Executioner (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The Laughing Corpse #3) by Laurell K. Hamilton, Ron Lim, Jess Ruffner-Booth

Current queen of the book charts and soon to be the star of her own television film, best-selling author Laurell K. Hamilton’s vampire hunter continues to take comics by storm As The Laughing Corpse enters its haunting final act, Anita Blake thinks she has the deadly voodoo priestess who’s made her life hell dead to rights… but the necromancer is about to find out her nightmare’s only just begun Find out why everyone in America is talking about Anita Collects Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The Laughing Corpse – Executioner

#1-5 Hardcover, Graphic Novel, 112 pages Published June 9th 2010 by Marvel Comics (first published 2010)

ISBN  0785136347 (ISBN13: 9780785136347)

As Anita’s problems begin to worsen, one dead body after another showing up. All the clues start pointing to the Vaudun priestess. She is accused of a murder with possible proof, but then the proof disappears. She is a very magical being and recently Anita’s been causing her some grief.  She decides it’s finally time that Anita pays for causing her life so many problems…

Anita eventually gets trapped in the middle of the biggest mess of her life and taken hostage. There is a blob of zombie parts that have been molded together guarding her in the basement. She has to get past the guards who have weapons and take on a battle with this grotesque rotting corpse to get herself as well as the other hostages free.

In the end, we get to see Anita be the most powerful and truest form of Animator. She has to fight back with what she knows best; all out Zombie Apocalypse.

These are some of the best renditions of novels into graphic form I have come across. I love that that there is just as much dialogue to go along with the illustrations and full colored glossy pages.

I’m on deadline with Blaze Dark and finishing edits for Tara Sharp 3, so my time is very regimented at the moment. And as happens when you have not a second to spare, lovely invites come along that you can’t refuse.

So I’m opening/christening the new Reading Room at our school library in a couple of weeks. This will give me great pleasure, as I was definitely one of those kids who found peace in the library in my own school. Not from other kids, but from my own mind.

As well as that, I’m speaking on a panel on Digital Rights soon:

Australian Society of Authors are hosting a panel discussion on digital rights at the State Library of Queensland on Friday 30th March, 6-9pm.

Hope to see some Brisbanites there.

Meanwhile, it’s almost SwanCon time and I’m so looking forward to going to Perth to see everyone! Am planning to ask Kendra to do my make-up for the Masquerade Ball.

by Bill Willingham, Lan Medina (Illustrator), Steve Leialoha (Illustrator), Craig Hamilton (Illustrator)

When a savage creature known only as the Adversary conquered the fabled lands of legends and fairy tales, all of the infamous inhabitants of folklore were forced into exile. Disguised among the normal citizens of modern-day New York, these magical characters have created their own peaceful and secret society within an exclusive luxury apartment building called Fabletown.

But when Snow White’s party-girl sister, Rose Red, is apparently murdered, it is up to Fabletown’s sheriff, a reformed and pardoned Big Bad Wolf (Bigby Wolf), to determine if the killer is Bluebeard, Rose’s ex-lover and notorious wife killer, or Jack, her current live-in boyfriend and former beanstalk-climber.

ISBN  1563899426 (ISBN13: 9781563899423)

Now this was a fantastic read. Fables opens up a world of all and any known beings in any fable, nursery rhyme, fairtyale – you name it. The ensemble of potential characters that this series can contain is endless. In Volume One: Legends in Exile: it’s a who-dunnit mystery. The sister of Snow White, Rose Red, has gone missing. There is too much blood in her apartment to make it possible that she survived, but where’s the body? Mr Wolf and Snow White take on the case together and start interrogating all the people Rose Red has been known to consort with.

Volume One contains the first 5 issues of Fables, and the whole complete story of Rose Red’s disappearance, ending perfectly. The combination of dialogue vs illustrations was balanced and the introductions to several other characters not overwhelming, leaving an opening for several more story lines to branch off.

Along with the mystery we get an introduction into the world, how the Fables came to be living among the Mundanes in our world and the desire to want to be able to go back to their homelands one day.

Interesting side characters that are introduced are Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and Prince Charming, although we only get a peek into their lives – but the girls take on major kick ass roles. They play an equal role against the guys in this story and I loved finding a new and intriguing way to view Snow White and Cinderella.

My favorite character was Snow White, she has a powerful job working for the government, better off divorced and stronger for it, great apartment and can stand up to the more animal side of the guys. By far my least favorite character is her ex husband Prince Charming. He’s a cocky, selfish ass.

This is by far one of my favorites, I do not know what took me so long to look into this serialized story, no wonder it won an Eisner Award in 2003. I highly recommend it.