Spotlight (and Flashes) - Jay Tablante the Geek Photographer

Mention model photographer and one tends to imagine a stereotypical image of an arty-farty metrosexual male yelling, "Turn that way, dahling... Faaboooulous.. " while busily snapping away with his camera in a studio.

When Red Dot Diva met Filipino cosplay photographer Jay Tabalante at Geekology 101 earlier this month, she found that he hardly fits the bill.

Bright-eyed and articulate, Jay Tablante was not the affected sort at all. In fact, he was very eager to connect to the small group of cosplayers and photographers who attended the event.

True to his geek roots, he wore a black superheroes t-shirt paired with common blue jeans, and peppered his stories with amusing anecdotes concerning photography and pop-culture.

Jay Tablante's powerful sense of imagination and excitement about his work was undeniably infectious. Red Dot Diva certainly bore witness to that during the event. And one cannot deny that he has an eye for interesting photographic angles and set-ups.

NYCC 2011: Diva Shares Her Trip Planning Tips (Part 1)

If you're a Red Dot Island native who happens to be a hardcore fan of "Western" pop-culture and comics, there is very little choice but to save up and head to USA conventions for your desired geek-gasms.

In her many years of active fan-girling, Red Dot Diva has attended a few smaller and niche-market conventions in the UK and Germany before. But she has always craved for that full geek-out experience which seems to happen mainly at SDCC. Finally in 2009, she managed to truly immerse herself in a large-scale comic convention at the hallowed grounds of the San Diego Convention Centre.

The Hollywood factor in SDCC that year was unavoidable and quite overpowering. And with that, came the good and bad - much of which have already been documented and ranted about on several blogs and websites.

Compared to SDCC, NYCC (held at the Javits Convention Centre) is a much younger, less glamourous and less frenzied East Coast cousin. That does not mean that the convention isn't big though. In fact, the crowd attending NYCC has grown exponentially in the last few years, and this year's NYCC saw its largest number at an estimate of over 105,000 people! That's 3.5x more than STGCC, local peeps.

SDCC 2012: Barcoded and Ticketed.... and other convention news

Nothing would make a geek girl's weary workday instantaneously brighter other than an email that begins with, "Dear Comic-Con Attendee, Your Comic-Con 2012 registration is complete!"

It sure made Red Dot Diva go W00t-Woot when she saw those sentences in her inbox this morning.

With that precious online 4-day ticket (with preview day), she's all nicely barcoded for entry to Comic-Con 2012 at San Diego on 11-15 July next year!!

What's left about SDCC 2012 is the major question about accommodation, as most hotels in San Diego say that they are "on hold" during SDCC week.

Cosplay Photography Secrets Revealed By Jay Tablante At Geekology 101

Last Saturday, a unique cosplay + photography event called Geekology 101, with special guest and well-known photographer Jay Tablante, was held at Grid MMS located at *Scape.

Red Dot Diva decided to drop by the event after lunch and as she approached *Scape, she felt a growing sense of trepidation. No, she wasn't nervous about meeting Jay Tablante, or being surrounded by cosplayers at all.

*Scape is just one of those places that makes Red Dot Diva feel obscenely old.

The energetically youth-centric venue was a good centralized spot to hold a mini cosplay event though. Held at Level 4, there was a small exhibition of more than 20 pieces of Jay Tablante's beautiful cosplay photography. A few local cosplayers of mainly anime characters were in attendance.

Geekology 101 - A Cosplay Photo Event One Can *Scape To

So what if it rains like giant poodles and tom-cats during the monsoon season?

There are still a number of fun indoor events one can go to, and there's one coming up this Saturday -- right in the heart of Orchard Road!

Red Dot Diva strongly recommends those with a thing for cosplay or model photography (or both!) to sashay their way to Grid MMS, 4th level of  *Scape, for Geekology 101!!

Geekology 101 will be a one-day only event, featuring the work of one dude who is the drooling-envy of most geeks. See, he basically gets paid to work with beautiful ladies almost all the time!

Vinyl+Splash Report - Filipino Geeks and Artists Fight Against Hunger

Red Dot Diva doubts that any of the guests who were at last Saturday's inaugural Filipino pop culture and art event Vinyl+Splash are actually "starving artists" (they do seem very successful in their own right after all!). But, one thing's for sure, they were united in their fight against hunger in the Philippines.

Through the series of events held at Fullybooked Bonifacio High Street Gates, Vinyl+Splash contributed a sizeable donation of 125,000 Pesos to the United Nations' World Food Programme! Country director of the UN World Food Programme Stephen Anderson, was on hand to receive the pledge from Jaime Daez Managing Director of Fullbooked, and mentioned how overwhelming it was to see the event bring the charity to reality.

Comic Con in Manila - Vinyl+Splash and Charity!

Calling all collectible and comic fans in the Philippines, especially in the vicinity of Manila!

For one day only on November 26th, a special collectible/ comic convention called Vinyl+Splash mixes street art, vinyl toys and pop-culture at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street Gates! The street art and pop culture smash begins at 10 am and get this -- Admission is FREE!!

Red Dot Diva says that this not-to-be-missed convention boasts of a series of exciting events like live art sessions, auctions, trading blocks, raffles (and who doesn't like prizes, right?) and an art jam. Which should prove to be exciting to watch because some high-profile comic book artists are set to appear tomorrow. They include the well-loved Harvey Tolibao, Gerry Alanguilan, Lui Antonio, Bong Dazo, Lan Medina, Stephen Segovia, quietly handsome Mico Suayan, Edgar Tadeo, Mark Torres, Francis Leinil Yu, and more!

To add to the slew of comic artists, Filipino artist Tony de Zuniga has been announced as special guest. Tony de Zuniga, the co-creator of popular comic creators Jonah Hex and Black Orchid, was a 2011 San Diego Comic-Con Inkpot awardee.

Introducing "J, Robot" - Japanese Culture Meets Humanoid Robots

HRP-3 android

Traversing the interwebs can take one on rather unexpected journeys, and it is on one of these digital travels that Red Dot Diva got to know San Francisco-based videographer/ producer Michael Garrigues.

For one thing, the project that he has been working on was a rather unique documentary on Japanese humanoid robots. It was an interesting visual trip behind the scenes about robotics that promptly reminded Red Dot Diva of "Transformers" and "Astro Boy" and the various sci-fi stories and movies, like the classic "Blade Runner" and well-loved "Short Circuit" to the more recent "Artificial Intelligence". Oh, and which scifi geek can forget the myriad of robots wandering about in the "Star Wars" universe, and those ominous Cylons or "toasters" from "Battlestar Galactica"?

Bookfest Singapore 2011: Calling All Book and Comic Lovers!

Bookfest Singapore 2011 kicks off at Suntec Convention Centre, Halls 601 - 603 this Friday, 18 November.

Just in perfect timing too, Red Dot Diva notes. This weekend is the start of the super long stretch of year-end school holidays for the kids and teenagers here, so she expects that the event will attract thousands of people.

The largest and most popular book festival on Red Dot Island will continue to showcase a wide and varied collection of books and publishers from around Asia. There will be English and Chinese titles, assessment books, music, stationery and gifts offered at great prices during the fair, as well as panels, appearances by local and overseas authors and on-stage performances.

In addition, there will be something very special this year.

Elephant Parade Singapore - Trumpetting A Cause With Art

Not since an overly-enthusiastic visitor swam across the Johor Straits to Pulau Ubin in 1991 (and yes, he did bring his trunk *) has the Red Dot Island seen so many pachyderms stampeding its shores.

Well, not until last Friday.

11th November was the start of Elephant Parade Singapore. The Elephant Parade is the largest open-air exhibition worldwide and the high-profile event has made its rounds in several European countries like London, Amsterdam and Milan, over the years. It finally makes its first Asian stomp on Red Dot Island this year.

Up till 11th January 2012, these hand-painted life-sized elephant art statues are stationed all around the island - from glitzy Marina Bay to Vivocity to Singapore Art Museum to the shopping places around Orchard Road and in the semi-wilderness of the Singapore Zoological Gardens. Just to name a few!

Comikaze Expo 2011: Some Quick, Precious Moments with Actor Francis Capra

Francis Capra at Comikaze Expo

Here's something-something for those who love "Veronica Mars" and doggedly keep track of alumni from the cancelled NBC TV series, "Heroes"!

Red Dot Diva's LA-based friend @theReal_Rebel has done it again by helping her to perv actor Francis Capra at the recent ComikazeExpo!

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The hills and valleys of an actor's life can come so quickly that it could give an average person a nosebleed.  You can be on a hit show one minute and out of work in the next. The amount of rejection that an actor needs to handle is enough to induce night sweats.  Getting and keeping an acting job requires talent, skill, courage, street-smarts and the physical and emotional stamina to endure such vicissitudes of fortune. 

So, actors who play tough guys like Humphrey Bogart, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Chiklis and Edward G. Robinson must be pretty tough guys, right?  I imagined it should be somewhat daunting to get an interview from someone like that.

Or so I thought.

NYCC 2011: Learning "Scary Tactics" From Dennis Calero

It has been more than a year since Red Dot Diva met artist Dennis Calero in person at SDCC 2010.

At the time, he was kicking off a web-comic called "Devil Inside" that he had created with his good buddy (and "Heroes" alumni) Todd Stashwick. Having built a loyal and growing fanbase in the last year, "Devil Inside" - a story about a famous demon who is trying to be a different (better?) being - is now in its second chapter!

Within the last year, Dennis also became a proud first-time Dad to an adorable baby girl. And he has also picked up a rather high-profile gig with Archaia/ Relativity Media for one of the stories in "The Immortals", an anthology graphic novel which is a tie-in to the Tarsem Singh-directed Greek mythology movie of the same name.

SDCC 2012 Pre-Registration - ID's and More ID's!

Red Dot Diva sighs. As if one hasn't got enough login ID's and passwords to keep track and remember!! SDCC has jumped into the "Member ID" scheme of things too!

For those who had lined up arduously overnight at this year's SDCC in order to pre-register for next year's event, please note this important message!!

Today is the day the pre-registration email was being sent out. They are being sent in batches, so do check your in-box for this very important email.

LBCC 2011: Steve Niles Is One HOT Writer!

As Red Dot Diva's arduous search for compliant minions continues (their first task is to build a teleporter machine, oh curious ones), she was unable to partake in any effective stalking at the recent Long Beach Comic Convention (LBCC) 2011.

Instead, @theReal_Rebel, her Twitter pal based in Los Angeles, was there to represent Red Dot Diva's pervy intentions. And she cleverly managed to grab hold of frightmaster Steve Niles for an interview.

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You can tell that Steve Niles is one hot writer.

And not just due to his impersonation of the Devil (see pic on left).
(Red Dot Diva: OHhhhhh MYyyyy...... nom nom nom...)

NYCC 2011: Spotlight On Comics Artist David Marquez!

Thanks to indie publisher Archaia's disturbing graphic novel "Syndrome" (Blake Leibel/ Daniel Quantz/ R.J. Ryan, David Marquez/ Bill Farmer/ Dave Lanphear) about the minds of serial killers, Red Dot Diva got to know young artist David Marquez, when she was at SDCC in 2009.

She had a lot of fun wavering around the dark side reading "Syndrome" and fell in love with David Marquez's artwork. The drawings were sharp with clean lines and there were some creative angles on buildings and landscapes. She also liked how he drew the figures in a rather realistic way in terms of their body language.

It was also then that something suddenly clicked in Red Dot Diva's brain. The art-style was unique and quite recognizable. Where has she seen this before?

Off-Broadway: Fiasco Theatre's "Cymbeline" - A Charming Performance

Undoubtedly, Broadway is one of the main things most people aim for when they are in New York City. For her first ever visit to the megacity, the intrepid Red Dot Diva felt a need for another Shakespearean fix instead. Mainly because she is not a big fan of flashy musicals. (Are those horrified gasps she hears from some distant corner over there??)

Her 'play date' had suggested "Avenue Q", but she had already watched a satisfyingly entertaining version helmed by a Filipino cast on Red Dot Island a couple of years back. So, having scoured a comprehensive list online, it was settled that Red Dot Diva's first theatre outing in New York would be the lesser known Shakespearean play "Cymbeline" at the Barrow Street Theatre - an intimate 199-seat off-Broadway venue. The decision was firmly supported by the many rave reviews from critics for this particular adaptation by Fiasco Theatre.

NYCC 2011 - Holy Terror! Diva Had A Chat With Frank Miller!

"Really???" Red Dot Diva gasped inwardly, her heart pounded within her chest, partially with sheer excitement and partially with a kind of (un)holy terror.

She gets to interview He Who Wears A Hat a.k.a. Frank Miller at NYCC??!!

Red Dot Diva's first lame squee-ful fangirl thought:  -- O.M.G. --

Next more lucid thought: What key questions should she ask Frank within the frame of just ten minutes??

With a public persona fashioned by dark clothes, an intense gaze and intriguingly diabolical eyebrows, Frank seemed rather intimidating. Even though she crushed over Frank and his previous works like "Sin City" and "300", Red Dot Diva was really not in favour of getting chewed up before she's been up to the Empire State Building. (Which she still has not, BTW.)

So in order to get prepared for the interview, she ploughed through a copy of "Holy Terror", his latest graphic novel about superheroes fighting terrorists, and found it to be a bold, unapologetic and relentless statement by Frank on al-Qaeda and 9/11.

NYCC 2011 - Shakespeare Gets A POW! Treatment by Stan Lee and 1821 Comics

Of all the surprises that befell on Red Dot Diva at NYCC 2011, she never expected to have a good Squee over comic-book legend and former head of Marvel comics, Stan Lee!

She was well aware that Stan Lee (who is now Founder, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of POW! Entertainment) would be at the convention, but because he has always been wildly popular with fans, she thought that meeting the man would be near to impossible.

In between spending fangirly time with her friends, doing touristy stuff, stalking comic book creators and being shown round the city (thanks to a particular silver fox) ... oh, and not to mention, the wondrous lack of free wifi, she managed to miraculously receive an email for a press invite to the unveiling of "Romeo and Juliet: The War" - a new graphic novel by 1821 Comics, a new comic book/graphic novel company based in LA, and Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment.

It didn't take her more than a couple of seconds to RSVP a loud YES.

FX's New Series "American Horror Story" - Diva Gets Deviantly Curious

A kind of tingly anticipation has been buzzing around a new FX series ever since the pilot written by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk was ordered and announced earlier this year. For those who are not familiar with those two names, Murphy and Falchuk are the creators of the musical comedy series "Glee" as well as "Nip|Tuck".

Their new "psycho-sexual thriller" which premieres on 5th October at 10 pm, is called "American Horror Story" - a tale consisting of freakish horror dreamscapes that befalls the Harmon family, who have moved from Boston to a big retro 1920's haunted mansion in sunny LA.

Comics Review: Promising Potential In "Wonder Woman #1"

Red Dot Diva suspects local comic creator Aravind Menon probably loves it when he is being lassoo-ed by a buxom goddess who happens to be a strong character of her own.

Here's his take on the DC relaunch of "Wonder Woman #1":

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Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The trinity of the DC Universe has often been regaled with multiple series, team-up books, movies and toys! Well, for Superman and Batman anyways. Wonder Woman's pretty much been staying at home and making soup.

Comics Review: Justice League Dark #1 - It's Freshly and Insanely Magical

There's a reason the word "dark" is in this comics series' title.

And in DC Comics' new title "Justice League Dark #1", which is part of the new DCU, Ian Austin (web-comic creator of "Death Boy" and "Tezzer") found the story with a magical twist surprisingly enjoyable.

Here are his thoughts:

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In the wide reaches of the DC-verse, rarely did the Justice League meet an opponent they could not beat. This extended to magic foes, a concept which falls apart when you think about it. While they should overcome all odds, the magical aspect of DC has rarely been explored in a depth that fit with the rest of the universe... and thus it felt like their magical foes weren't really ALL THAT.

Comics Review: Nightwing #1 - Dick Grayson Returns As Nightwing

Comics review blog contributor Aravind Menon, who is also a local comic creator, welcomes the familiar return of Dick Grayson as Nightwing and gives his thoughts on the DC 52 reboot of "Nightwing #1".

Check out Aravind's own blog for other reviews! If one has comments, visit his blog, he will love to hear from you!

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Dick Grayson represents the reader. It is simply who he is. He was introduced in 1940 for the primary purpose of giving young readers an anchor and readers of the universe have pretty much watched him grow up in a way that only Wally West, Barbara Gordon and Kyle Rayner have come close to rivaling.

NYCC 2011: Diva's Stalking Schedule Is Shaping Up!

The NYCC 2011 countdown begins! Only 19 days away!!

And this week, the full panel schedule was finally announced, with some interesting ones that Red Dot Diva will definitely be targetting for.

As NYCC is still primarily a comic convention, it has (thankfully) not been inundated with too much Hollywoody stuff. But if one is so inclined, there are still some cool TV/ movie-related panels to check out!

This is Red Dot Diva's first time at NYCC, so she is trying to balance things out during the convention weekend and trying not to pack too events in her schedule.

However, there are particular panels that Red Dot Diva simply *will not* ... *cannot* miss.

STGCC 2011: Interview With Oh-No... Oh-YES! It's Andrew Bell!

It was on the second morning of STGCC 2011 that Red Dot Diva was scheduled to interview artist and toy designer Andrew Bell. There was supposed to be another blogger in the same interview slot but he was not able to attend. So *twoosh!* Red Dot Diva suddenly found herself with a one-on-one with Andrew by default.

Poor Andrew!

Lopping into the room with an easy genial smile, the lanky bespectacled Andrew unsuspectingly fell into Red Dot Diva's squee-trap.

And what transpired in the next 12 minutes became the most fun interview Red Dot Diva had that STGCC weekend. There was just so much amusement and laughter, and the easy rapport that she struck with the affable Andrew firmly assured his place as her STGCC 2011 #1 Squee.

SIFF 2011 - Charming And Quirky "Griff The Invisible"

Red Dot Diva has to admit, that being a major "True Blood" fan, it was Ryan Kwanten's name that first drew her to watch the indie film "Griff The Invisible" at the Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) 2011.

She hasn't even heard of the movie before but the synopsis and trailer of the Aussie-made movie (directed by Leon Ford) seemed charming enough.

Partially anticipating an underdog turned superhero story like how most American superheroes tend to begin their gigs, Red Dot Diva was pleasantly surprised to find that "Griff The Invisible" was more of a gentle but twisted love story that thrives in the bubble of childlike imagination.

Socially inept dreamer Griff, is a shipping clerk by day, and bad-assed black-and-yellow latex-clad superhero by night. After work, Griff spends most of his lonely existence back at his small apartment scanning blinking monitors and cries for help with a heroic aim to "uphold justice and to defend the innocent".

Comics Review: An Intellectual Reboot For Superboy #1

"Death Boy" and "Tezzer" Web-comic creator and writer Ian Austin delves into the DC-52 relaunch of "Superboy #1" and was surprised to find it an entertaining, intellectual reboot of the character.

Find out what Ian thought of "Superboy #1" right here:

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Most of my knowledge regarding Superboy comes from "Smallville", which doesn't speak much for my experiences and for any 'fan' status regarding the prior incarnations of this character. Or the character as formerly detailed in DC comics material.

The exceptions are his roles in "Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds" and "Blackest Night". But as that was solely focused on his ressurection in the former, and him spending a plethora of time being evil in the latter, I think it's safe to say that I, being borderline illiterate when it comes to the character, is the target for audience.

And I dug it.

Comics XChange 2011 -- More Local Flavour For This Comics Event

After the shrewdly mixed stew of East and West elements at the recent STGCC 2011, Red Dot Diva thinks it is a good time for something more local. Something laced with curry-flavour with generous portions of sambal belachan.

Comics XChange 2011, organised by the Association of Comic Artists Singapore (ACAS) in collaboration with Moontique & Story Kitchen, aims to be just that.

Held at the Goodman Arts Centre (90 Goodman Road) on 1st and 2nd October 2011 from 10am to 8pm daily, Comics XChange 2011 is holding a host of more locally-relevant programs, including panels and workshop/ seminars with a slant towards the business side of things.

Take a look at the menu offered during Comics XChange 2011:

Comics Review: The Good Stuff and Bad Stuff of Green Lantern #1

Rooting for the group of ring-powered superheroes is local comic creator and DC comics fan Aravind Menon, who has mixed sentiments regarding his views on DC 52's "Green Lanterns" #1.

Aravind will also be sending more of this thoughts on more comic releases here as well as his own blog!

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I'm confused. The DCnU has me confused. A lot. And today was the big one. One of my favourite titles of the DCoU (are we calling the pre-Flashpoint DCU that yet?) is hitting up its own #1 this week. And I'm not sure how to feel.

Comics Review: Red Lanterns #1 Is A Very Good Read

UK-based writer and co-creator of webcomic "Death Boy"
Ian Austin, returns to give his review of the DC new 52's "Red Lanterns" #1!

Ian will be contributing more comics reviews in the coming weeks!

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Between Dex Starr, that terrific oath, and Atrocitus having a fantastic story, I've been fascinated about this title for months. Especially as the first inklings of this comic started pre-reboot. So it's something that has been examined from multiple angles, and was still pushed for an ongoing slot.

It also cements the Green Lantern verse as something to be reckoned with. Which is interesting, given how wide-reaching space is. The possibilities are certainly there for some interesting story avenues.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of anti-hero comics. So despite liking the Atrocitus character, I still had some reservations about this comic. Even if, as The Spectre noted, Atrocitus was on a holy mission.

STGCC 2011: Interview With Cutie Cosplayer Kipi

Red Dot Diva openly admits that this STGCC-related article and a few more following are long overdue. Do blame the delay on her mundane day job and busy life schedule. And erm.... other distractions.

But she thinks that fans of these subjects of interest would still enjoy the information and tidbits gathered that week.

Not being a major anime, game or cosplay enthusiast did not deter a curious Red Dot Diva from getting a little up-close and personal with popular international cosplayer Kipi, at the STGCC Media Preview a couple of days before the convention started.

RIP Andy Whitfield: Beautiful Warrrior of "Spartacus"

This piece of sad news came quite unexpectedly on Red Dot Diva's Facebook feed early this morning.

After an 18-month long battle with cancer, Andy Whitfield, the handsome Welsh-born actor, who shot to fame as the heroic Spartacus in the popular Starz period drama series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand", has passed away on Sunday.

Just before the second season of "Spartacus" was to begin filming, Andy was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and after rounds of treatment, he had decided to give up the role for health reasons.

The role has now been taken over by Australian actor Liam McIntyre.

NYCC 2011 Squee Update - Mark Hamill Announced As Guest!

When this epic guest was announced for NYCC 2011 (13 - 16 October), Red Dot Diva couldn't help squeeing for a week.

This special guest embodies a lot of what began as a delightful journey for a then-10-year-old diva, who had been yearning for some kind of visual interpretation to a fantastical world that resided in her fertile imaginations. (Thanks to a healthy bookwormish diet of  fantasy, murder-mystery, myths/ legends and the Britannica encyclopedia.)

So when Red Dot Diva heard that Mark Hamill - Luke Skywalker of the original Star Wars trilogy - will be attending as a guest at NYCC 2011, she vibrated with so much excitement she nearly flung herself into a galaxy far far away.

Comics Review: Digging The Return Of Batgirl

In this comics review, Red Dot Diva calls upon Ian Austin, a UK-based writer and co-creator of webcomic "Death Boy". He is also in the midst of getting another web-comic called "Tezzer" ready for readers!

An avid comics reader, Ian Austin is just now getting into the groove with the latest very widely anticipated incarnation of Batgirl by Gail Simone. Thanks to the new DC 52 relaunch.

Here's his review of "Batgirl" #1:

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I'm not big on Batgirl knowledge. That's in relation to any of the characters.

Harvey Tolibao Event: Geeks Assemble At Planerds

That pesky Merlion sure has a drooly hold on comics artist Harvey Tolibao. It has been two weeks since STGCC 2011 closed its doors and he *still* has not left the Red Dot Island yet!

In fact, Harvey had landed himself in the NRD Prime Forcefield last Sunday afternoon, and was trapped there for a few hours doing signings and limited sketches for fans.

The event, held at Harris Planerds - the mecca for geeks right in the heart of Orchard Road - became a convenient venue for comics fans to assemble. Laid out in front of Harvey's table were colourful comics that contained his artwork, and fans could buy his pretty art prints of Avengers and Supergirl, as well as his limited edition sketchbook titled "Viscosity".

Comics Review: Goodbye Old DCU... and Hello To A New Justice League

It was an epic reboot that caused such grief amongst many DC readers and collectors, with many thrashing in anger at DC's announcement of a new 52 relaunch.

The hope to revive the comics industry with a new DCU for fresh and younger readers however, seemed to have taken off with a big bang this last Wednesday, with retailers reporting more than usual numbers of orders and many of the titles going into a third reprint.

Red Dot Diva thinks there should be no one other than an ardent DC comics reader who should be giving his honest thoughts about the old and new DCU for this blog article.

Aravind Menon, creator of local superhero comics "Salvation Sam", has been reading DC comics since he was 8 after his first exposure to DC characters through Bruce Timm's "Batman: The Animated Series" and Tim Burton's movies alongside the Adam West series.

The Green Lantern umbrella of titles has been his favourite for almost 6 years now. And he considers the Justice Society his favourite superhero team and faithfully collected the Goyer and Johns run and followed the series even after Goyer left.

Here is Aravind's review on the final issue of "Flashpoint" and the new "Justice League #1":

STGCC 2011: Diva Stalking The Elseworlds Booth

The Elseworlds booth at STGCC 2011 started off as a humble idea to offer support to the convention by hosting Marvel artist Mico Suayan and local indie chibi artist Wendy Chew (aka Mashi).

The booth later became the artistic umbrella for two more Marvel guest artists who hailed from the Philippines - Stephen Segovia and Carlo Pagulayan. And with that added number of talents, Elseworlds became one of the "must-stops" for comics or graphic arts fans at the convention.

Gilamon's Lefty Kam Says Zombies Can Save The World Too!

After stories relating to vampires and werewolves became more mainstream in novels and TV/ movies, it was only time that their not so pretty, undead cousins - the Zombies - would be enjoying their fair share of the limelight.

The 2009 "Zombieland" comedy movie about finding a family in the midst of a zombie apocalypse received critical reviews and soon after, cable channel AMC found a hit zombie TV series based on Image Comics' "The Walking Dead" graphic novels.

Red Dot Diva thinks zombies are wayyyyyy disgusting. She is sure they are fetid too, but it doesn't mean she is unable to relish slabs of entertaining stories. Even if the subject matter is putrefyingly hungry for brains.

With a rather smart twist to the usual zombie storyline, Gilamon Studio - a Malaysian-based independent comics production company - has churned out a series of graphic novels called "Major Zombie" that mashes up superhero into the mix of the undead.

HBO Asia's "Game Of Thrones" Premiere - Diva Seized The Iron Throne

So........ Red Dot Diva just had to ask....

Dear Asian fans who have been waiting this long for the premiere of HBO series "Game of Thrones", was it as good for you on Sunday night as it was for Red Dot Diva?

Prior to the actual telecast 28th August, Sunday night on the HBO Asia channel, a bunch of local geek/ pop-culture bloggers (including Red Dot Diva) was specially invited to a "Game of Thrones" media preview by the very lovely ladies of the HBO publicity team.

The event was held on 18th August at the very swanky ION SKY, an indoor observatory on Level 55 / 56 of Ion Orchard, with a breath-taking 360-degree view of the Orchard Road area and beyond.

STGCC 2011 - Diva Stalking The Artists

2011 is the year that Red Dot Diva has been "feeling the graphic arts".

Ever since the art show at Wilkie Edge with Harvey Tolibao at the start of 2011, she has been increasing her social circle of friends who appreciate the art form, and counts herself fortunate to get to know many talented artists in recent months.

She cannot always afford getting sketches and commissions, but she made sure that she put in her few cents of support that hopefully pays forward.

Because of the many geeky friends she's got to know this year, stalking the Artists' Alley at this year's STGCC felt like hanging out in a bohemian geeks' village. Artists' Alley was also where she acquired most of her convention booty!

Here's a rundown of who she stalked:

STGCC 2011 - Diva Stalking The Toy Shops

At this year's STGCC, Red Dot Diva got her eyes massaged by the many sexy display booths at the exhibition hall. She was also seduced by the pretty good range of toys available at the exhibition hall.

To her surprise, there were actually a lot more enticing toys compared to last year's offerings.

She noticed that the toy shops were having rather brisk sales during the two days. One store selling Transformers toys had a crowd milling around the booth almost all the time!

Firstly, Red Dot Diva is not going to even mention those exclusive hot Hot Toys figurines again. If she had more ka-ch$ng ka-ch$ng, she would be the owner of three (or more) of them by now - all promptly carted home that same morning by an entourage of beefy minions.

STGCC 2011 - Diva Stalking The Exhibition Hall

Red Dot Diva's schedule for STGCC 2011 was "comfortably-busy", but she managed to take snippets of time to stalk the convention hall and do the necessary perving.

This year, the 3 main international pop-culture favourite booths - Marvel, DC and Hot Toys - looked very very photogenic.

Just look at the DC and Marvel booths!

STGCC 2011 Day 1 - Before Doors Opened

When Red Dot Diva foggily woke up at 7.45 am Sat morning, she read a tweet from ReedPOP's Peter Tatara saying that a line for STGCC was already forming at Level 3 of Suntec. Then, she noticed that his tweet was sent an hour before she had even crawled out of bed!

When she arrived at the Suntec convention hall at 9.20 am, there was a line snaking round the 3rd floor towards the main escalators. This evidently showed the level of interest for this year's STGCC despite all the complaints and naysayers.

From the way, the hype has been going, Red Dot Diva was well aware that most of the early folks were targetting for Hot Toys' gorgeous limited edition exclusives - the 12" action figures of (Batman (Batman Begins)), Shadow Predator and Ironman Mark IV.

STGCC 2011 Media Preview: Cosplay, Comics, Toys!

Presenter Reiko and her shiny hat

Red Dot Diva would be the first to admit that she felt a certain kind of inertia after almost 75% of the STGCC 2011 guest list were officially announced.

There just didn't seem to be a buzz or sense of excitement leading up to this year's event at all.

The vocal reactions from the comic fans have already been well documented by the Straits Times (article by Nicholas Yong) and Here Be Geeks.

Whatever the case may be, Red Dot Diva felt it was worth supporting an event in a market that is already considered small in terms of the worldwide arena. Plus, many of her friends will be at STGCC at their booths displaying their art, or going as cosplayers and fellow bloggers to give their show of support.

Singapore Food Trail and Chesterfest With C.B. Cebulski

C.B. Cebulski holds the long and fancy title of SVP, Creator and Content Development of Marvel Entertainment but he's actually one of the most down-to-earth person Red Dot Diva has ever met.

This is C.B.'s second visit to Red Dot Island as a guest of STGCC. This time, he arrived a few days early so that he could eat his way across the country one more time.

Instead of being brought around various food places by the Singapore Tourism Board, C.B. decided to go local and asked for a small group of island geeks (and geekette) for suggestions.

If one is not already aware, C.B. is a big-time foodie and he aimed to top last year's eating record in of 15 meals in 6 hours which he accomplished together with fellow comic creators, Matt Fraction and Gail Simone. With the HereBeGeeks guys, Melvin Yong, Ryan and moi assisting C.B. with the nom-fest, beating the previous year's record was chicken feed.

Special STGCC Greetings From TV Lala Land

Many fans wish that our local conventions were more like what they see in the USA, with more celebrities and well-known guests. They crave to get close to the Hollywood stardust, but most of the time, acquiring such guests to events held on Red Dot Island simply hard to come by.

So, since many local fans miss the chance of meeting their favourite celebrities in person, Red Dot Diva endeavoured to digitally bring geeky STGCC-goers some greetings from a few popular personalities:

What Has Conan The Barbarian Got To Do With STGCC??

Is Jason Momoa visiting Red Dot Island?
Unfortunately, Red Dot Diva sighs... The answer is a 6'4" of No. :(

Are Cimmerian Barbarians going to invade the convention this weekend?
Red Dot Diva hopes not. Unless they are Momoan-nom-worthy.

However, the remake of "Conan The Barbarian" the movie will indeed be premiering at the local theatres this Thursday, 19th August.

STGCC 2011 - Comics Art Sketchbooks At Elseworlds Booth

Heads up, comics art fans!

Red Dot Diva says fans should check out Mico Suayan's limited edition sketchbook which will be launched at STGCC!

Mico, who is from the Philippines, had worked on a popular run of Marvel's "Moon Knight" series in 2007. He has since followed up with more impressive artwork with the label, including that for "Thor" and "Rage of Thor".

One can find Mico stationed mostly at Elseworld's booth at #E22. Only 500 copies of his sketchbooks are available, and one can get him to sign the books at the booth. Each book costs SGD 30.

"Spartacus: Vengeance" Panel At SDCC 2011

Pic by Chelle

In order to grow an Evil Diva Empire, it is crucial to gather allies in different territories.

This is how Red Dot Diva was able to get this intel giving her the abs-worthy updates on her favourite gladiator porn, Starz TV series "Spartacus".

Chelle, her trusty LA contact and frequent SDCC attendee, was at the "Spartacus" panel to nab some information relating to the cable TV series, which is reknown for its gory bloodshed and blatantly sexy nude scenes.

For those who are not already aware, the next season will be a sequel to "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" entitled "Spartacus: Vengeance".

Most Spartacus fans were devastated when they heard that previous lead actor Andy Whitfield would not be able to return to the series due to his illness. But, from what Red Dot Diva heard, replacement Aussie actor Liam McIntyre seems equally capable of meeting the gladiator challenge. Which would of course, normally consist of chopping off heads and exploding ovaries at the same time.

Bravely putting herself in danger of losing her fallopian tubes, Chelle brings the "Spartacus: Vengeance" panel report:

Introducing Kelvin Chan - The Versatile Multi-Tasking Artist

Get to know one indie artist, and one ends up knowing four!

Red Dot Diva learnt about local artists Kelvin Chan's late entry as featured artist at the recent Comic Art Show only about two weeks before the event.

She tried to get hold of him for a short interview before the show, but according to Alwyn Da Boss, Kelvin is a "very busy man".

After all, he juggles a full-time illustration job, acting as mentor/ teacher and being a husband and father! How he ever finds more time to do more drawings due to his love for comics and pop-culture is most amazing. Red Dot Diva suspects he can clone himself, like Doctor Manhattan. Heh.

Diva's Choice Targets At STGCC 2011

Different folks have different strokes.

And Red Dot Diva knows it is simply not possible to please everybody.

Hence, Red Dot Diva credits the organizers and exhibitors of STGCC for making a valiant attempt to offer a range of "hot specials" for the mixed bunch of local and regional fans who will be attending the convention next weekend.

Red Dot Diva will be stirring up her own of recipe of desirable strokes during STGCC weekend. Here's a list of what she will be aiming for (in no particular order):