This was my first collaboration with Jill “the Nerdy Bird” Pantozzi. She had come up with her own original Red Lantern of the rage-filled space army of DC Comics. Jill had the brilliant idea to carry her own rage kitty, DEX-STARR which is a real character in the comic books. Dex became so popular that he’s been made into action figures and heroclix. While my Dex Starr may not be the biggest or necessarily the best, I’m pretty sure he was the first. Jill debuted this ensemble at the 2009 Comic Con International in San Diego.

There were several exceptionally cool things that churned out of Jill’s idea. First, she was contacted by writer (now executive) of the Green Lantern comic, Geoff Johns. He sent her a red power ring which was a good thing because I had acquired a ring for Jill from Shane Browning (aka shane9mm) which has a battery powered light; but Dex needed his own ring!  Then Dan DiDio spotted Jill & Dexx in the audience of a DCU panel and kidnapped Dex. Dex had a place of honor up on the podium the entire time. He was photographed A LOT. Afterward, tons of people asked to buy Dex. Some even started offering some crazy bids for him! It certainly made me feel proud to have a part in Dex’s creation.

I utilized left over scrap fabric. I really like the way the red PVC contrasts against the plain black milliskin. I love PVC but I hate working with it. My needle gets coated in the stretchy plastic as it goes up and down. I have to stop every few stitches and scrape it off which makes for a very slow process.

Drafting the pattern pieces onto test fabric.	I baste test pieces so that I can separate them and use them as the actual pattern pieces.	I'm really not certain about the sequence of these pictures.
	Basically, I worked directly on the kitty since there wouldn't be a need for him to get in and out of the suit.
The ring on the tail was a perfect touch.
	Jill dyed Dex the appropriate shade of blue.
	DC's Dan DiDio spotted Jill with Dex and brought the Rage Kitty up to the podium.	Tons of people approached Dan and tried to bid on Dex!

The original tutorial is at HeroFashions.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.