Zachary Quinto, True Blood’s Michael McMillian launch Lucid comic-book series

A page from "Lucid" from Archaia.

Arthurian magic meets covert espionage in “Lucid,” the first comic book series produced by Archaia in conjunction with Zachary Quinto’s Before the Door media production company.

Michael McMillian

“Lucid” is written by Michael McMillian and drawn by Anna Wieszczyk. McMillian is perhaps best-known for playing Steve Newlin on the HBO series “True Blood.”

McMillian described “Lucid” as a “high-culture pop fantasy” in a recent conference call promoting the series.

“I grew up loving shows like the ‘X-Files’ and digging conspiracy theory and that kind of stuff,” McMillian said. “So, when Before the Door approached me that they wanted to do some comic books, I came in with this idea of a character who would have access to higher levels of consciousness, magic, and who was working for the government.”

Matthew Dee is the newly appointed “Protector of the Realm,” using his skills as a covert spy and Combat Mage to ensure America’s freedom. “Lucid” is set in a parallel universe where magic exists but is kept secret from the public.

“A lot of this has been inspired from 20th century folklore and conspiracy theory about secret projects that the government has been doing for years,” McMillian said. “It’s sort of an optimistic take in … that the government keeping magic from us, they’re doing it to keep us safe, not to sort of covet power.”