Black Hole by Charles Burns

Black Hole is a legendary graphic novel. It’s on every best-of list. I can see why, but it didn’t do anything for me

Black Hole is on pretty much every ‘best of’ list for graphic novels. It has been widely praised both inside and outside the comic book world, and won Charles Burns a bunch of awards. It made a fairly large impact when it was released in collected form in 2005. I’ve long known of it, but never got around to picking it up. I should have done it years ago.

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It’s is a graphic novel set in Seattle in the 1970s. Teenagers are developing mutations when they catch The Bug, an STD. It’s kind of a story about growing up and the uncertainty and anxiety of adolescence.

The art is fantastic. Burns’ depiction of the mutations and the world these characters live in is incredible. But when I finished the book, I wasn’t sure if I liked it at all.

As a graphic novel aimed at young men in their teens and twenties, it’s easy to see how this has earned its reputation. It plays quite well to the anxious, selfish, misunderstood romantic story that teenage boys tell themselves. If your frame of reference is other stuff that’s found at a comic shop, this is an oustanding story – adult, complex and relatable.

I’m not sure it made much of an impact on me, though. I’m no longer the demographic for this, and while I found parts of it relatable, it felt shallow and as subtle as a car crash.

I can why this was so influential upon release — the comic book world is always looking for an example of how breaking the form validates the medium as serious art — and sure, it’s more appealing than a standard superhero story. Whether or not it’s literature is irrelevant.

What it comes down to for me is this: If you’re a guy, a fan of the genres (Junji Ito and Mudhoney or Dazed and Confused, basically), and under 30, this could be transformative. If you’re not in that demographic: the art is great, the themes are fine, the story is shallow and forgettable.

October 10, 2024