DIY: How to Make Comic Book Shoes

Have you ever wanted to wear Superman or Batman on your feet? How about Spiderman? Deadpool? The Invisible Woman? With a truly simple art project you can get this done in no time, and have new stylish footwear that your buddies will envy. They’ll be one of a kind, ’cause you made them! I recently took a pair of flats, and glued my favourite bits from a Skottie Young comic to the pair, and wound up with a sweet set of colourful shoes that I can wear whenever I want to share my love for Marvel comics. Here’s how it’s done!

This past weekend was Fan Expo in Toronto. Have you been? It is filled daily with a ton of colourful characters, and I’m not even kidding. Some are yellow, others are green, all are entirely awesome! I tried wearing my shoes there, but only lasted about 30 mins with them on. There’s nothing wrong with the shoes themselves per se… I just have very weird feet, anything that isn’t a Skechers shoe simply hurts. So yeah, now that I’m confident in my Comic Book Shoes making skills, I’m next going to try this on a pair of Skechers, when I find the right ones.

In the meantime, here’s what you need to make your own pair of Comic Book Shoes easily.

Tools to Make Comic Books Shoes

1. A pair of shoes that you’re comfortable wearing. All of the similar tutorials I’ve seen used a pair of heels that had a smooth surface. My first pair of shoes had fuzz all over them, and it still worked beautifully. The fuzz was glued down, so the shoes now looks like they originally had a smooth surface, but I like them that way anyway. Just note that the smoother the surface, the easier it is to apply the comic paper. So any ridges on the outer shell of the shoe will be difficult to work with.
2. A comic book or two that you don’t mind cutting up into pieces. I happened to have an extra copy of Skottie Young’s Giant-Size Little Marvel #3 in my stockpile, and still felt guilty cutting up the pages, even though I had a perfectly pristine copy still sitting in my collection.
3. Scissors. Any pair will do really, but if you happen to have a precision pair in your scrapbooking tools, totally get those ones out! My fave pair will always be [easyazon_link identifier=”B00C90WLGU” locale=”CA” nw=”y” nf=”y” tag=”geewitsty-20″ cart=”y” cloak=”n” localize=”y” popups=”n”]EK Success Tools Precision Scissors[/easyazon_link]. I’ve had two pairs for nearly a decade now, and will never give ’em up![easyazon_image align=”center” cart=”y” cloak=”n” height=”500″ identifier=”B00C90WLGU” locale=”CA” localize=”y” nw=”y” nf=”y” src=”//geeklife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/41wPswixdL.jpg” tag=”geewitsty-20″ width=”500″]
4. An angled paint brush, like one from [easyazon_link identifier=”B00J8HCO64″ locale=”CA” nw=”y” nf=”y” tag=”geewitsty-20″ cart=”y” cloak=”n” localize=”y” popups=”n”]Plaid Angle Brush Set, 44277 (5-Piece)[/easyazon_link].
   [easyazon_image align=”center” cart=”y” cloak=”n” height=”500″ identifier=”B00J8HCO64″ locale=”CA” localize=”y” nw=”y” nf=”y” src=”//geeklife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/41BOt1puo8L.jpg” tag=”geewitsty-20″ width=”115″]
5. And finally,[easyazon_link identifier=”B000HWY6EM” locale=”CA” nw=”y” nf=”y” tag=”geewitsty-20″ cart=”y” cloak=”n” localize=”y” popups=”n”]Mod Podge Waterbase Sealer, Glue and Finish (8-Ounce), CS11301 Matte Finish[/easyazon_link]
   [easyazon_image align=”center” cart=”y” cloak=”n” height=”500″ identifier=”B000HWY6EM” locale=”CA” localize=”y” nw=”y” nf=”y” src=”//geeklife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/41gfF52CfEL.jpg” tag=”geewitsty-20″ width=”500″]

How to Easily Create Comic Book Shoes

Here are the simple steps I took to make my Avengers/Xmen shoes.

1. Place some spare paper or a placemat over the area you’re going to work.
2. Cut out all the shapes you want to use. If you want to cover the entire shoe with comic panels, cut them all out in odd shapes. Be prepared that not all are going to fit as you’d like. This was probably the hardest part for me. It was a bit time consuming to meticulously cut out all of the images I wanted to add to my shoes.
3. Get a rough idea of where each image will be glued on the shoe, before you begin the actual gluing.
4. Fully cover the back of your first piece with Mod Podge glue, and stick where you had decided to place your image. Don’t worry about glue showing up on the front side of the image; just gently wipe the excess away with your fingers.
5. Repeat step #4, until you have all pieces in place on your shoes.
6. Using the same glue, paint a thin amount of Mod Podge all over the outside of both shoes (even areas that are not covered with comic images, but do avoid the soles.)
7. Wait for the glue to dry (about 15 minutes,) and then repeat step #6, three or four times per shoe. Honestly, you can keep adding more layers until you feel satisified with the glued finish over your images.
8. And that’s it! Once your shoes dry for the final time, they’ll be ready to wear as soon as you want.

And Now You Have a Fabulous Pair of Unique Shoes

I call my right shoe my “Captain America: Civil War” shoe, heh. I do have the biggest pout that Bucky Bear was not in this particular comic. #SadPanda

Why yes, the Winter Soldier is a teddy bear in Little Marvel world, why do you ask?

I love the fact that word bubbles glue on nicely. This fact makes me want to create a shoe almost entirely of Deadpool word bubbles, but that would require a ton of his comics to get the best quotes, (and there are many of which I don’t have a first copy of, for shame.)

The really cool thing about this project is that it’s actually not limited to a pair of shoes. Have a table that needs a fun top? I have a desk from IKEA that would definitely benefit from layers of comic book panels.

Have you ever tried decoupage before? I’m finding that this might very well become an art addiction for me! My storage boxes for things like taxes will look so very awesome with vengeful Wolverine on the lids.