is it about the character that attracts you to her?

Jessica: Harley has always been a favorite character of mine. When I was younger I watched the tar out of the first and 2nd Batman movies and the Animated Series. The Joker was my spirit animal as a kid, I loved him. I think it was because he represented the fact that I knew clowns were evil...he embodied what I always knew to be true about them. I remember the first episode I saw with his girlfriend, Harley Quinn. I lost my mind. I needed anything I could get my little hands on, which at the time wasnt much for Harley. However, as I got older and started to delve into psychology, I grew to hate the two of them together. Their relationship disgusts me. I think for me, Harley is the friend I always wanted to see get away from her crappy boyfriend. I root for her because I know she can be strong and independent, but she never seems to truly get on her own two feet.
Haha I guess that still doesnt explain why Im drawn to her...really I dont know, maybe its that I can relate in a lot of ways, at least to my early 20s and bad choices in guys growing up. I found my happy ending, I want her too. Plus, she has hyenas and style...and we both study psychology.

 

Victoria:  Harley has gone through an enormous amount of hair and wardrobe changes over the years. Whats your favorite look for her? Whats her worst?

Jessica: I dont know if she has a look I absolutely hate....I really wasnt happy with the Suicide Squad look but it grew on me. I think the least practical is her injustice outfit or the Nurse from Arkham Asylum...that one is probably my absolute least favorite. Her best is hands down her original. Its sexy without her boobs popping out everywhere.

Victoria: How do you feel about the changes made to the character in the New 52?

Jessica: I stopped reading Suicide Squad because I was getting bored with it. I dont hate every choice they have made for her...but a lot of them I dislike. The main one is her bleached skin, to me thats ridiculous. Oh and the clown car joke about her vagina was pretty awful too.

 

 Victoria:  How did you and your husband meet?

Jessica: Jonathan and I met on myspace lol at least thats where we first talked a little. The first convention we met face to face was Dragoncon 2008. We both went through some life changes and kept in vague touch via myspace and the following year at Megacon we actually hung out and fell head over heels. We didnt start dating for a few months.

Victoria: Whats your favorite husband/wife couple costume youve done?

Jessica: Our genderbent Harley and TDK Joker. I love it.

Victoria: What plans do you have in the future in regards to cosplay and professional modeling?

Jessica: For professional modeling Im trying to get the site I co own to grow. I want to keep creating a quality product but would like to be able to move more behind the scenes, make costumes and manage the site more than have to model. For costuming? I want to start breaking away from accurate pieces and more creative. Some of the most inspiring costuming artists to me are Catherine Jones of GSTQ Fashions and the lovely artists over at Firefly Path. They break the mold in terms of creating and I want to do that. I dont want to be trapped in the panels of a comic book with my costumes, I want to break the mold.

Victoria: Which costume took the most work to create?

Jessica: Hmmmmmmm I guess Harley takes the most time out of my pieces because Ive redone the suit several times. Though I do think that working on Sailor Uranus and the amount of nitpicking that will go into it, its going to be a bit time consuming. Coming up I have Enchantress as well which will incorporate a fully boned corset and leather so that will be quite the project.
Thank you Victoria.

https://www.facebook.com/supernovago

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