Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures Vol1 ( Marvel / Hamilton / Ritchie / Booth )
“New York Times Best-Selling author LAURELL K. HAMILTON offers readers a brand-new experience in the world of ANITA BLAKE in a beautiful hardcover edition! Fusing mythology, werewolves and vampires with a story loaded with mystery, action and romance, the ANITA BLAKE novels take place in a world where vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of nightmare have been declared legal citizens of the United States. ANITA BLAKE is an “animator” – a profession that involves raising the dead for a living.
ANITA BLAKE is also known as a fearsome hunter of criminal vampires, and she moonlights by investigating cases that are far too much for “conventional” police. But as Anita gains the attention of the vampire masters in her hometown of St. Louis, she also risks revealing an intriguing secret about herself – the source of her unusual strength and power. As a special treat, Anita Blake fans will also discover an original side story featuring Anita and Dolph, written specially for the hardcover edition by LAURELL K. HAMILTON.”
So here’s a book that’s been out for some time, but I was looking for something to read and this caught my eye. Anita Blake was described to me as a more gown up Buffy Summers, which is true for the most part. Anita certainly deals with some more adult themes as a whole, but I didn’t think it was too far off the Buffy series, especially the last few seasons and season eight (currently published by Dark Horse).
My impression of Anita Blake was that if you’re into the over written Chris Claremont style of comic writing set in a sometimes realistic but mostly romanticized version of vampires, then this is perfect for you. If you’re a typical guy who loves movies like Lost Boys and the Blade series, then you’ll want to stray away from the Anita Blake comics. It’s not that the story is bad, quite the contrary in fact. The story is intriguing and has a rich sense of character and back story. If you like your comics to be very story driven with little pockets of action, then run out to your local comic shop and pick up this trade.
The art is beautiful and colors are vivid and dark in all the right places. As far as the art goes, I couldn’t ask for more from a vampire book. It’s sexy and lethal in all the right ways. Great stuff!
Grade: B
