Originally posted on my blog, The Comics Cove, not too long ago...

I figured I'd give a quick update on the comics-related resolutions I made for this year, since I actually have made some progress on one of them and think I have a good shot at pulling both off this year.

A little over a month ago, I posted about New Year's resolutions, and how most of mine have failed miserably whenever I made them. I decided to tone down the seriousness this year, and made two New Year's resolutions that were specifically comics-related. They were to attend at least one comics convention that occurred outside my current hometown of Houston, and to construct at least two different cosplay costumes this year.

Nothing too serious, but fun goals for me to reach for in the coming year. Well, I'm proud to announce that I've started taking the first steps to creating one of my cosplay costumes, specifically Nightwing.

One of the steps I've resolved to take in conjunction with this particular resolution is to purchase or otherwise acquire some part of some costume at least once a month. At the tail end of January, I put in an order for a black pair of boots that I thought would make good footwear for my Nightwing costume. I received them a few days later, and present a few choice pictures for your viewing pleasure. Please forgive any quality issues, I shot them on my phone camera, and am a noob when it comes to photography in general.

These boots were about as close as I could find to approximate Nightwing's look in the footwear department. They come up to about the middle of my calves, and have a smooth appearance that I think works well enough for the costume's overall look and feel. In concert with some black tights, I think they'll do a good job of emulating the bottom half of Nightwing's costume--you know, the easy part.

The biggest problem I have with these boots is that their smallest size, advertised essentially as idea for size 8-9 shoe wearers, is still slightly loose for my legs and feet. I can walk around in them just fine so far, but there's a definite difference from the snugness I'm accustomed to when wearing shoes that fit properly. Still, there are worse positions to be in, and there are ways to coax a little more mass into them to fit better. We'll see what happens, but in the meantime, if any cosplayers out there know how to deal with this particular predicament, please feel free to let me know.

One other item of interest: I've taken a 4-ft dowel rod and cut it in half, with the intent of taking black duct tape and wrapping it around both sticks to approximate the appearance of the escrima sticks Nightwing sometimes uses.

The next item on my list would be black tights, both for this costume and for symbiote Spider-Man. Again, being new to this whole cosplay creation thing (well, to this level of detail, anyway), I'd appreciate any advice from cosplay veterans who've done this before and have any suggestions about where to look, what materials to consider, what retailers have worked best for them, etc. In the meantime, I'll continue to shop around and muddle about as best I can.

On the convention front, Wizard World Austin remains the easiest way to fulfill that particular resolution for this year. It's scheduled for the end of October, and I definitely want to go if I can get these costumes off the ground. In the meantime, Comicpalooza comes to Houston in May, and hopefully I can get at least one costume finished by then. If not, I can probably go as either a Jedi, the Tenth Doctor, or maybe the Crow.

As always, time will tell!