FCBD 2014 - Hot Comics and Hot Guests On A Super Hot Day!

This year, Red Dot Diva's FCBD kicked off earlier than usual.

On Friday May 2, the night before FCBD, she joined several of GnB Comics' members and friends as well as their special comic book artist guests - Ivan Reis, Alan Quah and Sheldon Goh - at Shaw Lido for the movie screening of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in 2D.

From what she heard, most of the guests had arrived in Red Dot Island only hours before the movie night, and Ivan Reis and his wife were practically transported immediately from airport to Shaw House for the event by the GnB folks.

Ivan Reis with contest winner during GnB's movie nite

By the way, that was the second time Diva watched "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" on the big screen and too bad, haters - her movie review and opinions still stand!

Another thing that would make FCBD 2014 different for Diva was that it would only be a half-day's adventure for her, as later in the evening, she had to attend Shakespeare in the Park at Fort Canning with her friends.

To maximize the FCBD fun, Red Dot Diva made only two stops yesterday. The first venue involved an early bus ride into the heart of Orchard Road, a short walk and an escalator ride up three floors in a rather quiet Ngee Ann City to the Kinokuniya main store.

It was at one of the entrances that she spotted fellow geek pal, Jas, who pointed to the *other* landing on the opposite side which was much nearer to Crossroads, where the handout booth was placed. There they both waited strategically for the store to open at 10 AM.

Word was that folks were already lining up outside Kinokuniya's main door at 730PM, and a couple of hours later, the line was about 70 people deep!

Waiting for Kinokuniya doors to open 2 min before opening time

Once the gates slid up slowly, Diva scurried to Crossroads and managed to get in line. Thanks to Jason from Come See Toys, who kindly offered her a spot in front of him.

The Kinokuniya staff at the handout booth were all super efficient. There was some minor confusion and excitement - probably about the sheer number of free comics/ books they were giving out this year - but the line moved fast and was cleared very quickly! 

Check out the generous stash that Kinokuniya was giving out this year. Red Dot Diva was so overwhelmed, she was nearly in happy tears.

There was even the beautiful Mouseguard hardcover by Archaia! (... which Diva discovered only after she managed to sit down at a coffeshop and check out what was in the Kinokuniya pack.)

And a cool Star Wars Rebels poster was also given out in the pack.
 

(Pic by @cavalock)

The cosplayers from Neo Tokyo Project were also on site to add some colour to the festivities, which was cool - as always.

But Red Dot Diva was on a tight schedule and she was sorely in need of a boost of caffeine. So, both she and Jas caught the next train down to Bugis to grab a quick breakfast and then head to FCBD Venue #2 - GnB Comics.

It wasn't even noon yet, but the sun was already beating down relentlessly, adding to the horrible humidity brewing in the air. When the ladies arrived outside GnB, the line was about 40 people deep. Actually, there were two lines - one for the priority members, and the other for the public.

And Black Suit Spidey helped make sure everyone knows where they should be.

There were more fun cosplayers hanging around the store and interacting with the folks standing in line, which thankfully, made waiting in the searing heat less tedious. Red Dot Diva is very sure that many male hearts were caught a-flutter by the very cute Batgirl. ;)

(just ignore the one on the right, lah)

Harley Quinn was pretty much a WIN too.

Despite moving both lines in tandem, the one for the public was a standstill for most of the time. By the time it was 12:45PM, Diva and Jas have managed to inch up the queue to be about the 20th in line.

Fortunately, because of the joint RDD-GnB contest held online recently, Red Dot Diva had to head inside the shop to hand out the prize. Phew! The waft of cool AC air was such a relief! Once inside, she spotted many of her favourite geek-heads hanging around -- Wayne, Gene, Andre, Wern - just to name a few!

While one of the cosplayers helped search for the contest winner Syamirul Azim, who was still queueing up outside, Wayne and Gene helped ensure that the ambience was kept kookily bicepstous:

Once young Syamirul was found, a small prize-giving ceremony was held. Here's a photo to capture the moment!

They then proceeded to join the line to select their free comics and to get Ivan Reis to sign some items. At the back of the store were Alan Quah and Sheldon Goh, who were both also busy sketching for fans.

Being such a popular and well-known comic artist, Ivan Reis had been doing a quite a lot of sketching and signings since the store opened. It was hardly a surprise that his line had been moving quite slowly.

So, Red Dot Diva was fortunate to be able to say a quick hello to him before the line was capped.

She also managed to get her copy of "Constantine #1" and DC poster signed. Woohoo!

Then, it was time for Red Dot Diva to brave the merciless island heat and head home to get prepared for her dose of Shakespeare.

But wait... there was a bonus round of FCBD the next day at the Kinokuniya main store!

At 3 PM, May 4 (which is also incidentally Star Wars Day!), Ivan Reis was scheduled to do a signing at Crossroads. To show support to Kinokuniya, her favourite book store (Truth!), Red Dot Diva made her way to Ngee Ann City again.

There was a respectable number of fans waiting in line for Ivan before 3 PM. Many of whom were clutching their own comic collection in anticipation of his appearance.

Ivan Reis signing for fans at Kinokuniya

When it was Red Dot Diva's turn, a very friendly Ivan said he remembered her, and offered to do a Sinestro sketch in her copy of "Green Lantern: Blackest Night". With a smile, he said that Sinestro is one of his favourite characters.

Of course, after signing her book, his biceps has to officially meet her biceps.

Da Proof:

And so, with that, Red Dot Diva wrapped up another year's FCBD with a most enjoyable infusion of geek community camaraderie, fantastic art and creativity.

Diva's FCBD stash:

How did you spend your FCBD 2014? Other than the free comics, did you buy anything from the stores you visited?

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Do get your newbie friends to LIKE the FCBD Singapore Facebook page, so that they will not miss on the goodies next year!

Thanks to GnB Comics for the Movie Nite invite!