Liz OhanesianView more photos in the Comic Book Vixens Burlesque slideshow.
Following a spit-heavy set of middle finger-waving, punk-ish rock from Die Fast, a mild-mannered young man in thick glasses and a reporter's hat stepped onto the Bordello stage, fumbling through his pockets as the mayor rang his cell phone. Then he stopped and transformed into the superhero of our cynical generation. Mediocreboy is no Superman. As he clumsily changes from his ordinary suit and tie into his T-shirt and tights uniform, he loses yet another gig from the mayor to “The Man of Steel.” His skill set includes jumping “small buildings with a fire escape” and berating the audience for talking too much. He's a cantankerous superhero, but our most trusted guide through the realm of Comic Book Vixens.
Just in time for Comic-Con, this month's installment of the popular Devil's Playground burlesque show featured the heroines and villains of the comic book world. As with the troupe's Video Game Girls show, this event combined the geeky with the exotic and we were there with score cards in hand.
Kitty Cadillac as Catwoman; Credit: Shannon Cottrell
Character:
Catwoman
Costume:
Black, PVC top and bikini bottoms, knee high boots, cat mask.
Skills used:
Whips, scratching.
Execution:
After a series of stretches from behind an orange and yellow screen, Catwoman peeked outside of her cat house, shimmying up and down the pole, until she landed on the roof, where she poured a rhinestone encrusted bowl of milk all over herself. Catwoman stayed in character after the performance when she began scratching a random audience member.
Score: 5
Lucy Fur as Wonder Woman; Credit: Shannon Cottrell
Character:
Wonder Woman
Costume:
Blue bikini bottoms with white stars, red tube top, red boots, headband and bracelets.
Skills used:
Strength, speed, bracelets, Lasso of Truth, possible invisible plane.
Execution:
When Wonder Woman rubs her bracelets together, she is unstoppable. She can dart from one side of the stage to the other, flex muscles that are bigger than most in the crowd and wrangle audience members with her Lasso of Truth. She may or may not have arrived in her invisible plane.
Score: 5
Courtney Cruz as the Joker; Credit: Shannon Cottrell
Character:
Joker
Costume:
Green hair, weird smiley make-up, purple jacket and corset.
Skills used:
Creepy grin, trickery.
Execution:
Oh, you might think that Batman's nemesis has had a change of heart when this Joker takes the form of a very attractive girl teasing the crowd. But when the Joker busts out an over-sized gun, sprays the audience with toilet paper and finishes the job with that oh-so-creepy grin, you know that nothing really changes in Gotham.
Score: 4.5
Charlotte La Belle as Vampirella; Credit: Shannon Cottrell
Character:
Vampirella
Costume:
Very revealing red body suit with a white collar, black boots, black bat wing-styled cape.
Skills used:
Transforming into a bat, staring down the audience.
Execution:
Once the red dress was removed to reveal a collar-with-bandages style body suit, it was clear that Vampirella, the heroine of classic horror comics, had arrived. She frequently stopped to stare down the crowd and transformed into a bat multiple times with the aid of a black cape. Also, we must point out the nice use of Black Sabbath as the soundtrack for this routine.
Score: 4.5
Audrey Deluxe as Sheena, Queen of the Jungle; Credit: Shannon Cottrell
Character:
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
Costume:
Leopard print mini dress and bikini, spear.
Skills used:
Wielding a spear, taming wild animals.
Execution:
The mix of exotica and '60s rock added an appropriately retro edge to this mid-20th century heroine. Sheena is the Queen of the Jungle and, as such, has a way with wild animals. Similarly, this Sheena managed to tame a fairly rowdy crowd with her routine. Her use of the spear was great, but we would have liked to see more weapons, maybe a bow and some arrows.
Score: 4
Vamp Lorraine as Poison Ivy; Credit: Shannon Cottrell
Character:
Poison Ivy
Costume:
Green bikini bottom and tube top covered in ivy leaves, read hair sprinkled with flowers.
Skills used:
Spraying a “poison” bottle on the crowd.
Execution:
Poison Ivy's costume was great, but her skill use was limited to the very beginning of the routine, which disappointed us. We think that this should have been a joint performance with Harley Quinn.
Score: 3.5
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