#ReadAllTheBooks's Reviews > Blood Work

I've been eagerly awaiting this comic for a long time & now that I have it in my hands I have to say that the experience is both underwhelming & better than I expected. I'll review this in two parts, one for the artwork and one for the story since I kind of reacted to the two a little differently.


ARTWORK:

I have to admit that not everyone came across the way I expected them to. The artist did an incredible job adapting this to comic format but at times I don't think he really *got* the characters. The drawings are beautiful but I really got the feeling that the artist hadn't read the source novels (instead reading a cliff notes version) & because of that, he didn't really bring that deeper level to the characters. It's possible to do since I've seen some good GN adaptations out there but it just wasn't done here. (I assume that he didn't read the source novels because the book did have the artist's initial character sketches & he was pretty off with quite a few of the characters. He initially wanted to give Piscary hair & make him into a skinny white guy, for pete's sake.) Where the artist did get it right was with Rachel's character. I loved the artwork for her. When it comes to others such as Ivy, well... let's just say that it doesn't come close to capturing her depth, grace, or beauty.


STORY:

The story here is pretty light but it's still pretty darn good. It's nice to see how our dynamic duo met & I have to admit that my Ivy/Rachel shipping flared up again with this story. The story I have no problem with, although I wish it was just a little meatier at times. Maybe it's just the comic adaptation and/or that I enjoyed Pale Demon so much it set the bar very high, but I didn't get the glow that I normally do from reading a Hollows book.

It's still a good story & the artwork is captured better than the current state of the Anita Blake comics* (although that's not saying much). I'm still interested to see the next few volumes, although I'll probably wait for this to hit paperback rather than pre-ordering the hardback. As for everyone else, I suggest checking this out via the library or your local bookstore before plunking down the money for the hardcover.

3/5

*Although to be fair, the first volume or two of the Anita Blake series did do a good job at the artwork. It's just fallen into a steady decline since then.