- NEW ANITA BLAKE ITEMS - Check back here to find new stuff
 - Sets & Collections - Trade Paperbacks Hard Covers & sets of comics
 - LAUGHING CORPSE 1- 5 - The Newest Anita Blake Comic Series
 - GUILTY PLEASURES: 1 - 8 - The first Anita comic series starts here...
 - GUILTY PLEASURES CONT & FIRST DEATH -...and finishes here +++
 - SPECIALS, VARIANTS & MORE - Unique & ltd Anita Blake items

ANITA BLAKE BULLETIN!
Many of you have noted how you miss the original series artist BRETT BOOTH.  Brett visually defined Anita Blake for all of us.  His sultry and sexy Anita Blake set the vision for other artists to follow.  For those of you that miss his art style be sure to check out his rendition of Deane Koontz FRANKENSTEIN.  Available to order here and even with a JETPACK COMICS exclusive cover!

NOT SURE WHERE TO START!
The world of comic books may be as foreign to you as a normal life is to Anita.  At Jetpack Comics we want to make it as easy as possible for you to become immersed in Anita's world in a whole new way!  Below we've provided some insight and definition so you can know exactly what is available to you.  Once you've gone through it all please feel free to ask us any questions that may be unclear to you.  If you don't live in the comic book world, like we do,  it can be very confusing.  We'll try to make it easier!

If you haven't purchased any comic books then we suggest the sets.  Sets give you everything you need to get started in the comic book collecting world.  We've several listed so read through and see what may interest you.

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HOW IT ALL STARTED - Believe it or not, Anita Blake might not even be a comic book today, if it wasn't for Jetpack Comics.  That is to say, Jetpack Comics was the company that made the initial suggestion, to the first publishers, to produce an Anita Blake comic book.  We knew how well Laurell K Hamilton's series of novels sold and pitched the Dabel Brothers that they should produce a comic series based on the novels.  

Anita's first appearance in comic book form came a preview in one of the Dabel Brothers original series, called Marshall.  This sci-fi western was an odd place to introduce the world of Anita Blake and few people even realized it started here.  Marshall #1 contains some images from the Anita Blake preliminary works that have never been reproduced elsewhere.  A very low print run and a high demand (thanks to all the Anita Blake completists) drove the price on this comic through the roof

With Brett Booth at the art helm, the first comic appeared as a black and white, pencil only, sketch edition in two forms.  There was the Dabel Brother Preview Edition and the Jetpack Comics Variant Edition, each with unique covers.  The story inside is the same as the story in the color issue #1, but in its base form.  Each edition had a limited print run of only 1000 copies.  Today our version still fetches a higher price (see Wizard Magazine for comic book pricing) thanks to the great cover by Brett Booth.  Through the pages of our store you will see how our cover has been used time and time again, in a variety of ways.  Luckily, we own the original pencil page of the cover.

The Anita Blake Comic Book Phenomenon really took off when publishers Marvel Comics and the Dabel Brothers formed a partnership to produce high demand novel series in comic book format.  Of course, Anita Blake was at the forefront of this partnership.  

Anita Blake Guilty Pleasures was a HUGE success thanks to the hard work of everyone involved.  Guilty Pleasures saw multiple printings for the first 3 issues.  Laurell K Hamilton was so happy with the success of the series that she opted to write an original story for the Hard Cover collection of Guilty Pleasures 1 - 6 and then went on to write First Death - an original 2 issue comic series, herself.  First Death was her first crack at comic book writing but is sure to not be her last.

Shadowed only by Stephen King's Dark Tower series, Anita Blake Guilty Pleasures is one of the all-time best selling comic book novel adaptations.  

Just after the release of Anita Blake GP #6 and AB First Death #1 there was a falling out between the Dabel Brothers and Marvel Comics.  The break up was messy and unfortunate but no one can argue that the Dabel Brothers have given us the Anita Blake Comic Book legacy and Marvel Comics continues to produce these comics today. 

AS you shop through the Jetpack Comics Anita Blake store you may come across terminology with which you are not familiar.  We've provided some definitions here but feel free to contact us with other questions you may have.

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First Printing - Just like books, comic books can have multiple printings.  In most cases, the first printing is the most desirable for a collection, but it is not always the most valuable.  With each printing the qty printed reduces, making the subsequent printings harder to find.  It is not unheard of to find the second or third printing of a comic book approaching the value of the first printing.  In some cases it may be worth more than the first printing.  In most cases, the additional printings will carry some new material (cover, interior pages) to make it attractive to those that already have an earlier printing.  

Variant - The word variant is used to describe an intentional difference in a comic book.  While multiple printings are often called variants, there are often variants produced at the same time as a regular issue.  For example, Guilty Pleasures #8 will have a regular first printing edition as well as a 1/10 variant edition (also a first printing).  The 1/10 is the production ratio.  1 of the variant is produced for every 10 of the regular first print cover.  This means a comic book retailer has to purchase 10 of the regular edition to buy 1 of the variant, hence the significant price difference (that 1 represents an initial retail value of 10 times the retail value of the regular edition but often skyrockets to multiple times more the value due to the low production).

Limited Edition - Used in reference to many different aspects of comic books, prints, posters, etc, it signifies that the qty produced was a predetermined finite amount.  We are not always told what that qty may be.

Exclusive - This term is used to signify that an item was produced for some specific use, company or meeting.  Generally these items were not available for mass market consumption, though eventually most of them make it to market on their own.

Yes, it is possible to have (and happens often) an exclusive, limited edition, variant, first (second, third) printing.

Comic Book Hard Cover / trade / collection - Almost all stories, in comic book form, are told in arcs.  Kind of a self contained story of several chapters (issues). While there are often underlying plot lines an arc generally follows one major plot line from start to resolution (of some type).  While this is not always the case the three terms above will always be an item that collects a number of comic book issues.

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Anita Blake Comic Info & Definitions
Be sure to check out our Anita Blake offerings.

 - NEW ANITA BLAKE ITEMS - Check back here to find new stuff
 - Sets & Collections - Trade Paperbacks Hard Covers & sets of comics
 - LAUGHING CORPSE 1- 5 - The Newest Anita Blake Comic Series
 - GUILTY PLEASURES: 1 - 8 - The first Anita comic series starts here...
 - GUILTY PLEASURES CONT & FIRST DEATH -...and finishes here +++
 - SPECIALS, VARIANTS & MORE - Unique & ltd Anita Blake items

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING!  Additional funds are required for International Shipping.   If you did not click the INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING BUTTON you can do so now and ensure speedy delivery of your items.  CANADA and MEXICO do not need to pay additional shipping funds!

ALL ORDERS SHIP COMPLETE!  We do not ship partial orders.  If you ordered some items that are currently in stock, and some items that are not out yet, your order will not ship until all items are in stock.  We are happy to split ship orders if you want.  Just drop us an email and we will invoice you for the appropriate shipping amount.  Once placed orders are not cancelable so please be certain of what you order.