Superhero Hype Cosplay: Doctor Doom

Note From the Editor: This week, Superhero Hype’s special guest cosplay correspondent is Marc Kandel, a fan who has a knack for creating costumes that aren’t always common in the cosplay scene. Regardless, Marc’s favorite character to cosplay is one of Marvel’s ultimate villains: Doctor Doom. Victor von Doom has been one of the Fantastic Four’s greatest adversaries almost since their inception.

Doom has also given the Avengers, Spider-Man, and numerous other heroes everything they can handle and more. Essentially, he’s Marvel’s Darth Vader even though he predates Vader by well over a decade. Doom will eventually make his MCU debut alongside the FF. But for now, this is the closest thing we’ll get to see a live-action Doom that actually looks like his comic book counterpart.

I didn’t even know the term “cosplay” when I cobbled together an outfit for my first Comic Con in 2012. I figured it was what one did at these events, and what better character to sport than a villain I had been fascinated with since I was eleven years old? This terribly flawed, arrogant, tortured, yet indomitable genius took crap from nobody, but he was also his own worst enemy. Far more so than his self-appointed nemesis, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four.

RELATED: Superhero Hype Cosplay: Unveiling Jean Grey’s Most Obscure Costume

Special thanks to Sean Hale, J.C. Ramos, Melvin Wright, and also KOfitnessnycosplay for contributing pics for this column!

Photographer Links:

Sean Hale

Instagram: @seanhaleyeah

J.C. Ramos

Instagram: @jcramos_photography

Melvin Wright

Instagram: @multimediamel

KOfitnessnycosplay

Instagram: @kofitnessnycosplay

Superhero Hype Cosplay: Doctor Doom

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I had no idea how warmly the costume would be received, not just by con-goers but by the artists/writers of Marvel themselves, the folks that made the proverbial sausage.
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Every year I would upgrade the suit and I now consider it "perfected."

(Photo by Sean Hale)
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I've done multiple other characters as well, discovering that cosplay filled a creative void for me. But I always come back to Doom, my second skin and the costume I'm most comfortable in and happy to wear.

(Photo by KOfitnessnycosplay)
Homage To John Byrne's Fantastic Four #259 cover

Doom is based on the artwork of John Byrne, an artist who, for me, perfected the look of Jack Kirby's iconic design.

The mask is the most important element of Doom. I discovered that with paper mache over a clay sculpt, followed by craft foam details and metal brads as rivets, I could properly mimic a Byrne-style 3D version of Doom's death's head visage.

The sculpt is based on Byrne's cover for Fantastic Four #259, an image I wasted no time paying homage to once the cosplay was completed, with the help of a few of my Marvel Legends action figures.

Yes, I am geeky beyond all unit of measure and I embrace this.
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The hood is the oldest piece on the costume, a pattern for medieval garb provided at a Society for Creative Anachronisms craft night. Picking the deep hunter green turned out to be a good decision.
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The cape is faux-velvet, purchased at a mom n' pop fabric store, cut to flare out at the bottom. As Doom tends to have high, voluminous pleats at the shoulders in the books, which I can't manage with just fabric, I added yoga mat foam over the cape, heated, pleated with glue and brads and painted to match the rest of the cape it sits upon.

The belt, arguably the most expensive piece, was purchased from the women's section at a clothing store. The ladies just have much more interesting belts than the guys. Doom acknowledges this point of fashion and respects it.

(Photo by J.C. Ramos)
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The tunic is two yards of a richly patterned dark emerald fabric I found for five dollars, the best deal I have stumbled upon since starting this hobby. I bought all the packs available (Doom must always have a contingency plan) and cut a sleeveless tunic pattern ending a few inches above the knee based off the comics.

My wife kindly sewed it up for me as A: I am not nearly as comfortable with fabric as I am with foam, and B: I am forbidden from laying hands on my wife's sewing machine. Some boundaries even Doom himself dare not trespass.
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Though I keep Doom's armor close to the comics, sleek, unadorned by etchings, symbols or scalloped plates, I want my cosplays to tell a story, offering history or insight into the character.

For Doom, I use his cloak clasps. Instead of the gold discs, I made stylized Doom faces. You can see Four recognizable arms reaching out of the mouths on these faces.
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Doom would never elevate the importance of his enemies by adorning himself with reminders of them... but he has shrunk adversaries before, as well as trapped them within a metallic coating.

So are these figures ornamental... or are they prisoners?
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The armor pieces -- upper and lower arms and legs, gauntlets, boots and cloak clasps, are all eva foam of varying thickness, mostly 8mm which is ideal for extremities, smoothed over with Masked Dad Workshop foam clay, providing both flexibility and durability.

I wanted to capture the simple circular work of Byrne's pencils which seem easy, until you go real-world with it.

I don't build torso armor nor any armor for the back and top of Doom's head. I never take my hood down at cons or shoots, so I won't waste time and resources on pieces that aren't going to be visible.
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I want Doom's armor to convey history and antiquity while remaining sleek and polished. All pieces, after being sealed with Mod Podge, are sprayed gloss black, lightly dusted by silver and brass sprays, followed by a dry sponging of gunmetal gray, antique bronze and a wash of turquoise to show some oxidation.

(Photo by Melvin Wright /@multimediamel)
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This combo makes for a gorgeous, weathered look, but it's not quite appropriate for this character, whose armor is carefully, dutifully tended and polished every day.

So it's a final dry sponge coat of gunmetal followed by a black acryllic wash to sneak into all the cracks and crevices to further texture the armor, with a bit of black airbrushing to shade the various joints.

(Photo by KOfitnessnycosplay)
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Now we are ready to rule Latveria... the world... the universe... and perhaps even the multiverse.