More Charming-Devilish.... Inside

First panel from "Devil Inside"

To continue my "doubly-devilish" SDCC story ... While @RealFastTlkr and I were chatting with "Heroes" actor Todd Stashwick about "Devil Inside", I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that comic artist Dennis Calero was busy scribbling on a small piece of paper torn from his sketch pad.

One of my roomies had earlier showed me a "Devil Inside" postcard she got from visiting their booth. Apparently, their booth was pretty popular that week and they ran out of postcards! So here Dennis was, offering me a few scribbles of his artistic talent by doing an impromptu sketch of Jack Springheel aka the Devil - whose resemblance is based on Todd. I can attest that artistic biceps are also very captivating.

It was a very cool piece of drawing and when he was done, he passed it to Todd for him to sign. Todd and I then had a mini discussion about why they had chosen the subject of the Devil and Evil and Todd answered that one of the reasons was: "Evil is Sexy". Dennis then declared that he was "evil" and hence, "sexy". He proudly claimed that five women had told him that.

I teased him if it was mentioned by five women today? Or was only five women for the entire past week? He acted hurt and said "C'mon..! Of course it's just today!" I laughed.

Lucid with Michael McMillian - Final Part 3

Michael McMillian (pic by Mabes)

"Lucid" was released on 9 September and boy were there lots of buzz and good reviews! There were reports that the graphic novel was near to selling out in some comic book stores. What a great debut for the first Archaia-Before The Door collaboration!

As Zachary Quinto tweeted just now - "Lucid" is the new Black ;)

If you have missed some of reviews or articles, here are the links again:

- Newsrama

- Player Affinity

- Multiversity

There's even a video of "Lucid"'s creator/ writer and True Blood actor, Michael McMillian and our fave bb, Zachary Quinto talking abit about the comic on MTV Splashpage.

The ZQ/ Heroes Connection

The Heroes fans meetup at SDCC 2010!

To all those who love sneering at us pop-culture/ comic fans having a fabulous geek-fest at Comic Con, just go talk to the hand.

Comic Con was indeed very very cool. But when you start to reflect upon that whirlwind weekend, you would realize that it wasn't so much about Comic Con itself that made the weekend memorable, it was the friendship forged and strengthened (before and after) that made it so Extra Special.

It is no different from so-called "non-geeky" folks who gather their butts down on a huge couch, drinking beer and watching sports game after game on TV (I can tell of peeps who plan and take a week-long off just to watch the English Premiere League) or those who line up their custom-made cars/ bikes on a weekend and ... well, talk about gears and wheels.

The common thing from all this human pack-like behaviour is the camaraderie built through shared experiences. For the convention goers, it consisted of those groaningly "where the frak is my coffee?" early-morning camp-outs, agonizingly boring long waits in line to see/ hear panels/ celebs, stumbling upon an awesome find at the exhibit hall, sharing the thrill of connecting/ meeting a celeb or just hanging out with your fellow geek friends. You don't need to *explain* things to your geek friends.

Lucid with Michael McMillian - Part 2

Interviewing Michael (pic by @Mabetini)

People, people.... The first issue of "Lucid" will be out in stores this week on 9 September!!

Writer/ creator of "Lucid", I had the chance to interview Michael McMillian at Comic Con about the first issue. Part 1 of the interview was featured in a blog post here.

Michael continues to reveal some magickal things about first book and gives us a few tidbits of what is to come next!

SPOILER ALERT WARNING!!!

Going Berserker About Milo Ventimigilia

I thought I had missed out on this opportunity because Milo Ventimiglia was signing on Friday and I was already in a panel. However Top Cow arranged another chance for those who attended their panel on Saturday. All was not lost!!

I went to the Top Cow panel and managed to get fifth row, second chair in. Not bad I thought. I scanned the room but didn’t see Milo.

Lucid with Michael McMillian - Part 1

Following the development of the graphic novel "Lucid" has been an interesting journey for most of us.

From the announcement about the comic project by Archaia and Before the Door, to their first joint panel at last year's Comic Con with writer Michael McMillian, followed by various press releases since then. And finally, culminating with "Lucid" making its freshborn-baby appearance at this year's San Diego Comic Con.

Visiting Archaia's booth on Preview Night at Comic Con was one of the first things I had planned to do. And when we arrived at the booth, @eserei27 and I grabbed copies of the comic for ourselves.

(Spoiler alert!! Don't say I didn't warn ya!)

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!

Say Hello To My SDCC Blog Contributors!

Thanks to a bunch of good friends and awesome roomies, we managed to cover various panels and activities during Comic Con!

A few of them will be sharing their personal experiences of these events which include:

- Tim Kring/ Zachary Quinto (previous blog post right here)
- TNT's "Leverage" - blog by @RealFastTlkr

- WB's "Nikita" preview screening

- USA Network's "Burn Notice"/ "White Collar"/ "Psych" panels

- Showtime's "Anti-Heroes" panel

- Mark Sheppard autograph signing

- NBC's new show "The Event"

- Archaia/ Before the Door's "Lucid" panel

- CW's "Smallville"

- CW's "Supernatural"

- ABC's "Castle"

- BBC's "Merlin"

- "Scott Pilgrim"movie

- Joss Whedon/ JJ Abrams "Visionaries" panel
- Milo Ventimiglia autograph signing

More may surface in the coming weeks.

Blog contributions that are not related to ZQ/ Heroes or Before the Door will be posted in my other new blog - Red Dot Diva.

The blog contributors include:

- eserei27

- nhousey

- beckyb731
- ebrown2112
- RealFastTalkr

I would also like to mention that there were also some tweeps who are not blog contributors, but were nevertheless, a great help.

Thanks to Evil Twin @_mriel for her company, extra hands plus her "camera work" for a very special interview coming up soon. And to @HardlyanAngel and @deedee9378 for being a constant moral support and Mabes for just being there :)

Tim Kring Gets Shift-y About A Conspiracy Novel

Ever since the schedule for Comic Con 2010 was announced, attendees who were also fans of Zachary Quinto were excited at the opportunity to do him twice in one day.

We were also glad that Zach was able to make time for Comic Con. He had been in NYC since early this year, and looking at his tweets and tightly-packed schedule, we surmised that he had probably endured a grueling red-eye flight in order to make it for his Comic Con appearances.

The first panel Zach appeared in was for "Shifting Gears" where he acted as moderator for "Heroes" creator, Tim Kring regarding his new novel, "Shift".

A Quick Few Lucid Words

"True Blood" fans are already familiar with Michael McMillian's role as the nefarious Reverend Steve Newlin. However, some fans may not be aware that Michael McMillian is huge comic book lover and has flexed his biceps writing his first graphic novel "LUCID" - a collaboration between Archaia and Before The Door.

I managed to catch Michael for a quick interview before "LUCID" premieres at this year's San Diego Comic Con and his appearance at the Archaia/Before The Door panel on Friday, 23 July, 4.30-5.30pm (Room 25ABC).

All Wrapped Up!

This week has been full of chatty news from some of the "Margin Call" stars and the Before The Door production team! We were so spoilt on Twitter!

After the news that Jeremy Irons had joined the cast, we received word that there was a scene where his character and that of Kevin Spacey's went "head to head". The entire cast was in the same room. OOOoooh. Intense!

Sean Akers also tweeted: "Jeremy Irons. Very nice guy. So impressive. It is like riding in the elevator with royalty. Watching him rehearse the next scene."

Comic-ly Awesome!

All Hail to Archaia!

With the press release of Archaia's five panels at this year's San Diego Comic Con, supersonic ripples of waves pulsated through the interwebs a few hours ago! (BTW, that was caused by thousands of ovaries - and erm.. other parts.. - exploding.. if you must know.)

THE Reason??? Let me give you a hint -- Zachary Quinto's Twitter location has now changed from "ny ny" to "ny ny la ca".

Metallic Elements Added ... Biceps Included

Does Zachary Quinto secretly know about this blog specially dedicated to his very nom-nom-nom-y biceps???

Coz seriously folks, this is twice within the span of a few days that he's shown off those squeezable arms of his in revealing sleeveless tops. This time, they were having lunch and snugly accompanied by a body-skimming turquoise tee. (Source: Zach-quinto.net)

I sit transfixed, staring at the vision on my computer screen. It's a nice way to get my eyes massaged :D In my line of work where you look at figures all day, it's nice to look at OTHER kind of figures *g*

Lucidly Intriguing and Luxuriously Beardless

Do you love stories based in the fantasy realm and magic? Do you have a not-so-secret thing for mages? (Confession: I still have a crush on dark mage Raistlin Majere.)

Or do you simply love beautifully drawn comics with captivating storylines?

If yes to any of the above, then you should check out the first Before The Door and Archaia Comics collaboration - a comic series entitled "LUCID" written by HBO's popular TV series "True Blood" star Michael McMillian with illustrations by young Polish-based artist Anna Wieszczyk.

I have to admit - I am not an avid comic fan or collector. It is not that I do not like comics. Since I was a young child, I've mainly prioritized my time and yearnings towards books. Books are my soul's refuge.

A Spattering of Updates

This week has been chockful of "Margin Call" updates. Much to the delight of us fans!

For those who are still unaware, "Margin Call" is an indie movie about eight people during a tumultuous 24-hour period just prior to the 2008 Wall Street financial meltdown. It is Before the Door's first film production!

Zachary Quinto, who also stars in the movie, has been giving us pretty constant updates on Twitter and Facebook. And when I say pretty, I *do* mean pretty :D

Just look at the pic above. Zach's own self-portrait pic on the "Margin Call" set  in a suit with a night reflection of the Empire State Building. Srsly! Those pretty biceps in a suit! It is pretty as pretty does!

First Days

The first day of school. The first day at work. The first day at a new home.

First days can be terribly exciting... and yet daunting at the same time. First days usually bring with them a wave of changes to one's life experiences.

And so it was, on the First Day of filming in NYC on June 21st for the Before The Door-produced indie movie "Margin Call" that Zachary Quinto tweeted he was too excited to even sleep.

The set call started real early at 5 am and when the first shot began, Zach sent us all a cute pic of himself sitting on a stoop with that much-needed cup of coffee. (Although, I was really distracted by those biceps...yep, I can't help it. :D )

Remember The Time...

(sings) Do you remember..... when we ...

*ahem* Pardon me for the Michael Jackson interlude there. As this year's San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) draws nearer, I have been reminiscing a bit lately on my previous convention-partying days. Lots of Good Times - with Fabulous Peeps. :D I will not regret any of the time and money spent for those very memorable adventures.

While having retro-thoughts, I am certain there are times when one remembers embarassing moments - especially those involving what-you-used-to-think-was-cool hairstyles or clothes.