Product Description: This Eisner-nominated anthology mini-series brings the best of Clive Barker's Books of Blood short stories to the comics medium. Barker's work is brought to a stunning visual realization by comics' greatest artistic talent: John Bolton, P. Craig Russell, Klaus Janson, Tim Conrad, Bo Hampton, Stan Woch, Hector Gomez, and more. Collected here are such horror classics as "Skins of the Fathers", "Human Remains", "In the Hills, In the Cities", "Down Satan", "How Spoilers Bleed", "The Madonna", "Pig Blood Blues", and "The Midnight Meat Train" . . . just to name a few.
If you like Clive, then you'll like this one too Years before Clive Barker wrote The Hellbound Heart which later was brought to the screen and transformed into Hellraiser he already had much experience from the life of a writer. Together with friends in a theatre group Barker had written several scripts for the stage, and in 1984 he published a collection of astonishing short stories, which became known as the Books of Blood. These days Barker is not a horror writer per se, even though his creations still contain supernatural and/or horror-influenced elements.
Books of Blood have been a global success, and many different editions have been published by different publishers. Checker Publishing Group - known for their high-quality editions of new and classical comics - has now released some of Barker's most celebrated stories from, among other, Books of Blood in the shape of a comic.
It's not a very easy task to transform the bizarre world of Clive Barker into a different media, but all in all one must say that Checker has done a great job. The stories are "Human Remains", "Pig Blood Blues", "Skins of the Fathers", "The Midnight Meat Train", "In the Hills, the Cities", "How Spoilers Bleed", "Down, Satan", and "Scape Goats".
However, the read is not a very easy one, despite the illustrations that accompany it, and unfortunately, some of the contributors more or less fail to do their job. For example, John Bolton's drawings for "In the Hills, the Cities" are masterpieces of art, while Klaus Janson's contributions to "Skins of the Fathers" are aeons away from the creepiness of Bolton.
Still, the stories in themselves are all brilliant literature, and in most case the transformation into comics are quite successful, even though it must be said that the reader more or less has to read the stories in their original form before attempting to read the comics. This is the only way to fully understand what's going on (and sometimes you still don't, but that's just the way Barker works). If you've read the stories before and liked them, then this Checker release will not let you down, but if you're new to the world of Clive Barker you'll probably have a hard time understanding some of the stories.
If you like Clive, then you'll like this one too Years before Clive Barker wrote The Hellbound Heart which later was brought to the screen and transformed into Hellraiser he already had much experience from the life of a writer. Together with friends in a theatre group Barker had written several scripts for the stage, and in 1984 he published a collection of astonishing short stories, which became known as the Books of Blood. These days Barker is not a horror writer per se, even though his creations still contain supernatural and/or horror-influenced elements.
Books of Blood have been a global success, and many different editions have been published by different publishers. Checker Publishing Group - known for their high-quality editions of new and classical comics - has now released some of Barker's most celebrated stories from, among other, Books of Blood in the shape of a comic.
It's not a very easy task to transform the bizarre world of Clive Barker into a different media, but all in all one must say that Checker has done a great job. The stories are "Human Remains", "Pig Blood Blues", "Skins of the Fathers", "The Midnight Meat Train", "In the Hills, the Cities", "How Spoilers Bleed", "Down, Satan", and "Scape Goats".
However, the read is not a very easy one, despite the illustrations that accompany it, and unfortunately, some of the contributors more or less fail to do their job. For example, John Bolton's drawings for "In the Hills, the Cities" are masterpieces of art, while Klaus Janson's contributions to "Skins of the Fathers" are aeons away from the creepiness of Bolton.
Still, the stories in themselves are all brilliant literature, and in most case the transformation into comics are quite successful, even though it must be said that the reader more or less has to read the stories in their original form before attempting to read the comics. This is the only way to fully understand what's going on (and sometimes you still don't, but that's just the way Barker works). If you've read the stories before and liked them, then this Checker release will not let you down, but if you're new to the world of Clive Barker you'll probably have a hard time understanding some of the stories.
tapping the vein Brillant adaptation of Barkers short tales. The list of ilustrators include P. Craig Russel,Scott Hampton,Klaus janson,D. Cowan,John Bolton,H. Gomez,Stan Woch,Tim Conrad,Bo Hampton and the colaboration in the adaptation of the stories of Steve Niles and Chuck Wagner among others.
Falls flat frequently ! Originally I was attracted to this title after playing the PC game CLIVE BARKER'S UNDYING. Highly atmospheric in its conversion from text to interactive graphics, the game left most players with a chill, a tingle - that would haunt and could not be shaken off easily. The graphic novel, however, left me with a bland, dull taste - and with an unquenched thirst of the paranormal. The artwork was apt, the ideas provided were original, the premises were even commendable. However, somewhere along the path of story development and conversion, the psychotic-horror tinge misses its mark. There is no cherishable after sensation to savour. Also sometimes, one needs to grope for the ideas for the 'read between the lines'. 'Pig Blood Rules', `Midnight Meat Train' - were the only well-rounded stories I remember with warmth.
Awesome concept, brilliant artistry!!! This is one of the coolest things I've ever come by. The psychotic stories of Clive Barker transferred to the graphic novel format. Some of the very best Barker tales are chosen for this collection. The artwork completely captures every aspect of the disturbing yet poetic brilliance of Barker's stories. Bravo! A little spendy, but worth every penny. Trust me! As a die-hard Barker fan, I can say that any admirer, passive or devoted, will love this collection.
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