Trubies Devour New True Blood Comic at Exclusive HBO Event

On second thought, maybe I should have dropped off my bag. 

That’s the thought that went through my head as the door to the HBO store was held shut in my face, instead of allowing entry to the exclusive, swanky True Blood party the network was throwing pre-New York Comic-Con. I had stopped off at the Banana Republic right before the party to get new, non-ragged clothes to wear for Comic-Con, just so I wouldn’t have this very problem.

But with a large paper bag in one hand, a ripped sweater and sweat pouring down my brow from a day that was way hotter than the weather report had predicted, I did, for all the world, look like a crazy person – or at least, a True Blood fan trying to get into an otherwise exclusive party.

Outside the store, there was a line about ten or twenty deep, waiting for the doors to officially open at 6 PM, so that fans could get their copies of the True Blood comic book from IDW signed by series writers David Tischman and Mariah Huehner and artist David Messina.

The comic has been a huge seller for IDW – as I found out later, the biggest seller they’ve ever had – and the fans were out in force for the chance to make a piece of Blood memorabilia their personalized own.

And here I was, stuck outside with all of them. I had just enough time before the event* to grab the new clothes and wander around, but not enough time to take the clothes, drop them off and come back not looking like a madman. Honestly? I had feared this would happen and happen it did.

When I got to the store, I immediately cut in front of the line and went to push open the door. The security guard pushed back. I pushed again. He pushed back harder. I saw, inside, the tall, skinny, well dressed press reps all eyeing my up and down and not in a nice way. Getting a little panicky, I mouthed to the security guard, “I’m press.” He looked dubious, but opened the door the tiniest crack possible.

“I’m sorry?” said the security guard.”

I babbled as quickly as possible (which I’m sure helped lessen the impression that I was a nutbag), “I’m press, I’m with UGO.com, I’m here to cover the event, my name is Alex Zalben.”

What followed then was several rounds of checking and re-checking of my name, my press outlet and whether I was, in fact, trying to get into a swanky party while lugging a big shopping bag. Finally, after what was probably a minute, but felt like ten, they found my name on the list and I was let in.

In fact, at that point, everyone was all smiles and I realized it wasn’t just me... It was the forces of HBO and IDW being overly cautious. True Blood fans are...not the sanest people in the world, sometimes, let’s say. And even with no cast members present, the chance to grab some exclusive memorabilia, or one of the many show costumes on display, followed by a dash out the store and disappearing into nearby Bryant Park seemed to be entirely possible.

That little experience out of the way, I took in the sights. The HBO store was set up like a club, with lights quickly switching from deep reds to cool blues and back. Swanky music was playing (luckily, not the True Blood theme over and over – I’m guessing instead it was the soundtrack to season one). And waiters circulated offering snacks and drinks. By the way, here’s the full rundown of cocktails:

• The Fangbanger
• Death on the Beach
• Plasmapolitan
• Tequila Moonrise
• Bloody Maker-ita
• The Shapeshifter
• Lorena’s Revenge

I skipped the drink line – though I later snagged a bottle of Tru Blood, which turns out to be a fizzy blood-orange drink – and headed straight for Tischman and Heuhner, who were hugging the wall and trying to stay out of the way.

Tischman and Heuhner are comics vets, the former having worked on everything from Angel and Star Trek adaptations to original works like Greatest Hits, a Beatles-with-superpowers riff and Red Herring, a quirky conspiracy thriller. Heuhner has similar creds, though naturally, I bothered her about her recent, successful comic adaptation of The Last Unicorn. Because. You know. Anyway.

The two have a great rapport, bouncing back and forth answering questions. We started off chatting about where the True Blood comic falls in the continuity of the show and Heuhner kicked things off:

“Well, that’s always the complicated part. It is canon. As people are always aware, the show’s seasons come right up against each other. This sort of fits between season one and two, somewhere in that area. But because of the nature of the stories, it fits anywhere you want it to go.”

And they displayed a similarly relaxed attitude through the rest of the chat. When asked which character was easiest to write, they unanimously agreed: Bill Compton. “I mean, he doesn’t use contractions,” said Heuhner. Tischman added, “We tried to avoid giving everyone an accent in the book, I always hate when comics do that.” Which of course, given the southern fried setting, is hard to do – but the pair make it work.

As for watching the show and whether they’ve started to feel ownership over the characters at all, they’re similarly quick to agree that the show’s creators, including Alan Ball, have been gracious with their time, letting them sit in to chat story and characters. Their only regret? Lafayette’s dialogue is better on the TV show.

Still, they’re having a blast making the comic and things are going so well that it’ll be ongoing. “The first six issues are one arc, which will be collected in a trade and help flesh out the character’s back stories,” noted Tischman. He was tight lipped about what will happen next, though noted while the comic will be affected by things like the recent revelation that Sookie is a (spoiler) fairy, the comic won’t affect the show.

After a nice talk with the authors, it was time to go. As opposed to my troubles on the way in, everyone was nothing but nice on the way out. I got a gift bag filled with the aforementioned Tru Blood, copies of the comic and t-shirts for – strangely – Boardwalk Empire and Bored to Death.

When I exited, the line of fans (a signing was starting an hour after the press event) had grown much, much longer. I looked over at them, with their sweaty brows, ripped clothing and shopping bags full of god-knows-what. They’ll never get in, I snorted derisively to myself. And with that, I disappeared into the night, several priceless costumes stuffed in my shopping bag.**

*NOTE: This event was not The Event.

**Oh my god, I’m totally kidding you guys. OR AM I???