Cosplay Spotlight Jenn Croft

 The legendary Lara Croft will be making her triumphant return March 5th, in the highly anticipated Tomb Raider reboot. The game will focus on Laras early years fighting for her life on a deadly and mysterious island.  In honor of Lara returning to the world of video games I contacted Jenn Croft, who is my favorite Lara Croft costumer for an interview with the Confessions of a Cosplay Girl Blog.  The California beauty, who currently resides in Australia, chats about her thoughts regarding Laras new beginning, her 25 Tomb Raider costumes and which actress she would select to bring Lara back to the big screen.











Victoria: How long have you been cosplaying Lara Croft?

Jenn: 13 years.

Victoria: How many Lara costumes do you currently own?


Jenn: I think its somewhere around the 25 mark. I stopped counting long ago.

Victoria: Do you have any Tomb Raider costumes planned for the future?

Jenn: Yes, I am about to start working on the sola wetsuit next week.

Victoria: What did you think of the movies starring Angelina Jolie? Would you like to see those films continue or do you think a reboot is in order?

Jenn: The movies were fun. I dont think they were as close to the games as they could have been but Angelina Jolies acting job was great. That being said, I really hope there is a reboot because although they were entertaining, the movies do need a reboot to match the new Lara from this years game.

Victoria: Speaking of reboot, the new Tomb Raider game will be released soon. How do you feel about them rebooting the franchise with a young, inexperienced Lara?

Jenn: I think its great! This is a side of Lara that nobody has seen before so it was always this void in Laras history that we never got to experience before. I am excited to see how the story of this game pans out and how it will compliment the heroine we all have come to love over the years.

Victoria: If you could cast a new actress to take over the role of Lara, who would you select?

Jenn: I would pick Lyndsy Fonseca because to me she looks just like the reboot Lara and has proven that she can act the part of an action girl from her role in the TV show Nikita.

Victoria: Aside from cosplay, what other hobbies do you enjoy?

Jenn: I have many hobbies. Probably too many, in fact. I enjoy extreme sports such as rock climbing, base jumping, skydiving. I love motorcycles and firearms. I have a huge passion for animals as well. And that is just to name a few.

Victoria: Do you have any new costumes currently in the works?

Jenn: Yes, the Sola wetsuit from Tomb Raider 2!

Victoria: Will you be attending any conventions in 2013?

Jenn: I may be attending some conventions in Australia this year such as Supanova or Oz Comic Con both in Melbourne, but its still uncertain at this point.

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Interview Kingdom Come Director Andrew List

In 1996 DC Comics released the mini-series "Kingdom Come" written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid (with art by Mr. Ross). The series chronicled the events of a retired Superman going back into action after the world has fallen into chaos due to the new generation of superheroes. Supermans return inspires other retired heroes to get back into the game but not without challenges from the government and Lex Luthors Mankind Liberation Front. A war ensues when the rebellious new generation of heroes revolt and face off in a battle against our classic heroes (lead by Wonder Woman). Armageddon arrives when Captain Marvel, who is fighting for the MLF, and The Man of Steel face off.

The series quickly became a best seller and is a favorite amongst comic fans world wide. A Fan Film directed by Andrew List and starring Margie Cox and Danny Kelley will be released sometime this year. Read below to find out what the director has to say about bringing the classic story to life.

Victoria:  What made you decide to turn Kingdom Come into a fan film?

Andrew: I’ve loved comics forever. Superman stories are typically my favorite. I’m a big fan of the Death and Return of Superman story and Kingdom Come. They both have very biblical type feels to them and Kingdom Come was basically an untapped resource in terms of live action.

Victoria: What is it about the story that intrigues you?

Andrew: I really love the biblical feel it has in it, like Superman’s second coming in a similar meaning to Jesus’ second coming. I love the way the story is written and the way everything plays out in the story.

Victoria:  It was reported that fans donated a total of $10,000 to the film. Is this true?

Andrew: Incorrect. Our goal was to raise $8,000 for this project, we made it to $5,617! It ended up being just enough to cover some very important aspects in making this project come to life. I was beyond happy with how many fans dove in and donated to this project to make it come to life. I know it’s a cliche thing to say, but this really would NOT be happening if it was not for the fans help.

Victoria: How long did filming take and how many locations did you visit?

Andrew: Filming was packed into two very long days (6am to 10pm each day approx.) Without going into too many details we did visit 9 different locations to bring this to life.

Victoria: Will we be seeing memorable scenes from the graphic novel such as the battle at Gulag?

Andrew: No comment.

Victoria:  I understand that the film is in fact an extended trailer. How long will it run?

Andrew: Correct. We went the route of an extended trailer because to make the Kingdom Come novel into a full length film it would cost millions of dollars (as anyone who has read the novel can agree with). We wanted to get our favorite scenes and bring them to life. The estimated length of the trailer will be between 3-4 minutes.

Victoria: Can you give me a complete list of the cast and what part they will be playing?

Andrew: Sorry. I really can’t! But all that have been made public are listed on our Facebook page.

Victoria: When will Kingdom Come be released and where can people see it?

Andrew: No projected date at the moment (other than this year). It just really comes down to getting the visual effects to look as good as they can, which takes time! We want NOTHING rushed on this!

Victoria: What was your favorite scene from the book to bring to life?

Andrew: I know, another thing I can’t talk about! But I will say the Kent farm scenes were a whole lot of fun to film. Everyone worked together and made this come to life!

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Cosplay Spotlight Ruby Jennifer

Its a match made in costuming heaven! At this years DragonCon show, the cosplay community was in a buzz over Batmans marriage proposal to Batgirl (she said yes)! Veteran cosplayer Ruby Rinekso popped the question to fellow cosplayer and girlfriend,  Jennifer Haviland.  Ruby not only had the support of his fellow cosplayers for the surprise proposal but also had the assistance of Superman himself, Dean Cain.  I contacted the power couple for an in depth interview regarding costuming, falling in love and the moment Ruby asked Jennifer to be his wife.

Victoria: How long how you been cosplaying?

Ruby: I pretty much started cosplaying before I ever knew of the term "cosplaying". Growing up, Halloween was always my favorite holiday and I was upset in the reality that it only came once a year. Like many other kids, I used to run around the house in some superhero costume and raise hell. Upon Adolescence, I realized that behavior became a bit inappropriate or "uncool"...so I ended up suppressing that behavior to fit in better with any teen aged social circle. But for years I would always have the coolest Halloween costume party. Years later, after I started to play music, I even formed a KISS tribute band partically because I love the costumes. www.kissnation.com

Even upon after meeting Jennifer, we both realized that we both loved Halloween, but really didnt have an outlet for our love of costumes until we started going to conventions in 2005. At this point we had been marching around in the annual NYC parade for years. And I dove into it, head first. Thats when I first discovered the term "cosplaying".

Jennifer: Well for me, any opportunity to dress up in anything different from daily "street clothes" was a welcome one. My mother enrolled me in requisite dance classes as a child. This was particularly fun for me because not only did I get to study dance, which I loved but I suddenly got to wear these amazing costumes for the recital. Some of these costumes even worked their way to Halloween rotation. Ive always loved going to parties and getting dressed up and I may have been perceived as a fashion victim in my teen years by wearing things that werent so mainstream. But I was fiercely confident and had fun with it anyway. It was around this time that I started getting into vintage fashion, which influences me to this day, and started peppering my wardrobe with items that were electric and perhaps a little costumey.

As Ruby mentioned, we brought the cosplay bug out in each other. When the Halloween season rolled around, we were never satisfied buying mass produced costumes and pieced our own outfits together. Ive been sewing since High School so costume building became a great outlet for that skill. The one convention that really sealed it for us was, and maybe it was the second convention we attended together, was Star Wars Celebration III in 2005.

Victoria: Do you make your own costumes?

Ruby: It all depends on the costume. Most of my costumes are partly scratch built/ commissioned / or sewn by Jennifer. Nothing is ever bought and worn off the rack. I keep having to tell people that my name is in no way associated with RUBIES costumes ;-)

Jennifer: I try to make as many of my costumes as I can. I would say that Ive made 90% of my costumes. Ive been sewing since my Junior year in High School and I continually build on my skills and try to learn new techniques so that I can try to make whatever I might like. Occasionally I will commission parts that I would be unable to create due to my limitation in skills or access to equipment or materials.

Victoria: If you had to select one, which one is your favorite costume to wear?

Ruby: Well our usual "go-to" costumes are our 1966 Batman and Batgirl costumes. Those are the ones we always anchor to. I also have additional favorites that I favor from year-to-year, such as Black Manta, and Solomon Grundy etc...

Jennifer: 60s TV Batgirl. There is no contest. I dreamed about having that costume ever since I was a little girl!

Victoria: How did the two of you meet?

Jennifer: The short story is that we met through a mutual friend that used to be a bandmate of Rubys...... Thats dull, so heres the fun, longer story. One of my friends, who was a coworker of mine at the time, used to frequent a weekly Punk Rock/Heavy Metal karaoke night with a live band at a club in on NYCs Lower East Side. He asked if Id like to check it out because it was a lot of fun and a good show. So late one Monday night (This karaoke night was only held on Mondays) I showed up at the club and midway through the show, this guy named Ruby with shaggy black hair got on stage to sing a KISS song with the band. It was clear that this was not his first time on stage as he was doing a really good job of working the crowd and keeping the energy going. It was impressive considering that most of the singers were nervous wrecks or hopelessly intoxicated. As his finale to punctuate the final chord of the song, he took a seemingly giant leap into air. As they say in the Olympics, he didnt stick the landing and ended up falling backwards into the bass drum. I had a good chuckle and enjoyed the rest of the show. Some time elapsed and in conversation my friend told me he was going to be joining a KISS Tribute band and that this guy that I had seen wipeout on stage was in this band as well. It is a small world after all. Some time later we were introduced to each other and continued to run into each other at the same social functions. Eventually Ruby asked me for my phone number and we started dating. That was 11 years ago.

Ruby: Let me just add to this.... the funny thing is that I was frequenting this club because I was trying to get a lead singer for my band,.... I had no idea that once I found him, he would introduce me to my future fiance.

Victoria: Ruby,  at this years Dragoncon you proposed to Jennifer in front of a large crowd and Superman himself, Dean Cain, was there to help you pop the question. How did you pull that off?

Ruby: Okay, this is quite a bit of a story.... I knew (secretly) exactly one year prior in Dragon*Con 2011, that I wanted to propose at Dragon*Con 2012 and I wanted to do it BIG. (after 11 years of dating, it HAD to be big lol) Months later, in mid-summer 2012, I contacted Allan Lee Hansard of The Superhero Costuming Forum (http://thesuperherocostumingforum.com) to ask if I can do this proposal during the annual D.C. Comics photo shoot at Dragon*Con. I originally was a bit sheepish in asking him, thinking that I might be stepping on toes or getting in his way by doing this. Lucky for me (and thank you again, Allan) he was more than happy in helping me make this moment happen for me.

...... Cut to Saturday September 1 2012, proposal day.... and Enter DEAN CAIN.

The "Dean-Cain-thing" didnt happen until the day of the proposal, about 3 hours prior. I had my plan set and ready to have it in motion. Only a select few of my friends knew of this planned. They included Bryan Morton, Bryan and Jennifer Nguyen, and Thad Laskowski. As fate would have it, Dean Cain was signing in the autograph room. Dean has known us from prior conventions and has always been great to us and even referring to us/remembering our names.

It was around that time that we had joked about getting DEAN to participate in the proposal in some way and it was Bryan Morton who took that somewhat seriously. In fact, the conversation was something like this....

Bryan Morton: "Dude,...Ill go ask Dean...... Bryan Nguyen, Thad and I will go to his table to ask!"

Ruby: "ARE YOU NUTS?!?!? lol Dont bother him man, I dont wanna be THAT kind of guy that bothers the celebs....."

Bryan Nguyen: "Dont worry man, he likes us. He wont get mad!"

Ruby: "Guys,..I cant STRESS about this now man.... I gotta get to the DC comics photo shoot. Im nervous as it is to begin with, and now you wanna throw SUPERMAN in the mix???"

Bryan Morton: "Itll be fine. If he cant, then he cant... but whats the harm in trying?"

Ruby: Okay guys, I doubt this is gonna happen. Just text me and let me know whats up.....

And we went our separate ways. They left to visit DEAN, and I went with JENNIFER to the get ready for DC Comics shoot. What exactly happened within the next hour or so, I will never know, but I suddenly get a text from Bryan Morton stating....

"Dude... Its a GO. DEAN wants to do it"

WHAAAAAATTTTT???? Is this for real???

Upon texting back and forth to Bryan, he told me the logistics of this, that he and the guys had to wait until DEAN was finished and ready and escort him. They were also going to inform ALLAN LEE HANSARD of the Superhero Costuming Forum on the details and Deans involvement. There was also one small detail that had to happen.... I had to surrender the RING to them.

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