Celebration VI: Suvudu Jaina Solo Art Brought to Life

Cross-posted at Suvudu:

In June, Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare co-author Paul Urquhart shared with Suvudu readers his best star-pilots in the Galaxy Far Far Away. The article featured images created by Frank-Joseph Frelier and included artwork of Stealth-X pilot Jaina Solo. On the first day of Celebration VI, I was amazed to see Shea Standefer at the Dark Horse Comics booth in her cosplay recreation of the new flight suit. In less than two months she pulled off a spectacular costume, which she also wore to the Del Rey panel the next day.

Shea took some time to share with FANgirl Blog her thoughts on costuming and how she pulled together the Stealth-X Jaina Solo costume in time for the convention. She also passed along a few images showing the evolution of Jaina’s character in costume, including exclusive new pictures. From the interview:

I think Jaina fans all over the world – especially myself – simultaneously let out a squeal of excitement when the image of Jaina in a Stealth-X flight suit appeared on Suvudu! If you are interested in making the costume, first and foremost I would contact the artist, Frank-Joseph Frelier, if you have any questions on aspects of the design. He was incredibly helpful and very supportive of my endeavor to bring his drawing to life, and generously answered all of my questions. These are some of the notes he gave me:

  • The outfit is a flight suit underneath a jacket. The flight suit is made out of fabric, while the jacket is meant to have the appearance of leather. This explains the differing textures of the jacket and pants in the drawing. (If you look very carefully, the light from the lightsaber is absorbed differently on the different fabrics – the jacket is more “shiny,” while the pants are more “matte.”)
  • The outfit is a deep indigo color, rather than black. This is a nod to Jaina’s lightsaber color.
  • The chest box is an “updated” version of the X-Wing chest box. Its look is influenced by the original chest boxes, but is also meant to reflect a newer generation of pilots, hence the redesign.

Click to read the rest of the interview.


Tricia Barr writes about Star Wars, genre storytelling and fandom at FANgirl Blog and Star Wars Insider. She is also currently working on her first novel Wynde. Fans can connect with her on Twitter at @fangirlcantina or Fangirl Zone on Facebook.

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Tricia Barr took her understanding of brand management and marketing, mixed it with a love of genre storytelling, and added a dash of social media flare to create FANgirl Blog, where she discusses Star Wars, fandom, and the intersection of women within Star Wars fandom. She is co-author of Ultimate Star Wars and Star Wars Visual Encyclopedia from DK Publishing, a featured writer for Star Wars Insider magazine with numerous articles on the Hero's Journey. Her FANgirl opinions can be heard on the podcasts Hyperspace Theories and Fangirls Going Rogue. Tricia Barr's novel, Wynde, won the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Ebook. She was also part of Silence in the Library's successful all-female creator science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena's Daughters, which is available now. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.