What do you favor more, Comic books or Manga/anime?

American comics are for me even though all the animation is done overseas. I just don't like "most" of the manga styles I've seen. I prefer the European be-de over Japanese manga/anime. The ones I do like that are not typically "American" in style would be Disney's W.I.T.C.H. (Italian, I think), Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Yu-Gi-Oh but I normally can't stand anything manga/anime. I also find the cosplay "kids" at cons tend to be off-the-chart obnoxious because they're ramped up on sugar and adrenaline and away from their parents. Maybe I'm just old but get me with a group of spandex clad Avengers for some whiskey drinking and I'm in a happy place. As for the comics, I stick with some traditional reading: IDW, DC, Marvel, Image, Dynamite and small press publishers. Since it's the industry I'm in, networking with people already experienced has introduced me to a huge world of indie comics; they're not usually superhero genre and are still American comics.

NOTE: Questions that are mass spammed to everyone, rude or have nothing to do with me get DELETED.

Get a piece of me! The AmberUnmasked Store Launched This Week.

For some reason, people have expressed interest in seeing AmberUnmasked t-shirts. I’m flattered and still baffled that someone would want to wear a shirt, button, or whatever with my name on it. I was definitely something that I wanted for myself to wear at booths and cons when not in a costume.

When my friend and inker ANDREW HARMON sent me a few logos, all I really planned to do was upload them to cafepress so I could print my own shirts and coffee mugs for myself. See, I’m still finding it unbelievable that fans I’ve never met or even my friends that I love would order an AU stamped product. Well, we’ll just have to see how this goes!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! Koni Waves creator and fellow Jersyan STEPHEN SISTILLI was equally as bored as Andrew and decided that he would come up with a banging headshot logo for me. He chose to stick with the basics that Andrew harnessed: the striped hair, the goggles and the color pink. I thought what Stephen did was perfect for buttons so I monkeyed with adding some text and hope the final result didn’t ruin Stephen’s image.

As I said, I was just going to make one or two t-shirts, a coffee mug and a button, but cafepress makes bulk adding of products quite easy so there’s a wide array of swag uploaded already. If anyone has a special request, like you really feel the need for an AU mousepad, just let me know and I’ll activate the product.

The direct url is cafepress.com/amberunmasked

HAPPY SHOPPING AND MANY THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

I get introduce art students to superheroes

I've been having a great time modeling at several art schools and colleges in my region. The instructor of one of the figure study classes was intrigued by my collection of costumes and asked me to bring one for the Tuesday class. This is a big departure from the figure modeling they're used to seeing. The students can use any medium.

Since I want to bring along something where I don't have to pack a ton of accessories, I'm just going to bring a generic suit along with a nice pair of boots. No wigs, belts, gloves, etc. This blue suit was made with the intention of selling it but I don't think a few hours of wear on a stage will degrade it in the least. It makes me think of the Ultimate Fantastic Four and Blue Lantern Corps. I really like it with the white go-go boots. I considered red ones but the white is a great contrast.

If you haven't checked, I've updated what I'm pretty sure is my 2011 convention schedule, http://www.amberunmasked.com/schedule/. I'm hoping that once my short stories are published I'll get to add some appearances at comic shops and book stores if there's any interest.

My Blue Lantern design in DC Comics

From AMBERUNMASKED.com:

Although I made this costume between 2009 and 2010 for one of my friends in the Who Wants to be a Superhero? fan club, Tech Support, it wasn’t until today that the Blue Lantern transformation became a headline in DC Comics....Dan Didio resumed his DC Nation letter in the back of all DC comic books this week. This time it featured Dan pictured with a large group of costumed fans in the various colored Lantern Corps uniforms. Some were based on existing characters while others, like Blue Lotus, were original.

Comics in the pipeline

[insert jokes about laying pipe here... aaaaand now continue]

1. First up is TORI BRIN, TEEN DETECTIVE - my comic short story about a quirky freshmen named Tori Brin that sets out to solve the mystery of who stole the answers to the English Literature exam. Hey, it's not rocket science but it's a fun young reader story to be included in the Creative Compassions project which raises money for the homeless. Art by JAY FIFE and ANDREW HARMON (both: Mary Monster). This project is taking quite a bit of time since everyone involved is squeezing in their work around their "real" jobs and actual lives. It will happen. We just don't know when.

2. Next up is HOLYOAK - Vivian Holyoak is a witch in her 20s that has lost her job and is about to lose her family's home if she doesn't figure out how to set things straight. With the help of her familiars and a ghostly grandmother, Vee does whatever it takes to preserve the Holyoak legacy. This is my comic short from the Comics Experience Intro to Comic Book Writing class under the tutelage of Andy Schmidt (IDW editor). Art by LANE MONTOYA. Expected release is April, 2011. (right: character roughs)

3. Finally, it's SLIM & POSH - my science fiction comic short about an overworked yet brilliant research scientist, Dr. Paul David who has to experiment on lab monkeys on a quest to cure obesity. It's science fiction; therefore the experiments yield some unexpected results. I wrote it as part of one of the monthly challenges in a comic writers’ workshop. This is to be included in an anthology project spearheaded by Shawn Atkins of Workshop13. If you’re interested in indie comics, see if you can join us at the Pittsburgh Indy Comic Society on facebook. Art by THOMAS BOATWRIGHT (Cemetery Blues, Zeke Deadwood). Expected release is April, 2011.

New Alice Gallery

You may have seen the tutorial for my DARK & STRANGE ALICE but now you can see a nice gallery of the finished dress.

Most Epic Costumes for 2010 - it's a Lantern Corps shutout!

MARGIE COX AS CAROL FERRIS

For a few years I've been a proud member of THE SUPERHERO COSTUMING FORUM (the SCF for short). While I'm not there daily like I used to be, it's still my "home" for my costuming needs, advice, tips and comraderie. *There's an application process because we choose to maintain a level of adult maturity that may not be welcome by youngsters just googling for superhero costumes.

The members of the board got to nominate their favorite Female and Male costume creations for 2010. Winners Margie Cox (Star Sapphire Carol Ferris) and Aaron Rivin (Kilowog of the Green Lantern Corps) deserve a huge round of virtual applause for what they managed to accomplish.

It should be no surprise that with DC Comics' crossover event Blackest Night followed by Brightest Day, that the various Lantern Corps were on everyone's minds. In 2010 the costumers managed to pull off some of the most challenging costumes including Larfleeze, Avarice Lex Luthor, Brother Warth and even little props like Dex-Starr, Xax of Xaos, and Ch'p. It would take days to showcase all of the wonderful Lantern Corps costumes seen in 2010. You can get a really great idea from the sister site, THE LEAGUE OF LANTERNS. Plenty of prop makers were busy sculpting masks, corps rings and power batteries long before DC Direct ever got them to market. These are fierce costumers. Some get hyped by the competition of being first; others of being the best. When I can't answer a question, these are the people I send you to.

AARON RIVIN AS KILOWOG

Margie crafted her Star Sapphire costume on her own. It's hard not to be envious of her. She's a lovely person who is always extremely gracious and generous with her time. She does a ton of charity work to raise money for Base Camp. And to top it off, she has mad skills. Her Star Sapphire costume was made WITH SCRAPS from one of her older projects. Yeah. You want to hate her but you just can't help but be in love with her. If you recall, I was first going to tackle this version of Carol Ferris but after seeing Margie whip this out in a weekend, I went with the more modest Silver Age version.

Aaron's Kilowog costume was a full-blown collaboration. The muscle suit, mask, uniform, and ring were all made by people connected to the SCF. He credits the costume to the following:

• Mask by Matt Geuther (maskmasters.com)
• Muscle suit and Hands by Brandon Lane (FlexDesigns)
• Green Lantern Bodysuit by Brian Parsley (GreenarrowFL)
• Green Lantern Ring by Shane Browning (Shane9mm)

CONGRATULATIONS TO MARGIE AND AARON! As always, an unlimited amount of thanks go out to DJ Spider and LoganAllenWolf, our illustrious admins at the SCF. You can also find us on Facebook.

Shameless plug: I designed Dex-Starr's costume for the 2010 Comic-Con International. This Dex-Starr seen with DC's Dan DiDio was co-created with Jill Pantozzi who accompanied Dex as her own Rage Lantern.