True Blood #3
Created by Alan Ball
Written by Michael McMillian and Ann Nocenti
Art by Michael Gaydos
Colors by Marcelo Maiolo
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Cover by Tim Bradstreet
IDW Publishing
Release Date: July 25, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

True Blood #3 of the Where Were You? story arc is called “Bill’s Story,” but the real star for me is the refreshing unambiguously evil villain Remus. He is sans tortured soul and manages to have supernatural properties without being in love with Sookie, or at least he is not yet. Michael Mcmillian and Annie Nocenti tell us the story of how Bill Compton and Remus became acquainted in pre-revelation (when the vampires come out of the coffin) England. I love when they show Bill as a punk rocker on the show because in his modern incarnation as politician and somewhat inconsistent anti-hero he is nearly always uptight. We get a taste of that in flashbacks as well as Remus paging Lestat as a tattoed rock singer giving up vampire secrets in his lyrics. He also likes to eat innocent people and feels he is part of a superior race as a vampire. This makes him an easy target to rally against and the gang, which includes Sookie, Eric (begrudgingly of course), Jessica, Bill, etc., is starting to do just this that.

True Blood #1
Created by Alan Ball
Written by Michael McMillian and Ann Nocenti
Art by Michael Gaydos
Colors by Marcelo Maiolo
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Cover by Tim Bradstreet
IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 23, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

With HBO’s Season 5 premiere of True Blood about to “come out of the coffin” on June 10th and now as an ongoing monthly comic series, it is a good time to be a Fangbanger. IDW is back again with True Blood #1 with a ‘Where Were You?’ story arc which lands on the one year anniversary of the Great Revelation aka Coffin Night. Creator Alan Ball teams up with writers Michael McMillian (who shows off another talent playing Reverend Steve Newlin on the show) and Ann Nocenti to bring us a new tale of the dark denizens of Bon Temps. Backstories are revealed from the day vampires informed humanity that not only do they exist, but with the invention of the synthetic blood substitute Tru Blood, the living and the dead can now peacefully coexist. Favorite characters from the show mingle with interesting and mysterious strangers on this strange new holiday which seeks to rival the decadence of Mardi Gras. This issue proves loyal to the world of the True Blood show but diverges from the storyline, making it a must see for Trubies and newbies alike.

HBO has officially announced start dates for season five of True Blood, as well as a new series titled The Newsroom.

The fifth season of the ultra-popular vampire horror-fantasy series will debut on Sunday, June 10 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

The show, set mainly in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, follows a waitress named Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) with peculiar abilities whose seemingly normal life is abruptly overtaken by vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches, and other fantastical beings…not to mention all of the dangers that come with them.

HBO announced today the renewal of their hit series True Blood for a fifth season.

Production on the 12-episode Season 5 will begin later this year in Los Angeles with a debut scheduled for Summer 2012.

The series, created by executive producer Alan Ball based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, stars Anna Paquin as Sookie, a waitress who can hear people’s thoughts (and has other special abilities), and Stephen Moyer as Bill, her centuries-old vampire love.

True Blood is currently in its fourth season, which began this June. Season 3 was released on DVD and Blu-ray at the end of May.

One of the many TV shows that had a presence at the recent San Diego Comic–Con, was of course True Blood, the mega–hit HBO series set in a small Louisiana town and in a time where vampires and other creatures live among humans.

The show is currently making its way through season 4″”an admirable feat for any show””and the cast and crew were on–hand as usual talk shop for the Con faithfuls. With the show already going there wasn’t much new to show off, but many questions were still to be asked and answered.

The panel was introduced, with Kristen Bauer van Straten, Alexander Skarsgard, Kevin Alejandro, Nelsan Ellis, Deborah Ann Woll, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Stephen Moyer, Anna Paquin, and showrunner/creator/writer/director/executive producer Alan Ball all coming to the stage.

You can see the entire hour–long panel for True Blood by heading below now!