Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Michael McMillian Talks Mages, Vampires and Panda? - Part 2

Diva's just so Team Eric
Campy, blatantly outrageous and bloody sexy. That's HBO's TV series "True Blood" for ya.

And yet, the series has managed to amass a growing and dedicated fan base called Trubies.

Lately, there have been many pics of SDCC "True Blood" panel and autograph signing sessions floating around the interwebs. This year, hot fan favourite, Alex Skarsgard (Eric Northman) turned up to join his cast mates and Red Dot Diva noticed that he looked surprisingly relaxed while hamming it up with the Trubies at the convention.

Then, there's Rev. Steve Newlin, who was last seen in Season 3 but no one seems to know what has become of him these days! Newlin's real life alter-ego, actor Michael McMillian was last seen at SDCC though, busy doing panels and signings of his own.

Michael, who created the "Lucid" series published by Archaia, also knows how to vamp up a sexy story. Together with co-writer Mark Andreyko, the duo has crafted an interesting side story in "True Blood: Tainted Love", a 6-book series about spiked Tru Blood and its effect on the vamps at Bon Temps. The spin-off graphic novel is published by IDW.

In order to extract some more juicy info, Red Dot Diva attempted to glamour Michael McMillian about his work in the "True Blood" spin-off graphic novel and other upcoming projects in Part 2 of the interview:

Red Dot Diva: In the "True Blood: Tainted Love" comics, did you ever find it a challenge trying to write the characters according to how they have already been portrayed on TV?
Michael: My co-writer Marc Andreyko and I certainly wanted the characters to sound and feel like they do on the show. The great thing about "True Blood" is that those characters are so distinctly drawn, it's pretty easy to get into them. Occasionally a line of dialogue will feel off, and we'll either catch it or get a note from Alan Ball to fix it.

Red Dot Diva: Have there been any scenes in the "True Blood: Tainted Love" comics that were not eventually published?
Michael: We outlined Tainted Love ahead of time, so I think we accomplished most of what we wanted. There were instances in our original outline where we had to change a few scenes because they were too similar to story beats coming up in season four. Those were a bit disappointing, but it gave me confidence that we were on the right track!

Red Dot Diva: Where do you think Alan Ball is keeping the live panda you sent him? (Is it even still alive!?)
Michael: I've been told he's living a happy life and is strictly "Team Bill".

Red Dot Diva: So where *is* Rev Steve Newlin? And will he be popping back in some more episodes this season 4 of “True Blood”?
Michael: Steve's probably dead at this point. He's pissed off a lot of people and vampires alike.
(Red Dot Diva: ughhh. Say this isn't so!!)

Red Dot Diva: I hear that you are writing another indie graphic novel called "The Indian and the Bandit". Do tell us a little more about this project.
Michael: It's an original graphic novel co-written and illustrated by my friend W. Dave Keith. It's a story about two boyhood friends growing up in the late 80's in Kansas. It's about that last year of innocence and wonder before puberty hits and you have to go to middle school and the adult world comes to get you. 

Dave lives in Kansas City, so our time working on it together is a bit limited. We're currently rewriting the script. It'll be along time in the making, but it'll happen.

Red Dot Diva: Any other projects that we might see you back on screen again?
Michael: I'm in one of those lulls between acting jobs at the moment, so I can't say for sure! There's a good chance I'll have more comic work out before then. Who knows?

Red Dot Diva: We really wish you could join us for this year’s Singapore Toys, Games and Comic Con in August. Could you send a little message for "True Blood" and comic fans here on our tiny island?
Michael: Singapore: This could be a mutually beneficial relationship. Make me huge in Singapore and then I can come out and maybe bring some TB folks with me! Come on guys, we can do it!!

Singapore Trubies and Michael fans, you've heard it from the manl himself! We can do it, can't we?

Check out and help spread the word about his creative works in the graphic novel series "Lucid" and "True Blood: Tainted Love" and give him lots of mega-signal boosts on our island!


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To give love to Trubies in Asia, here's an online contest for you! Right here on Red Dot Diva's blog!

A copy of "True Blood: Tainted Love" #2 autographed by Michael McMillian himself is up for grabs!!!

What you need to do:
1. Go to the Red Dot Diva Facebook Page and "Like" it (if you haven't already done so). Click the link here.
2. Answer this question correctly: Name one of the graphic novel series written by Michael McMillian.
3. Send your answer to this email address
4. You will need to have a postal address in the following countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei

Contest ends on 19th August midnight, Singapore time. A winner who has met the above conditions will be selected randomly from all entries received.

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If one has missed Part 1 of the interview with Michael McMillian, click here.

Still not enough Michael McMillian? Here are a couple of pics on what he was up to at last week's SDCC:

At the Archaia/ Before The Door panel at NerdHQ
Pic by Laura Stephens (@wikkibird)

And going aloha on CBR's yacht!
Pic by @amm133

Red Dot Diva is also aware that Michael did quite a few signings at SDCC, but she does not have pics for those. *sniffle*

However, she has marvellous news for which she is still vibrating with excitement about.

Short of a zombie infestation or a sudden mauling by direwolves, Red Dot Diva will be at SDCC 2012! Super big thanks to @eserei27 for getting in line at 1am just to secure the 4-day w/ preview night passes for next year's convention.

The 2012 Diva-Nerd Perv-fest is *ON*

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