TRUE BLOOD #1

Review by: SilverAgeTom

What did the
iFanboy
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120
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Avg Rating: 2.8
 
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Writer: Alan Ball, David Tischman & Mariah Huehner Artist: David Messina
Cover: J. Scott Campbell, Joe Corroney, Andrew Currie, David Messina

Size: 32 pages
Price: 3.99

Hey there True Blood believers! Here we have a tie-in book from IDW comics. And is it any good? Well, the truth is I’m not sure. The comic certainly delivers a different tone from the TV series, it’s certainly more fantastical. I mean sure, the antagonist of season 2 was an immortal devotee of the goddess dionysus, but the show built slowly to that reveal so her presence felt earned and believable. This comic takes the naturalist supernatural feel the show has cultivated and throws it out the window. Oh yeah, and for all of those True Blood fanboys/girls out there, forget about continuity with the show if you want to read this, you’ll only end up hurting yourself and possibly others. It doesn’t fit. Deal with it. David Tischman and Mariah Huehner seem to have a decent grasp on the characters and for the most part the dialog flows and is one of the highlights of the book. I did enjoy seeing some fan fave characters pop up here and there, even if they appeared for little to no reason. This comic felt more like a story out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the True Blood characters than a story that’s true to the book.

The art, by David Messina, is more actually quite good. The characters are quite distinct, but still stylized and the colors and very vivid and are very evocative of the show. If the quality of the book where for art alone this book would be one of the best I read this week. Even the guy with the octopus legs and the big weird mouth looked cool, even if his existence bothers me. I think as far as an adaptation of a live-action medium this book is up there with the Buffy series, art-wise. If not a little better.

I think the biggest problem of this series is that it doesn’t draw on what makes the television series so great. That these are ordinary people dealing with extraordinary problems. True Blood is a character show, not a plot-driven show. I think that any True Blood character would be better off delving into the lesser characters and flesh out what their doing when the camera isn’t placed on them. Or more back stories. I, for one, would like to know how Lafayette met his first vampire, or what happened the first time Sam met a werewolf. Or more flashbacks with the vampire characters. Hell, Eric Northman is over a thousand years old, there has to be some adventures a True Blood comic could feature. Personally, I’d like to see an issue that revolves entirely around Pam.

Is this a great comic? No. But if you don’t pass judgment on it based on preconceptions you might find it to be a perfectly serviceable vampire action-adventure that happens to star the cast of the popular HBO series. I for one didn’t dislike this comic, but neither am I waiting with bated breath to pick up issue #2. But for the art and for any True Blood completist this comic is worth at least a browse.

Story: 2 - Average
Art: 5 - Excellent

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