Revelations Graphic Novel

by Clive Barker

Horror story in Comic book format

Genres: Horror, Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 1993

About the author

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 was in Liverpool in 1975 that he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship, with photographer David Armstrong, ended in 2009.

In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.

Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.

Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.

Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.

Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.

A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid,

Reviews

[Wendy Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrated by Lionel Talaro, Adapted by Steve Niles. Dark, raw, bloody, but the graphics (and it's mighty GRAPHIC) didn't do Barker's story full justice, the scenes too blurry, the story too spliced.

[Ramon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gran adaptación de la historia.
Si bien la historia atrapa por el formato que tiene, al ser llevado a imágenes, la hace más fluida en su desarrollo pero se pierde bastante del enganche que tienen las descripciones de Barker.
Muy bien adaptada pero no muy llamativa como novela gráfica.

[Shirley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very interesting and not much of a story.

[BrokenMnemonic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting original story, but this adaptation is let down by the muddy art. The at works well in a few places, like the scenes set outside, but not so well elsewhere.

[James Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3½⭐

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed 'Revelations'

Not the first story you'd think as ripe for a graphic adaptation but this worked really well.

[John Esse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poorly-made adaptation of an outstanding CB short story.

[Amy Younger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise, rewarding ending.

[Tom Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's some nice storytelling in this. The foreshadowing of the cyclical nature of the violence is subtly but clearly done, and the semi-realistic nature of the artwork really complements the ethereal nature of what's going on. The art does veer off a little too much sometimes - there are times when poses and proportions don't look 'off-kilter-artistic', they just look a bit shoddy - but there are also times when the glint in a character's eye reflects the writing to perfection.

The air of menace is pretty palpable throughout, so Niles has done a pretty decent job of adapting Barker's style of tension ramping up to more tension. The end feels pretty satisfying too.

There's another short story in here that is fun in a sort of unbelievable romp and mildly naff ending sort of way. I definitely enjoyed it.

[Dewi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ide cerita Clive Barker terbilang cukup menarik. Sepasang suami istri yang menghantui kamar hotel setelah terjadi pembunuhan sekian puluh tahun yang lalu. Hantu-hantu dan penghuni kamar hotel digambarkan memiliki karakter yang kuat. Sayangnya adaptasi yang dibuat oleh Steve Niles dan Fred Burke dalam bentuk graphic novel menjadi kurang menarik. Adegan dan penampakan visual yang terlalu vulgar malah mengurangi daya tarik cerita secara keseluruhan.

[Jimmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like any of the characters in this short story. Each one is a sinner & can not see their own sin beyond those surrounding them. It was a bit confusing at first to figure out what was going on because everything runs together, but once things got established the action & drama would not let me put it down. I loved the ending!

[Sylvester · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my least favourite short story, almost felt like a yarn from the EC comics in the 50s. The story is about a couple checking into a motel and the wife experiencing flashback of a murder happened at the same location. The result was pretty predictable. The artwork were a bit blend this time, with unnecessary nudity throughout.