MYSTERE INVADES COMIC-CON

On July 17-19th, 2003, life was breathed into Bryan Kinnaird's screen play the Villikon Chronicles.  A team was assembled to create the live versions of the characters that, up to this point, had only existed in the minds of the creators.  At the core of the ensemble was actress, model, and absolutely beautiful person, Cheyenne Silver, taking on the leading role of Mystere.

The event was San Diego's world famous Comic-Con convention, an annual gathering of artists, writers, film stars, and numerous other talents related to the comic book and science fiction industries.  Bryan Kinnaird and Roy Young, the creative forces behind Y-K Productions, had set up shop in a 10'X10' booth to promote the Villikon Chronicles graphic novels and to introduce the prequel, The Crucibles of Mystere.  Young's vision of the character Mystere was developed into a beautiful full color print through the use of reference photographs of Cheyenne Silver and the masterful use of Photoshop art techniques.  Here is a scan of the image:

This was the blueprint for what would soon be the "real-life" adaptation of the outfit called the Kramcutioner Armor.  Obviously, the heart of the project was the woman who wore the outfit, Cheyenne Silver.  She was a part of the project long before I became involved and she brought to the table a huge fan base.  She had recently filmed a movie with James Woods and she's in the running for Penthouse Pet of the Year.  The next component of the Kramcutioner costume was the fabrication of the black armor.  For this, three world-class artisans named Lance Dworshak, Kevin O'Connor, and Mike Kiselnik (now collectively known as DOK Armor) were enlisted to build the armor from scratch.  The three are members of the Star Wars costuming group known as the 501st Stormtrooper Legion and within this organization they have gained experience in building the white armored stormtrooper costumes.  In fact, the three of them were in their stormtrooper gear for my bodypainting photoshoots from CopperCon (with  Lynette Brooks as the Mara Jade character) and from LepreCon (with Tawnya Gentlemen as the Talon character).  Click on the thumbnails below to see two shots from these photoshoots:

Rumor has it that the ingredients for DOK armor to build Cheyenne's suit and two additional Sentinel outfits was "2 months, one kitchen, and 15,000 watts of ass pounding fury!!"  I also heard that three monkeys were employed but I have not been able to validate that information.  Pictured below is a picture of Lance and Kevin donning their armor at the event.

The last component of the Kramcutioner costume was the bodypainted representation of a gel-based armor from the Crucibles of Mystere screenplay.  This is where I came in to the fold.  For this event I used Badger Airbrushes Totally Tattoo bodypaint through a Badger airbrush.  To mask the non-painted areas, I used Deviant Liquid Latex, which proved to be very painful for Cheyenne when we were peeling it off (sorry Cheyenne).  

Cheyenne was fitted into this outfit on both Saturday and Sunday for the Comic-Con event and made appearances at both the Villikon Chronicles booth and at the celebrity signing location.  I would estimate that she was photographed by at least 400 cameras and signed well over 600 autographs during the event.  

On Thursday, she attended the conference with what is known as the wicca facepainting and the primitive "loin cloth" wraps.  This outfit is again based on artwork created by Roy Young.  Here is a scan of the limited edition print:

This was the third time that I had the opportunity to paint this red foundation and black tribal design on Cheyenne.  The first time was when she was being fitted for the armor by DOK and the second was for the photoshoot with Playtime Magazine.  Playtime had decided to expand their distribution into the San Diego market and printed two separate covers for their July 2003 issue.  Both covers were of Cheyenne dressed as Mystere, but the collectors 1st edition of the San Diego version is the one that featured her with the wicca face paint.  Here is a scan of the cover (photo by David Brandt):

During the Playtime photoshoot, I had also painted Cheyenne's back with the Imperial logo that adorns the covers of the three part graphic novel.  The logo was painted with black paint with a glowing outline of fluorescent paint that glows under ultraviolet light.  Unfortunately, none of these images made it into the issue, but here is one exclusive shot from Future-Class X Publishing:

Well, the third time was a charm when I painted her in San Diego.  I should mention that make-up artist Morgan Murry helped with the eyes and lips for the Playtime shoot and Bryan Kinnaird's wife, Denise, helped in San Diego.  I still need to work on my chops at applying glamour make-up.  Here is a close up of the face paint:

Pictured below is a shot from the convention that features Cheyenne with Star Trek Next Generation actor Wil Wheaton, who played the character Wesley.  Flanking Cheyenne on the left is armor builder and cast member Lance Dworshak and to the right of Wil is Jarred who was playing the part of a porphyrian from the Villikon Chronicles.

I also caught a shot of Wil with the creators of the Villikon Chronicles.  Pictured below from left to right are artist Roy Young, Wil Wheaton, writer/creator Bryan Kinnaird, and the newest member to join the fold, artist Norm Mireles.  The background of this picture shows the VC booth and you may recognize the backdrop as the one used in my bodypainting demonstration for this year's LepreCon event where model Kay Kochman was painted to be Shaleste.

So why don't you see me in any of these pictures?  I was running around shooting pictures and/or meeting celebrities such as Stan Lee, Lou Ferrigno, Stacy Walker, Aria Giovanni, Elvira, Olivia, casts of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, and a slew of others.  I had a blast at the event and am looking forward to the next one.  Here are some additional links that have more info about the event:

http://www.bluefood.cc/int_cheyenne1.html 
http://www.fanboyplanet.com/interviews/cheyennesilver.php 
http://www.comic-con.org/ 
http://www.villikonchronicles.com 
http://www.cheyennesilver.com 
http://www.az501st.com 

The three part graphic novel of the Villikon Chronicles is available from Amazon.com by clicking on the images below.  I have read all three and highly recommend them not only for their thought provoking story line, but also for the rich colorful graphics.  One trip through the saga and I became a fan!

If you are interested in ordering a print from this photoshoot or would like additional information on bodypainting, please feel free to contact mark@futureclassx.com and visit my website at www.futureclassx.com .  Thanks for visiting!