The Strain Volume 1 Paperback – November 27, 2012

Adapted from a the trio of novels by the same name, this comic book series is fantastic. The art is amazing and the story is well intact from the novels. Way way too many "book" snobs are looking down at this comic series simply because it is a comic series. It retains the same great story from the novels and adds in fantastic comic book art.If you love a great story, fantastic art and awesome horror you won't be let down.Buy all the additional volumes as well. All are 5 stars!

Not a comic-book person typically, but this is a solid casual "read." The premise is cool, if not a little ridiculous, but hey we're talking about vampires here.I got this comic because I want to compare this to the TV series and possibly the novel as well.Reading it on my iPad using the Kindle app has been a great experience.

Being a fan of Guillermo Del Toro films, I've found the trilogy of books The Strain a really hood read, solid story, great characters, and so. Now the books come to life in foem of a graphic story which is really cool.

When I had heard Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan wrote a horror book series together called the Strain I became very interested. I'm a big fan of GdT and based on the artwork I saw and high reviews of the Dark Horse graphic novel, I decided to read those first. Now I am in love with this series. For awhile I was disgusted with vampire stories because of Twilight but I love that vampires are actual monsters again and they're really disgusting. Artwork is beautiful and now that Fx has picked it up for a show, I can't wait to see it on t.v. too.

THE STRAIN is a solid vampire thriller and is excellent in graphic novel form. Some reviewers have complained that the story is cliche, and to some extent they are right in that THE STRAIN is not completely original -- it is a story clearly in the tradition of Stoker's DRACULA.The tale begins with a plane landing in at the JFK with its crew and passengers mysteriously dead and a coffin full of dirt stowed away in its cargo hold -- a scene that pays homage to Count Dracula's infamous landing in London. The rest of the story proceeds similarly, the scenes and characters repeatedly tying back to Stoker's classic tale of vampirism (including a vampire-slayer/professor) while still remaining refreshingly modern.Although good, THE STRAIN, VOLUME 1 is not without its flaws. The story itself is strong, but most of characters (including the lead) are somewhat bland; however, since this volume is just the beginning of the tale, hopefully they'll be more fully fleshed-out in future volumes. Additionally, the artwork takes some getting used to -- the covers are fantastic, but Huddleston's work is a bit inconsistent. Mostly the characters and figures are relatively detailed and well-drawn, but sometimes panels feature oddly distorted figures that seem out of place. This distracted me at first, but by the end of the book I scarcely noticed.THE STRAIN is perhaps not the best vampire comic out there (that would probably be Snyder's AMERICAN VAMPIRE), but it is nonetheless solid, entertaining, and horrific enough to be a welcome break from more sparkly vampire fiction.

Loved it. Would of preferred a different artist, but the art did not detract from the story, which was great. Vampires as they were meant to be, very scary.

It is always hard to review comic adaptations, particularly since Lapham is adapting a book that was paired with a television show. Del Toro's book, with Chuck Hagan, and the television show are all marked with his aesthetic, but often more prosaic flaws are in the source material as the characters are somewhat predictable for the genre. As an adaption and an addition to the television show, this works very well, and can be enjoyed as such. As a comic in it's own right, the narrative pacing is good, the art is interesting but not quite arresting, but the character's don't pop. Furthermore, some of the strangeness of the aesthetic seems muted or lost on the comic page.The backstory set-up and the slow reveal feel more of television than a comic, and lots of the elements are somewhat tried: vampirism as virus, bits of Dracula lore, Romania and Nazis, affairs between doctors in an epidemic. This could be more engaging in and of itself, but even in blending these different things together, the plot moves like you would expect it to move and comes together how one would expect it to come together. Lapham does good work with what he was given as does Mike Huddleston but the limitations build up. I do think fans of the show will enjoy it, and there is just enough to keep me interested in later volumes.

After buying all of the novels and watching the tv show a million times over. I decided to buy the graphic novel. I just finished this one and I am so glad I did. The colors are vivid and dark. The strigoi look amazing and the story is as dark and scary as ever! Great item to any Strain lovers household.

Awesome artwork and story

A passenger jet lands at JFK Airport and all radio contact is cut. CDC investigator Dr Ephraim Goodweather finds all but four passengers are dead. As the investigation begins, Good weather discovers an ancient virus is infecting New Yorkers.Grimly lit, with brutalistic style, this graphic novel is gripping and draws the reader into this compelling vampire drama.

Es un buen comic. La obra es muy buena, aunque el dibujo, mezcla entre un estilo cercano a Humerto Ramos mezclado con Sean Gordon Murphy, raya a veces una calidad mediocre. El encuadernado es tan bueno como estamos acostumbrados en una obra comic book de tapa blanda. Tras mucho uso se puede estropear un poco. El precio es algo alto para lo que acostumbramos a pagar en españa, ya que aqui suelen costar una media de 10 a 14 euros por un formato similar, y en este caso 19 euros aproximadamente, es algo elevado.

A great start to this series of The Strain books. Reading the graphic novel through the kindle app for iOS is very intuitive. Being able to zoom in on each panel and swipe back and forth to the next in sequence is a very friendly reading experience.The novel has high quality illustrations, enhancing the neat concept of the strain, a parasitic type virus that creates Vampires. For fans of this genre it is defibtely worth checking out. Looking forward to the TV show too.

Graphics are stunning.