Our New Year's 2018 Bombshell is an Inspirational Cosplayer in More Ways Than One

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Critical Blast Bombshell 2018 01

January. The first. First day of the first month, and a whole new year laid out ahead of all of us. Many of you may be thinking about what you'll do differently this year, what you'll change from last year. And many of you may have already resigned yourself to the notion that you'll probably fail at it, but what the heck, it's a tradition, right? Think about the gym, the work, the sacrifice, and figure that'll last until February and your first box of chocolates, if you're lucky.

Lucky for you, our January 2018 Critical Blast Bombshell has inspiration to spare! Sure, we love to check out cosplayers and get inspired by their costume designing, their prop-making skills, their ability to pull a character off of a page our out of a game and drop them right into our convention center or special event. But this month, we give you a cosplayer who's a little bit more than that.

After cosplaying Poison Ivy in 2015, cosplayer Sarah Spaceman decided she wasn't happy with the way she looked, and made a decision to change that.

"How i lost weight was really simple," she tells Critical Blast. "I started eating right for the first time ever. I started using myfitnesspal after seeing it randomly in an imgur post, and thought 'Hey, I guess I can try.'"

Sarah was a college student at this time, and had the typical college student diet. "I was eating fried food and pizza, all day, everyday," she says. "I was even having extra meals, I'd basically have TWO DINNERS everyday. But when I started to see those calories adding up in the app, I slowed down."

While the results may look miraculous, Sarah assures us it wasn't a Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo transformation. "It wasn't a cold turkey kind of thing," she says. "It was very VERY gradual. Eventually I broke those bad habits, and turned to healthier foods. Also I basically never work out. I'm at the point where that would help me gain muscle and become fitter, but my loss of 50-60lbs was entirely based on diet. I think a lot of people think the best thing to do for weight loss is hit the gym, but it really comes down to what you have for dinner--or in my case, how many dinners you eat!"

The Critical Blast Bombshell has set out, from its inception, to be more than just a showcase of pretty pictures and awesome tailoring; it's about making a difference, in the lives of others and in yourself. With that in mind, we could not be prouder to present to you, our readers, the...

Critical Blast Bombshell, January 2018

Sarah Spaceman


Shiny Chariot (LITTLE WITCH ACADEMIA)
photo by Sarah Spaceman

What is your interest in cosplay? 

For me, the fun is in creating the cosplay. I make about 90% of what I wear. Sometimes it's incredibly frustrating, and other times it's amazingly rewarding. In everyday life, I'm in a creative field, but I dont have much control over the things I create for other people. But with cosplay, it's whatever I want. It's my biggest creative outlet. Having even one person stop me at a con and say, "Hey, that looks really nice!" makes any frustration during the creation process worth it.

How did you get into it cosplay, and what was your first cosplay experience?

My first costume was one I bought online to wear to a small con, but what got me into making my own, was how poorly that first costume fit. I used to be a lot heavier, so making my own was often the only way I could be a character I wanted to be.

How has your cosplay evolved since you began?

I've been pushing for years to get better at things I'm lacking skill in, particularly sewing. But I've improved my prop and armor making skills a lot. Back in the day, my props were flimsy craft foam trainwrecks. Now they're study EVA foam carwrecks. (I've got a lot to improve on!)


Undyne the Undying (UNDERTALE)
photo by Sarah Spaceman

What is your "secret identity" outside of cosplaying?

I'm a motion graphics designer in my everyday life, which means I work in Adobe After Effects all day animating graphics. I incorporate my everyday skills into most of what I post on my social media--mostly animated sparkles. I like sparkles.

What kind of social or charity activities do you get involved in with your cosplay?

I'd love to get to do some cosplay work for charity, but right now I haven't gotten to do anything like that.

Do you make as much of your own costume as possible or rely on purchased materials -- and is that important overall to cosplaying?

I make probably 90% of my costumes. It just depends. For my Shiny chariot, I even made her buttons, and drafted all the patterns from scratch. But if theres something out of my skill set, I have no problem buying a piece of a costume--or things like anime school uniforms. There isn't much point in making those when they are mass produced.

What's your favorite cosplay, your "go to" look that you just love to put on and act out?

I made Rose years ago, but I'm still not tired of her. Getting to carry massive props while also wearing big pink ballgown is every girls dream, right?


Rose Quartz (STEVEN UNIVERSE)
photo by Sarah Spaceman

Where can people go to find you online?

Instagram is my main platform, @sarahspaceman. But I also have a Facebook page under the same name.