FCBD 2013: More Artist Appearances Announced!

Two local comic stores have now announced their FCBD artist guests for this Saturday!

And there should be more than enough time during the day to catch both sets of guests, if one desires to.

So who are the artists who will be doing sketches, signings and meeting Red Dot Island fans?

Check this list out!

Pre-STGCC 2012: Mark Brooks Meets Fans at Invasion

Well-known Marvel comic book artist arrives on Red Dot Island. Decides to do a pre-STGCC meet-the-fans/ signing session at local comic store.

Will Red Dot Diva be there?

Is that even a valid question?!!!

The cozy signing session held on Thursday 30th August evening at Invasion Toys & Collectible's store, was one of the BEST-est-*est* ways to ease into an all-geek showdown at STGCC.

When Red Dot Diva arrived at the shop, she said hi to owner David and noticed there were about 8 guys waiting in line for their turn with guest, Mark Brooks. Mark was already comfortably settled in his seat next to his wife Lisa, chatting with fans.

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.

FCBD 2012: More Comic Book Geekery In Local Stores!

Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is approaching and more details have surfaced from this year's participating stores.

After a successful FCBD debut last year, Kinokuniya returns as one of the stores involved in this Saturday's events. And they have made a couple of cool announcements.

Firstly, privilege card members will be able to get their stack of free comics when they produce their membership card at the Kinokuniya's Orchard Road flagship store! (Don't be greedy, Red Dot Diva warns. One set for each member only!) Also, specially for members, there is a 20% discount going on for all comics purchased!

In addition, Kinokuniya has added a more family-friendly theme by inviting the local Star Wars 501st Legion for a store appearance. What better way to kickstart your children's geek cred than by getting them to meet Star Wars characters??

New to the FCBD fray this year is Paradigm Infinitum (PI) - the #1 Board & Tabletop Games store in Singapore! The shop is located at #03-01 of Midpoint Orchard, just a hop away from Kinokuniya. Head to PI to help them celebrate the soft launch of their new graphic novels section. They will be giving all store visitors 10 free comics! The freebies may not be the official FCBD comic releases but why would anyone turn down some cool comics for free?!?

Cowabunga! Mark Torres Ninjas Into Town!

Local comic fans have been so spoilt lately!

Just as Stephen Segovia popped by in early January to grace the official opening of Invasion! Toys & Collectibles, his fellow Filipino compadre Mark Torres soon will make his way to Red Dot Island.

Mark Torres is scheduled to make a special appearance at Invasion! on March 9th and 10th (Fri/ Sat). Time to be announced.

If one is not yet familiar with Mark's varied and vibrant art styles, check out his deviantart page! Red Dot Diva loves how the perspectives in his art make them seem almost 3-dimensional. Especially the one called BATMAN vs ZOMBIES above! Personally, she has never seen Batman soooo "Diva-fuchsia-cool"! Heh.

Mark's latest work is going to be featured in IDW Publishing's comic, "Infestation 2: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1" - due for release on first week of March, with issue #2 following very soon after. He has also worked in the very Asian anthology, "Liquid City Vol. 2" and IDW's "Zombies vs. Robots: Undercity #1-4".

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".

Comic Art Show 2011 - Day 2 For Geeks

Sundays are definitely lazy days.

Red Dot Diva suspected that there were probably many tipsy geeks nursing a gaming hangover last Sunday. Or maybe they were pious geeks who went to religious services in search of their souls. Or it could just be that a bunch of them got haplessly sucked into The Wormhole of Family Commitments.

'Coz from what Red Dot Diva heard, it was pretty quiet on Day 2 of Comic Art Show 2011.

But the real reason could just very well be that Red Dot Diva and her glittery aura wasn't there to help entice unsuspecting folks. She was busy that morning too -- catching up on her beauty sleep.

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.

A Sunday Afternoon with Harvey Tolibao

Red Dot Island sure has its special draw for Filipino artist Harvey Tolibao - who currently draws for Marvel Comics. After all, he stayed on the island for another 3 weeks subsequent to the STGCC wrap-up!!

Those who might not have known better may have supposed it could be the wide range of yummy local food which lured Harvey for a longer stay. It could also have been the super-warm reception he gets from his loving fans here. But Red Dot Diva confirms that there were also other more personal reasons. *wink wink*

One thing for certain, Harvey did not keep his hands idle while he was on the Red Dot Island. He kept himself busy and did a talk at the National Library on 22 December. Then, there was another round of signings and sketchings at Absolute Comics on 30 December.

And if that wasn't enough, Harvey ended his 'why is he still here? stay' on Red Dot Island with a free-of-charge art exhibition at Ink Singapore, Wilkie Edge on 1 and 2 Jan 2011. A great way to celebrate a New Year weekend, Red Dot Diva could indeed testify.