SDCC 2011: The Last "Chuck" Panel

The announcement that Season 5 will be the last one for TV series "Chuck" was already made some months back. This piece of information made the panel at SDCC 2011 especially bitter-sweet for the fans, co-creator Chris Fedak and the cast members.

For without the small bunch of fans who believed in "Chuck" right from the start, the TV series might not have even lasted for five seasons.

The special thing about "Chuck" was the relationship the cast members had with their fans. Lead actor Zachary Levi is not only a star on the show, he is also an A-star with the fans as he constantly interacted with them on Facebook and Twitter. Plus he's an absolute handsome hunk of adorkable friendliness if one were to meet him person.

Seriously - how many celebs are open-heartedly willing enough to send a video message to a Red Dot Diva many miles away? (See this post for the proof!)

And of course, Yvonne Strahovski is such a beautiful sweetheart that she melts both the hearts of men and women. Not forgetting, Joshua Gomez's funny antics and tweets, and all the other cast members on the show who seem to have their own little fanbase. Jeffster, anyone?

D, a fellow "Chuck" fan and Twitter friend, was at the SDCC panel this year and she sent this report with some info and spoilers about the last season. She also managed to squeeze some time out with Vik Sahay and Mark C Lawrence.

Comic Art Show 2011 - Day 1 Was Buzzing!

Set in the arty part of the Bras Basah-Selegie area, Wilkie Edge was a nice quiet spot to host an indie-styled Comic Art Show.

Red Dot Diva strolled in about 2 pm and immediately spotted a couple of familiar faces. To her surprise, several art pieces were already sold, leaving empty spaces on the exhibition wall! And a few more which were still on the wall, were already tagged with orange "SOLD" stickers. Wow.

This was just 4 hours into the opening of the exhibition. A great start to a local show focused on comic art!

Brea Grant In Indie Movie "Homecoming"

Red Dot Diva is sometimes terribly envious of those living in LA. For she loves most things indie and Lala-land is usually almost where "stuff happens".

She usually has to settle with living vicariously through various good friends who are able to experience these events first-hand.

Just this Monday 25 July, an indie movie entitled "Homecoming" was screened at the Downtown Independent in LA, as part of a monthly event by Film Courage.

The heartwarming movie, starring actress-comic creator, Brea Grant ("Heroes" and in the next season of "Dexter"), John Robinson, Tom Fox-Davies, Sean Hackett and Colleen Camp, has already won some awards in film festivals around the USA, including US/ International Best Narrative Film at the 2011 AMC Theatres Kansas City FilmFest. The tale about friendship and family was written and directed by Sean Hackett.

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:

SlamCon 2011 - An Inclusive Con Party!

Todd and the beautiful SArmy ladies!

Tired of not getting invited for all those hoity-toity exclusive con-parties during SDCC??

Then, there's always SlamCon!

"Heroes" actors and comic geeks Todd Stashwick, Brea Grant, comic artist Dennis Calero kick-started a casual party at the Hyatt Hotel, mezzanine bar at 9 pm last night! Together with them was "Warehouse 13" writer, Deric A. Hughes.

Many of Red Dot Diva's Twitter buddies like @Mabetini, @doubleshiny, @TsarMaxii, @beckyb731, @wikkibird, @TheReal_Rebel and @ebrown2112 joined in the geeky carousing, kicking it back with drinks and having a swell time with the crowd. Todd even called @Giddy4Gideon on the phone to say hi!

And there was even a great view of the fireworks at the marina! View Todd's twitvid where he and Brea say hi!

Other folks like "Heroes" producer Foz McDermott and writer Jose Molina ("Firefly", "Terra Nova") joined in later to party up with the rest too.

With such a laid back, easy-going mix of creators, celebs, well-known geeks and just down-to-earth fans, it's already becoming one of the best SDCC 2011 party ever. ;)

Red Dot Diva thinks that Todd, Brea, Dennis and the crew should try to do this for every convention they are at and get it to be is Devilish as possible.

After all, conventions are about having fun, meeting new people and making friends!!

PS: Don't forget to say hello to Todd and Dennis at their "Devil Inside" booth #FF-05 at Artist Alley. "Devil Inside" the webcomic was launched at SDCC last year, which makes this their 1st year anniversary!

Brea Grant will also be signing on Sunday with brother Zane Grant, Missy Suicide, David Hahn and Cameron Stewart for Suicide Girls at IDW's Booth #2643 at 12 pm!

Have an all-out geek-style FUN for Red Dot Diva, y'all!! *MWAH*!!

DC Comics Leaps Into STGCC 2011 With A Few Surprises!

The Red Dot Island may be small. And our conventions may be very much niche-based and less crazy than those held in the USA.

The locally-hosted conventions like ComiFest and Anime Festival Asia tend to serve the sizeable anime and manga crowd here and around the region instead of running a more generic pop-culture program.

Still, with a continued focus on a mix of East and West, Red Dot Diva thinks that the Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention (STGCC) 2011 has managed to get some pretty cool "Western-comics" guests this year.

Being so far-flung from most Westernized pop-culture hubs, she is always grateful when those who hail from USA, Canada or UK are willing to travel such long distances to our Red Dot Island, just to meet their Asian fans. That shows *a lot* of heart.

For one thing, it seems that DC Comics will be back at STGCC 2011 in a bigger way than before! DC has been a strong supporter of STGCC in the past years and last year, happy fans got to meet Gail Simone and Ivan Brandon.

Michael McMillian Talks Mages, Vampires and Panda? - Part 1

Gaining lots of comic creator cred in the last past year or so is actor Michael McMillian.

Not only has his comic series "Lucid" been published via the indie company Archaia, he has also co-written the "True Blood: Tainted Love" graphic novel series together with Marc Andreyko. And as one knows, the HBO TV series version of "True Blood" has a huge dedicated cult following!

It is crazy-geeky SDCC weekend right now. And last year, Red Dot Diva was delighted that she had the opportunity to chat with the very likeable, un-Steve Newlin-like Michael at Archaia's booth.

Ahh.. Good Memories. Fun times!

So to mark the one-year anniversary of "Lucid"'s book launch, Red Dot Diva thought this would be the best time to give Michael an extra signal boost for his current and upcoming comic creations!

Here's Part 1 of the interview:

Harvey Tolibao vs Wendy Chew: Clash of the Psylockes

It was a night of When Harvey Met Wendy.

Marvel artist Harvey Tolibao had decided to extend his stay in Red Dot Island yet again. And on his last night here, he met up with some local comic geeks for a casual dinner at a rowdy pasta diner.

Local chibi/ sketch artist Wendy Chew aka Mashi was invited along so that she could get some tips from an artist who has had his work published and distributed internationally. Red Dot Diva reported that, as usual, there was much chat about comics and art.

And everyone was commenting on how Harvey was *always* drawing, regardless of where he was at. He also started drawing at the dinner table while the group was waiting for dinner to be served!

Oops! The Intersect Found Diva's Island Hideout

Pic from Zac's Twitter

Red Dot Diva got made.

Her protective fortress of an island hideout has been located. Her identity almost revealed.

She also got duly Flashed.

So Utterly Betrayed by the Truly Evil @eserei and @beckyb731.

But she is not complaining. *g*

How can she?? When the Intersect is ceremoniously Chuck-ed across her way in the form of the awesome Nerdy-handsomeness of Zachary Levi?

True. Red Dot Diva is unable to infiltrate the NerdHQ at SDCC this year. So many minions to gather, so little time. - Sigh -

But that does not rule out the high possibility that she will besiege the geek enclave next year. In fact, she's already preparing her .. ahem... ammunition for the attack.

Proof of Diva's Betrayal by @eserei27 and @beckyb731 :


Watch out O Leader of the NerdHQ. Yes, we have indeed.... TWEETED.

Red Dot Diva Will.Be.BACK to stomp the base for all things NERD-y.

Prepare for a red hot sparkly entrance!

**MWAH**!

Introducing Rudy: Astroundingly Intricate Artwork

Just astounding. Simply astounding.

Red Dot Diva was shown a couple of Rudy Ao's sketches a couple of months back, and she could see that the details in Rudy's artwork are extremely intricate. It is obvious that he invests a great amount of time to his craft.

One way to check Rudy's pieces in real life is to come down to Wilkie Edge for the Comic Art Show 2011 on 30 - 31 July, and to see him do his drawings in person!

Like fellow artist Noval Hernawan, who will also be making an appearance in the same art show, Rudy is originally from Indonesia. And get this - Rudy graduated from university in architecture!

"Game Of Thrones" - HBO Asia's Epic Fantasy Series Not To Be Missed!

Lovers of medieval-like fantasy epics would not want to miss this wonderfully produced series on HBO called "Game of Thrones".

The show is based on esteemed writer George R.R. Martin's book series about seven houses vying for the Iron Throne, with the first season of the series following his first book "A Song On Ice and Fire" .

With seven kingdoms seated in different parts of the Westeros world, there is a whole bunch of colourful characters to love (or hate), and all kinds of politics thrown in the mix - including the sexual kind (which suits Red Dot Diva's pervy tastes just fine).

Not sure how pervy Red Dot Diva can get?? Read a Straits Times Life article about period dramas where she was quoted together with fellow fans, Here Be Geeks. (Page 1 here and Page 2)

Red Dot Diva says that there are proud and noble warriors, murderous spouses, witches, incestuous twins, a tomboy, over-protective mothers, creepy zombie-like creatures, regally beautiful direwolves and not to mention, a partying whoring dwarf of a prince.

ILM Singapore's Visual Magic In "Transformers: Dark Side Of The Moon"

Industrial Light Magic (ILM), a division of Lucasfilm, has already been in Singapore for about 5 years. And lately, they have taken up more high-profile projects in the movie industry.

As a local, Red Dot Diva beamed with pride when she knew that the ILM Singapore team had a significant role in Paramount Studios' animated film, "Rango". (Read the interview with one of the "Rango" ILM team members here!)

Then mid last week, she received a nice surprise invitation to a ILM career talk specially for students on 9 July morning at the Cathay. The talk would be followed by the screening of "Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon" in 3D! Of course, she couldn't say no!

NerdHQ At SDCC - Off-site Stomping Ground For The Geeks

What’s better than San Diego Comic Con (SDCC)?

Well, pretty much nothing that I can think of, but this year Zachary Levi from "Chuck" is going to try to provide us with a little off-site excitement. As fans of Zac probably already know, he is a huge geek. Like, first degree nerd. Which is probably part of the reason his fans love him so much.

He started The Nerd Machine, an online community where nerds from all over the world can come and geek out about the things that they’re most passionate. In addition, the can purchase NERD gear to let everyone know that they’re nerds and proud of it!

Introducing Noval: Pencil Art So Fluid

The Comic Art Show 2011 is coming up in just three more weeks!

This is a small 2-day art event aimed to showcase the comic artwork of three indie artists. (Check out the details in previous blog post here!)

Besides Mashi (Click here for interview with Mashi.), who will be showing her cute-sexy chibi-styled art, there are two more featured talented artists who hail from our neighbouring land of Indonesia.

Red Dot Diva is very pleased to introduce one of these Indonesian artists - Noval Hernawan. Noval used to work in the advertising industry. He is now currently based in Singapore and has bravely decided to freelance and do comic books and illustrations on a full-time basis.

Harvey Tolibao and The Merlion - Part 2

Curious about Harvey Tolibao's thoughts on the Merlion variant cover that he drew for STGCC 2011? Watch the Part 1 video for his honest views!

Many fans were excited to find out that Harvey will be releasing a special sketch book during STGCC. Count that as one more reason to come to the convention - to meet cheery and personable Harvey in person at the Marvel booth!

NBC Wants You To Stay "Awake"

When Red Dot Diva saw the trailer for new TV series "Awake", she thought it looked like a very promising and intriguing mind-warp. It was one of the rare trailers that really captured her attention.

Then, she noticed it was going to air on NBC. Surpriiiiise!!!

Together with the other new supernatural-fairytale-cop series "Grimm" (check out the blog post about it here), NBC seems very eager to put up some pretty good looking new shows for this upcoming Fall Season.

"Space, MN" Gets Freaky And Ready

Lovers of non-superheroes tales and conspiracy theories, or simply creepy things, would enjoy an upcoming graphic novel called "Space, MN".

There is something very weird going on in Space lately. And its small town cops are trying their best to figure out what is the cause of all these. As expected, there are nosy journalists and wily politicians involved in the fray. And as the story progresses, it all begins to reek of something ominous and things get as mysterious as the Cheshire Cat.

Speaking about cats... Red Dot Diva thinks she has probably come across one of the creepiest in "Space, MN". *shudder*

If one could recall, Red Dot Diva had an interview with one of the creators Shawn DePasquale, in April earlier this year. At that time, the novel was in the process of being coloured. (Read the previous interview and some preview pages here.)

Harvey Tolibao And The Merlion - Part 1

Talented comic artist and fan favourite Harvey Tolibao, who is known for his swift sketching skills, seems to becoming one of Red Dot Island's frequent visitors.

Red Dot Diva was surprised to find that Harvey was a guest at last Friday night's dinner at Iluma. She thought it was coincidental that his visit came so soon after the announcement of the Merlion-istic STGCC-only comic variant for "Captain America #1" (by Ed Brubaker and Steve McNiven). After all, Harvey was the artist for the variant cover!

Introducing Mashi: Eye-poppingly Cute & Sexy Pinup Art

It was at STGCC 2010 when Red Dot Diva first stumbled upon Mashi’s booth at Artists’ Alley.

The brilliantly-coloured booth named “Pin-Up Gals” was manned by perky-looking Mashi and friend, and was surrounded by lots of cartoony pop-art images.

At first glance, Red Dot Diva thought Mashi’s artwork was all feminine-sweet, sugar and spice. Upon closer look however, she was delighted to note that some of them had a deliciously fair amount of nudity, blood and spatter. The incongruous mix of images was superb to behold.

Get Ready For "Crossover" - A Comic Art Weekend!

Remember the time back in January 1 and 2, 2011 when a few comic/ pop-culture geeks gathered with an aim to tire out Harvey Tolibao's quick, arty fingers at Wilkie Edge?

Well... Red Dot Diva says, there will be ROUND TWO!

Organized by the same folks (who do so truly love and appreciate talented artists), the indie event called Crossover: Comic Art Show 2011 will be held at Wilkie Edge this month on July 30 and 31 from 11 am to 9 pm.

Local Theatre Update - "Richard III", "Equus" and "Dealer's Choice"

Tickets for Shakespeare's "Richard III", starring the fantastic Kevin Spacey, was out for public sales on SISTIC yesterday!

"Richard III" is the final season of The Bridge Project and is being brought to our local shores by the Singapore Repertory Theatre. The play will be staged at the Esplanade Theatre from from17 to 26 November 2011.

The play opened in London at the Old Vic Theatre with rave reviews. Check out the Guardian's article here.

Red Dot Diva urges those who desire to see a powerful performance by Kevin Spacey and the mix of British and American cast members to grab their tickets early. Already tickets for some of the days are almost sold out!