Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad DC Comics Display

This is a Comic Book Rack that I made for my bedroom to hold all of my (mostly Green Arrow) comic books. It pits some of the most famous members of the Justice League against some of the most famous members of the Suicide Squad.

I used a magazine rack, but you could use a normal shelf, or picture frames. You could also just arrange the characters around the room for accents here and there.

Things you will need:

Vinyl Cutter w/ software (I have the MH721 MK 2 from USCutter. I have found it very easy to use and precise. It is also a very affordable way to get into vinyl cutting.)
Shelf to hold Comic Books (I used an old magazine rack that I got at an auction for $5).

Step 1: Choose Your Characters and Stances

This is possibly the most important part of the process. I wanted some characters that would be recognizable, but also some that may be lesser known. Spend some time on Google Images finding the specific characters/poses that you want.

I found that a lot of the Injustice: God's Among Us character images had really nice poses. The Injustice Wiki lists all of the characters and has images that are easy to trace.

If you can't find any that you are in love with, you can always scan and trace one of your comic books in your cutter software (I used Illustrator).

Step 2: Trace Your Characters to Get Outlines

Do a simple trace of the characters to get the cutting outlines. This is the most time consuming part of the process. Be careful to be precise with the tracing. You don't want oddly shaped characters. I used illustrator and did a live trace to start with, then expanded the paths and made minor edits.

If you don't want to spend the time to do it yourself, and are happy with the characters/stances that I chose, you can use the pdf files in this step.

Step 3: Choose Your Vinyl Colors and Cut

I used 4 different colors for my characters. I have more colors, but I like the way they kind of related to each other by color. You could do them all in one color if you don't have multiple colors available.

Apply transfer paper (I use contact paper) if desired. Since there are no small counters, I didn't need it that much. Decide how each character is going to be arranged around your rack/shelf so that you can make sure everything is even and straight.

Step 4: Apply Vinyl As Desired

I evenly spaced my characters around my magazine rack, but you could easily arrange the vinyl however you want. You could even scale the characters to be life-sized (like a fat-head). I used my magazine rack because it is clear and looks nice and clean. If you don't have one, you could be using a normal shelf, or just arranging the characters along a wall.