NYCC 2023: Alex Segura Talks ComiXology’s ‘Blood Oath’

Alex Segura was on hand during New York Comic Con to discuss Blood Oath, the ComiXology series he co-wrote with Rob Hart and which was illustrated by Joe Eisma. During an exclusive interview with Comicon.com, Segura described the series as Boardwalk Empire meets vampires, and he discussed some of the unique rules this vampiric universe must follow.

Erik Amaya: Does it feel like Boardwalk Empire makes prohibition-set stories easier to sell?

Alex Segura: I don’t know if we thought about that. I think it was more that we just wanted to blend our favorite genres together. Rob’s a big horror fan, and I love true crime and we wanted to explore an era that we hadn’t played in yet. So Boardwalk Empire became a good touchstone. I was joking that I hate using comps but it’s such a perfect comp, and so adding that supernatural horror element to the mythos and the history was a lot of fun.

I think there’s always a hesitation about historical stuff, but I think Boardwalk Empire and other period pieces kind of kicked that door down so it’s not as daunting, I guess.

Tom Smithyman: There are so many vampire stories in comics these days. How do you make yours original?

Segura: That was the hard part. We wanted to be adding as opposed to just kind of playing the hits with vampires and so one of the things Rob and I did first out of the gate is ask: “What are our rules?” We don’t really want to play in the Twilight kind of vampires. We wanted it to be just a little more grounded, a little more horrific – but also not extreme horror. We wanted to really carve out our own lane, and I think we did that.

Amaya: How important were the rules that you established?

Segura: They’re really important. You know, garlic doesn’t do much. And daylight will kill them. You have to cut off their head and they’re all-powerful. But one of the cool things that Joe Eisma and Rob and I came up with is that as they get older, they get more out of control; they become less human. So there’s kind of a peak vampire – there’s an era where you’re like really good and can fit in, and then as centuries add on you become more of just like this vampiric monster.

Amaya: Using blood as a commodity is unusual.

Segura: Once we were playing in Prohibition, we thought there was a natural overlap. As opposed to running liquor, they’re running blood. And so the vampires are benefiting from the human systems of running these liquids but also the humans are benefiting in that the vampires aren’t going into all-out war with these supernatural creatures. What you find out at the end of the first issue is that there’s one vampire and his group have violated this legacy oath, this blood oath. There’s a reason for it, and it’s tied to the blood that they’re running. And you find that out as you keep going.

Smithyman: Are they running blood for other vampires?

Segura: Yeah. As opposed to being this supernatural nightmare force that’s praying upon humanity, the gangs were like: “Let’s run the blood for them. They can drink their blood and won’t hurt us.” And once that blood oath is violated, everything goes to Hell.

Amaya: Is there an equivalent to a Treasury agent in the story?

Segura: It’s more like a non-aggression treaty. We’ll do this for you. You guys won’t eat our people and prey upon humanity as long as you’re appeased. And then you find out that there’s this government that’s like vampire council that rules upon these almost-immortal beings. And one vampire has gone rogue and disrupted the whole thing.

Smithyman: Is the world big enough for more than one vampire?

Segura: I was just joking that we’re the second-best vampire book on ComiXology behind The All Nighter. It’s one of my favorite books, and so I think all boats rise with that.

Smithyman: Do you have a favorite vampire?

Segura: Dracula was one of the earliest books I read as a kid – those Classics Illustrated titles, so it always resonates with me. But I’m a huge Anne Rice fan so Lestat and then that whole vibe.

Amaya: Thank you for talking to us about Blood Oath.