From Actor to Comic Book Writer

Gianna Sobol, writer of the Inside True Blood Blog and assistant to True Blood creator Alan Ball, recently interviewed Michael McMillian who is best known to Trubies as Rev. Steve Newlin from seasons two and three.  But when he’s not acting Michael is a writer of comic books like his own series Lucid. What fans may not realize however is that he is a co-writer of the True Blood comic book series! He recently sat down with Sobol to discuss the comics and give a bit more insight into the world of True Blood that we haven’t seen on television.

The storyline McMillian wrote for this series of True Blood comics is entitled “Tainted Love” and tells the story of what happens when a vampire terrorist group known as the Vampire Liberation Front puts something in bottles of tru blood that makes vampires lose all morality. Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll) is one of the unfortunate vampires who drank a bottle and all hell breaks loose!

When asked about some really good moments readers of the comics could look forward to in this story, Michael responded with some juicy teasers:

“I think just about every cliffhanger has its shock value. That’s a characteristic of the show that Marc and I wanted to make sure closed out each issue. There’s a sequence in Issue 2 involving Jessica and an alligator that’s a favorite moment of mine. And Eric takes his relationship with Sookie to new heights in Issue 3.”

Comics as a Part of the True Blood Universe

With teasers like that, fans have to wonder exactly what kind of role the comics play with True Blood on the air. Are the comics a completely separate entity from the show or do they tie in? While the storylines in the comic are indeed separate from the show, McMillian describes the comic as a supporting act for the show:

“The comic is a great way to expand the mythology and explore certain corridors of the True Blood world that the show may perhaps leave untouched. Issue 1, for example, kicks off with a tour of a Tru Blood bottling plant. “

So in other words, the comics are a way for fans to explore a bit deeper in the world of True Blood using aspects that were introduced in the show but are not something that it has had time to expound upon. Very cool Michael!

Gotta Talk About the Newlins

No interview with Michael McMillian would be complete without discussing a little bit about Steve Newlin and his wife Sarah (Anna Camp) who were a big part of season 2. We only saw glimpses of them in season three. But do the comics give any insight as to what they’ve been up to since season 2? McMillian says yes:

“We will see a bit of Smilin’ Steve in “Tainted Love.” And perhaps a glimpse of what Sarah Newlin has been up to…All I can say is she has taken what has happened to her and used it to her advantage.”

Now that should make for some interesting reading now shouldn’t it! As for whether or not Steve Newlin or Sarah will return to True Blood on screen, McMillian doesn’t know. But he does say that he thinks Steve would settle his scores with Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgård).

Fans who are interested in reading this first series can head over to the HBO shop and order a hard cover version of it, entitled “All Together Now” which was released this past week.

Source: Inside True Blood Blog– “An Interview with Michael McMillian”

(Photo Credit: HBO, Inc.)