Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter in Guilty Pleasures #1 (of 6)

Writer: Laurell K. Hamilton
Adaptation: Stacie M. Ritchie
Artist: Brett Booth
Colorist: Arif Priyanto

Anita Blake, an animator by profession, is approached to investigate a series of murders in which the victims are vampires. Anita turns down the offer but as things progress she may end up working the case whether she wants to or not.

Vampire comics are almost as common as superhero comics and event more boring, so really the last thing we need is another comic about vampires. Especially one as bad as Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter. Now, I’m not really one for “romantic horror novels” like Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, upon which this comic is based, or the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles or anything of that nature. Those things just don’t interest me. But my distaste for this comic goes way beyond my lack of interest in the subject matter or source material. No, this is just a badly done comic book.

For one thing, at no point in the book does the reader get a clear explanation as to who the hell Anita Blake is, what her motivations are or even what she actually does for a living. We’re just thrown into a situation with a complete stranger as if we’re supposed to know everything about her already. Which is fine for people who actually read the books upon which this series is based, but not so much for the reader who’s never even heard of Anita Blake or Laurell K. Hamilton.

Then there’s the overwhelming amount of text and dialogue, which reads as if the “adapter” of this book just lifted whole paragraphs out of the novel and plopped them into the script. And the fact that the dialogue (and the story itself) is endlessly repetitive doesn’t help much either. The text even goes so far as to try and explain what’s happening with the art. Which, if the artist is doing his job, is completely unnecessary.

The art itself is probably the best thing about this book. I actually used to like Brett Booth’s work quite a bit and it’s interesting to see his work again after such a long time. Unfortunately, the art may be better than the story, but it’s far from great. In several places it looks rushed or unfinished. And the character designs, especially the designs of the vampires, are of the most clichéd variety possible. Leather pants, frilly shirts, 80’s rock star hair. I couldn’t tell if this was supposed to be a joke or not.

Like most stories about vampires these days, Guilty Pleasures is boring, clichéd and completely unoriginal. I would highly recommend staying away from this book at all costs. Unless you really, really like male vampire strip clubs and frilly pirate shirts. If so, I guess this is the book for you!

 

Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.

 

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