Exactly a week ago today, I was at Comic-Con, pumped up for the True Blood panel and everything else True Blood related that I could see and do. There was a TON of True Blood stuff at Comic-Con, and regardless of what someone told me, True Blood was THE talk of Con once again! (That person told me Inception would be all people were talking about.)
For me, the True Blood experience started Wednesday when I arrived in San Diego for Preview Night at Comic-Con. I was lucky enough to be staying at the San Diego Bayfront Hotel, which is the hotel that had the True Blood elevators. I loved those elevators, and each trip up and down was an absolute pleasure!
I did attend Preview Night, and while there, I did get my hands on the True Blood comic book issue #1 with the IDW exclusive cover. However, Preview Night was pretty overwhelming for me, so I left early in order to get extra sleep and prepare for the first official day of Comic-Con.
On Thursday, the first day of Comic-Con, I went to the composer panel that featured not only True Blood scorer Nathan Barr, but many other composers who I really admire. As a massive surprise to myself and the rest of the audience, Charlaine Harris opened the panel. It was great, and hearing Charlaine talk about how important music is was a great treat!
As the panel went on, Nathan (who was third from the right on the panel) had a lot to say about scoring, but one thing that really stood out to me in the panel was when Nathan talked about how he has some weird instruments, including one made from human bone! (It’s a human bone trumpet, it came from Tibet, and it’s made from a femur.) Talk about something that’s both creepy and cool! Of course, lots of things were said that were really interesting. Musicians and composers often have great tales about their projects you wouldn’t hear about otherwise, so if you have a chance, take advantage of that and talk to the composers of the shows you like! You never know what you may hear from them!
After the panel, I had the chance to say hi to Nathan again (I’ve met him a couple of times previously) as well as send him another hello from my godfather, who knows him. Nathan was super sweet, as always, and I’m grateful that he and the other composers were all willing to take time for the fans.
Thankfully, that was an easy and very fun part of Comic-Con. I only wish Friday had gone as well as Thursday did.
Friday at Comic-Con was absolutely insane. Not only was I surrounded by 125,000 of my closest friends, my first experience of the day was an absolutely frustrating one. I made sure to arrive early so I could say hello to a friend at a booth before heading towards the WB booth to wait for hours until the True Blood signing.
Once I got over to the area where the WB Booth was, everything was pure pandemonium. First, I had to find a place to sit near the wall, and security at Con was not very good. Every time a new security person came around, new directions were issued at me and everyone sitting around me. It was very frustrating, and only got worse as the hours went on.
During that wait, I sat and talked to tons of True Blood fans about what they liked about Season 3, and everyone had nice things to say about how intense True Blood is and how waiting for a new episode every Sunday can be painful because everyone wants more, and they want it now! To me, it was like being in TrueBloodNet’s fan community, where I’ve heard the same thing over and over again!
There was one strange surprise during that wait time, though. Sarah Palin was at Comic-Con. I didn’t believe it was really her until I walked up to her (as a nice fellow fan saved the area I was sitting at) and saw that it really wasn’t Tina Fey in costume. I did say hi, then walked back to where I was sitting. The other True Blood fans and I all joked around about the reasons Sarah might have for being at Comic-Con, but really could’t come up with any reasons. Either way, it was a nice distraction during the long wait for the True Blood signing.
This is where the pandemonium began. The line setup for the True Blood signing line was absolutely horrific. There were probably around 1,000 fans eagerly awaiting the True Blood signing, and all had been told different things by security. By the time lining up for the panel was approved, there was a whole set of new usurpers in the “official” line, and those people were the ones who got in over everyone else. Security also allowed a smaller aisle near the WB Booth to be entirely blocked by even more fans waiting for the True Blood signing! The final effect was that a lot of people, myself included, could not get into the panel and were very upset. Were I to have been in charge of security and lines near the WB Booth, I would have done a lot of things differently. First, I would have put the signing in a different room and not on the dealer’s floor. Second, I would have held drawings to get in line for the signing. The insanity would have been prevented had that done been done. Hopefully next year, the True Blood signing line will be set up differently.
That’s not the end of my story, though. I was lucky, once again, to get into the True Blood panel, thanks entirely to a friend. Once I got in (a couple panels early), I searched for a seat and even found a really good one. I was in the second set of seating (behind the first main aisle) on the left side of the room. My seat was not as close as it was in 2009, but it was pretty close! However, I was not in that seat for very long. Instead, as soon as the question line was announced, I walked over to it and sat there for the majority of the panel.
The panel was fantastic! The moderator of the panel was awesome, and he made sure to spread his time and questions amongst everyone on the panel. There was also a very amusing moment where Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin brought a cardboard cutout of Alexander Skarsgard to the panel and jokingly caressed it as they set it down. The panel audience was howling with laughter!
There were several great moments throughout the panel, and a few really stick out in my mind. One was a joke aimed at Rutina Wesley about how Tara should try dating using Match.com. I thought it was really funny, and a lot of the audience agreed! Another great moment was hearing directly from Alan Ball that Joe Manganiello is now going to be a full cast member for Season 4. Lots of cheering and hooting was heard after that announcement.
For me, though, the top moments of the panel over anything else were Alan Ball’s declaration that Bill and Sookie are soul mates and getting the chance to ask a question during the panel.
I was the second to last question that the panel answered, and I asked Stephen Moyer about how Bill’s evolution as a character has affected him as an answer. I swear I could feel myself glowing when Stephen told me that I’d asked a good question!
I had one other True Blood experience while at Comic-Con. Like the previous year, True Blood hosted the annual blood drive (which it turns out that my godmother named), so on Saturday, I went over and donated blood. In exchange for the blood, I got a really cool “My Blood is True” t-shirt, a True Blood water bottle, and a couple of other minor things. The other thing I came home with from donating blood? A giant bruise that’s still healing now. However, even without the stuff, I’m really happy that I gave blood, as blood banks everywhere need the donations!
All in all, even though some of the things that happened to me at Comic-Con were sincerely frustrating, I had a great time. I just wish it all hadn’t happened so quickly, because I can barely remember a lot of what I experienced. Thankfully, though, you all can join me in seeing what I saw live by clicking here and watching the videos of the True Blood panel!
(Image Credits: Isis Nocturne and @mariluvsHP)
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