Every month our staff combs the cosplay community for up-and-coming cosplayers who deserve to have a broader audience for their work, taking into account not only costuming skills and photogenic presence, but also how they use that ability in service to others. Through this, we've not only met some talented cosplayers, but also some fine human beings.

This month our search unearths a cosplayer who not only looks like your favorite superheroes, she can also give them a run for their money physically! We think you'll be as impressed as we are with her accomplishments as we are. So it's with admiration and awe that we are happy to introduce our readers to our...

Critical Blast Bombshell, July 2021

AMH Cosplays

Savage Land Rogue (Marvel Comics)

Photo: AMH Cosplays

What is your interest in cosplay?

I love the challenge of taking a character and bringing them to life through costuming and crafting. Sometimes there’s the additional challenge of adjusting a costume for real-human proportions, too, but that’s all part of the fun. An added bonus is the smiles and reactions from people when they recognize my character.

How did you get into cosplay, and what was your first cosplay experience?

I was born to cosplay... literally, since my birthday is Halloween. Dressing up is something I never outgrew. My first true cosplay was Ranma Saotome (boy type), although in high school a couple of us made our own Kirk-era uniform shirts and hung out at a Star Trek event in New York.

How has your cosplay evolved since you began?

I’ve learned how to sew and I occasionally mangle foam and Worbla. I’ve expanded beyond anime and Star Trek to comic books, literature, television, film, and beyond. I enjoy creating my own original characters, such as my witch, and I love coming up with creative mash-ups such as my Bulmegan (Dragon Ball Super’s Bulma mashed with The Walking Dead’s Negan) and my Professor Poison Ivy (Pokémon’s Professor Ivy mashed with DC’s Poison Ivy). I also love coming up with my own takes on existing characters, such as my Goth Pippi Longstocking and my Hogwarts Running Club Hermione. I’m currently working on a Bombshell She-Hulk.

I don’t forget my roots, though. I still do plenty of anime cosplays and I’m working on four new Star Trek cosplays.

Power Girl (DC Comics)

Photo: Forest's Edge Photography

What is your "secret identity" outside of cosplaying?

I am a columnist for two magazines and I run my own business-document editing service. I am also the post-editor for a local photography studio and I manage our family’s poultry farm. In addition, I am the co-owner/master instructor of a martial-arts studio that is currently closed due to the pandemic (hopefully opening this fall!) and I work part time running a technology help desk for a local school district. I am also a certified USA Triathlon official and I do event appearances as Wonder Woman and other superheroines. 

I keep busy!

What kind of social or charity activities do you get involved in with your cosplay?

Socially I’m a paradox: the geek jock. I love going to cons and fandom meet-ups and I’m very much looking forward to these starting up again soon. I’m also very involved with STARFLEET - The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc., where I serve as the director of four different colleges in the association’s online STARFLEET Academy. Did I mention geek? Then there’s the jock. I’m a four-time national Tae Kwon Do champion. I’m also a competitive runner, racing any distance between 1 mile and 50K, and a competitive triathlete. I was a member of Team USA and I competed at the World Championships in Odense, Denmark in 2018, placing third in my division in the open Sprint Aquathlon event and competing in the age-group Long-Distance Aquabike event. My gym just opened up again, so I’m slowly getting back in shape for the 2022 race season. 

She-Hulk (Marvel Comics)

Photo: Forest's Edge Photography

Do you make as much of your own costume as possible or rely on purchased materials -- and is that important overall to cosplaying? 

I make about 40% of my cosplays from scratch. Most are either carefully thrifted from multiple sources or commissioned based on my specific designs, with perhaps 10% straight-out purchased from cosplay vendors which I then alter to fit me better. 

I personally believe that, if you put time and effort into creating, designing, or thrifting a cosplay or taking a readymade costume and altering it to make it your own, you’ll have a deeper connection with the cosplay and the character because more of yourself is invested in it. An example is my Atom Eve cosplay. I took dozens of screenshots of the character and pored through the comic books before sketching out a costume that took the best of the comic books and the TV show. I went through all of the color palettes to identify which colors to use and provided every measurement possible to the person I commissioned to create the cosplay for me. I reviewed his artwork and made adjustments and corrections, then gave the final go-ahead in late May. A few days ago, I came across a readymade version of Atom Eve available from an online cosplay company. It’s just not the same. 

Similarly, the month I took designing a pattern, selecting and cutting fabric, sewing, hemming, altering, satin-stitching, and adding details to create my Salem (RWBY) gown and cape just can’t be matched by simply going online and buying the readymade Salem cosplay. I spent three weeks searching thrift shops and Amazon to find the just-right components for my Savage Land Rogue cosplay, which I completed at the end of May. I very much encourage cosplayers to challenge themselves with creating or thrifting their cosplays... it adds so much to the overall enjoyment. Or learning to sew! I learned two years ago and it’s opened a new dimension of cosplay to me.

What's your favorite cosplay, your "go to" look that you just love to put on and act out?

Bulma Briefs from the Dragon Ball universe. I have more than 30 different versions of Bulma, with the latest one just debuted in early June. Most of my Bulmas are canon, but some are mashups or original takes on her character. I spent three days at the 2019 ShutoCon changing my cosplays to age her from 16 to mid-40s, remaining in character and interacting with others as Bulma the entire time. It was a blast!

Where can people go to find you online?

Instagram: AMHCosplays

Twitter: AMHCosplays

Facebook: AMHCosplays 

BONUS: Because it's not all about Western comics, but also Manga, here's some Panchy from Dragonball Z!