[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi there.
I'm Alicia.
Watch Marvel make me a hero.
Hi, I'm Alicia Marie, and I'm a costume artist,
cosplayer, and writer.
So when I got the opportunity to go to San Diego Comic Con,
I was like, I'm going to cosplay.
And I was so nervous.
I had no idea how to make a costume back then.
So I worked with a major costumer.
And people were so receptive.
And you'll find that cosplay is a very positive community.
And then I started working with companies who wanted me to make
costumes and cosplay them based on characters
they have in their games or television shows or movies.
I've had a lot of fun with it.
I've gotten to meet a lot of people.
And to be honest with you, if me dressing up
like extraordinary Storm makes a little girl of color
realize that she can grow up and do anything, then I did my job.
My cousin, he had a bunch of various comic books.
What stuck out to me was the She-Hulk books he had.
She was smart, first of all, because she's a lawyer.
But she was very headstrong and vivacious and playful.
And she would lift weights and work out.
Being strong is part of her character.
So when I was, like, nine, 10, I wanted to be like She-Hulk.
I just love how the Marvel universe is constructed.
It's strong, capable, smart people who aren't perfect.
And I think that philosophy is something
that's helped me throughout my life without realizing it.
Like, a lot of times--
I lost my hearing in my early 20's.
It was very difficult-- like, super difficult.
I had to go through a lot of mental work
to get to where I am, like, right now.
Comic books and what I took with it growing up
helped me through it to being OK with who I am.
I would love my Super Hero to be one of the characters
that I've sort of been playing around
with for years in my head.
Her name is Any Skill Strider.
The thing about is, she's not really human.
She's an alien.
And one of her super powers is, she has mimicry.
I've always been obsessed with shape-changers.
What Strider is using her super powers for
is to save her people and to save her planet
from being taken over.
She decided to take off to find this element that she needs.
And she lands on Earth.
She adopts the ever-appearance of a human college student.
She's tall.
Her hair is dark.
She is darker-complected.
The only thing she cannot do is change her eye color.
So her eyes will always be that alien blue.
I definitely want her to look strong.
I want her to have nice arms sleek legs.
Her outfit would be something that she can move in.
I like lighter colors, so something clean, silver, gold.
And then Strider doesn't have any handweapon.
She's not really a fighter.
She only fights if she absolutely has to.
She does not want to kill anybody.
If it comes to that, she can though.
(SCREAMING) Oh, my gosh!
No way!
Oh, my gosh!
This is exactly how I imagined her.
This is my favorite Super Hero pose of all time.
I feel like she's very representative, because she
just looks multicultural.
One thing that anybody who cosplays
will tell you-- figuring out the shoes
is, like, 55% of the entire thing.
Because you know you're going to be at a convention
for eight hours walking around.
She has shoes that I can wear.
They're low heels, but they still look sleek.
She looks very sophisticated.
I love silver in general.
And the gold is just fantastic.
And her hair is just--
I love it.
I had to shave my head when I had cochlear
implant surgery for my hearing.
Represent.
Thank you, Marvel, for making me a hero.
[MUSIC PLAYING]