MCubed Interview at the North Texas Comic Book Show
As a quick preface to this interview, this week we will be deviating from the norm & posting not one, but two interviews! While this interview was originally intended to have come out yesterday, technical difficulties from an internet outage in our area prevented us from posting at our normal Tuesday time. Regardless, we will be posting our second interview of the week tomorrow morning. So, be sure to check back then to learn all about the Sci-fi book series, Enigma! Now, let's jump right into today's story!
At this year's North Texas Comic Book Show, I had the chance to sit down with Marla, from MCubed Cosplay, & talk with her about her experiences in the world of comic book conventions, what it's like to be a well known cosplayer in the DFW area & beyond, & what her thoughts are on her cosplay work compared to her other modeling. The first thing that I discovered when we met was that she has an incredibly warm & outgoing personality. While that may sound like a general platitude given out to anyone who was nice enough to give an impromptu interview to us, with Marla, it was something much more than that. Everyone who came by to talk to her, whether random fan or long-time friend, received just as much attention & respect from her as the next person. She was genuinely grateful for every person who came by to see her. When you are around the comic convention circuit for long enough, it's easy to take for granted the people that you see in passing & start to see them, & the environment itself, as mundane if the experience is't something extreme, like meeting your favorite actor or high profile comic book creator. However, that wasn't Marla. She understood the importance of every interaction & made them count.
When asked about what she focused on when making a new character to cosplay as, she said that had a strong desire to keep her costumes as screen accurate as possible, especially for her Star Wars characters. While some of her modeling work does include sexy versions of various nerdy characters, ranging form Mario to a pin-up version of Rey from Star Wars, her actual cosplay work stays as close to the real thing as possible. In fact, in preparation for The Force Awakens' premiere, she spent three months creating what turned out to be the 3rd screen accurate Rey costume by a fan in the world using only 3 reference photos, one of which was from marketing material for a toy. For those of us that remember how rare a decent picture of Rey was to find prior to the release of JJ Abrams' foray into Star Wars, you can imagine how hard she had to work to accomplish this achievement. Since then, she has made screen accurate costumes for Jyn Erso (Rouge One), Princess Leia (A New Hope & Return of the Jedi), & the new costume for Rey from The Last Jedi.
As most people who follow cosplayers know, what is just as important as the talent of the cosplayer in creating the quality of their work is the photographer(s) that they work with. To her credit, Marla is quite open to working with a full list of photographers, rather than just one or two that have become her go to. For photographers in the world of cosplay, this is beneficial because working with models who work with many different photographers usually comes with the experience of knowing how to help the photographer get the images that they are wanting to create. For the cosplayer, as Marla put it, she understands that each photographer has their own style & by working with different photographers, she can not only build her catalog of work with a wide range of styles to keep things looking fresh, but when she has a specific style that she wants for a given photoshoot, she has more options to choose from to get the exact look that she wants.
All in all, if you are not following MCubed Cosplay on social media, you absolutely should be. If you really like her work & are so inclined, she even has a Patreon where you can support her future projects & get exclusive content from her each month. Otherwise, if you happen to see her at your next convention, it is definitely worth your time to stop by & tell her hello! You may just find yourself having a fun conversation with great person.
Photo Credits:
Jyn Erso & Leia:
Rey, Slave Leia, April O'Neil, Zoe:
Punk Sailor Moon & Ghost Rider:
Last Jedi Rey:
Studio Rey:
Modeling:
Don't forget to check out the North Texas Comic Book Show to stay up to date with their summer announcements!