[Review]* Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The First Death (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Graphic Novels 0.5) by Laurell K. Hamilton

Summary:

Her fans have been asking for it - now, Laurell K. Hamilton delivers a look into Anita Blake's past! Written by Laurell K. Hamilton herself, along with Jonathon Green, The First Death takes place almost a year before the events being chronicled in Guilty Pleasures. Witness the first meeting of Anita and Jean-Claude, Anita's first time inside Guilty Pleasures, her first serial-killer case, and an early encounter with Edward. Prepare to be thrilled by this original story produced especially for comics! Collects Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The First Death #1-2 and Anita Blake: Guilty Pleasures Handbook.

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 128 pages (Paperback)

Available Formats: Print Paperback & Print Hardcover

Source: Borrowed from the Lady of the blog

Publication Date: January 28th 2009 by Marvel

Hi. My name's Darren but around here I'm know as Mr. Turning the Pages.I'm glad I can do a guest review on the blog again since I did one a few year ago. Truthfully I don't read a lot. So I will be reviewing the prequel graphic novel to the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Now, I'm not traditionally a huge reader though some books do sometimes grab my attention, but I've always been more of a graphic novel reader myself.

As for Anita Blake it's a popular book series that has been now given the graphic novel treatment. So often with the case of graphic novel things don't translate over well to graphic comics which leads to some terrible results. It could be the writing stinks, it could be bad artwork that doesn't match the story and characters etc. The point is it will kill the series even before the series can get off the ground. When it comes to Anita Blake, the transition from a novel series to a graphic novel series has had very good results. In fact if Anita Blake was done right it could make an excellent movie, television show, or even a video game.In my opinion this series would make a kickass show for HBO or Netflix.

Where to begin. I really loved the artwork. Wellinton Alves, the artist did a great job with the art and it really matched the feel of the characters, the setting, locations, story. I really thought the artwork matched the mature content of the story as well.The characters and the story were both equally developed which of course are very, very important to the quality of the graphic novel as a whole. I found the characters and story engaging from the get go. Anita Blake the main character of course is a beautiful, strong woman who can more than take care of herself. Her character has depth and left me wanting to know more about her. The other characters that are introduced really make a strong debut as well. In fact the characters all compliment each other rather nicely.

The First Death is gritty, sexy, violent, sometimes will be disturbing to some people. It's a mature graphic novel and not one that should be read by kids that's for sure. It actually isn't as bad as it sounds, it's just more of a warning so if somebody does read it they can have an idea of the mature content. Anita Blake kind of reminds me of the HBO series True Blood, but better. The Lady of Turning the Pages loves this series and has been wanting me to try it as long as we've been together and she loves both the graphic novels and novels. She can testify of the quality in this book. I actually borrowed this from her. I plan to start up the second one which is Guilty Pleasures Volume One this week this is gr
eat because a lot of the time I lose interest in continuing to read. However The First Death makes me want to keep reading this series.

I'd recommend The First Death to people who are looking into getting into comics/graphic novels but maybe don't want one that is about superheroes, fans of Anita Blake and readers who are just looking to try something different for a change.

Thanks for having me on the blog Kimberly, and thanks folks for reading my review.

Really Liked It

★★★★

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