Interview with Knightmage
Cosplay is one art form that allows fans to portray their favorite characters. There are so many kinds of spins that you can put on a character’s costume and it’s so fun to see what people can come up with. All it takes is time, material and an appreciation for anyone to cosplay. Knightmage was gracious enough to allow us to interview him and we hope that you enjoy learning more, that is, if you haven’t already heard of him!
GeekPost: How long have you been cosplaying?
Knightmage: I’ve been cosplaying since 2012 but have always loved dressing up for Halloween since I was a child. Prior to 2012 I knew of conventions and that people dressed up for them but didn’t really know how vast the world of cosplay was. My first taste of cosplaying outside of Halloween was doing a Relay For Life Cancer Walk charity event. Various charity events were all I was doing until I attended my first convention the following year. My passion for this hobby was pretty much instant after that.
GeekPost: Do you enjoy cosplay or crossplay or both?
Knightmage: Absolutely both! Honestly I just love creating. To me the sky’s the limit. As long as I think I’ll have fun then nothing is off the table.
GeekPost: What was your very first cosplay?
Knightmage: John Stewart Green Lantern. That was a costume that you could find at Spirit Halloween or a costume store so I had to crudely put it together. My girlfriend helped me sew it and I went out for Halloween and had a blast. It was that costume that a friend of mine noticed and asked if I could participate in his charity event. Admittedly I wanted to be the Green Lantern Guy Gardner but I didn’t know if that would be socially acceptable as that character is traditionally seen as Caucasian. Again, this was before I got into the world of cosplaying so I didn’t know any better. Now that I’ve been inside the world I know that any and everything is possible. Cosplay is nothing but your fan art of the character and there’s no wrong way to do fan art.
GeekPost: What is your current favorite cosplay?
Knightmage: That’s like asking who my favorite kid is. It really depends on the situation and how I’m feeling. At conventions I love doing makeup and wow factors so characters like Hellboy, Kratos and Spawn are some of my favorites. At charity events I love doing Batman and The Grinch. If I’m teaching then I like to use Predator as an example of budget cosplaying. To date I’ve done over 300 costumes so it really is difficult to say or narrow down favorites.
GeekPost: Have you ever been in a cosplay contest?
Knightmage: Twice. My very first convention I entered as Batman and the second time I entered a contest but I wasn’t supposed to. I was invited to go to a convention and it was my first time as a “guest” so I had no idea that it was bad etiquette to do so. To be honest I haven’t had a chance to enter contests since 2013 as I’ve been thrusted into judging spots due to the volume and quality of my costumes. I’ve attended over 150 conventions worldwide and I’m typically asked to be a judge. It’s an extremely tough job but I do love to do it. I also always encourage people to enter contests and not necessarily to win. To me one main goal of being in cosplay is to be seen. When you’re on that stage for that 30 seconds to a minute all eyes and cameras are on you. You deserve to be seen so own it. And if you win that’s just a bonus.
GeekPost: What is your funniest cosplay story?
Knightmage: Between all the charity events and conventions I can honestly say that I’ve never had a bad experience which means I have had a ton of fun ones. I really can’t narrow that down.
GeekPost: Favorite part of cosplaying?
Knightmage: Personally for me equally two things. First just the art form. Whether it’s crafting or performing. I absolutely love being able to create and be someone else even if for a moment. The second is being able to give back through this art form. Doing the charity events or raising money for the charities. Just being able to give back while doing something you love is a total win-win.
GeekPost: Have you had to deal with any negativity when you cosplay?
Knightmage: Absolutely! We live a social media age where it’s so easy for someone to try and tear you down and there’s so many ways people can do so. Racism, elitists, gatekeepers, sexism and much more. The cosplay community very much has its dark side but truly there’s way more positive out there than negative. I combat the negative by staying focused and moving forward. I don’t mind being that example that someone may need for that extra encouragement to try cosplaying if they’re afraid.
GeekPost: When you’re not cosplaying, what do you like to do? Do you consider yourself a geek?
Knightmage: I believe we’re all a geek for something. It can be sports or comics or anime or movies. So absolutely I am. I keep a pretty busy schedule between cosplaying and the day job so my off time is typically spent at the gym or crafting.
Big thanks goes out to Knightmage! Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to get to know you and allow our readers to do the same!
All pictures obtained from Instagram, with permission from Knightmage.
If you want to see more of his amazing work, you can find Knightmage on the social media links below.
Honestly pretty interesting