I have had the pleasure of being in the world of cosplay so long, that I really only have 3 dream builds left on my costume list. They are builds that I know will take collaborations with a few of my fellow artists, will take time, and a stupid amount of money to complete.

Big Barda was one of the 3.

She has been sitting in the back of my head, being pieced together by my brain cells, for years. The one HUGE road block keeping me from moving forward, was the scale maille of her body suit. I didn’t want to do it in actual maille. Too heavy, adds girth, I’d sound like loose change walking down the hallway.  I also didn’t want to do it with a fish-scale Lamé. No texture, too thin, not something befitting to a New God. It wasn’t until working on a sister DC show, that the fabric SLAPED ME IN THE FACE! There it is! Holycrapitsperfect! It was a scale textured neoprene used in the V1 Black Lightening suit.  I FOUND THE ANSWER!

But, now I was faced with another problem, starting a new show and having no time to build. What does a God of Apokolips do in such a situation?! Well, I turned to my friend and fellow crafts person, Cathy, of God Save the Queen Fasions. She’s amazing and her work is impeccable (ie. my Raven and Wonder Woman onsie). It also was a huge help that her partner is Travis Wood, amazing 3D sculpture, printer and prop builder. What you see below, is the fruit of their work, and the physical representation of one of my dream costumes. I legit cried when Travis showed me the helm. And the culmination of the perfect builder, with the prefect fabric and skill, was the rest of Barda. Its rare when I don’t play a part in a personal build, but that’s why its amazing to be surrounded by such amazing artists. They can just take the ball and run..

It also helps to have a stellar partner who happens to love Mister Miracle and is willing to run around in public in basically a wet suit and a complete latex mask.  Myself and Alex Burns patterned and cut out his suit. I made the cape while Alex sewed the suit panels together.  Chris made the belt and our pal Dustin painted the CFX latex mask. Teamwork!

Amazing photography by my good friend Wes (aka The Portrait Dude) and Will Cooks