Getting Lucid - A Brain Melting Experience

To tell you the truth, I could barely remember much details of the joint Archaia/ Before The Door "Lucid" panel because was I really tired from lack of sleep.

Ok. I lied.

I was actually BLINDED with all that GQMF-ness sitting in front of me. Truth.

From Archaia's Stephen Christy, Mel Caylo, the Before The Door boyz and Michael McMillian, I was dazed. For a good 40 minutes. All those sexy biceps. Oy.

I remembered that a bunch of us literally hit the floor running from the "Shifting Gears" panel from one side of the convention centre to the other. The "Lucid" panel was held in Room 25AB and we wanted to get in the room early so that we could get seats closer to the front. For those unacquainted, having strong legs and good stamina are very necessary to navigate around Comic Con. So if you can, hit the gym months before that week to get ready for the physical activity to do the stuff you want to do!

Once we got our seats, which was in third row, I slipped out to Autograph Alley to look for one of my favourite-st "villain" - David H Lawrence XVII. After I chatted with David for awhile, I went back to the room and could still get back in without any problems. The panel that was going on then was a highlight on the famed but very out-spoken comic illustrationist Neal Adams and his sons Jason, Joel and Josh Adams.

When we saw Mel from Archaia enter the room to set up the notebook and projector/ screen, we all got edgy and rather excited. While they were working on the setup, I also spotted Sean Akers coming over to assist Mel for a bit.

Then, Stephen Christy - moderator for the panel, took the mic and thanked us for coming. Without much ado, he introduced the Before The Door team and Michael Millian to ardent cheers and applause from the crowd.

It is a good thing that SArmy mod @Mabetini has managed to capture the entire panel on video because honestly, I think most of us were not totally lucid and rather star-struck. Click here for Mabe's "Lucid" panel videos!

Here are some of the things I remembered coz I took notes!

- Stephen Christy started out with asking Michael to give the premise of "Lucid" and this Michael did in intricate detail, introducing us to the story of "combat mage" Matthew Dee. He also told us the comic was brought about by his love for fantasy, magick and history.

- While he was going on about "Lucid", Michael interrupted himself by suddenly turning to Zach and asked "Did you just burp? Are you burping with me?" .. Zach was thoroughly amused and we all roared with laughter. It was just so random. LOL

- Stephen then asked the BTD guys how they found Michael McMillian. Zach replied in a deadpan manner, that they found him "lurking in the hallways of Carnegie Mellon, homeless and need of acting training"..

- When asked about whether BTD would be involved with more comic projects, Zach mentioned that "Lucid" will not be the last and they have and will be involved with various projects, including a movie which they just completed filming called "Margin Call". The room applauded and Neal showed off his "SELL" T-shirt. (See pic far above)

- Zach also abruptly interrupted his own answer when he saw a couple of latecomers coming and and asked the guy if he was "talking on his phone??" and said that we should allow the "Seat Crisis" to be managed as we are trying to get as many people in the room as possible. The guy was so embarassed and kept apologizing.

- Corey said that the Archie comics gave him a lot of insight. hehehe

- There was a funny part where Stephen suggested that Zach did the entire wonderful comic book illustrations by himself. Of which Zach solemnly replied, "With his toes". In actual fact, the talented comic illustrationist is Polish-based Anna Wieszyzck. Michael said he wanted the comic to have an "animated style" and to look "poppy and really fluid" and he gave props to her work, which reminded him a lot of Aeon Flux. Michael said that he loved her classical historical fairy tale style which fits the "Lucid" series very well. (Note: You can check out my interview with Anna Wieszyzck right here!)

- Michael revealed that he "has an end in mind" for the series and he would love to do more but would need to discuss his ideas with BTD and Archaia. He also has other characters coming up in the series 1 and their stories will unfold in time.

When they opened up for questions from the floor, @Nevidge20 and I lined up to ask questions but we didn't have the chance to ask them :( They had barely 10 min for fan questions and they cut the session short when time ran out.

Now, if that fan didn't ask Zach if he was single, maybe we could have had time. It was really a rude, unnecessary question and I don't think Zach looked too pleased about it.

I thought the "Lucid" panel was thoroughly enjoyable and informative. I like that Stephen channelled most of the questions and focus to Michael McMillian, for he undoubtedly deserved to take the spotlight for "Lucid". Michael was obviously very excited about the release of the graphic novel and he was on a roll and hamming it up most of the time.

In contrast to the "Shifting Gears" panel, I noticed that Zach was more visibly relaxed when surrounded by his friends Neal, Corey and Michael. And hence, he was also made more quips and was less serious with the fans and his mates during the panel.

Neal didn't say very much while Corey was smiling most of the time. Personally, it was really good to see the Moosa beard back in action. Neal and Zach also kept playing with their mobiles and taking pics of the audience. We all saw a couple tweeted out on their feeds!

Michael was having an autograph session at the Archaia booth just after the "Lucid" panel but I knew I had time to catch him on Sat or Sun. Plus, I felt that I've reached a squee-ful level of fangirl achievement by doing Zach twice in one day, so I decided to make a sprint for another panel (it was for "Being Human"!) at the other side of the convention centre!

If you want to read/ view more about "Lucid" related interviews, Zach and Michael stopped by the MySpace and MTV Tower earlier that day for more promos. Here's their interview on MTV.com

"Lucid" #1 is out on September 9, 2010. You can get it from your local comic stores or TFAW (which ships internationally). Or you could help your local comic store order the comic by printing this form from Zachary Quinto's official website. CLICK HERE to download and print. And once you have read "Lucid" #1, feel free to post your comments here... ! I'd love to read them!

Look out for the second issue of "Lucid" #2 coming out in September 29, 2010. Doesn't the cover (pic on left) drawn by Anna Wieszyzck look pretty?

And if you are hungry for more "Lucid" news ... keep your eyes on this blog for more related posts coming in the next few days!

PS: There are not many video clips of the TK/ ZQ "Shifting Gears" panel around so for those who are interested to view snippets of the panel, Twitter friend @Lady_Angelus has a couple of clips on YouTube. Click here for Clip 1 and Clip 2