Artist's Touch: Couple’s passion for creative costuming

• PC CREATIVE CON
• When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 1
• Where: Student Union building and Amelia Tapper Center at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City
• Why: Guest artists, costume contest, film festival, writers workshop, breaking into comics, warp-speed dating, celebrity panel and more
• Admission: $10
• Details: PCcreativeCon.com

C&C Cosplay at Pensacon 2014

PANAMA CITY — I first met Chris Stock and Christina Gilbert in a steampunk panel at Pensacon, a sci-fi convention in Pensacola, in February 2014. He was disguised as The Winter Soldier and she was Black Widow, a pair of Marvel Comics characters that were appearing in the new Captain America movie at the time.

It was his second big convention, and her first, and they assured me they were “super nerds, basically.” They’ve been actively building a reputation as creative costume designers and character players (i.e., “cosplayers”) ever since, and will present a panel for beginning cosplayers at PC Creative Con in Panama City on Aug. 1.

I recently visited them at the Dragon Dojo off State 390, where Chris works as an instructor, to talk about their passion.

“My dad read comics, and he thought comics would get me into reading — and he was right,” said Chris, 23, who was born and raised in Panama City.

As a child, Chris became a fan of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers — specifically, “Billy” the Blue Ranger, who was a massive nerd. Since he couldn’t become a Power Ranger in real life, Chris focused on the martial arts aspect, and under mentor Dorje Jangbu has become an instructor. One of the highlights of his life, he said, was meeting David Yost the actor who played Billy, at Pensacon. Chris hopes his cosplay can serve as an inspiration as well.

“When you see someone really appreciates it, it touches you,” he said. “It not only inspires them, it inspires you to keep going.”

Photo: Daron Adkins Photography

Christina, 28, is originally from Dothan, Ala., but has lived in the Panama City since she was 9. A hair stylist and operator of the local Shear Design, she has two daughters, ages 4 and 6. Chris’ interest in costumes drew her in, and she has a particular interest in steampunk (a subgenre of sci-fi that derives from 19th-century steam-powered technology and aesthetics).

“It’s a way for me, personally, to escape from reality for a few hours,” she said of building props, making costumes, and playing dress-up. “And when someone compliments your work and wants a picture with you, that’s great.”

Chris keeps composition notebooks filled with designs, doodles, patterns and ideas. He uses it to work out details, like the knotwork design on the edges of his home-built Mjolnir (the hammer of Marvel Comics’ Thor), or the horned helmet of a gender-swapped Loki. Then the projects take shape in his workshop — i.e., apartment.

“Our apartment has little projects all over the place,” Christina said, mentioning Captain America’s shield, which hangs in their laundry room.

Winter Soldier was Chris’ first full costume, and the character’s “robotic” arm was created by riveting dozens of individual pieces together. (Chris has added some muscle since creating the costume, and the riveted arm no longer fits him.)

“Before that, I basically did anime characters (from Japanese cartoons), but Winter Soldier I really spent time on,” he said. “I built everything but the pants and shoes. I broke down each part. It was — a lot of hours.”

Chris and Christina discussed how they created many of their costumes and props — from a repainted toy gun or a dowel that became a walking cane, to a wiffle bat repurposed as Harley Quinn’s weapon of choice and socks that became her elbow-length gloves. The most important aspect of building these items, they said, is the willingness to make mistakes and learn from them.

“I find nothing but flaws in everything I do,” Chris said. “I’m a perfectionist. But art is being able to make a mistake look beautiful. Art is never finished, you just walk away from it.”

BASIC COSPLAY TIPS

C&C Cosplay offered these basic considerations to prospective cosplayers:

•Dress for the weather. “You don’t want to walk around wearing a skimpy Harley Quinn costume in February,” Christina said — a lesson she learned the cold way.

•Props don’t have to be functional, they just need to look right and feel good. “You don’t need to actually be able to climb up walls if you’re (dressed as) Spider-Man,” Chris said. “It’s a costume. It’s all about the look. ... But whether it’s a prop or costume, if it’s not comfortable, you’re going to hate it.”

•Make sure you can move, see, fit through doorways, sit down — and get out of the costume for bathroom breaks. “I’ve seen this happen badly,” Chris said. “If you’re going to design a really complicated costume, make sure you know how to go to the restroom. I suggest wearing it a full day around the house before you go to a con.”

•Most of all, have fun. Be creative. And feel free to ask other people for help. 

Drive-In Saturday: Gene Roddenberry's 'Spectre'

Not a Gorn.

Spectre

(NBC, May 21, 1977)

It would be wrong for me to claim this film had any sort of influence on my early life, as I didn’t see this in its original broadcast; all I knew of it was a photo of the Gorn-like Asmodeus demon shown in Starlog magazine.

Don’t recall how I managed to miss this; at the time, my parents were on a kick to be sure we didn’t get too much horror/occult intake, but I don’t think I was forbidden to watch this. I know some network affiliates across the country refused to air it because of its demonic and sexual content, but I don’t know if that included my local channels. More likely, it just slipped by.

Culp and Young

Instead, I first caught it on an afternoon movie rerun sometime in the late 1980s, and I watched it again recently, streaming on YouTube. Careful which version you try to watch: One was apparently videotaped from a Syfy (at the time “Sci Fi Channel”) show called Pilot Playhouse, hosted by Robert Englund. The version I initially saw on YouTube appears to be missing some scenes, and not just the nudity in the final orgy/sacrifice sequence. At one point, Sebastian and Ham are speaking with Inspector Cabell and ask questions about “these killings” — apparently a series of gruesome murders have taken place, but no one has mentioned them previously in the film. I don’t know if there was a mention excised from this version to allow more commercials, or if the original cut of the film was missing that scene.

Note: Some versions of the pilot contain topless and bottomless (rear) nudity that was inserted into the pilot's climactic sacrificial scene for a theatrical release overseas.

Also, I think Gig Young might have been inebriated in every scene, listening to his words slur.  He killed himself shortly after the pilot aired.

Also also, Robert Culp is a badass. That is all.

Created, written, and produced by the father of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, Spectre was a supernatural mystery starring Culp as criminal psychologist and paranormal investigator William Sebastian, with Young as his old friend and skeptic Dr. “Ham” Hamilton.

Ham obviously served as a sort of “Watson” to Culp’s “Holmes” — or “Scully” to Culp’s “Mulder” — but their relationship also mirrored that of Questor and Robinson from Roddenberry's other genre pilot of the time, "The Questor Tapes," (or Spock and McCoy of Star Trek) as Sebastian was often brusque and coldly logical, while Ham was better with people.

Englishwoman Ann Bell (as Anitra Cyon) appears at Sebastian’s home in the U.S. to withdraw her earlier request for the men for help her family; she does so while standing in front of a fireplace that makes her dress nearly translucent, so we shouldn’t be surprised that she turns out to be a succubus. Even so, the Cyon family jets the two to London to solve the mystery of the family curse, which devolves into a safe-for-TV version of a Hammer Horror film, with not-too-subtle references to sexual depravity. It seems the family has unleashed Asmodeus, the demon of lust, and one of them is possessed by it.

Culp walks the edge.

In the end (not to anyone's surprise, so this isn't really a SPOILER), Sebastian defeats the demon, and a curse he has suffered is cured. But once they return to America, Sebastian receives a painting from the surviving Cyons, and on it is the symbol of Asmodeus — freeze frame and fade to black as the violins screech.

Co-written by Samuel A. Peeples, and directed by Clive Donner, the film also features a (relatively) young John Hurt as Mitri, the younger brother in the Cyon family. Majel Barrett Roddenberry appears as Sebastian’s housekeeper (and witch) Lilith, who cures Ham’s alcoholism with a spell. The older Cyon brother is played by James Villiers, a British character actor who appeared in numerous movies and TV shows including Hammer's "Blood from the Mummy's Tomb."

Watch the complete pilot here (it is one with momentary nudity, but blink and you'll miss it):

Reviewing a bombastic weekend, ‘super’ pilot

Jerry Dorsey by the rocket's red glare

PANAMA CITY BEACH — It was a low-impact July 4th at our place: We cooked a rack of ribs, grilled burgers, splashed in the neighborhood pool, and watched “Independence Day.” At dark, we carried folding chairs to view the Panama City fireworks from the beach side of St. Andrew Bay, sitting in the dark along the sand at the public access off Delwood Beach Road.

“These chairs are about worn out,” my wife said, and I told her they still had life in them. A minute later, mine collapsed and I hit the sand.

Nearby, a group of sky-watchers played the radio, listening to patriotic music synchronized to the fireworks — until the guy a little further down the beach drowned them out by cranking up his boom box to play country songs. (He also shouted profanity at invisible terrorists, who we were better than because, in his words, “we’re sending rockets into the sky.”)

When the second song began, my son said, “He’s playing the same song again,” but I corrected him: “It just sounds like the same song. Every country hit these days sounds like every other country hit. 

In a second, it’ll turn into just a list of adjectives and nouns, followed by a guitar solo.”

About the time the third song started, my wife’s cell phone chimed in, playing a YouTube video of Englebert Humperdinck singing “What’s Up, Pussycat?” — while we kvetched, she googled. Once again, it’s Debra for the win.

**

Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El/Danvers

Speaking of things that fly and cause explosions, I also got a chance to view the upcoming CBS “Supergirl” TV series pilot (premiering Oct. 26), and it’s both exactly what I feared and most of what a comic book fan could ever hope for.

That is, it falls prey to both superhero and romantic-comedy tropes (though it plays with them appropriately, such as the trying-out-costumes montage) and it manages to take its heroine seriously, setting up her battle against a slew of bad guys worthy of her prowess.

The central actor, Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El/Danvers, is delightful. At turns goofy and determined, she provides all the emotions needed to ground a crazy concept like this. Unlike the brooding heroes of “Arrow” and “Daredevil,” this young woman seems happy to have powers, and isn’t afraid to use them to help people.

The effects are well done for television (such as a crashing jetliner segment glimpsed in the teaser), and the acting is above par for genre shows. I also appreciate the nods to “Super” history, from characters pulled from the comics to the actors filling cameo roles as Kara’s adoptive human parents. 

I’m looking forward to seeing what the show runners (who are also responsible for the breakout CW hit “The Flash” as well as “Arrow” and the upcoming “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”) can pull off on a weekly basis. So far, so good.

Up, up and away!

Writers' Jargon (9): Archetype, antagonist, protagonist

Writers have their own language. A shorthand, if you will. Outsiders (non-writers) think they know what most of these words and phrases mean. But they don't. Here, in a continuing series of posts, I will divulge the SECRET MEANINGS OF WRITERS' JARGON:

>>Earlier entries in the series<<

Archetype: (noun) What you prefer your characters to be recognized as rather than “cliché.”

Antagonist: (noun) The kid with the magnifying glass, focusing sunlight on ants.

Protagonist: (noun) The agony of the proletariat.

To be continued...

Early success for 'The Changeling'

I released the first segment (of 3) of The Caliban Cycle on July 1 as an Amazon Kindle book. The Changeling shot to No. 91 in the US Horror category over the next couple of days, but has been in a slow decline since then. If you haven't purchased a copy, please do (it's only 99 cents). And if you have, then please leave a review; not only would I appreciate the feedback, but each review helps the book find an audience by convincing the Amazon robots that readers would like to discuss this one.

Thanks!

Drive-In Saturday: 'Dark Intruder'

(Welcome to the new iteration of 'Drive-In Saturday.' I'm going to be reviewing a new "dark detective" or paranormal investigator story each week. We'll start with one I watched this week with my son, "Dark Intruder," which you may never have heard of, but in weeks to come we'll also look at more well known such stories of occult detectives, including Kolchak, Dresden, and others.)

I learned about Dark Intruder via an email from Lovecraft Ezine, which regularly reviews and shares movies and books influenced by H.P. Lovecraft's work. There's a great examination of this little 59-minute movie at this link.

The short version: It's 1890, and Leslie Nielsen (best known these days for the Police Squad TV show that gave us the Naked Gun films — though I'll always think of him as the saucer commander on Forbidden Planet) plays the lead, Brett Kingsford, who carefully cultivates the outward appearance of a laughing dandy, while secretly helping local police battle occult menaces. He even disguises himself (a la Sherlock Holmes) to keep the beat cops from recognizing him when he needs to talk to the commissioner and access a crime scene.

This was a pilot for a TV series, but wasn't picked up for any number of reasons. It's easy to see why networks would be uneasy about it, as it is scary (for its day) and doesn't shy from demonic references. Using the black-and-white production limitations to good effect, it incorporates great noirish use of shadows and mist to heighten suspense. It plays almost like a Hammer film, in that respect, and as the above-linked article notes, its writer had some experience in that area also.

But what amazed me most was the fatalism in the script (which, given the Lovecraftian elements, probably should not have been so surprising). Without SPOILING too much (I hope), it shows us a hero who fails at every turn. Like John Constantine in the Vertigo comics, Kingsford manages to survive, but may have a mob of ghosts haunting him — the spirits of those whose lives he failed to save.

>>You can watch the film for yourself here.<<

Of interest to fans of Lovecraft will be mentions of creatures from his mythos, as well as the concept of them returning to our world. I was intrigued also by the body horror inherent in (possible SPOILER) the way the deformed conjoined twin plot line was built.

Finally, it's worth noting that Nielsen is a wonder to watch, shifting from the easily amused socialite to the deadly-serious occult investigator in the blink of an eye. I'd have gladly followed a series of his adventures before the turn of the century.

Reflections on a week of import

Father and Son

PANAMA CITY BEACH — My son, Nathan, turned 27 earlier this week. I don’t know about how you respond to the passage of such dates, but that day made me look back at myself at 27 and try to imagine where I thought life would take me then.

I turned 27 in 1991, just a month after Nathan’s third birthday and couple of months before my daughter was born. I was back in college after several years of working for a retail outlet — on my way to a degree in Journalism, finally, and working freelance for a couple of local publications to help cover the bills.

Two years later, I would be hired by The News Herald and move my little family to Panama City. But in ’91, we had a spitz puppy named Everest and lived in a house owned by my mother, and I had dreams of making it as a reporter and novelist.

I still do.

Looking at my 51st birthday looming now, it would be easy to say the best days are in the past and to worry what the future holds. But I have to say, we (as a family) have weathered some dark days in the interim, and we hope for some great ones still to come.

As I sit here, writing this on the day my latest novel begins its serialized release on Amazon Kindle, I know that there are still stories to tell — indeed, more than I will ever have time to write down — still milestones to reach and wonders to witness. The marriage of children and birth of grandchildren, for instance. The next laugh at a lunch table.

I have more close friends today than at any time since high school. I have great expectations for my children, and a certain assurance that they have acquired the skills and strengths they will need to flourish even when I’m gone.

At 27, things were just getting started and I was struggling to find my way. At nearly 51, though some days can make me feel my age, I still have a sense that things are just getting started. I still struggle, still have worries. But most days the path is there, if I take a moment to see it.

How about you? Are you finding your path? Can you look back and see the trajectory that brought you here?

Peace.

Check out Tony’s latest fiction by visiting Facebook.com/TheCalibanCycle for details.