Cosplay Lass

Hi Tim! Why don't I send you a letter from the correspondence files as part of you "Letter From Dave" thing? This one is from 2 years ago corresponding with Daria Medved re: what I didn't know at the time was going to be the last issue of glamourpuss. ~ Dave

Glamourpuss #26 (July 2012)
Art by Dave Sim

21 February 2012

Hi Daria!

It's taken me a while to get my thoughts organized on the COSPLAY LASS idea. Anyway, here's what I have so far:

1) I think I would have no problem with the LOLITA style as long as it could be called something else and not be obviously misnamed. Maybe LOLI or VISUAL KEI or AMA-LOLI or GOSU RORI depending on the outfit.

2) I'd like to use your cats in the strips. I don't even have to ASK if you have pictures of your kitties. I know. I'd like to emphasize how crazy ZP is, thinking that she and Bunny talk to each other by having your cats just be cats. I'm fine with.using different names for them if that's a problem for you. Julie Eng didn't want me using Bunny's real name of Poofie -- but that's because she does an all-ages magic act.

3) Can I keep the book for a while? It's helping to read Cosplayers in their own words but I'm not sure how quite yet. I'll get it at some point.

4) I'd like to do you as Xena, changing the name to Zeda warrior Duchess or Marquessa or something like that. When you say you "have this costume", did you D0 the costume or is it an "off the rack" commercial model? In either case as much information as possible will help me find the gag wherever it is.

5) I have "Cosplay is in the details" and "Cosplay is for fun not fashion" in my notebook. Let me know if you have any more "Cosplay sound bytes" I can use.

6) Is "Master Sewist" the actual term that Cosplayers would recognize? You don't use the term "seemestress" or "seamstress" in other words?

7) How identifiable is the term "Kosupure" in Cosplay? I'd almost prefer to use it because it's more exotic sounding -- Kosupure Lass -- but not at the expense of Cosplay recognition.

8) I'm just noticing in your cover letter that Lolita fashion ' started on the streets of Harajuku. This is another instance where the "exotic-ness" would supersede the Western name. But, obviously, not if it's too esoteric a reference. I HOPE to get Lolita Fans reading glamourpuss so it needs to be a name that has the same recognition factor without the western "baggage".

9) I'm leaning in the direction of haying Zootanpuss do bad costumes opposite your good ones and critiquing them. Like you did with the Jill Valentine costume and the Soundwave costume. Here's why your costume is good and her costume is bad. It's potentially a little tricky: I'd need examples of bad costumes and then have to hope that no one recognizes their own costume by changing the position, exaggerating the flaws. I don't think anyone would sue but I also don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I think I can do it. So: bad costume photos that would be top secret along with WHY it's a bad costume.

10) Personally, I think Mana and EGL and EGA would make the best drawings -- black satin, dark make-up and pretty much straight b&w so if you have that in some form that would be good both for you and ZP.

11) SILENT HILL nurses would be fun but I have to steer away from anything that might be seen as misogynistic and that definitely includes any gore. Zombie covers, I think, are okay because of advanced decomposition but painted on blood is a different thing. Do you have the gp zombie covers? If not let me know and I'll send them to you.

12) Yoko is out of the question. Cleavage is okay but the underside of the breast is a little too sleazy for gp.

13) As I said on the phone, if you can invent names for your as yet unnamed costumes and some kind of backstory that would be helpful. Variety with your own emphasis -- whatever you think are your best foot forward -- anime, video games, Lolita, steampunk, faire. Some photos look more like comic book pages than others. In the book you sent me (if you have your own copy to refer to) these are the ones that jump out at me: pg. 7, 25, 26, 32, 43, 47, 61, 63, 79, 83 84, 92 (Lianne), 109, 121, 127, 145, 144, 149, 155, 160, 163, 200, 201, 212, 213... these are the ones I'd describe as the "sweet spot" meeting place of model/costume/photograph. I don't know if that helps.

Glamourpuss #26 (July 2012)
Art by Dave Sim

I think you're right that RPG scoring isn't going to work. I think maybe the way to go is with actual competition judging if you have any costumes that you've had judged in that way. Likewise what judging of ZP's bad costumes would be like.

As you can see from the #25 solicitation, I just rigged the front cover so that it's as much an ad for Stoo Metz as it is for Kyla (which is what I'm driving at -- to come up with an intellectual property all three of us can use without asking permission of the others. Kyla and Stoo can use my drawings, pages or covers for anything they want, I can use - Stoo's photos for anything I want and we try to do SOME things jointly (like the 60 prints of the cover I did for the three of us to sign. Since I don't do signings or conventions, that's a pure "Stoo and Kyla" thing -- the total cost was $148 and as I said to them, I'm happy to get the LAST $148 out and let them sell them at whatever pace they sell). I'd like to do the same thing with you and Eurobeatking.

From THERE? Well, definitely I want to emphasize Dragoncon with you -- shipping copies of the book to your hotel as well as the posters -- Zombie covers -- whatever you and EbK are interested in handing out in whatever quantity. Handing out or selling if you're actually going to have a table. It's a lot cheaper than paying you in cash!

From THERE? I'd like to keep doing Cosplay -- I'd leave it up to you (as I said on the phone) to use your Brand Manager expertise to decide which models, which costumes, which photographer(s). I'm picturing either The Legion of Substitute Kosupure Lasses (or whatever we end up calling you) or an issue devoted to one model. I think the way to do that is to specify sending me each model's "Best 10" photos/costumes and that leaves me the option of picking 1 or 2 "Legion" pictures or doing an entire issue.

Let me know what you think!