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Clive Barker's Next Testament Vol. 3
The last chapter of Clive Barker's Next Testament!
The otherworldly being known as Wick has conquered the planet -- after multiple displays of force that have severely damaged the world's travel and telecommunications systems, he rules the world unopposed, with an increasingly large group of disciples following his every move. But not every one is as enamored with Earth's new Lord -- the young lovers Tristan & Elspeth continue their cross-country quest for answers, and as they reach the East Coast, they may just find the allies they seek. The Harvey-Nominated epic comes to its thrilling conclusion, as Master of Horror Clive Barker joins forces with co-writer Mark Alan Miller (HELLRAISER) and artist Haemi Jang (HELLRAISER: THE ROAD BELOW) wrap one of the most popular horror comics of recent memory.
The otherworldly being known as Wick has conquered the planet -- after multiple displays of force that have severely damaged the world's travel and telecommunications systems, he rules the world unopposed, with an increasingly large group of disciples following his every move. But not every one is as enamored with Earth's new Lord -- the young lovers Tristan & Elspeth continue their cross-country quest for answers, and as they reach the East Coast, they may just find the allies they seek. The Harvey-Nominated epic comes to its thrilling conclusion, as Master of Horror Clive Barker joins forces with co-writer Mark Alan Miller (HELLRAISER) and artist Haemi Jang (HELLRAISER: THE ROAD BELOW) wrap one of the most popular horror comics of recent memory.
112 pages, Paperback
Published October 13, 2015
About the author
Clive Barker
696 books15.6k followersClive 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,
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,
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 8, 2017
I'm not sure whether I just wanted it to be longer or maybe I just didn't enjoy the ending as much as I was hoping to when I learned this was the end. There's a lot of impressive and gorgeous and colourful art in the final fight of this series but I think the ending I just found too conventional overall. No one is scot free but still.
August 9, 2019
Not as great as the first two volumes (probably because nothing about Wick/God is surprising anymore)
Tristan and Elspeth must find more folks to help out for sure, and see if Wick can be stopped or killed.
Tristan and Elspeth must find more folks to help out for sure, and see if Wick can be stopped or killed.
November 7, 2017
Christ, it's finally over. Unfortunately the ending didn't redeem this steaming turd of a series - if anything, it fizzled out with even less gusto than the rest of the story, solving everyone's problems with a literal fucking deus ex machina and all the drippy, sentimental tropes you could possibly think of.
Jang's art continued to be bright and evocative and engaging, and essentially the only thing that kept me reading to the end. Otherwise, this has got to be one of the most disappointing graphic novel series I've ever read. With its premise and the people involved, it should have been something so much more, a deep, violent meditation on the nature of religion and gods and creation. It should have been batshit crazy, and pitch black, and also just FUN. Unfortunately it was none of those things.
What a wasted opportunity.
Jang's art continued to be bright and evocative and engaging, and essentially the only thing that kept me reading to the end. Otherwise, this has got to be one of the most disappointing graphic novel series I've ever read. With its premise and the people involved, it should have been something so much more, a deep, violent meditation on the nature of religion and gods and creation. It should have been batshit crazy, and pitch black, and also just FUN. Unfortunately it was none of those things.
What a wasted opportunity.
August 10, 2020
Next Testament giunge alla fine.
I nodi vengono al pettine e il finale è uno fra i migliori che potessi (non) immaginare. Sogni, speranze e sopravvivenza si intrecciano nella lotta contro il divino, nella lotta dell'umano. L'approfondimento dei personaggi non è curatissimo ma in questo caso condivido appieno considerando che il protagonista reale non è incarnato da un personaggio quanto da ciò che significa.
E' un fumetto che scuote ma soprattutto emoziona donando agli occhi tavole fantastiche.
I nodi vengono al pettine e il finale è uno fra i migliori che potessi (non) immaginare. Sogni, speranze e sopravvivenza si intrecciano nella lotta contro il divino, nella lotta dell'umano. L'approfondimento dei personaggi non è curatissimo ma in questo caso condivido appieno considerando che il protagonista reale non è incarnato da un personaggio quanto da ciò che significa.
E' un fumetto che scuote ma soprattutto emoziona donando agli occhi tavole fantastiche.
July 5, 2022
Definitely an improvement over Volume 2 which was very dull.
Overall these 12 issues were an enjoyable read.
But in the perfect world, this series would have had double that. 24 issues if not more in order to flesh out everything.
Being the way it is now, a lot of things just felt rushed.
Great idea overall that ended too quickly.
Overall these 12 issues were an enjoyable read.
But in the perfect world, this series would have had double that. 24 issues if not more in order to flesh out everything.
Being the way it is now, a lot of things just felt rushed.
Great idea overall that ended too quickly.
May 31, 2017
Wick initiated his final plan for armagaddon, only the discovery that there is a holy trinity can stop him. It was quite a disappointing volume really, much of the let down was in the ending, which was severely rushed. I liked how Barker really tried to condense the story but it still felt rushed.
July 19, 2017
Beautiful artwork but I think dialog was lacking. Seemed like an abrupt ending to a buildup that left me wanting more. Read this with an active imagination to fill in and visualize what is going on. Pleased I read it.
February 18, 2018
My least fave of the 3, but a great series overall
October 26, 2019
Sort of anti-climactic. A deus ex machina ending.
June 28, 2020
The culmination of the beauty and terror that is Wick, the Father's return to the Earth and how gods and people are both working to exile Wick once more.
August 7, 2020
Still a very mediocre waste of a decent premise with great covers and underwhelming panel art, but at least the apocalyptic climax enlivens things a bit.
April 25, 2016
Clive Barker teams up with Mark Miller for his foray back to comics. The theme is a God gone wrong. No easy superhero action here. It's the fate of all humanity as good & evil dukes it out. The human beings bring pathos to the story while Wick the godlike deity shows us the power of misguided omnipotence. This reads fast & easy due to the wide-screen panels & precise language. The ending is unsatisfying but the journey there was a devil's delight.
July 27, 2021
The weakest of the series due to what felt like a rushed ending featuring a disappointingly bland and underdeveloped enemies for the increasingly unhinged Wick and some unclear and oddly unfocused artwork (the only part of the entire tale where Jang's otherwise excellent work felt like a letdown). It's a shame Next Testament couldn't maintain the quality of the first volume but I'd still recommend the whole series as being worth a look for fans of apocalyptic, bloody horror.
October 18, 2015
Interesting premise for a series that is blasphemous, scary, and very weird.
What if the vengeful Old Testament God from the Book of Job and Exodus came back to earth and decided he did not like what He found?
And that He was no longer interested in honoring the New Covenant advocated by the other 2/3 of his family (the Son and Holy Spirit)? And that it was time to bring back the old ways?
What if the vengeful Old Testament God from the Book of Job and Exodus came back to earth and decided he did not like what He found?
And that He was no longer interested in honoring the New Covenant advocated by the other 2/3 of his family (the Son and Holy Spirit)? And that it was time to bring back the old ways?
December 1, 2015
Well, that was quite a series! I really enjoyed reading it. It was a quick, demented, fascinating story. Clive Barker & Mark Miller did a great job with pacing & having the story play out the way it did. Also, mad props to Haemi Jang & Vladimir Popov on their gorgeous colors throughout. I love the juxtaposition with the dark pages & the incredible pops of color. Lovely!
February 5, 2020
Violent, dark and heretical take on the God of Old Testament visiting Earth and attempting to bring things back to the way they were. Rushed ending, but the journey was very entertaining.
September 6, 2020
Read it please
December 22, 2020
The world is different. And it's always been that way.
October 13, 2022
Dope
A good must read.. inventiveness on 100. Super original
Wick is not to be played with. Clive hasn't lost his touch..
A good must read.. inventiveness on 100. Super original
Wick is not to be played with. Clive hasn't lost his touch..
April 20, 2023
Very satisfying conclusion.
May 1, 2023
Very good ending. Deserve a 4.5. Story makes sense. Drawings are beautiful (but less detailed than in the first volume).
March 19, 2024
I finished it because I started it. Unmemorable. Sophomoric. Waste of a good idea.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews