True Blood: Volume 1 (All Together Now)

True Blood, Vol #1

GRAPHIC NOVEL

Source: Borrowed

Blood and sex mix on a hot rainy night at Merlotte's, when Sookie and her friends are trapped by a vengeful spirit who feeds on shame. People die and dirty secrets are revealed as Sookie, Bill, Eric, Sam, Tara, Jason, and Lafayette and are all coerced to dig deep and tell painful memories from their past....those things we all have locked within us that we never tell another living soul Bon Temps, Louisiana has never been stranger, or more twisted, in a story co-plotted by True Blood series creator Alan Ball, with a script by David Tischman (Bite Club) and Mariah Huehner, and lush art by David Messina (Star Trek: Countdown)

Being a True Blood show and Sookie Stackhouse book fan, of course I jumped at the chance to borrow this from my pal. The artwork is colorful, rich, but some images were a little too vague in the face, especially for the background cast, while other profiles were dead-on.

Big thumbs up for the realistic tone and dialogue of the characters.

As for the plot, it's slightly silly but it fits a volume one for True Blood fans and accomplishes what it sets out to do -- gives fanboys and fangirls everywhere a chance to learn a deep dark secret about their favorite cast members. The secret has nothing to do with revealing characters for the book, but it does dig deeper into the televised show as a separate entity.

It feels different from the TV show, disconnected somehow, so that it doesn't further it much for fans for the storyline. All of them are in at Sam's bar one night when a mysterious creature walks in, where they must reveal an intimate secret they never told anyone about to satisfy their debt with it. Their is no major, central plot to the book, more of a character revealing and deeper inspection of those people have fallen in love with from the show.

Honestly most of the stories weren't terribly exciting. Almost all were from childhood moments, and each ended with a therapeutic gathering of the group reassuring the person it wasn't really their fault. If you're a big fan you'll want this one for completionist sake. If you're a casual viewer or only read the books, this colorful graphic novel will do little to rouse your interest.