When I first saw "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter in Guilty Pleasures No. 1," my first reaction was to wonder why Marvel was printing a comic about yet another vampire hunter. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy tales of vampire hunters. But the two most high-profile are Buffy and Blade, and last I checked, Buffy was cancelled and the number of series starring Blade that have been staked almost rivals his vampire body count.

When I spotted the Dabel Brothers logo, however, I felt more confident, as they have been doing high-quality adaptations of novels for a while now. That, and the eye-catching cover by Brett Booth persuaded me to pick it up.

In "Blake," creatures of our nightmares have become part of everyday society. As Blake says in No. 1, "Vampirism is legal in the good ol’ U.S. of A., and we’re one of the few countries to acknowledge them. The immigration people are still having fits trying to keep foreign vampires from immigrating in, well, flocks."

While attempting to coexist with humans, the vampires, zombies and werewolves still like to wreak havoc, and that’s when Blake must step in and protect the world.

With "Blake," Laurell K. Hamilton has created, and Stacie M. Ritchie has successfully adapted, a fresh and exciting new world. Ritchie has included as much of the source material as possible in her adaptation - No. 1’s 22 pages contain material from only the first 38 pages of the novel.

If the first issue is any indication, "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter in Guilty Pleasures" is a comic you will enjoy sinking your teeth into.

Marvel partners with Dabel

Comic book studio Dabel Brothers Productions LLC, has joined forces with Marvel Comics to adapt some of the most popular fantasy, science-fiction and horror novels into comic books and graphic novels. Marvel has signed on as the exclusive publisher for Dabel Brothers Productions, obtaining the rights to market, print and distribute the works. Dabel Brothers will continue to operate independently with authors on story development.

In addition to "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter in Guilty Pleasures," in the coming months Marvel and Dabel Brothers will adapt George R.R. Martin’s "Hedge Knight" series; Orson Scott Card’s "Red Prophet," and Raymond E. Feist’s "Magician: Apprentice" (part one of the "Riftwar" saga).