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Tapping the Vein: Book One
(Tapping the Vein #1)
by
Clive Barker's nightmarish vision has changed the face of horror forever. Now barker does for comics what he's already done for film, stage, and fiction--stretching the very boundaries of the medium itself to bring forth the lyrical and the brutal.
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Paperback, 56 pages
Published
1989
by Eclipse Books
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Start your review of Tapping the Vein: Book One (Tapping the Vein #1)

Horror done in true Clive Barker style. Sex, beliefs and humanity all come into question in these 5 graphic novels.
There are two stories / graphic novel and each story is not only different in content but also in art style. Essentially it's like reading 12 different comic books with the same writer. It's almost like reading an animated Books of Blood. And just like the Books of Blood some stories are better than others, nevertheless, Barker definitely has a handle on the short story format. And ...more
There are two stories / graphic novel and each story is not only different in content but also in art style. Essentially it's like reading 12 different comic books with the same writer. It's almost like reading an animated Books of Blood. And just like the Books of Blood some stories are better than others, nevertheless, Barker definitely has a handle on the short story format. And ...more

The first story, HUMAN REMAINS, must be the scariest, creepiest story about Doppelgangers ever written. It's a total creepfest.
The second story, PIG BLOOD BLUES, is familiar to me, I've read it in the first volume of The Books of Blood. Still, that was a long time ago, it was nice to see that story of angsty rebellion rendered into Graphic Novel medium.
Both tales are disturbing in their eloquent imagination. ...more
The second story, PIG BLOOD BLUES, is familiar to me, I've read it in the first volume of The Books of Blood. Still, that was a long time ago, it was nice to see that story of angsty rebellion rendered into Graphic Novel medium.
Both tales are disturbing in their eloquent imagination. ...more

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I got into Clive Barker when he broke the American scene back in the 1980s, and was into comics not much later, so when these comic adaptations of Barker's Books of Blood short stories came out I was all over them. Not only do they do an admirable job of adapting Barker's prose, leaving very little of his rhythm and style out, but they got some of the top artists in the field at the time to illustrate them.
This first book chooses some lesser stories to begin: 'Human Remains,' about a curious sor ...more
This first book chooses some lesser stories to begin: 'Human Remains,' about a curious sor ...more

This first volume of Tapping the vein contains Human Remains and Pig Blood Blues from The Books of Blood.
Human Remains deals with a beautiful young hustler who encounters an evil doppelganger intent on taking over his life - Creepy for the most part but I found the ending just fizzled and Craig Russell's artwork didn't do much for me - although I have seen much worse.
Pig Blood Blues is for the most part supremely freaky - a new teacher at a reformatory 'prison' encounters a sow possessed by one ...more
Human Remains deals with a beautiful young hustler who encounters an evil doppelganger intent on taking over his life - Creepy for the most part but I found the ending just fizzled and Craig Russell's artwork didn't do much for me - although I have seen much worse.
Pig Blood Blues is for the most part supremely freaky - a new teacher at a reformatory 'prison' encounters a sow possessed by one ...more

The first volume of the illustrated editions of Clive Barkers stories is a very interesting one to talk about, as both of the stories do certain things well and other things not so.
HUMAN REMAINS 3* (Origional 3*)
Human Remains was never one of my favorite stories from the BOB collection, but it does do certain things well and this rendition takes that and serves it right back out at you. While I'm not so keen on the artstyle of this one, I do think that the emotional moments hit harder here than ...more
HUMAN REMAINS 3* (Origional 3*)
Human Remains was never one of my favorite stories from the BOB collection, but it does do certain things well and this rendition takes that and serves it right back out at you. While I'm not so keen on the artstyle of this one, I do think that the emotional moments hit harder here than ...more

I went to sleep after I was done reading it and woke up around 2 am feeling a bit queasy, normally once I sleep I don't wake up till the alarm goes off. Weird. The stories aren't all that eerie, but you will feel uneasy for a while. Gavin's doppelganger and the demonic sow are hard to forget, they are nowhere near as horrifying as some of the monsters Barker has created but like I said they will leave their imprint.
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While I enjoyed this graphic novel, and the art was stunning, it feel below my expectations for Clive Barker's writing. I have not read the original stories so this opinion could be down to the adaption, I am not sure
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Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It
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