Valerie Perez as Lara Croft
Welcome to the new year Ninja Nation and what better way to ring it in than with the first cosplay babe of 2011, Ms. January, Valerie Perez. First a greeting from Ms. Perez herself:
“Happy New Year Ninja Nation. I am looking forward to more spotlights on the ladies of geekdom and am honored to kick things off for 2011!”
"Tomb Raider: Tears of the Dragon" film promo still
Valerie has provided us with some of the classic pictures that shot her to cosplay fame as well as photos from her newest projects and some exclusive photos seen here first!
Comics Ninja exclusive!
In fact, since she has provided us so many wonderful pictures and graciously agreed to an interview, we have had to split her feature into two posts over two days. It’s twice the goodness as we head into 2011!
Poster from "Tomb Raider: Tears of the Dragon"
As a quick background, in 2006 Valerie took her affinity for the character Lara Croft and teamed up with fellow fan Nick Murphy to create the live action film “Tomb Raider: Tears of the Dragon.” The movie was a hit premiering in movie theaters and garnered such a following on Youtube that it has been declared the #1 Tomb Raider fan film in existence. 
Valerie gained so much attention perfecting the Lara Croft character that, in 2007, Atlantis Studios hired her to create a film short based on their new comic book entitled “Paula Peril: Trapped In the Flames”.
Valerie becomes a comic book character heself! Talk about art imitating life, imitatiing art.
This seven minute short became a fan favorite catapulting Paula Peril to become the top selling comic book for Atlantis Studios.
Paula Peril all tied up!
On the heels of the “Trapped in Flames” success, Valerie then starred in two more Paula Peril installments, “Mystery of the Crystal Falcon” and the recently released “Invisible Evil“ with a fourth installment coming soon.
O.K., we see that the Ninja Nation’s monitors are starting to smoke and some are even beginning to burst into flame so we’ll bring this first installment to a close. Tomorrow we will bring you part two of Valerie’s feature with a fantastic interview of Valerie herself and more cosplay photos including Wonder Woman, The Scarlet Witch, Zatanna and even Ghost Busters! Until then we’ll leave you with one last outstanding photo to enjoy.
Dear Ninja, all I can really say is “wow”! I’m amazed at the quality of the girls in your publication and this one blows the roof off ‘em all. Tell me when I can see Miss Perez on the big screen in an action film??! We’re starving for this!
GS