Carbon Costume

The Men in Black is a mysterious organization. And few are more mysterious than their leader, Chief Zed. Played by the late Rip Torn, Zed is sardonic and sarcastic but never lets that get in the way of doing his job. Or trying to do right by his agents.

The Men in Black all have a standard uniform and Zed is no exception. They are the quintessential “G-men”. A black suit, black shoes, a black belt, and a black tie over a white button down shirt is their uniform. Black sunglasses, an MIB badge, a neuralyzer, and a Noisy Cricket help too. But for Zed there is one thing that has to be included or his costume won’t be complete: His goatee.

LarryBoy is the superhero alter ego of Larry the Cucumber (voiced by Mike Nawrocki). He uses every power in his control to be the best superhero he can be. Which, generally speaking, are his plunger ears. Those and his LarryMobile which is as close to all-terrain as it can get!

Cosplaying as LarryBoy means taking a few liberties with the look. Larry is, after all, a cucumber. He has no arms or legs. You, as a human, are going to have to improvise.

To that end, use a white long sleeve lace-up shirt as his  top and paint on a yellow vest and ties using fabric paint, reminiscent of Silver Age hero costumes. A pair of purple shorts worn over yellow running pants will give you the purple bottoms while still sticking to that Silver Age style. A back belt serves as a utility belt while yellow foam and silver paint can recreate his belt buckle. You can either hot glue this to your belt buckle or glue a magnet to the back of the foam, depending on how permanent you want the modification to be.

Larry’s hat is where it gets a little tricky. Plungers can be kind of heavy. But if you can find two lightweight ones, you can cut the posts down and glue them to either side of a purple mask. Purple foam and more hot glue gives you the crest of his mask while green face paint gives you the signature cucumber look. Then all you need is a pair of black hero boots to finish off your costume.

Eddie Blake is not what you would call a nice man. He’s done his fair share of hero work as The Comedian and the press loves his patriotic public persona. But behind closed doors he’s not what most people would call a hero. Jeffrey Dean Morgan manages to bring a certain charm to the character in Zack Snyder’s 2009 adaptation. But it’s up to the audience how long that charm holds out.

Blake is a military man and a good portion of his costume is inspired by the military. Black combat boots, black tactical pants, and his thigh holster with a (costume) pistol all stem from his interest in the military. His chest piece is pretty easy to recreate with a paintball vest and leather belts can be repurposed as the straps over his shoulders. His belt buckle can also be recreated using black foam painted with the same silver spray paint you’ll need to modify pre-made shoulder protectors so they have the red, blue, and silver colors Blake wears.

Add a mustache, mask, and smiley button as your finishing touches and you’re good to go. Just don’t forget the cosmetics glue to keep your mask in place!

Peeta Mellark is a central character in The Hunger Games literary and cinematic universe. He is a baker from District 12. At the Reaping, he gets selected to participate in the 74th annual Hunger Games alongside Katniss Everdeen.  She remembers Peeta giving her a loaf of burnt bread that saved her family from starvation. During training, Peeta proves to be a master of camouflage. Katniss and Peeta partake in a “star-crossed lovers” narrative, which results in favoritism and sponsorship from the Capitol. Peeta finds this difficult because he actually likes her, so he doubts whether she likes him back, or is just playing up for the camera. As the final tributes, they almost commit suicide together, but then they’re both declared the winners. Peeta returns to the Arena again with Katniss for the Quarter Quell. While Katniss gets rescued by the Rebellion, Peeta gets captured by the Capitol. They brainwash him into calling a cease fire and thinking Katniss is the enemy. The rebels save Peeta and he slowly regains control of his memory. In the epilogue, he resides in Victor’s Village, where he is married to Katniss and have two children together. Josh Hutcherson plays Peeta in the movie adaptations.

Betty Rubble stole the hearts of millions when she hit the air with the 1960 premier of The Flintstones. Her husband Barney and son Bamm-Bamm keep her busy most of the time. But when she gets a minute to herself you can probably find her with her best friend Wilma Flintstone.

Betty’s look is pretty iconic. Her dress is easily found as a ready-made costume that usually comes with a blue bow, though some dress tape might be handy for keeping the dress in the right spot. Once you have her dress all you’ll need is a black wig and a gorgeous plum lipstick to finish off her look.

If you plan on wearing the costume out, shoe can get tricky. Many people opt for black pumps given Betty is a bit of a prehistoric pinup. But there are other options such as skin-tone flats or “invisible shoes” like those in this tutorial.

Ultraman crashed onto the scene in the 1960s and soon became a giant in every right. His long run of success has landed him on Netflix where a whole new audience is growing to love Ultraman and his current voice actor, Kaiji Soze.

The hardest part of Ultraman’s costume is getting the jumpsuit right. You can also start out with a silver body suit and add in the red details using fabric paint. Once it’s dry you can use a hot glue gun to attach shoe soles to the bottom of your suit. These will make it much safer (and healthier) to walk around cons in your costume. Finish the look off with his helmet and you’re ready to go!

The Jaeger pilots of Pacific Rim (pictured here played by Charlie Hunan and Diego Klattenhoff) work together to pilot giant mech suits in the battle against invading extraterrestrial Kaiju. Each Jaeger requires two pilots that are Drift Compatible, allowing them to merge their thoughts and control the giant machines. The pilots in the movie are best known for the panel armor suits they wear while in the Jaegers, but when they’re not in their rigs, they have a more mobile look. A standard flight jump suit and white t-shirt under a bomber jacket bearing the right patches is all you need to blend in with these brave men and women in the battle against the Kaiju!

Goofy and lovable with a penchant for rhyming, Sisu the dragon (voiced by Awkwafina) has numerous magical abilities, including transforming into a human. Her outfit seems like it was practically designed with us cosplayers in mind! Sisu and her newfound friend Raya embark on a quest to unite the fragments of a powerful dragon orb that protects the five divided kingdoms of Kumandra from evil spirits.