Anita Blake is the person the cops call when they get a case too macabre for them to handle. She is the woman the vampires call the 'Exterminator' and she raises zombies for a living. So imagine the surprise of some of the people present when Anita throws up in the bushes when she sees a dead body. However to give credit when it is due this was not any ordinary body but that of a child. Which vampire is targeting youngsters? If Anita finds it you can guarntee she is going to stake it.

This graphic novel is special because it takes place before we readers met Anita in Guilty Pleasures. This shows you how Anita's career started and her first meeting with Jean-Claude. Definitely a book that hardcore Anita fans should get as soon as possible and not something to be laughed at if you have read any of the books in the series and enjoyed them.

The artwork is extremely good and the story is of course great. Nothing else should be expected from Hamilton and hopefully there will be more of these graphic novels showing Anita's past. However I am still not liking the piece of hair always hanging down inbetween Anita's eyes. How could any woman fight a vampire with hair in her face? And I still can't get over Edward looking so young.

A great edition to the Anita history and what makes this book even better is the Guilty Pleasures handbook at the end. With details about all the characters and the storyline it is worth getting the book just for the extra part.

Labels: Books Read, Graphic Novels, Laurell K. Hamilton

When the survivor of a bungled Mob hit starts to take revenge, the bodies start piling up and the CSI team get the case. Finding the clues to piece the case together isn't easy but as the follow what they have got things start to make more sense. In a race against time the team work together to get the job done and hopefully put another case to bed.

Yeah another Graphic novel. I realised I had so many on my bookshelf and wanted to get a few read before the dust ruined the covers! So this time I found myself visiting yet another of my favourite TV shows, CSI Las Vegas.

The story was good but I have to say the artwork could have been better. Of course I knew who all the characters were supposed to be but some of them lacked detail. All in all a great graphic novel that no fan should pass up on. Worth tracking down if you need a fix before the series starts back up again after the holidays.

Labels: Books Read, Graphic Novels

Based on the popular Tv series this collection of graphic novels about the Doctor. They all share adventures through time and space with the Doctor and his assistant Martha.

An attempt to save the doomed planet of Loam, a crazy trip to Mars via a London bus, a stop off in the Antartic to help explorer Ernest Shackleton and then a visit to an abandonded space center are the locations the four stories in this book take the reader.

I really enjoyed this selection of stories and wish I had more. The stories are exciting and the artwork is amazing. Reading this made me realise that this Doctor (David Tennant) and his assistant Martha are, for me, the best team there was so far on the series. It is a shame the doctor will be changing soon but hopefully Martha will be seen again in Torchwood.

Labels: Books Read, Graphic Novels

There Blurb :

Here's how it is - In a universe filled with hearts and minds as cold as the dark as the reaches of space, one small Firefly-class startship named Serenity takes its ragtag crew of mercenaries, outlaws and fugitives in search or a job, any job, that'll earn them enough cash to afford the most elusive commodity - Peace.

I signed up for a bookring for this book on bookcrossing a few years ago and the book finally got to me a couple of weeks ago. Now firstly I was disappointed when this arrived because it is a graphic novel. I thought it was a full sized story but it is indeed a very small sized graphic novel.

So my boyfriend and I have both read this and I have to say that while the artwork was amazingly good and the story wasn't too bad I was left even more disappointed. This was only book 1 in however many parts and I can't get hold of the rest of the books in this series very easily (being in Europe). So I am now stuck not knowing what happened next and still wondering why they cancelled such a great show ;)

Labels: Books Read, Graphic Novels

A year after Sunnydale got wiped off the planet, Buffy and her spooky squad have been joined by the other slayers. They are based worldwide fighting anything that needs taking down. Buffy, Xander, Willow & Giles are all still the same people while Dawn is a little bigger now...

This is the 8th series in comic form and some may say it is just a way to milk more money from the fans. Well after this first volume I would have to say it is. The story was jumpy, erractic and did not capture the greatness of the TV series at all. This was a mass of words that at times made no sense in regards of the storyline which was very poor.

A graphic novel should have pictures good enough to make the story stronger and more alive. However the pictures here were not that amazing and sometimes I had no idea who the person in the picture was supposed to be. Sure we all know who Xander is with his eye-patch and Willow with her red hair but alot of the other characters had nothing. The actual comic covers and large pictures in this are real good pieces of art but the actual story is badly drawn.

In conclusion only buy this if you are a real hardcore Buffy fan. I am not a huge Graphic novel reader but I have seen alot better and this one has left me disappointed. This first volume contains the first 5 comics in the series and I most likely won't bother with the rest. Bring Buffy back for another TV series or a film but stop bringing out things like this to make the fans pay out even more money for nothing.

Labels: Books Read, Graphic Novels

Anyone who reads any kind of Paranormal books has come across Anita Blake the vampire slayer and necromancer. In this graphic novel the first half of the novel 'Guilty Pleasures' (the first book in the Anita Blake series) is shown in picture and it is lovely.

The story is of course condensed but the pictures show the rest of the story. With the most amazing artwork Anita really comes to life and looks just like imagined she would. With so much detail this volume (which contains the first six issues of the graphic novels) is a must read for any Anita fan.

There are however 2 things that bothered me. The first is that Edward looked so young. I always imagined him older or at least a bit more rough looking. The second thing really annoyed me and that was the curl of hair that the artist insisted should be placed in the middle of Anita's face all the time. It looks nice in some of the artwork but would Anita be able to concentrate with hair in her face??

All in all a great piece of work and I will be on the lookout for the next vvolume in this 'Guilty Pleasures' series. Kudos to the artist for coming up with so many different penguin T-shirts and the alternative cover of Anita is brilliant.

Labels: Books Read, Graphic Novels, Laurell K. Hamilton