FCBD 2012: Store To Store - The Hunt for Free Comics!

FCBD at Kinokuniya

As most comic fans knew in advance about DC artists Nicola Scott and Ardian Syaf's store appearance at GnB Comics, visiting Rochor Centre early in the morning seemed to be the majority's FCBD strategy.

Red Dot Diva was actually torn between heading to Kinokuniya first and then down to GnB. But not knowing if one would be able to grab some time with Nicola and Ardian before their allotted signing sessions, became the primary decision-making factor. Also, she wasn't too keen to stay out the entire day for their later appearance at the Cathay.

(For Red Dot Diva's Nicola Scott experience at GnB - click here for the blog article!)

Most of the geeks also expected the larger book store, Kinokuniya to have been able to stock up more than ample stocks of comics. But unfortunately, when Red Dot Diva and a small group of comic fans were at the flagship Ngee Ann City store before 12pm, all the bundled packs for members (20 comics!! plus a box of Thor Heroclix) were GONE. :(

Major Disappoints.

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.

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?

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:

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!

Partying the "Lucid" Hardcover Release - LA Style!

Michael McMillian

When Archaia said there was going to be free drinks at the "Lucid" Vol. 1 Hardcover release party at Golden Apple comics store in LA, they sure weren't kidding!

"Lucid" is a graphic novel created by Michael McMillian (that vamp-hating Rev Steve Newlin in "True Blood"), who is a long-time friend of Before The Door (BTD) Productions.

The graphic novel series is a collaboration between BTD and publishing company Archaia, and tells the action-packed story of Matthew Dee - a powerful covert spy-mage with a perpetual sexy bedhead (of course, Red Dot Diva notices!) - who strives to protect the humankind from very evil conspiracies of a magickal nature.

Adventures at WonderCon - Part I: Archaia Panel

Wondercon exhibit hall , pic by Doug Lowder

Not being a major superheroes-genre graphic novel reader, Red Dot Diva particularly enjoys the original offerings that Archaia publishes. The stories are creative and not too mainstream, and the art usually bold or unusually beautiful.

Of course, it also helps that they have an equally beautiful bunch of people working for the company. ;)

So, it was not surprising at all to see Archaia garnering 9 nominations for this year's Eisner Awards!! (Check out the announcement here!) They have become an indie publishing company to really look out for.

Archaia Goes Greek with "Immortals"

As a child, Red Dot Diva was besotted with the various stories from Greek mythology. They were abridged versions, of course, but whenever she saw a book about them at the old National Library, she nabbed it.

Not only were there all these weird and interesting gods, monsters and creatures, their world saw various heroes going through such wondrous and marvellous adventures that became fertile ground for Red Dot Diva's imagination.

When she grew up, she appreciated how hunky those Grecian warriors actually were. Which of course, added much meat to that growing imagination. Heh.

The epic blockbuster "Troy" in 2004 was a really good attempt in bringing back some Greek into Hollywood. Who can forget Eric Bana's gallantly sacrificial Hector? Red Dot Diva can't say the same about the recent Grecian heroes movie "Crash Clash of the Titans" though, which was an awfully loud let-down. BTW, no need to draw "300" into the comparison, because in Red Dot Diva's case, all those abs just simply blinded her sense of judgement. *g*

Diva's Geektastic Highlights of 2010

Everyone seems to be doing "lists" when time is relentlessly hurtling towards a New Year.

Since she is part of the blogosphere at large, Red Dot Diva feels that it is also her civic duty to do a list. Namely - "Red Dot Diva's Geektastic Highlights of 2010".

The "geek" part did not include any gadgets acquired in 2010, however. :(

Red Dot Diva wishes she was able to include an iPhone 4, a snazzy iPad, fancy SLR camera, 3D TV or ultra-portable teleporter in her list. However, since she sold half her blood and part of her liver in order to attend SDCC this year, she was not able to afford these "I ALSO WANTZ!" digital babies. (Any manwich-y generous sponsors out there?? Applications are open.)

One should also note that Red Dot Diva is not a gamer (why not?? ask her when you meet her) and hence, has not X-boxed, Wii-ed and Playstation-ed in any way.

So.. what the frell did Red Dot Diva geek-out over in 2010??

Zachary Levi - A Fun Follow!

It's the 29th of September and a certain special birthday boy turns 30 today!!

He is none other than Zachary Levi, star of the popular TV series "Chuck" and one of Red Dot Diva's most favourite male celebrities.

Red Dot Diva absolutely loves reading Zac's feed on Twitter and Facebook because his infectious joie de vivre and spot-on sense of humour makes him such a fun "follow". Having a naturally upbeat personality, Zac openly shares lots of interesting stuff on this Twitter. These range from sneak peaks into his life when he attended concerts or made formal appearances for events, to posting "Chuck" on-set photos. Whenever he can, Zac also does live Twitcasting and captures cute videos like the one of co-star Yvonne Strahovski dancing to Justin Bieber.

Get Lucid For A Combat Mage!

Combat mage? What's a Combat Mage??

Well Red Dot Diva says that to find out, you'd have to try to get hold of the fantasy/spy/scifi comic "Lucid" which was released in the USA on 9th September. This might not be an easy task if you are a local.

Quite a few comic stores find it difficult to really make it financially viable on our island. Kinokuniya has a large range of comics but these are mainly manga (well they are a Japanese chain of book stores after all!) and anime-related products. Comic Mart at Serene Centre, a popular hangout for many comic fans, was closed down suddenly earlier this year.

On the other hand, Comics World at Parklane - one of the oldest comic stores in Singapore - is still going strong with a pretty good range of familiar super-heroes related American titles, like Captain America, X-Men and the like. It doesn't really stock the more indie comic titles like those by Archaia Comics. Perhaps Red Dot Diva might email to the "uncle" who owns the shop and ask him about this.

After much online surfing, Red Dot Diva has found another comic store called G & B Comics that seems to stock some indie titles. And "Lucid" #1 seems to be listed in its 11th September shipment lot! So you can head to their store at Rochor Centre #02-500 to check it out!

One other alternative is to check out the TFAW website and order a copy online. Another is to get a friend in the USA to ship you a copy!