Their first issue, subtitled "The Glamour Issue," is packed with roughly 179 pages of content, split into various sections. This included a professional cosplay photo gallery, commentary from the designers, Japanese event photos which were split into subsections for comics, anime, and games, followed by etiquette and design tips. They've also included a US exclusive section of the magazine that provides photos of American cosplayers, and subsequent profiles for both the cosplayers and photographers. The book itself is hard-bound, with high quality glossy pages. This works exceptionally well for the photos, making the twenty dollars I spent seem worth it for the presentation alone.

The first portion of the magazine is the professional cosplay pictorial. At this point, I had to ask myself how exactly I'd go about reviewing cosplay photos, and while I'm no photographer, I've seen my fair share of cosplay over the years. In addition to that, I've seen many professional photos that have been taken at various events. Thus, I can safely say that these are some of the absolute best cosplay photos I've ever seen. The costumes are spectacular, and the models are all easy on the eyes. What really caught my eye however, was the amazing attention to detail. From gorgeous locals to clever use of lighting and shadows, every picture has a unique feel that leaves you with the impression that this is something special. Following the pictorial is a small section that provides mini commentary on each costume, with details such as how long it took to make or which part was most difficult. It really give me sense of how much dedication went into each design.

Next is the Japanese event photos which consisted primarily of group shots taken at various events from all over. Aside from being separated by genre, each photo has a small bubble with information regarding each character, the series they were from, and the date and name of each event. There are also smaller bubbles that provide a small bit of commentary from the cosplayers themselves. While not every one of these photo are taken with amazing backdrops or lighting, the information bubbles managed to keep me interested throughout this section. If you can believe it, they even managed to spark my interest when it came to a few series I didn't already know off hand. Also, due to the nature of group pictures, not every cosplayer is mind-blowingly hot, but I would venture to say that the ones who are more than make up for it.

Event etiquette is another topic which I've always been curious about. While there are various sources on the net that provide some amount of insight as to how to properly act at individual events, I've found that the small guide provided in this issue gives a great general overview. They make a point to stress proper communication and interaction, but also provide tips on how to avoid potential issues relating to it. Cosplayers aren't the only ones who need to take a look at this section. There is also information for photographers and standard con-goers alike. If anyone has listened to our podcasts, they might remember us mentioning Action Camera Man, aka "the photographer who likes to lunge in the way of everyone's pictures." He would be a great example of someone who needs to seriously read this.

After that is the how-to section. The first thing covered is wig styling and frankly I was impressed. Each style is provided with extremely detailed instructions from the style of wig, to the secret ingredients used for each look, such as which type of styling gel or spray to buy. Every style also comes ranked in difficulty on a scale of one to four stars, with one being the easiest and four being the hardest to pull off. The following section goes over easy costume design and provides simple reference diagrams that are seemingly easy to follow, though I would imagine you'd need some level of skill when it comes to tailoring your own outfits. Other topics include how to wear kimono, yukata and hakama, as well as creating boot covers for your costumes. My favorite part of this section was how to make a body suit. Finally a guide to making myself look far more ripped than I actually am.

The last three sections of the issue deal mostly American cosplay and provide a quaint, but beautifully photographed gallery as well as profiles on two American cosplayers. A small question and answer column and photos are provided for each. There are also two profiles for Japanese cosplayers which have less detailed answers for the same questions. I could imagine the answers themselves were probably more detailed prior to translation, but to be honest, I always prefer it to be more concise to the point. The last several pages have similar profiles for well known cosplay photographers. While the photos were excellent, I'd honestly like to see this section expanded in future issues.