Cosplayer Spotlight: Batman Week

Avery, who also goes by Acdramon, is a black cosplayer based in New Jersey! He has been cosplaying for 6 years. Uppercut wanted to highlight Avery, his batman cosplay, and his experience with the community! To see what he is up to and his upcoming projects, give him a follow over on Twitter and Instagram.

What Batman did you cosplay & why did this specific outfit/series jump out to you?

I cosplayed Batman Beyond because the tech noir design of the suit is so cool and seamless. Plus the character’s build was closer to mine so it resonated with me a bit more.

Was there anything in this cosplay that was difficult to do? What did you do to get through it?

The helmet. I’ve always been historically terrible at making them. I pretty much made a new template based on old helmets I made while also improving and modifying the design.

Being a POC in the cosplay community, what are some awesome things to come out of it?

Most certainly the connection with my fellow POC and especially black) cosplayers. It’s very communal and it really makes me feel like I belong and that I’m in my element.

Now, what are things the community can work on?

It really needs to work on having the whole “Come as you are” mantra they say be more than just surface level. It feels like a lot of the time, the more ingrained you are in the community the more strife you face as a POC, especially the darker you skin tone is. It feels like you can put in 4 times the effort for 1/4th of the love.

Do you have any upcoming projects?

Not really anything concrete. I usually build whatever comes to mind or piques my interest rather than have a time schedule I commit to.

Advice for people getting into cosplay?

Build. Work on your craft. For the love of god, don’t go in only for the soul purpose of gaining fame. And by the way, don’t think that your “lack” of skill is somehow exclusive to you. Every cosplayer makes mistakes. Every. Single. One. So just enjoy it all and take it one step at a time