Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Circus of the Damned #1

Laurell K. Hamilton's beloved vampire hunter comes to life in this Marvel adaptation of *Circus of the Damned*, subtitled "The Charmer," with a cover by Brett Booth that sets a genuinely haunting tone — a pale, powerfully built vampire figure cradles a dark-haired woman in crimson against the glow of an enormous full moon, bats scattering into the night sky around them. The tension between danger and dark allure is palpable in every line of Booth's artwork, with the cross tattoo on the vampire's chest and the woman's wide-eyed expression hinting at the complicated world Anita Blake navigates. With writing by Hamilton and Jess Ruffner-Booth and interior art by Ron Lim, this 2011 trade is a fine entry point into one of urban fantasy's most compelling heroines rendered in sequential art form.