Blood: A Tale

J.M. DeMatteis' Blood: A Tale is a very artsy comic, one of those things you really have to be in the right mood for or it seems like pretentious tosh. Told through gorgeous painted artwork and almost-poem like dialogue and narration, the story is quite allegorical and perhaps even metaphysical. At its most basic level, it's about a man turned into a vampire who meets a woman and a strange chubby fella named "Little One" and their adventures through a strange psychedelic landscape. It's a good example of the type of material that Marvel's Epic line and DC's Vertigo line produced, in which plot and dialogue are often secondary (if existent at all) to creating a certain kind of mood and tone. Blood: A Tale really isn't my cup of tea, but I can say I liked it better the second time I read it, when I knew what to expect and went in with a more patient attitude.