enthrall your ears with the discord of Godsmack crooning VAMPIRES.
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Anita Blake Vampire Hunter
Guilty Pleasures:
The Complete Edition
by Laurell K. Hamilton,
Jess Ruffner-Booth,
Stacie Ritchie,
Ron Lim, Brett Booth
My review guidelines can be found HERE.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. She 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.
Watch as Anita goes up against fierce obstacles and is forced to make tough choices. What price will Anita pay in order to save her friend's life and solve the Vampire Murders? Will she actually kiss Phillip? How far will Edward go in order to find out where the daytime resting place of the Master Vampires truly is?
Graphic Novel Series—Collects Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures #1-12.
COVER ART
- Brett Booth's illustrations seduce me, I'm a sucker for muscly thighs
- Attention to detail creates a smooth sexy image even with the lack of background
- Spot varnish on the dust jacket is a beautiful in-hand enticement
- Gold foil on the faux red leather hard cover creates a feeling of worth
- I prefer the Jean-Claude cover variant, but it was not offered as an option on the Complete HC bound edition. <-- roll over cover image to see Jean-Claude
PARANORMALITY
- Vampires
- Shifters
- Zombies
SEXUALITY
- Kissing
- Fetish Party
REVIEW
I've never read comic books before. As a graphic designer, I should be ashamed of myself. But I am making up for it now. Graphic Novels, Comic Reincarnations, & Manga are all on my list.
- I love my hardcover bound compilation of the Guilty Pleasures Graphic Novel Series. It has a nice varnish on the dust cover, foil on the hardcover and beautiful full bleed glossy pages.
- The shiny paper does make it a bit difficult to read with overhead light. I have taken to reading by a window with the lights off and the book at the just the right angle to fully appreciate the beauty of the illustrations.
- I'm not saying I want the glossy paper to go, I love shiny things. I just wonder how well the presentation would have been on a matte finish.
- Artist renderings are included in the back along with a few unfinished panels to provide a nice behind the scenes feel.
- I fully appreciate the consistency in the story line between the books and the comics. I understand this is a bit of a draw to bring in new readers through a different media, but us old dedicated fans appreciate the consistency. I'm just hoping the omit the fanny packs mentioned in her newer novels. I strongly doubt there is any way to make one look sexy.
- The wererats, and all wereanimals, are noted in the book for having extremely large genitalia when shifted. This part was omitted from the comic. Perhaps to enlarge the audience. Understandable but also will make it extremely hard to move past book 3 or 4 in comic/graphic novel form as the sex escalates in the story line. Language has also been censored.
- I'm a little bothered by the slightly inconsistent style.*See Note
- I definitely noticed a change in style at Chapter 8. I kept holding my breath hoping the initial style would come back.*See Note
- The polished sexy Anita didn't return until AFTER the end of Guilty Pleasures, in the Vampire Victim addition <-- A short story created with Laurell K. Hamilton just for comics.*See Note
- I will shrug it off to the first round of artists and hope that the artwork congeals into a nice solid mass in Laughing Corpse.*See Note
*NOTE: After a look around the credits I have found an artist list. It has become obvious that I prefer Brett Booth's style over Ron Lim. Therefore, it also looks like I will NOT be purchasing The Laughing Corpse collection as all the pencil work is credited to Ron Lim. Bring Brett Booth back and I will buy, buy, buy. I WILL be picking up the HC edition of The First Death <-- Another story created with Hamilton just for comics. It includes the Guilty Pleasure's Handbook illustrated by Brett Booth.
I purchased this book with my very own money through Barnes & Noble.
Sweet Nightmares...
Sweet Nightmares...
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3 comments:
Great review!!!!
You are entitled to your opinion. However, uninformed and misguided that it may be...
Anonymous - Please share your views. I love a great debate!
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Thanks so much for delving into my head. It's scary in here sometimes, so it is nice to have company! Don't step on the zephyr...