Photo courtesy of Niaomi Acosta.
For this week’s campus celebrity, I have chosen Spiderbae Cosplay who is an anime fan and cosplayer here at SCAD Atlanta. A few weeks ago, Spiderbae posted a few images of herself dressed as a female version of the Miles Morales character from Spiderman. Within less than a day, her cosplay went viral on Tumblr, amassing hundreds of views, reblogs and likes. It has since sparked tons of fan art on Tumblr and Facebook. I caught her for a quick interview about her cosplay and her plans to go further with the Miles Morales genderbend.
Aspen Evans: What is your major and year at SCAD Atlanta?
Spiderbae: Graphic design and senior.
AE: What initally got you into cosplay? Do you attend any conventions?
SB: I started cosplaying due to my love for anime. I went to my first convention (Momo-Con 2010) not wearing cosplay and was amazed by all of the cosplayers I saw. It made me want to go to another convention in cosplay and it all started from there. I usually only go to Momocon and AWA (Anime Weekend Atlanta) but I plan on trying out other cons in Georgia next year.
AE: Do you admire any other fellow cosplayers?
SB: NipahDubs and KayBear are fantastic cosplayers.
AE: I recently saw you “blow-up” on social media for you Miles Morales cosplay? Can you tell me about who Miles Morales is and what inspired you to dress up as him?
SB: Well Miles Morales is the new Spider-Man after Peter Parker’s death. A lof of people just know him as “the new black Spider-Man.” There’s a lot more to him though. Anyone who hasn’t checked him out in further detail definitely should. Why I decided to cosplay as him … well, Spider-Man is someone I’ve loved since I was very young. He was someone I looked up to and someone that I wanted to be and growing up to see that there’s now a black Spider-Man is very exciting. Eventually, it hit me, why don’t I do a genderbend of him? And I did.
AE: I watched you become slightly Tumblr famous over this cosplay over the span of a day. How do you feel about the increasing social media attention you have received from this cosplay?
SB: The internet fame was very unexpected. It was overwhelming at first, and it still is at times, but I’m slowly getting used to it and beginning to enjoy it. I’m currently running a cosplay page on Facebook and I decided to name it “Spider-Bae Cosplay.” It’s going well so far and I want to continue to keep up with and show all of my cosplay adventures there.
AE: Do you intend to continue your Miles Morales cosplay or will you switch up to other characters?
SB: I want to do both. This Spider-Man internet fame acutally made me want to take cosplaying more seriously and make more cosplay, but at the same time I want to keep the Spider-Man identity because it’s way too fun being Spider-Man to just give it up.
AE: Lastly, since Donald Glover voices Miles Morales on Marvel’s “Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors” and there was a campaign for him to be the latest Spider-Man before Andrew Garfield stepped in, would like to see Glover as Miles Morales someday?
SB: Of course! Always #Donald4Spiderman.